Chapter 1082: A Wolf with Taste and a Merchant with Nerves of Steel

If you want to be a true black market dealer, you have to pinpoint exactly what your customer needs, then show up at just the right time when they want it and can pay, making sure what you offer is simply impossible to refuse.

Xia Qing opened her laptop and showed Crippled Wolf the full line of protective dog suits. “Handsome Wolf, here’s the brand-new wilderness-level three protective gear made just for wolves. The defense is top-notch and it’s so much more comfortable to wear. Only eight thousand credits per set—your little brother and little sister will be protected from parasites, and even human knives and arrows can’t hurt them. What do you think?”

This suit sells for six thousand credits each in the Safe Zone, but Xia Qing, the black market dealer, charges a two-thousand credit service fee per set.

Crippled Wolf didn’t hesitate—he slid one of his points cards over to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing immediately swiped the card with her reader, then showed him the result. “There are only three thousand credits on this card—not enough for one suit. Handsome Wolf, can you give me two more cards?”

“…Sure. As soon as I get the suits, I’ll bring them over. Hey, check out how clear this laptop is. Your screen’s gone blurry because the humidity in the mountains got to it. Need a new one? It’s twenty-five thousand credits each.”

Once she finished showing the pictures, Xia Qing started showing the real goods.

First up was a pearl necklace made from pearls Chang Li had brought back. “Take a look at this, Handsome Wolf—Queen and your little sister are bound to love these. Want to get two? Only eight hundred credits per strand. With such gorgeous necklaces, your family would be the classiest evolved wolves on all of Blue Star…”

Next was a little pink hat Xin Yu had sewn by hand for Monkey. “Cute, right? Bug-proof and sun-proof, all handmade by a human. Only five hundred credits each. Want to buy one for your little sister? …Two? Perfect! Handsome Wolf, you’ve got excellent taste!”

Crippled Wolf was sharp, but he had a sense of style and was happy to try out new things. Xia Qing absolutely loved customers like him!

After draining a few points cards, Crippled Wolf walked to the front door, put his massive paw on the open door, and flashed an adorably toothy grin.

Xia Qing just stared…

“Crippled, that’s one thing I really can’t trade to you. Besides, even if you swapped for it, how would you install it? This is a horizontal door, it’s not meant for caves.”

Crippled Wolf reached into his supplies and slid a walnut-sized, high-grade Yi Stone to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing immediately wavered. “Well, this…”

There was just no way to say no…

But how was she supposed to explain this to Third Brother? Was she supposed to haul her own door all the way up Hill Fifty-Five?

No way. Next time Third Brother came by and saw she’d switched back to the old door, he’d definitely blow up. Maybe she should ask Xin Yu and Yang Jin if they could get their hands on a similar one?

Seeing Xia Qing’s internal struggle, Crippled Wolf slid another high-grade Yi Stone her way.

Noticing Xia Qing still hesitating, Crippled Wolf lifted his paw, ready to pull both Yi Stones back.

“Deal!”

Hesitate any longer and you wouldn’t be human—Xia Qing instantly pinned down Crippled Wolf’s huge paw, stuffed both high-grade Yi Stones into her pocket, and flashed the brightest smile. “Handsome Wolf, I promise to trade you the exact same model of front door. You can set it up wherever you want. I’ll throw in all the necessary parts, cement, batteries, and even after-sales service.”

So how many credits are these doors worth? Five thousand apiece.

And those two high-grade Yi Stones? No idea yet. Hu Zifeng still hasn’t brought back the stone he took for appraisal, but it’s definitely worth more than the door!

Once Xia Qing cleaned and serviced two sets of protective gear and suited up Crippled Wolf, the clever wolf headed back to Hill Fifty-Five sporting eight high-grade Yi Stones around his neck, six mid-grade Yi Stones, eight points cards, two pearl necklaces, two little hats, and a tiny mirror Xia Qing had gifted him. He carried two stalks of evolved white grass back as well, quickly burying the grass roots into the soil by the creek.

After finishing his patrol, Er returned to the abandoned village, nudged open the screen door with his head, washed the dirt from his big paw in the wooden basin, then pushed open the front door and slipped into the cool, dry house.

“Er, you’re back? You really are the most thoughtful wolf around. You stand at the very top of the evolutionary pyramid in the universe!” Xia Qing looked up from counting Yi Stones, her gratitude overflowing.

With a huge, happy grin, Er trotted over and rubbed his head against Xia Qing’s, leaving plenty of damp wolf fur in her dark hair.

From his own cozy nest, Little Fei Mao watched the scene for a while, then jumped onto Er’s back and gathered a wad of wolf fur for his bedding.

Xia Qing grumbled to Er, “Crippled is getting stingier by the day. Negotiating with him is even more tiring than with Yang Jin.”

Those two are equally shrewd, but at least Yang Jin talks. It takes so much longer, and so much more energy, to haggle with Crippled Wolf, who just stares you down.

If not for the sake of long-term cooperation and friendly trade with the Northern Wolf Pack, she’d have pinned down Crippled Wolf and shaved his whole leg bare already!

Er just grinned, tongue lolling happily.

Grumbling done, the money-obsessed Xia Qing turned to share her joy. “Er, check it out—I got forty-four Yi Stones today! Look at this! Yi Stones are incredibly rare. Most folks would lose their minds just to get one, but I’ve got six whole boxes!”

By type, Xia Qing’s Yi Stones fell into two grades: high and mid grade. By size, there were three: pigeon egg (about 30 grams), walnut (about 50 grams), and goose egg (about 180 grams). She kept the unbroken stones sorted in five sturdy boxes.

The last box held Yi Stone granules, protected in their own casing.

After coming back in the evening, Xia Qing had also collected the Yi Stone granules she’d been using in the greenhouse. Tomorrow, she would head to the Hidden Valley in Hill Fifty, to bring back the ones used to protect the crops there.

In the past year-plus since entering her territory, Xia Qing had amassed, from all kinds of sources, 57.5 pigeon egg-sized mid-grade Yi Stones, 77 walnut-sized mid-grade Yi Stones, 10 goose egg-sized mid-grade Yi Stones, 11 pigeon egg-sized high-grade Yi Stones, and 31 walnut-sized high-grade Yi Stones.

Sounds like a lot, but she went through them fast too.

Just in the last, third Devastation Rain of Year Eleven, Xia Qing used 33 pigeon-egg mid-grade Yi Stones and 2 walnuts for protecting seven acres of Green Lantern crops, Green Lantern chickens, insects, and fish. Just for the Hidden Valley’s crops, spring fish, and crabs, she used another 15 pigeon egg-sized stones.

Thank goodness those Yi Stones are only needed during Devastation Rain—they’re packed away right after. If future Devastation Rains and Snows last as long as those in Year Ten, these Yi Stones should last nine years, enough to protect her prized crops and animals through twenty-seven Devastation Rains and nine Devastation Snows.

And it’s not just the disasters—there’s everyday use too. The three lords of Section Three, Employee 001, two cellars, and two fridges must always have Yi Stones on hand. The yearly consumption: four walnut-sized stones.

It was a lot of consumption, and it hurt, but Xia Qing never hesitated to spend her stash when needed. She earned these Yi Stones for exactly that—to boost her power and quality of life. What’s the point of all the work otherwise?

The weight of those Yi Stones brought her real security. If her current usage didn’t change, she had enough to last twenty years.

She’d never felt so freaking secure! How could anyone possibly be this happy?

Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, fiddling with her boxes, Xia Qing couldn’t help but show off to the red squirrel in the cage in the corner. “Freeloader, you definitely get how happy I am right now.”

Red Squirrel Mom and Qiang Zai jumped on the cage in protest—they were starving and desperate to be let out to find food!