"How much for this Shin Song plant?"
"Thirty cabbat for a pound."
After hearing that price, a customer suddenly got angry. He resisted the urge to beat up this money hungry shop owner and said.
"30 cabbat? Why don't you rob me? Obviously it was 24 cabbat a week ago. How did you suddenly inflate it?"
Perceiving the inner feelings of the customer, the shopkeeper shook his head with a look of helpless on his face.
"That's the price set by the store owner. I can't do anything about it. You also know his character. If it wasn't for the fact that Shin Song rice has ran out in the nearby stores, would he dare to raise the prices to this level?"
The customer seemed to agree with the shopkeeper. For a while, the customer moved back and forth in a small space, seeming to be contemplating something. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and decided to buy it. As soon the transaction was completed, he shouted on his way out.
"I will never return to this black-hearted store."
After seeing out another disappointed customer, the shopkeeper started to close the store. He placed the locks and added a few glittering stones in the in-front of the shelves in a strange formation. He didn't know what t meant but he could tell it was a magical formation of some sort. Then again, it may be fake like those street cameras back on Earth. This young man was Jerry, filled with indignation and despair of an unlucky transmigrator. He limped back to his dreadful home and left a note saying he was going to clean the neighbor's stable and move the dung to the fertilizers. This had become a common habit that he had given up and went into zombie mode, no longer being stressed by his inability to change his situation. He walked for a few minutes and found an old lady with wrinkled skin all over and a scowl etched on her ugly face. The reason these negative thoughts ran through his mind was because a few months ago, he got tired of the tyranny of the house owner therefore, he ran away towards the direction of this woman. At that time, she beckoned him to ran towards her house.
After seeing her kind smile that would make toddlers smile, he felt safe for an instant and went to hide in her home. Not long after, he peered through a window in the attic and saw short old monster walking calmly towards this building. At that time, he thought the old lady would deny ever seeing. Before that thought even settled in his mind, he heard a voice from below.
"Long Shi, when will you invite me out for a drink of your dragon wood wine? You have been postponing our date for a while. How stingy can you be! Look even your kid got tired of your greediness and ran towards me. If I hadn't caught him, who knows where he would have ended up!"
Hearing these words, Jerry immediately shuddered throughout his whole body. He felt his heart sinking further into the depths of melancholia. It was saddening to think that there's no more trust between humans. Even a kind old woman like her betrayed him at moment's notice for a sip of that disgusting wine. Is he that worthless?
Those were some of the bad memories evoked from looking at this ugly old lady by the door. He thought hard and realized if it wasn't for this woman. He would be far away from this village and enjoying life in the main town, living for himself and resting whenever he felt like it. As he indulged in these fantasies, he heard an ear piercing voice that almost gave him a headache.
"Hey kid, what are you day dreaming for? Are you fantasizing about living this village again. It seems the pressure is getting to you. Maybe you should also sweep the front yard to take your mind off of it."
Hearing these words, he almost spit out blood. This shameless woman even wants him to sweep the front yard that spans almost 100 square meters. He already has to clean up the dry dung in her backyard and fertilize the plants but she's also wants him to sweep this entire front yard. How evil can this woman be! He immediately replied before she can take advantage of him again.
"No, No. I was just thinking about bringing some dragon wood wine to give you a taste. It seems Old Shi has bought some ingredients from town and he's planning to make some tomorrow."
As soon as she heard that, her eyes immediately lit up and totally ignored him. All he could hear as he went further into the backyard was her mumbling some schemes she'll use to extort some wine for the old man. He felt scared for a moment and hurried onwards in case she thought of something and planned to use him again.
With practiced movements, he did all his duties and finished early this time. As he walked back, the old woman stopped him in his tracks and questioned why he was leaving early. Already anticipating this question, he answered with a happy tone.
"I have to leave early since old man Fei is coming to the village. I have to prepare to welcome him since Old Shi will be our today. "
With doubt flashing in her eyes, she let him go and thought for a while.
"How could Long Shi let Fei met up with this kid alone! Doesn't he know that the kid would rat him out? Anyway it has nothing to do with me."
After escaping the ugly woman, he breathed in a sigh of relief. A grin also flashed across his face as he realized the plan he concocted a few days ago worked. He ran back and met with Shang Fei alone this time and laid out all his grievances and smear the house owner's reputation to the point that even old man Fei was speechless. Fei thought to him self.From the kid's mouth, it seems Long Shi completely ignored my instructions and tortured the kid to this state. Even though he seemed a bit stronger than before, it can't hide the despair and hopelessness that has deeply ingrained into this kid. Old man Fei thought that if he was late this time. He could have met his old friend and not know the torture he was inflicting upon this kid. Thinking about this, he felt angry for a moment and decided to take away this kid from the village and bring him back to the city manor.
"By the way, where is Long Shi? I haven't met him in a few months. Are his guts so thin that he can't dare meet me this time?"
"He has gone to town to buy some ingredients for his dragon wood wine."
Thinking about this fact, the grin from earlier reappeared on his face. Just a few days ago, he realized in less than ten days was the time Shang Fei was coming to visit. He knew this was an opportunity to escape that torture house. After thinking for a while, a plan flashed across his mind. He went to clean up the old woman's backyard like usual. And talked to her about the beauty and magnificence of dragon wood wine, urging her appetite and making her unable to help herself but see the old man to extort some wine. On the next day, he talked to the old man about some gossip he heard. It seems some wild Shin Song plants were discovered in the grassland across the water stream. The old man heard about it and neglected it. He also spread those rumors across the village, building up the hype towards the Shin Song plant and increasing its market temporarily. Almost all shop owners ran towards the main town to buy some Shin Song plants and it was chaos.
In less than 5 days, all the Shin Song plants in the village were bought in bulk and the only shop that remained with some was the Long Shi's. The reason why was due to the fact that he always sold little, saying it ran out. He waited until most Shin Song plants were bought in the area and he was the only shopkeeper with some. The old man realized the sales of his plants were high and decided to boost the price by three times and still got the market for it. This made him even more desperate for some Shin Song plant. It wasn't until the eve of the day that Shang Fei will visit that he came at night to tell the old man a message from the dragon wood obsessed old woman next door. It seems tomorrow she will go towards the grassland to harvest some phoenix eye fruit and might bring some fresh Shin Song plant on the way home.
Hearing this plan, his eyes suddenly lit up with money dollar signs and he decided to ran in the morning towards the town in hopes of buying some ingredients for his wine. At this moment, he had completely forgot about his friend coming to visit and all he thought about was the money he will earn with fresh Shin Song plants. The next morning he ran to the main town and found it completely populated with shop owners buying Shin Song plants in bulk. This delayed his purchases by a few hours and by the time he returned to the village, it was almost noon.
The moment he opened his door and saw looked in the living room. He discovered a stranger sitting there with an angry expression on his face. As he looked to the stranger's face. He saw the kid looking aggrieved and pitiful, like a bullied kid in front of his father. The moment he recognized who the stranger was, he knew he facked up.