The Little Rabbit Who Sold Tanghulu

Xiao Wu was excited and thrilled today, because she would be entering human society for the first time. And when she thought of what Ye Qing had told her, she became even happier.

"Once you complete this activity, you'll be done with your cultural studies. You won't have to calculate those formulas anymore."

Xiao Wu was overjoyed to be free of those complicated formulas. Those problems had tormented her for days, to the point where she had no appetite even when she saw carrots. More importantly, Ye Qing had promised to let her play with that magical little helmet as long as she completed this mission. She had seen many things inside it that she had never encountered before.

For example, there was something called a Sea Rabbit. Xiao Wu could not understand why that thing was also called a rabbit. There were also countless fish that gave off all sorts of light. Ye Qing told her they were all Sea Spirit Beasts, and that the glowing fish were special species that lived in the deep sea. But before she had seen enough, Ye Qing pulled her out of Virtual Reality.

Ye Qing had a firm grasp on Xiao Wu's mindset. She liked to play, and she had been crushed by lessons for several months. At a time like this, if he brought out something novel, Xiao Wu would naturally take the bait with ease.

"Selling tanghulu! Sweet and sour candied tanghulu! Three Copper Soul Coins for one, five Copper Soul Coins for two! Come and buy some!"

A new mobile stall had appeared on the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest today. A little girl was calling out as she sold something people had never seen before. It looked like a strange kind of fruit.

This was the task Ye Qing had given Xiao Wu: to make a sale. True knowledge came from practice. This sort of social practice contained many lessons—exchanging goods for currency, the principles of agreements, communication between people, guarding against potential danger, calculating numbers, and much more. Ye Qing believed that this one exchange would help Xiao Wu quickly accept much of human knowledge.

As for what she was selling, Ye Qing naturally provided it. He could have supplied medicinal herbs, grain, or other resources in high demand around here, but he thought that would have been too easy. After careful consideration, he chose tanghulu, a snack meant to add a little variety to daily life.

Tanghulu Ice Bamboo was an ingredient with a capture level of 0. The flowers produced after this bamboo bloomed made excellent candied tanghulu, and they carried a faint chill of their own. No matter how hot the weather was, the sugar coating would not melt before entering one's mouth, bringing a refreshing sensation.

As for the price, Ye Qing had set that as well. Xiao Wu could raise the price, but she could not lower it. Xiao Qing was not merely there to protect her; she was also the proctor for this trip. However, Ye Qing had set the price according to his own ingrained way of thinking. It was cheap for Spirit Masters and the wealthy, but not cheap at all for those at the bottom.

Three Copper Soul Coins were enough to buy a filling, inexpensive boxed meal. Cooking for oneself would be even cheaper. In other words, three Copper Soul Coins were roughly enough to cover an ordinary person's food for a day—just enough to eat their fill. Asking them to spend three Copper Soul Coins on a skewer of snacks was difficult for many people to accept.

(I think this price is still reasonable. In the original story, Xiao Wu could buy a filling boxed meal in the city for two Copper Soul Coins. Of course, that was discounted, and it was a little cheaper because Xiao Wu was a child. But by that calculation, five Copper Soul Coins would definitely be enough for an ordinary person to have a full meal. Although there is a gap of a hundred thousand years compared to the present, just assume that prices on the Douluo Continent are very stable and only doubled over a hundred thousand years.)

Furthermore, this place was at the edge of the forest. Wealthy families would not live in a place like this. As for Spirit Masters, those with high enough talent were still studying at academies while young. Most of the Spirit Masters here were simply trying to make a living, living lives that were practically spent licking blood from knife edges. In some people's eyes, they were merely higher-ranked mercenaries.

People like them did not save money. They usually lived one day at a time and never treated themselves poorly, but most of their spending went toward alcohol, tobacco, and brothels. They were rarely interested in things that children liked.

Thus, without meaning to, Ye Qing had assigned Xiao Wu a rather difficult problem. Although he had not required her to sell everything, he said he would decide her future arrangements based on how many she sold. Naturally, she wanted to sell them all.

Unfortunately, there were sixty tanghulu on this stalk of bamboo. After most of the day had passed, Xiao Wu had only sold three, earning nine Copper Soul Coins.

"Little girl, you won't sell many like that," said an old man selling fruit from a nearby stall.

"My fruit costs only one Copper Soul Coin per jin. You're charging three coins for one skewer with eight little fruits. Even if it has a layer of sugar on it, most people here can't bear to buy something that won't fill their stomachs. Half a day's walk that way is a small city. You might be able to sell them there."

"Then why don't you sell your fruit in the city?"

"I'm old. I can't walk that far. And entering the city costs ten Copper Soul Coins, which is about all I make in a day. It's not worth it, not worth it. Your clothes don't look like those of a poor family's child, so that's why I'm telling you this."

"Oh, thank you, but I can only sell here."

"Is that so? Then go somewhere closer to the forest. There are more Spirit Masters there. It would be even better if you happened to run into an academy team. Those are the people truly willing to spend money."

"Mm... Thank you, Grandpa. This is for you. I'll go try over there." After thinking it over, Xiao Wu still did not touch the only nine Copper Soul Coins in her arms. Instead, she took out two tanghulu and gave them to the old man before running in the direction he had pointed.

"Old man, since when have you started giving people advice? You're usually so stingy that you charge people just for asking directions. Why are you being so kind today?"

"I just think that girl looks like my granddaughter, so what? The little girl even left me two skewers of this tanghulu. That comes to five Copper Soul Coins."

"Give it a rest. She's much prettier than your granddaughter."

"My granddaughter just hasn't grown into her looks yet. Come talk when you manage to find yourself a wife." Amid the laughter of the people around them, the two returned to their own business. But as the old man looked at the bright red little fruits and the clear sugar syrup covering them, he picked one up and took a bite. The sweetness upon entering his mouth blended perfectly with the faint sourness that followed, along with that cool, refreshing feeling. After eating another, he could not bear to eat any more. He wanted to save them for his granddaughter. Such small snacks were rare treats in his household, a precious bit of variety. He felt certain that his granddaughter would like them.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wu followed the old man's suggestion and went over there. She did sell a little more than before. For Spirit Masters who received monthly subsidies from Spirit Hall, a few Copper Soul Coins truly meant little. However, only a few female Spirit Masters bought any. The middle-aged men showed little interest.

Xiao Wu's luck was not bad. She ran into a team from a small academy, but when she continued calling out, they asked her a very strange question.

"Selling tanghulu! Sweet and sour candied tanghulu! Three Copper Soul Coins for one, five Copper Soul Coins for two! Come and buy some!"

"Little girl, that's too expensive. How about you lower the price and I'll buy some?"

"No, I can't lower the price."

"You need to learn to be flexible. How about three for ten Copper Soul Coins?"

"Fine. How many do you want? I can sell you all of them."