Chapter 149: The Benefits of the Red Lotus Stronghold

""Brother Shen, have you finished picking?""

Shen Tu, that big lug, was squatting in front of the produce stall, looking like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar—completely absorbed, poking at this, squeezing that, so lost in his own world that he didn’t even notice the line of people behind him grumbling and urging him to hurry up. Seeing that Pei Yu and the others weren’t objecting, he grew even bolder, picking things up to weigh them in his hands, but still didn’t get up for ages, making the people behind him complain loudly.

Pei Yu was really running out of patience with this seemingly straightforward but actually fussy big guy. How could a grown man be so slow just buying some groceries?

Even Dou Xing, who was also from Red Lotus Stronghold, frowned when he saw this, and Xu Le covered his face with his hand in exasperation.

But Shen Tu himself seemed oblivious, treating the shouts from behind as if they were just air. He kept pointing at things on the stall, examining and asking about them, having the time of his life.

It wasn’t until Pei Yu called out that he finally stopped comparing the baby bok choy in his hands. Reluctantly, he put the slightly bigger one into the large wooden basket beside him and said, “I’m about done. Could this brother here help me tally up how much this is worth in energy credits? Did I go over a million?”

Seeing his honest face, Pei Yu’s irritation eased a little.

He opened the system calculator to help tally up the total.

Thirty apples at wholesale price came to 105,000 energy credits, 100 heads of bok choy at wholesale was 50,000, plus ten boxes of danmu soft candy for 5,000, and white radishes...

“That’s just over a million—1,004,360 energy credits in total.”

Shen Tu grinned, “Looks like my math was spot on. The stronghold will cover a million, and I’ll pay the 4,360 myself.”

His eyes sparkled as he called over to Dou Xing, who was watching, “Bring me a million energy credits! The boss said I could get them from you.”

Then he turned to Xu Le and laughed, “Hey kid, find a brother to help carry this basket back. There are spices and everything in here. Tonight, let’s have Peng Da cook for us. Didn’t he always say he was a mid-level chef before coming to Exile Star?”

“No problem!” Xu Le jumped up happily, squeezed through the crowd, and grabbed the big wooden basket with both hands, his eyes shining. “No need to call anyone else, Brother Tu. I can carry it myself.”

Shen Tu eyed his skinny arms and legs doubtfully, glanced around, but apart from Dou Xing—whose face was as sour as if someone owed him eight million—there were no other Red Lotus people around.

He clicked his tongue, “I’ll help you carry it. Wouldn’t want you to drop a million credits’ worth of goods.”

He told Xu Le to wait, then turned to pay the 4,360 credits himself, leaving Pei Yu to get the million from Dou Xing.

Pei Yu wasn’t worried about being stiffed—after all, Red Lotus was one of the three major powers in Chaos City, and everyone knew each other. There was no fear they wouldn’t pay, so he waved them off and told Yun He to go collect the money from Dou Xing.

Shen Tu was quite satisfied. Flexing his muscular arms, he and Xu Le lifted the wooden basket and headed out, drawing countless envious, curious, and hungry stares along the way.

Shen Tu and Xu Le ignored the gawking, holding their heads high. Hmph, the benefits at Red Lotus Stronghold were top-notch.

Outside the crowd, other Red Lotus members who hadn’t managed to squeeze in saw the two carrying out a basketful of goods and immediately perked up, rushing over.

“Brother Tu, is that really fresh fruit and vegetables in there?”

All these big guys couldn’t keep up their usual stern, intimidating expressions, craning their necks comically to peer into the basket.

Shen Tu raised his chin proudly. “Of course! I checked everything myself—absolutely no mistake.”

Xu Le nodded along, equally proud. “That’s right! With Brother Tu’s sharp eyes, who could fool him?”

The big guys’ eyes lit up, faces excited. “That’s awesome! I heard the stronghold bought these for us to eat. Does that mean we get to eat them tonight?”

Shen Tu chuckled, “You’ll get to eat them, don’t worry. The fruit can keep for a few days, but the veggies won’t last, so we’ll definitely have them tonight. Now, don’t block the way. Xu Le and I need to get these back to the stronghold.”

A few big guys grinned and tried to butter him up, “No way we’d let Brother Tu carry things himself. Let us do it.”

“Yeah, let us help!”

Shen Tu knew exactly what they were thinking and snorted, “I’ll do it myself. I even bought an apple for the boss—I have to deliver it personally. This is the first apple to appear in Chaos City, and only the boss deserves to eat it.”

Hearing that, the big guys looked disappointed but didn’t dare argue.

Someone took the chance to ask, “Brother Tu, are we still holding the ‘Bride of the Stronghold’ selection today? No one’s voting anymore.”

Shen Tu’s smile froze. Crap, he’d been so caught up in shopping that he’d forgotten all about it.

He glanced at the stage, where a dozen beautiful young women stood, each with their own charm, but none, in his eyes, could compare to Miss Yun, who had just sold him the apples.

He shook his head dismissively. “Isn’t Dou Xing in charge of that? Go ask him.”

“But the boss just gave an order—he told Brother Lou to take people north to hunt berserk beasts, and Dou Xing is one of Lou’s top men. He probably went with him,” a big guy guessed, scratching his head.

Shen Tu’s eyes lit up. “They went to hunt berserk beasts? When?”

“The boss said it was urgent and told Brother Lou to head out this afternoon.”

Shen Tu broke into a huge grin, unable to hide his delight. “Great, great! This afternoon is perfect. Dou Xing always acts so capable—let’s see him put those skills to use and bag a few more berserk beasts.”

“As for the ‘Bride of the Stronghold’ selection…” He glanced at the stage. “You guys keep an eye on things. I’ll go ask the boss if we’re still doing it.”

“Alright, we’ll do whatever you say, Brother Tu.”

Humming a little tune, Shen Tu carried the precious wooden basket back toward Red Lotus Stronghold, his face beaming with joy the whole way.

Dou Xing had to spend money but didn’t get to eat anything—now that made Shen Tu really happy.

Outside the bustling crowd, the girls on the selection stage whispered to each other, guessing excitedly that maybe they’d get some of the fruit and vegetables too. They were debating whether to ask the fierce Red Lotus guards about it when Dou Xing, empty-handed and scowling, squeezed out of the crowd.

With a rebellious look on his face, he glanced around irritably and asked, “Where’s that Shen Tu guy?”"