Chapter 25 (continued)
Lotus buds poked up among the green leaves, one after another. Once they bloomed, the pond would surely be filled with the fragrance of lotus flowers.
Qing Mengzhu untied the boat and rowed to the middle of the pond to check on the lotus leaves and flowers.
After examining them carefully, he concluded that the stalks were sturdy enough and the leaves dense enough to raise shrimp in the pond.
If he started now, the shrimp could eat the lotus leaves and stalks, which would also provide shade and shelter from predators. They should grow quite well.
With that in mind, Qing Mengzhu cut extra water spinach and sweet potato leaves. He also picked all the tomatoes, eggplants, yardlong beans, wax gourds and other vegetables ready for harvest, took them home and sold them all to the Interstellar Mall.
He had previously seen eggs for a type of marsh shrimp called Savage Marsh Shrimp in the Interstellar Mall. They cost 858 star coins per 100 grams, and his account balance was a little short, so he needed to scrape together more.
Fortunately, it was summer, and the vegetables were growing abundantly, so it wasn't difficult for him to gather the star coins.
Over the next two days, he picked as many marketable vegetables from the fields as he could and sold them to the Interstellar Mall. At last, he scraped together the 858 star coins.
To his surprise, when he checked the mall, the Savage Marsh Shrimp eggs had already been taken off the shelves.
It wasn't just the Savage Marsh Shrimp. There were no shrimp of any kind left in the mall, not even shrimp products like dried shrimp or shrimp meat.
It was as if he had imagined the product description he'd seen before.
Unwilling to give up, Qing Mengzhu tried different keywords and searched the mall again and again.
After two days of searching, he discovered to his disappointment that the marsh shrimp eggs really had been taken off the shelves. He couldn't find them anywhere.
Since the Interstellar Mall didn't have any, Qing Mengzhu had to ask around in the real world.
On WeChat, he asked Tan Wenlei's friend, the one who had sold him fish, about marsh shrimp fry.
The friend sent him a price list right away. It clearly listed marsh shrimp fry of various sizes and varieties. They were inexpensive, and their quality looked quite good too.
Unlike buying shrimp fry from the Interstellar Mall, he wouldn't have to hatch them himself afterward, with no guarantee of success.
Even so, Qing Mengzhu still felt dejected.
He had long wanted to buy marsh shrimp eggs from the Interstellar Mall. He had spent so long saving up star coins and waiting, only for the eggs to be taken off the shelves. He couldn't accept it.
Qing Mengzhu felt deeply disappointed and kept thinking about the Interstellar Mall's marsh shrimp eggs. He couldn't make up his mind to buy fry directly from Tan Wenlei's friend.
That evening, Ming Chunxi contacted Qing Mengzhu on WeChat: [Ms. Ming Lexin brought you a gift from her business trip. Shall I mail it to you tomorrow?]
Qing Mengzhu found it a little strange: [Why didn't Auntie contact me?]
Ming Chunxi: [Something came up at her company, and she just had to rush off to work overtime, so she asked me to send it.]
Qing Mengzhu replied: [Auntie really has it tough. Please thank her for me.]
As he spoke, Qing Mengzhu also opened Ming Lexin's WeChat chat and quickly typed out a message thanking her.
She was probably busy and didn't reply right away.
Qing Mengzhu chatted with Ming Chunxi for a while. Just as they were about to say good night, Qing Mengzhu suddenly stopped him: [Brother, can I ask you something?]
Ming Chunxi: [Go ahead.]
Qing Mengzhu gathered his thoughts: [Well, suppose an opportunity came your way and you didn't take it. Now you've missed it, and you don't know whether another will come along. Would you wait, or choose something else?]
After sending the question, Qing Mengzhu stared at the screen for several seconds, but no new message appeared.
He thought something had suddenly come up and Ming Chunxi had gone to take care of it, so he left the chat and browsed his Moments feed.
To his surprise, he had only just started scrolling when Ming Chunxi's message popped up: [I'd choose to wait a little longer.]
Qing Mengzhu wanted to wait a little longer too: [Why?]
Ming Chunxi: [If there was an opportunity before, there might be another one in the future. It would be a shame to give up just like that.]
Ming Chunxi: [I don't want to settle for second best.]
Qing Mengzhu typed with both hands: [Great minds think alike. Then I'll wait a little longer.]
After sending that, Qing Mengzhu grew curious: [Have you ever missed an opportunity?]
He found it hard to imagine that someone as favored by heaven as Ming Chunxi could ever miss out on anything.
Ming Chunxi: [Often.]
Qing Mengzhu: [I suspect you're lying to me. Aren't you supposed to be a master strategist whose plans never go wrong?]
Ming Chunxi replied, seemingly mocking himself: [How could a mere mortal's plans never go wrong? I'd be lucky just to have a slightly lower chance of making mistakes.]
Holding his phone, Qing Mengzhu asked about his life.
Ming Chunxi didn't mind and told Qing Mengzhu quite a few things about his past.
Qing Mengzhu chatted until his phone grew hot. Only when he was reminded did he realize how late it was, so they said good night, and he went inside to sleep.
Now that Qing Mengzhu knew the Interstellar Mall sold shrimp eggs, he really couldn't muster any interest in raising ordinary shrimp.
He checked the Interstellar Mall every day, trying to find the shrimp eggs again.
He still hadn't found them when, while browsing the Interstellar Mall one day, he saw its list of activities.
The Interstellar Mall always had activities, interactive ones like the watering and harvesting games run by e-commerce platforms in the real world. Users could accept and complete tasks, then exchange the points they accumulated for other items.
He had looked through them before and found that most tasks took a relatively long time and had to be claimed quickly. He wasn't very interested, so he had never done any.
That day, while browsing the task list, he came across a task to hatch a seed.
The Interstellar Mall explained that the seed was from a plant called the Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit. Whether it could be hatched depended on a person's constitution: some people could hatch it, while others couldn't.
It was the first time Qing Mengzhu had seen the Interstellar Mall use the word "hatch" to describe growing a seed, and he couldn't help being curious.
He clicked on it and read everything carefully. The activity turned out to be a paid task: he had to put down 500 star coins as a deposit, which wouldn't be refunded if he lost or damaged the seed during hatching.
But if he succeeded in hatching it, the mall would reward him with a premium Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit seed.
If he didn't want the reward offered by the mall, he could exchange it for another item of equal value. However, there was no guarantee that every item would be available for exchange; it depended on the mall's stock.
After reading that, Qing Mengzhu's gaze lingered on the words "exchange it for another item of equal value."
The Savage Marsh Shrimp eggs seemed to cost about the same. Should he try hatching the seed?
In any case, as long as he didn't lose or damage the seed and either hatched it or handed it in within the time limit, the mall wouldn't keep his deposit.
If he failed, he wouldn't lose much beyond some time and effort. If he succeeded, he might be able to get the Savage Marsh Shrimp eggs.
Having thought it through, Qing Mengzhu clicked to accept the task without hesitation.
The Interstellar Mall informed him that he was now a level-one user and could accept the task. It asked him to hatch or hand in the seed within the time limit.
Only after reading the instructions did Qing Mengzhu realize that his user level had risen from zero to one.
It must have happened in the past two days, after he sold so many vegetables to the Interstellar Mall that his total transaction value exceeded a thousand star coins.
No wonder he had come across a new activity in the activity center.
After he read the notice and clicked confirm, a light appeared from the Interstellar Mall, followed by a small packet that looked as though it was wrapped in paper.
Qing Mengzhu picked up the feather-light packet and opened it. Inside was a black seed the size of a chili seed, smooth and plump.
He examined it in his palm and held it under his nose for a sniff. He could smell the fresh scent of a plant.
Qing Mengzhu put the seed away safely, then went to his personal center to check the instructions for hatching the Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit seed.
The personal center didn't provide much information, saying only that it liked warmth and moisture and couldn't tolerate frost.
After carefully reading every word, he had no choice but to grow the seed according to his own understanding.
Before he started, he went into the courtyard and carefully pinched off a leaf from the Luring Grass.
The Luring Grass's leaves were only a little over an inch tall and still a tender yellow, not yet fully green. But Qing Mengzhu was in a hurry to grow the Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit and had no more time to wait, so he had to be ruthless with the grass and pinch off a leaf first.