272: I won't sell you my cabbage.

Outside the 155 Fortress, the Su Family.

"Sanming, what are you planning to do next? Our Mall has some job openings recently, do you want to give it a try?"

When Father Su came to talk to Zhuang Sanming, he was sweeping the living room.

"That sounds good."

Zhuang Sanming emptied the trash into the bin and then replaced it with a new trash bag.

He was as meticulous as ever when doing housework.

But precisely because of this, Father Su felt even more strongly that Zhuang Sanming shouldn't be confined by such trivial matters.

"The Mall recently had an opening for a salesperson who needs to be responsible for selling rare ores every weekend. The pay is good, and you meet the recruitment conditions. If you agree, I'll sign you up."

"Okay, please sign me up, thank you, Uncle." Zhuang Sanming agreed without hesitation.

The Alchemy Hall... it was, after all, not a place for someone like him.

Father Su seemed to know his thoughts and comforted him, saying, "This position is also very good. Although it can't compare to the Alchemy Hall, it's very mysterious. I heard that everyone who worked in this position before was eventually promoted to work for the Chairman."

"Promoted to the Chairman?"

What Father Su said successfully caught Zhuang Sanming's attention.

The Guild Chairman was very distant to them. Everyone in the guild knew there was a Chairman, but very few people had actually met him.

Was the Chairman a single person, a team, or... was there no Chairman at all?

There were many speculations, but they didn't know the specifics.

If he could be promoted to work by the Chairman's side, his future would definitely be better than working as an employee in the Alchemy Hall and eventually becoming a manager's secretary.

It's just... Zhuang Sanming actually preferred the Axe Gang.

But he couldn't go there.

"Alright, then I'll sign you up." Father Su finished speaking and left.

Mother Su's mental state hadn't been very good recently, and he had been staying by her side.

Both of them had requested three days of bereavement leave from the Mall.

In the evening, Zhuang Sanming prepared to go to the market to buy groceries.

Soon after leaving the house, he saw several neighbors sitting under a tree, enjoying the cool air.

Initially, he didn't pay attention, but as he walked, he noticed something was off.

Because those people were sitting there perfectly fine, but as soon as they saw him pass by, they quickly picked up their stools and left.

Zhuang Sanming frowned slightly, puzzled.

He continued walking and saw Aunt Li, who often visited the Su Family, and politely greeted her, "Aunt Li, good evening. Are you..."

Before he could finish, he saw Aunt Li look as if she had lost her soul, shaking her head frantically, then turning and running away with swift steps.

Zhuang Sanming: ?

He didn't quite understand why this was happening.

Never mind, he should hurry and buy groceries, or he wouldn't make it back in time for dinner.

At the market, Zhuang Sanming saw someone selling cabbage and went to ask, "How much is the cabbage?"

"Two catties for one low-grade spirit stone..." The cabbage vendor spoke before seeing who was asking, but when he looked up halfway through and realized it was Zhuang Sanming, he immediately said, "Not selling anymore, my cabbage is not for sale anymore. Go buy from another stall."

Zhuang Sanming frowned tightly and asked, "Why?"

He had already noticed something was wrong. One or two people would be fine, but this was the third time.

Along the way, everyone he knew saw him and quickly left their spots without even a greeting, as if he were some kind of monster.

He often came to the market to buy groceries, and this cabbage vendor also knew him.

Normally, there was never any issue; it was just buying groceries, a transaction of money for goods. Sometimes, if he came late and the vegetables weren't fresh, the vendor would even give him a discount.

But what was going on today?

Other things aside, why wouldn't he even sell him cabbage??

How was he going to cook for Father Su and Mother Su when he went back?

"No reason, I just won't sell it anymore. I'm closing up my stall, okay?" The vendor seemed to just want him to leave quickly, even if it meant not selling all the cabbage tonight, he still wanted to pack up and go.

Zhuang Sanming had no choice but to go to another stall to buy radishes.

"Vendor, this..."

Before he could even ask, the radish vendor suddenly jumped in fright, then pounced to cover his stall with his body, saying, "The radishes are all sold out, go buy somewhere else!"

"But you clearly still have so many." Zhuang Sanming wasn't blind.

"Anyway, don't buy from me, I won't sell to you."

"Hey, why are you like this? I just want to buy a few radishes." Zhuang Sanming argued reasonably.

"I don't care, I'm not selling anymore, I'm closing my stall right now."

"You..."

Zhuang Sanming was very helpless. The key was that he had no idea why all these vendors were targeting him.

Just then, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder from the side and said, "Hey, Brother Sanming, what a coincidence."

Zhuang Sanming looked back and saw it was Xiao Shen.

"Oh, it's you. I came here to buy groceries." Zhuang Sanming raised the empty grocery basket in his hand.

He couldn't help but sigh.

"What vegetables do you want to buy? I'll help you." Xiao Shen took his grocery basket and said cheerfully.

Zhuang Sanming knew that if it were just him, he probably wouldn't be able to buy any vegetables today, so he accepted Xiao Shen's help and told him what vegetables he wanted to buy, also giving him the spirit stones.

"Okay, go wait for me at Old He's place for a bit, I'll be back very soon."

Xiao Shen pointed the way for Zhuang Sanming, then carried the grocery basket to buy vegetables.

Zhuang Sanming nodded and followed Xiao Shen's directions to find Old He.

"Hello, Old He, I'm Xiao Shen's friend. He told me to come find you." Zhuang Sanming was very well-behaved and greeted Old He first.

However, he found it strange. He had occasionally encountered this Old He, who set up a stall here to collect beast crystals, when he used to come buy groceries, but he had never really paid attention.

Did he actually have a connection with Xiao Shen?

"Hmm, sit down."

Old He pointed to the bench beside him with the palm-leaf fan in his hand. That was brought by Xiao Shen. Xiao Shen would often come here to help him watch the stall when he had nothing to do, and the two of them really looked like grandfather and grandson.

"Thank you." Zhuang Sanming nodded and sat down.

"Son, I've heard about you from that boy Xiao Shen. You have courage and you're smart, much stronger than that boy."

Old He said with a smile.

"Ah? No, I'm not... Brother Xiao is stronger than me, I'm not good enough." Zhuang Sanming quickly shook his head.

His temperament had indeed changed these past two days; he was no longer as sharp as before.