Chapter Eight: Economic Issues

The events of the previous night had passed. Early the next morning, Wu You called his mother to assure her of his safety. Over the phone, he gave all the credit to the old village chief and some enthusiastic neighbors, saying that without their help, the demolition team would have dared to use force, but now, under pressure, they wouldn’t dare act rashly for a while.

After hanging up, Wu You got busy again. He had to prepare feed for the chickens in the coop behind the mountain. These poor birds had been neglected ever since Wu Jianguo’s accident. Although they could peck at grass and insects, most of their food had always been a special blend created by Wu Jianguo and Zhang Guihua. Now, the chickens were truly starving, weak and scrawny.

The land and hills contracted by the Wu family did not employ any permanent laborers; only during fishing, pearl harvesting, tea picking, or fruit collection would they hire short-term workers from neighboring villagers.

Wu You didn’t want to put his new companion into the beast enclosure. Having a burly bodyguard around felt rather good—strong and helpful.

Though no one usually ventured into the family’s contracted land, Garuru was simply too conspicuous. So Wu You dug out a large black hooded sweatshirt and put it on Garuru. This way, even if someone glimpsed him from afar, they’d just assume the Wu family had hired a big, muscular worker.

He had helped with all the chores in the orchard during every school vacation, so he knew every task by heart.

After half an hour, he’d mixed up two large tubs of chicken feed. Wu You then set off for the rear mountain with Garuru. The two tubs, each weighing a full fifty jin, were effortlessly carried by Garuru, saving even the need for Wu Jianguo’s old carrying pole.

However, Wu You quickly regretted it.

The chicken enclosure was surrounded by a three-meter-high plastic mesh fence, usually more than enough to contain the mountain chickens. But today, as Wu You approached, the chickens inside reacted as if a new bride had been ambushed by a desperate bandit halfway to her wedding—they flapped and squawked in terror, with many desperately beating their wings to escape over the fence.

It was chaos: chickens running wild all over the contracted hillside, some even flying over the main fence toward the mountain beyond.

Wu You stood dumbfounded at the entrance for a full minute, his confusion slowly giving way to understanding. Looking back at Garuru’s fierce appearance, he imagined the predatory aura that only animals could sense. The answer was obvious.

He had no choice but to send Garuru back into the beast enclosure. Interestingly, when Garuru disappeared, he took his clothes into the system as well, which was rather convenient.

It took Wu You all morning, until noon, to herd the runaway chickens back into their enclosure. He ended up covered in feathers and droppings. As for those that had escaped entirely, he decided to leave them be—if they got hungry enough, they might return on their own.

After corralling the chickens and feeding them, Wu You began his usual patrol along the edge of the contracted land. This was Wu Jianguo’s habit.

As he walked, he mulled over his troubles. For now, the threat of forced demolition could be set aside. There were villagers around during the day, and he could always call the police. Even if the developer, Shengtian Group, had people in the police station, at worst it meant they wouldn’t arrest their own, but if someone reported a disturbance or forced demolition, the police would still have to respond.

If they tried something sneaky at night—well, that was no longer a fear.

But his father’s medical expenses were the most pressing concern. The fish and pearl mussels in the river had only just been seeded; the tea-picking season was over; the orchard’s pear and peach trees weren’t ready for harvest; and as for selling chickens, that wouldn’t work either. The birds were mostly for family use or gifts to relatives. Even though there were several hundred, they wouldn’t fetch much on the market.

Lost in thought, Wu You soon found himself near the family’s section of the river.

The back mountain lay to the north, and the village’s river ran northwest, threading between two hills.

This river, called the Azure Dragon River, was nearly a hundred meters wide—not a small stream. According to village elders, it was named for a legendary azure dragon that once lived there.

The river wound for nearly three kilometers through Xugou Village, but it stretched over ten kilometers into the hills. All of this was village land. The Wu family had contracted the section running from the village edge into the hills, a span of about 2.5 kilometers, the first half of which was devoted to pearl mussel farming.

For years, most of the Wu family’s income came from this river. In recent times, falling pearl prices and challenges to fisheries had reduced the family’s earnings significantly.

Floating on the river were rows of round foam buoys threaded with nylon line. Beneath each bobbed a pearl mussel cage.

Wu You scanned the river, ready to return, when he suddenly stopped short.

Pearl mussels! How could he have forgotten them?

Why was the family’s pearl farming unprofitable? Because of competition from similar products and mediocre quality. Unsold pearls had to be sold in bulk at low prices for pearl powder production.

But Wu You had the Bio-Alchemy System. A five-millimeter river pearl was hard to sell, but what about a 20-millimeter ocean pearl? Astounding enough? Not enough? He could make 30-millimeter pearls—black pearls, even luminous night pearls!

After successfully refining the Lion-faced Kong, Wu You was now supremely confident in the system’s abilities. Garuru had turned out exactly as he’d hoped—even better.

What did this mean? It meant that during bio-alchemy, not only would the creature’s appearance be molded, but its abilities would also be shaped to match the creator’s wishes—within reason, of course. The system insisted on plausibility. You couldn’t combine a mouse and a hamster and expect a flying chimera.

So, should he go back to the Mountain of Beasts?

That was easy enough now. After completing the novice mission, the system’s interface allowed free access to all current functions. Entering the Mountain of Beasts was just a click away, prominently displayed in the lower left corner.

But it was dangerous inside—and finding pearl mussels there? For now, Wu You couldn’t control where he landed.

He decided to see if he could capture what he needed in the real world.

He plucked a grasshopper from the weeds at his feet.

Select: Capture.

Prompt: Capture failed. Target exhibits resistance.

Wu You stared at the twitching insect in his hand, nonplussed. All right, you want to resist?

He raised his hand high and slammed the grasshopper down onto a stone.

Green fluids oozed out, its six legs stiffened and twitched. It wouldn’t last much longer.

You really made me get rough, Wu You thought coldly.

He reached out and touched the dying grasshopper. Select: Capture.

Capture successful. Material obtained: Female East Asian Migratory Locust.

It worked! Wu You pumped his fist in excitement. That meant he could capture ordinary animals right here in reality. For rare or protected species, he could go to the Mountain of Beasts.

Now he had a plan.

He went straight to the family’s small wooden boat. The only difference between these and the famous Wu Peng boats of Kuaiji was the lack of a canopy. They were the standard vessel for fish farmers in the region.

He rowed out to the pearl mussel area and hauled up a cage, selecting a large specimen for capture.

Now, the material warehouse listed three creatures: a female golden chipmunk, a female East Asian migratory locust, and a male triangle sail mussel.

As he caught the mussel, the system issued a prompt.

System Mission: Establish Your Ground
Mission Objective: Survival requires both the power to defend yourself and the means to support yourself. Refine a rare item and create your own profit!
Mission Reward: 3 points of alchemical energy

Wu You was delighted to see a new mission. He had been worried about running out of alchemical energy. At level one, there was no option for external exchange, but if he could complete this mission, he’d have enough energy to upgrade to level two, which should unlock new features.

...

After catching the pearl mussel, Wu You hurried straight to a large aquarium store in Qiantang.

First, he took the village’s electric passenger tricycle, then transferred to a bus at the station, and finally took a taxi into the city. Not having a car was a real inconvenience. Wu You resolved that once he made money, he had to get himself a decent vehicle.

In the city center of Qiantang, he entered a store called Miracle Ocean. They sold all kinds of aquatic creatures: ordinary tropical and pet fish, turtles, starfish, shrimp, crabs—even octopuses and small sharks. The dazzling variety left Wu You nearly dizzy.

Most of the customers were children, who clung to their parents and refused to budge in front of certain cute fish.

It was clear the store had good quality stock and a solid reputation, as business was booming.

After searching in vain for what he wanted, Wu You spotted a staff member who had just finished patiently explaining the difference between an octopus and a squid to a group of children. Now she was momentarily free.

Wu You hurried over and asked the young woman, “Excuse me, do you have any fish here that can emit light? Either saltwater or freshwater is fine.”

The clerk replied apologetically, “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t have any fish that emit light. Those are generally deep-sea species that live under high pressure. But we do have tropical fish that can reflect beautiful colors with just a bit of light. Would you like to see them?”

Wu You looked disappointed. “I’m not interested in reflected light. I only want fish that can produce their own glow. Never mind, I’ll find another way.”

It hadn’t occurred to him that they wouldn’t have any. He’d have to think of something else—surely he wouldn’t have to use fireflies?

As he turned to leave, the clerk suddenly called out, “Sir, does it have to be a glowing fish? Would another animal do?”