Chapter 159: Mr. Kui Hai

The old ladies and gentlemen immediately burst into laughter at his words, pulling Zhong Qiu aside to shower him with more words of concern and care.

Grandma Cuihua had no choice but to put down her big broom, secretly planning to find out who had bullied Xiao Qiu so she could deal with them herself. Hmph, even though she was old now, back in her youth she was the prettiest girl on her street in Chaos City, known as “Sister Cuihua,” a real boss lady. She was especially skilled at taking care of troublemakers without anyone knowing who did it.

After coaxing the group of elderly “kids,” Zhong Qiu beamed and tried to persuade them to eat some candy.

But the old folks couldn’t bear to eat it themselves. Each of their wrinkled faces was filled with reluctance as they clutched the candy, wanting to take it home for their grandchildren.

Seeing their hesitation, Zhong Qiu patted his chest and promised, “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of candy. If we eat it this time, we can buy more next time. I’ve awakened my ability now, so I can go on missions with Big Brother and earn energy coins to support everyone.”

As soon as he said this, the old ladies burst out laughing, “Xiao Qiu, you’d better learn to farm with us. You don’t even know how to use your ability yet!”

Zhong Qiu’s fair face flushed red. “I—I’ll learn soon! And if I can’t, I’ll take my little suona and perform on the streets.”

“Eww—” As soon as he said that, there was a chorus of groans.

Just a few days ago, Xiao Qiu had been practicing his suona in the camp, and the sound was so loud it nearly gave them all heart attacks. How could he possibly earn energy coins with that?

They didn’t believe it for a second.

But not wanting to hurt the young man’s confidence, they didn’t say it out loud. Instead, one mumbled something about the fields out back almost being ready for planting, and another mentioned the fruit was about to ripen, trying to change the subject.

But the topic shift wasn’t very smooth, and Zhong Qiu noticed. His face fell, and he drooped his head in disappointment, looking completely deflated.

To cheer him up, the old folks reluctantly performed an “eating candy in public” show for him.

One by one, their wrinkled faces were filled with shock as they tasted the candy—so sweet!

A few of Zhong Qiu’s young friends behind him gave him a thumbs-up. He really knew how to get things done.

“Hehe.” Zhong Qiu immediately perked up again, grinning foolishly.

Beneath that silly, sweet exterior, there was actually a hint of cleverness and cunning.

Watching Zhong Qiu being the center of attention in the crowd, and seeing the harmonious scene at the Longteng camp, Yun Qimu was deeply moved.

According to Pei Yu, Chaos City was the most chaotic of the three major cities on Exile Star—full of arson, murder, robbery, scams, bullying, and power struggles. Here, survival had swallowed up all morality and conscience; people would do anything just to stay alive.

Yet the Longteng camp seemed like a pure land in the midst of this noisy, sinful city.

It was cleaner than anywhere else.

As Yun Qimu watched, her eyes unconsciously curved into a smile, her gaze softening.

She turned to Wu Xingyu, who was standing beside her. “I think our Earth Village could really use another batch of honest, kind villagers. What do you think?”

Wu Xingyu glanced at her coolly. Though his beautiful face was still expressionless, he seemed a bit listless.

Even his voice was lazy. “You’re the village chief, you decide.”

Yun Qimu clicked her tongue. She’d forgotten—when it came to business matters, it was right to consult him, but village affairs were really none of his concern.

She muttered to herself, “Then it’s settled. Anyway, leaving them outside won’t do us any good. Better to bring them to our village so they can shine.”

“They all know how to farm, too. Judging by this sales event, fruits and vegetables are the most profitable. We should really focus on that, and right now, what our village lacks most are people who know how to farm.”

Wu Xingyu, with his sharp ears, heard her words.

He agreed. After this experience, it was clear that fruits and vegetables were the hottest sellers. If they didn’t have farming talent, he’d have to persuade his uncle to put aside his orchid research and go farm instead. But now, with farming experts available, there was no need to bother his uncle.

Wu Xingyu thought, feeling quite virtuous.

Meanwhile, in Earth Village, Mo Xie was reluctantly carrying three pots of orchids toward the “Louwailou” building when he suddenly felt a chill.

Suspicious, he looked up and glanced around, then quickened his pace toward the building.

Sigh, he wondered how his nephew’s orchid sales were going. He’d already made some progress in his research on Mo Lan, but he still needed energy coins to buy plant nutrient solution!

Unaware that his orchids weren’t selling, Mo Xie was still fantasizing about getting a big pile of energy coins when Wu Xingyu returned.

Not far away, Mr. Kui Hai’s ears twitched. He was holding a red gummy candy, no bigger than a fingernail, between his fingers. A thoughtful look flashed in his deep blue eyes.

What kind of place was Earth Village?

He raised an eyebrow, his gentle, smiling face betraying nothing, then quietly walked a bit farther away and pulled aside a young man who had just gotten his share of candy to inquire about Yun Qimu and her companions.

When he heard that they could bring out large quantities of fruits and vegetables for sale, his expression turned to shock.

No one knew this Exile Star, this Chaos City, better than he did. The planet had already been corroded by dark matter and was doomed to collapse sooner or later. How could it possibly produce such high-quality fruits and vegetables?

Even the crops and fruit they grew in their own camp were only possible because he’d gone to great lengths to find the most resilient strains.

Now, these five people had suddenly appeared with a huge batch of produce that rivaled even the elves’—could they be the turning point foretold in the prophecy?

Kui Hai pondered, a glimmer of light appearing deep in his blue eyes.

He then walked over to Yun Qimu and the others, gave a noble’s salute, and said with a warm smile, “You saved Xiao Qiu, so you are honored guests of Longteng. Since Zhong Teng isn’t at the camp right now, allow me to thank you on his behalf and welcome you to stay with us at Longteng.”

Yun Qimu returned the noble’s salute with a bright smile. “You’re too kind, sir. It was just a small favor.”

“Hahaha, Miss Yun, you’re too modest. Given the situation at the time, if you hadn’t stepped in, Xiao Qiu would have been in grave danger. The people from Bloodthirst wouldn’t have shown him any mercy once they had the chance.”

Kui Hai knew very well that Bloodthirst was not a benevolent group. Among the three major powers of Chaos City, only Bloodthirst would stop at nothing for profit. Kui Hu was even more of a bloodthirsty mad dog—if Xiao Qiu had fallen into his hands, he’d have been doomed.

Those simple-minded guys from Bull Gang didn’t understand the complicated relationships at play and could laugh it off as a mere accident, but Kui Hai knew this was definitely Lin Qiu’s move to seize the city lord’s seat and a key step in targeting Longteng.

If Zhong Qiu hadn’t escaped this time, it would have put Zhong Teng in an impossible situation and ultimately brought disaster upon Longteng."