Chapter Seventeen: Picking Up The Slack

  The next time, Wu Yeyu didn't idle either, and ran out of the house directly to the town.

  It's a pity that Wu Yeyu hasn't really taken a good stroll around the streets since arriving in this world, and every time she goes out, it's always a rush to buy something with a purpose and then leave.

  Walking on the bustling streets, there are crowds of people shouting and selling everywhere. The town has two main commercial streets, one is for stalls and the other is for shops. Some powerful subordinates also occupy a place here to collect rare items.

  It's clear that the former is prepared for some itinerant peddlers or people who can't rent a shop, apart from selling vegetables and snacks, many mercenaries or mysterious figures also sell some scattered small things here, generally materials from the body of a demon beast, but most have no value, or too few in number, or the spiritual aura is lost, mostly some leftover materials.

  Of course, there are also some insightful people who can pick out valuable things from among the many peddlers and vendors with a pair of sharp eyes, which is why the term "scoop" was born in this other world.

  Apart from some materials on the bodies of some demon beasts, there are also some small vendors who will take out some handy items or valuable personal items that they have with them. However, the roads are generally not very clean. As for the reason, haha... where there are people, there is a world of rivers and lakes, and robbery or highway robbery happens in every world. Even in my previous life when there were surveillance cameras all over the streets, such things still happened from time to time. In this world with even more lax management, these professions will naturally not be lacking either.

  Of course, in this small town, such blatant things would not happen, because it is a rule, after all, no matter who will eat and the goods obtained must have a place to sell, so they can't sell them in the town. This unwritten rule is also widely spread here. And if someone dares to break the rules, there will naturally be people to deal with it. The government, apart from maintaining local stability, is also responsible for this, or it can be said that this is also part of maintaining stability. In general, the government is the largest force in the area, and dealing with these things is easy. Therefore, those who break the rules generally do not have a good ending, and this point seems to be better than before... At least as long as you are in the town, it's still relatively comfortable.

  However, once there are more people coming and going, even the best environment will become chaotic, and some petty thefts can't be avoided. So ordinary people still need to remain vigilant when they go out for a stroll.

  Wu Ye Yu was currently strolling along this bustling street, looking very relaxed. Firstly, because he had the essential item for any crosser - a storage space, and secondly, due to his young age, even if he had money on him, it wouldn't be much, so those petty thieves wouldn't bother with someone like him, as the gains would be too small and the risks too high. If they got caught, they'd likely be apprehended by the patrolling constables right there on the street, not worth the trouble.

  "Wow! I didn't notice it myself until recently, but this place is really bustling. No wonder it's a must-pass route for entering and exiting the Beast Forest. How many times have I come and gone? I'm really a failure!" Wu Yeru muttered to himself as he passed by the crowd, his curious eyes wide open, scanning back and forth over the goods on the stalls. Whenever he discovered something new and interesting, Wu Yeru would immediately use his surveillance technique, guaranteeing that nothing could escape his notice!

  Everyone can understand the idea of picking up leaks, because in the previous life, I read a lot of urban articles, and the plots involving picking up leaks were also numerous. As long as the protagonist doesn't have some against-the-sky luck or special eyes, when strolling around and picking up stalls, they will inevitably lack some courage. At this time, Wu Ye Yu's eyes didn't have anything special, but he was even more direct, with a flick of his skill, knowing all the names and functions, it was really the best way to pretend to be a master picker.

  With a mind to pick up bargains, Wu Ye Yu cast his eyes on one of the stalls. The stall owner was a big-bearded, unkempt middle-aged man with clothes torn into strips all over his body, and bloodstains on them. If not for the giant sword on his back, he would probably be mistaken for a beggar. Since he had such a weapon on him, it was likely that he was a mercenary who had just returned from the demon beast forest. Moreover, judging by how he hadn't even changed out of his clothes, he was either an old hand at this sort of thing or so poor that he was in a hurry to sell off his freshly obtained spoils for some silver to buy new gear.

  "With Wu Ye's immature gaze, 'This guy should be the first kind, after all, he's not young anymore, how could he not even have some savings? And his expression is dull, with a face full of wind and frost, just looking at him tells you he's been through hardships.' She slightly ranked this person in her mind, then swept her gaze over his stall."

  All that can be seen are a few pieces of stone with different colors, several copper plates with green marks, a small piece of broken horn, two rough animal hides, and several small grass-like things, which may or may not be medicinal herbs.

  The tattered middle-aged man, however, seemed to have noticed Wu Yeyu's pause and looked up at him before turning away, clearly not taking the little fatty in front of him seriously.

  "Rubbish! How dare you look down on me!? With this attitude, it's strange that you can even sell anything! The customer is God! You don't even know such a simple thing and still come out to set up a stall? It serves you right that there hasn't been a single ghostly figure in front of your stall all morning, retribution!" Wu Yeyu cursed.

  However, due to the stall owner's attitude, this kid obviously also showed interest in his goods, and he threw a few detective moves at those mineral-like things, which also made Wu Yeru scratch his head.

  "It looks like some kind of metallic ore!"

  "It could be some kind of mineral!"

  "It seems like there's something inside at first glance!"

  ……

  After a thorough investigation, those stone eggs all had prefixes composed of words like "suspected", "possible" and so on, which seemed to be speculative rather than directly showing the names of animals or plants like in the forest.

  "Is the system seriously playing a city-strolling game with me? Can't be that boring!"

  Still unwilling to give up, Wu Yeru squatted down and slowly felt around his chin with both hands, then began to cast skills at other things on the stall.

  After a round of inquiry, Wu Yeyu basically didn't get any useful information, all were uncertain answers. In his heart, he couldn't help but feel speechless, how could they let him down at the critical moment? What if he failed to pick up the bargain and lost face? Forget it, even if he failed, he wouldn't lose much money, just consider it as paying tuition fees for a lesson learned.

  The more he thought about it, the more annoyed Wu Yeru became. He then turned to the remaining few and began his final test, that one corner, just after using a skill, he heard the system's long-awaited voice.

  "Ding! Due to the host's frequent use, reconnaissance proficiency has grown to its maximum value and has been upgraded to Secondary Reconnaissance! Looking forward to the host's continued efforts!"

  "Hmm! What great news indeed, it seems that my stay in the forest for those few days wasn't a waste after all!" Wu Yeyu smugly stroked his thick eyebrows and began to analyze that small corner once again.

  Ordinary beast horns: expertly forged by skilled counterfeiters using special techniques, disguised as broken demon beast horns, with no value other than appearance.

  “……”

  "What the...! You're telling me that someone is actually trying to deceive me?! It seems that this kind of thing is also happening in this other world!!" Wu Ye Yu thought to himself, going crazy with rage, but on the surface, he didn't show much change, his face just turned a bit red. Looks like my skills are still not deep enough.

  Then, Wu Ye Yu started to send the investigation techniques one by one, and as expected, most of the things on the stalls were fake. What's even more despicable is that those small grass-like things were actually just grass, not even bothering to disguise themselves. Alas! So professional, how did I not notice it before...

  The only thing on the stall that was worth Wu Yeru's consideration was a certain object disguised as an ore, according to the information.

  Disguised inconspicuous floating stone: with Qiankun inside, the mineral itself looks very much like a stone, but its effect is special and valuable, only professionals who often come into contact with it can identify it. Because counterfeiters think it's an ordinary stone, they pick it up at random to add disguise, which makes its original appearance completely different, and this mineral also has internal flaws.

  "This is really the rhythm of picking up bargains! Hmm, no way! I have to be calm, calm, calm!" Wu Yeyu finally suppressed the excitement in his heart, and looked around calmly, touching this piece and looking at that piece, as if seriously selecting.

  "And at this time, the fake vendor also spoke up: 'If you're not going to buy, please go somewhere else, don't disturb me from doing business. I only sell to people who understand.'"

  "Damn it, dare to play hard to get with me? Do you think I'm some kind of pushover?! Ah!" He cursed inwardly while maintaining a nonchalant expression on the surface. It's really not easy to put on such an act, especially for someone who is still young.

  Wu Yeyu pretended to be hurt by his words, and in a huff, he casually grabbed the floating stone that displayed the universe inside and said to the stall owner: "Who says I don't understand?! Hmph! I'm just deciding which one to buy! Settling accounts!"

  The stall owner cooperated, "Three thousand two, no second price!" Then the triumphant look on his face flashed and disappeared, and he recovered as quickly as lightning. If Wu Yeru hadn't been staring at the goods' face all the time, he would have missed something.

  "Goodness, it's so expensive! But, but I only have 100 taels, what can I do?" Wu Yeyu said with a shocked expression, then scratched his head in embarrassment.

  "100 taels? No way! How can this price buy my ore, at least it should be 1,000 taels!" The stall owner thought to himself, heh heh! This time I'll finally make a profit! It was worth setting up shop for an entire morning after all, kids' money is always easy to earn!

  "But I really only brought 100 taels, and I don't have any extra money. This 100 taels was even saved up by me being frugal every day, because my brother became an apprentice blacksmith and needs to forge a sword, which requires ore. From young to old, only my brother has been the kindest to me, always letting me have my way, but I couldn't help my brother with anything. I don't want it to be like this forever, so I wanted to help him buy a better piece of ore. This... really is all the money I have." Wu Yeru's small face showed a look of grievance and longing as she spoke.

  "Really?" The stall owner also didn't think that the little fatty in front of him was in this situation, a child who had taken out all his savings to buy ore for his brother. "Alas, what a kind and good child!" The stall owner thought, but for the sake of living... So the stall owner gritted his teeth and steeled himself.

  "With this little money, you still dare to come out and stroll around? Go home and get some more! I can keep this mineral for you, and you can come back for it after you've gotten the money. This small stall still has some credibility." The stall owner said with a struggle in his heart, but still with a cold face.

  "Ah, well, forget it then. If I go home to get the money and my mother finds out, she'll definitely scold me. It's better to just forget it. I think I'm not capable of helping brother after all." After saying that, Wu Ye Yu reluctantly put down the ore in his hand and turned around with a disappointed face, carrying a hint of despair...

  After turning around, Wu Yeru continued to mutter in his heart, "One... two... three..."

  "Take care on your way!"

  …

  Wu Yeyu's heart couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, and immediately afterwards, he changed his expression to one of doubt, turning his head to look at the stall owner, waiting for him to speak, with a still lost look in his eyes.

  "Hmm, I see that you really want to buy it and it's for the sake of helping your brother. Sigh...it's truly moving! So, I'll sell this ore to you at a discounted price of 100 taels." The stall owner said with a hint of choking in his voice, struggling to hold back his emotions. After finishing speaking, he lowered his head deeply and leaned against the stone wall behind him, as if those few words had exhausted all his energy.

  "Ah! Really, Uncle? Thank you so much! My brother will be thrilled to see this ore! I can finally help him! Here you go!" Then Wu Ye Yu quickly threw down a hundred taels of silver notes, grabbed the ore and left with a happy face.

  Then, the stall owner quickly packed up his stall and took a glance at Wu Ye's happy figure before turning around resolutely and disappearing into the crowd. No one saw that when the stall owner turned around, a crystal tear slipped out of his eyes, carrying his deep regret and confusion, shattering on the street...