A tall, rather ordinary-looking man beside her said, "Feifei, didn't I put in some bits of meat? The weather's been abnormal lately. We can't eat all the meat at once. If you come over often, I'll cook for you every day and put meat in it. Or, if you agree to marry me, I promise I'll put in a whole strip of jerky on our wedding day."
The girl named Feifei was a little dissatisfied. Yesterday, he had clearly promised to put jerky in the meal, but when it was time to eat, there had only been four tiny bits of meat in her bowl.
"Tch, they say everyone living in this complex is rich, but you don't seem all that rich. I wonder where that smell of meat came from last night. I've never smelled meat that good before. If only I could marry someone like that." Remembering the smell of meat that had drifted in through the window last night, Feifei nearly drooled. At the thought, she made sure to mock the man to his face.
The young man beside her pressed his lips together. There were plenty of rich people around. He had to admit that he, too, had never smelled meat like that before last night. It had vanished in a brief instant. He was certain that person lived in this building too, but he had no idea which apartment. Seeing his girlfriend starting to look down on him, he felt uncomfortable and hurried to coax her. "Feifei, don't be angry. Next time-next time you come over, I'll definitely put in jerky, all right?"
Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Sang Luoluo was the first to leave in her wheelchair. She had stayed silent in the elevator, feeling a little guilty. Last night, she had only opened the window briefly while the rain was light, and they had noticed?
Did they all have dogs' noses?
She told herself she would have to be careful when eating at home next time.
In just ten minutes, Sang Luoluo drove her wheelchair to the meeting point. She waited less than ten minutes before He Fei arrived, driving a battered old car that looked ready for the scrapyard at any moment.
Sang Luoluo thought the car looked modified and asked, "Where did you buy this car?"
He Fei got out and helped push her into the passenger seat, explaining, "I rented it from a friend who does repairs. Twenty points a day, fuel not included."
Then he added a reminder. "Those twenty points have to come out of the mission payment."
Sang Luoluo nodded.
It was only twenty points. Nothing much.
Sitting in the car, Sang Luoluo took out a cup of Spirit Spring water and gulped it down. She had eaten a few too many side dishes that morning and was thirsty now. Besides, drinking more Spirit Spring water had its benefits: it improved her complexion and nourished her body. She had discovered these effects before transmigrating. Her family drank the water every day, hardly ever got sick, and were very healthy.
Once Sang Luoluo had drunk her fill, she asked, "What's the mission this time?"
While driving, He Fei tapped his wristwatch a few times. "I've sent it to you. Take a look."
Sang Luoluo put her cup away and read through it carefully. It turned out to be a timber-moving job. Having heard that the Guard had a spatial ability user, the owner wanted to save some money and offered them 150 points. If they pulled off this job, they could build a reputation and have an easier time getting odd jobs in the future.
Besides, hiring them would save the owner loading and transportation costs. Fuel was outrageously expensive, and even using electricity cost a lot, so he might as well try out what a spatial ability user could do.
Sang Luoluo did not particularly mind. It was just storing and retrieving things. It should not be too difficult. If they were quick, they could finish in a morning.
Half an hour later, they arrived at a lumber mill. Huge logs were piled everywhere. Sang Luoluo recognized them at a glance. Such trees were common in the wild. Mutated plants grew unusually tall, making timber easy to obtain, but wooden furniture was not cheap at all. First, custom production required labor. Second, felling and transporting enormous trees were both problems. The dangers of the wilderness went without saying, and if the tree being felled happened to house a mutated animal's nest, a fight would be unavoidable.
He Fei went ahead to contact the owner, and Sang Luoluo followed in her wheelchair. She had to admit, the smart wheelchair was quite convenient. Before she transmigrated, commuting in wheelchairs had become popular. Now that she was using one herself, she felt quite comfortable with it.
Her lower leg, encased in a cast, rested up on the footplate as she waited for the next arrangements.
The owner was a small, thin middle-aged man, full of energy and finely dressed. At a glance, he was clearly an upper-class man with no shortage of points. He gestured as he talked with He Fei, who listened beside him and nodded repeatedly.
After a while, He Fei came over and took the initiative to push Sang Luoluo toward a small mountain of enormous logs. "Our job is to store these logs and deliver them to the processing workshops over there, placing them in their designated spots one by one."
Sang Luoluo pointed at the small mountain before her and asked, "Just these?"
He Fei shook his head and pointed at several even larger mountains behind it. "Those too."
Sang Luoluo had her doubts. Was the job He Fei had accepted really this complicated? She had thought it would be simple.
Since they had already accepted it, they could only grit their teeth and do it.
Sang Luoluo touched the small mountain before her and stored all of it in her space, then headed for the next one. Watching from a distance, the owner was astonished. He hurried over and stood beside her to watch closely.
Sang Luoluo took a precaution, keeping her wristwatch taking pictures. The quantity of timber was right there, so she made sure there were no problems. Otherwise, if he tried to blame her afterward, she would have no way to clear things up.
Watching beside her, the owner was both astonished and envious. "As expected of an evolved human. Your space can actually hold so much!"
Naturally, Sang Luoluo could not tell the truth. She merely said mildly, "It can only hold about fifteen truckloads."
"How many? Fifteen? That's quite a lot. Well, my name's Li Fei. Let's get acquainted. If I have similar work in the future, I can come to you again."
He Fei was just about to agree when Sang Luoluo quickly spoke first. "We'll see. Our Guard is very busy. When I have time, I come out to do a few missions for pocket money."
He Fei was about to speak, but Sang Luoluo signaled for him to stay quiet. Only now did she see that He Fei really would take any work that came along, without being picky at all. This owner had him completely under his thumb.
"Of course. How about this? Once you two finish working, I've prepared some food for you. Please take your time and enjoy it then," the owner, Li Fei, said with a smile. This person had a powerful ability. She could single-handedly handle work that usually gave him such a headache.
"Boss, come take a look! A worker's been hit by a log!"
"Coming!" Li Fei answered reluctantly and hurried over. An injured worker was no small matter. He would have to pay the medical expenses too.
Once he was gone, He Fei asked, "Why wouldn't you let me speak just now? He was so rude to me earlier, but the moment he saw your ability, his attitude changed completely. Hmph."
Sang Luoluo said, "Didn't you notice? She wants to keep hiring us long-term."
He Fei said, "Isn't that a good thing? We should agree right away so we'll have work in the future."
Sang Luoluo explained, "Don't agree so quickly. It makes our labor look cheap. He's getting a great deal by hiring us. If we don't do a mission every so often, he'll feel it's hard to hire us, and the price of future missions might even go up."
He Fei had only just grasped Sang Luoluo's meaning and was admiring her quick thinking-he had only been thinking about taking any work that earned points-when she added, "Sigh, we're cheap and useful."
He Fei said, "..."
After storing two small mountains of timber, Sang Luoluo said her space was nearly full. He Fei pushed her to the workshops. Processing was going on everywhere, and wood shavings drifted all around. Sang Luoluo pulled out a mask and put it on, then gave one to He Fei.
He Fei said, "Boss Li wants one log at each workstation, laid in this direction."
He Fei pushed Sang Luoluo through one workshop after another. At each spot, she set down a log, recording video the whole time.
When He Fei noticed, he quietly gave her a thumbs-up.
Then they went back to collect the other small mountains. The two of them worked until nine that evening before they finished, only stopping at noon to drink some nutrient solution.
Boss Li was very satisfied with their work and said outright that he hoped they could work together again.
He promptly paid the 150 points, then took them to dinner.
Dinner consisted of a plate of dried bugs with moderate radiation levels, a plate of bright green stir-fried leaves that Sang Luoluo could not identify, and thin congee made with nutrient solution.
He Fei was very pleased. "Wow, Boss Li, you're so generous."
Looking at the food on the table, Sang Luoluo first took a picture and sent it to her older brother, Sang Yunpu, with a message: [Just finished work. The boss is treating us to dinner!]
[Peace sign.jpg]
Sang Yunpu was in the base hospital and had just finished dinner. Half a potato mixed with potatoes had tasted delicious to him. The soft, fluffy potato combined with grape-flavored nutrient solution was a delicacy he had never tasted before.
When Sang Yunpu saw the message, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he reminded her: [Eat plenty. Message me when you get home tonight.]
Beep, beep!
His wristwatch sounded. Sang Luoluo had transferred him 65 points and left a message: [Brother, these are the points I earned today.]
Sang Yunpu put them away carefully. Once he had a prosthetic leg, he could take his younger sister along to do transportation work inside the base. Supporting the two of them would not be a problem. At the thought, he felt there was a great deal to look forward to in their future life.
Sang Luoluo picked up her chopsticks and ate two stalks of greens. They really did taste mediocre, with a coarse, fibrous texture. After swallowing them, she no longer wanted to use her chopsticks.
He Fei urged her, "Go on, eat."
Chapter 31: The base laboratory: Dr. Wang, a five-star classified mission...
Sang Luoluo nodded. "Mm, you eat too."
Sang Luoluo slowly took a couple of sips of her untouched nutrient-solution rice soup. Rather than eat the bugs, she ate two more stalks of greens, while He Fei swept through the plate of bugs like a whirlwind. Only afterward did he notice that Sang Luoluo did not seem to have eaten much, and he said a little sheepishly, "Sorry, I ate too much."
Sang Luoluo shook her head, poured her nearly untouched nutrient-solution rice soup into an empty bowl, and put it in the time-frozen section of her space. She said casually, "I'm not hungry yet. I'll take it home to eat."