44: Chapter 44 Huge Sum of Money, White and Soft

Hu Gualing walked onto the mud road outside the pig farm. Before even entering, he covered his nose in disgust and carefully watched out for the manure on the ground as he walked inside.

After walking for a while, he looked up and realized Tang Yao was outside the pigpens.

Holding a large iron ladle, she scooped thick pig feed from a bubbling cauldron nearby and poured it into a stone trough. The pigs gathered around the trough didn't care about the heat, jostling each other with their snouts to fight for the food. Once several stone troughs were filled with feed, she put down the ladle and stood with her arms crossed, observing the pigs smacking their lips as they ate, a happy smile appearing on her face.

Seeing a young girl so happy to be feeding pigs, Hu Gualing was a bit dumbfounded, but he involuntarily lowered the hand covering his nose and called out a greeting.

Hearing his voice, Tang Yao turned her head and asked happily, "It's you! Did you make the call?"

Hu Gualing said, "I did."

"What did my mom say? Did she have any words for you to bring to me?" Tang Yao asked excitedly, a hint of nervousness showing in her expression.

"Um..." Hu Gualing thought for a moment. If he told the truth, it would definitely make her sad.

Sigh!

Who told him he was such a kind-hearted and good person?

He would just tell a white lie then.

He said, "Your mom said she's doing well too. She told you not to worry and said that if possible, you should come back soon."

"Come back soon..." Tang Yao repeated softly. The excitement and happiness on her face vanished, and she said dejectedly, "Thank you."

"Hehe..." Hu Gualing laughed awkwardly.

He could see that Tang Yao definitely had something on her mind. Perhaps it was a conflict with her family, or perhaps it was her parents' emotional issues, or perhaps...

But regardless, it wasn't something he could manage.

Hu Gualing changed the subject. "By the way, is the Pig Keeper here? I have a quest for him."

"He is. I'll go call him for you," Tang Yao said, walking over to a nearby house and knocking on the door.

"What is it, what is it? Can't you just let me have a good sleep!" The short Pig Keeper shouted as he pushed open the door and walked out. Seeing that it was Tang Yao knocking, his expression softened slightly.

Hu Gualing immediately stepped forward. "Hello, I'm here to deliver sickles on behalf of Wang Dachui." As he spoke, he pulled four sickles out of his backpack.

The Pig Keeper's face lit up with a smile. As he reached out to take the sickles and inspect them, he said, "Blacksmith Wang was really fast this time. Not bad, not bad! These can be given to Heroine Tang..." Halfway through his sentence, his expression turned serious, and he looked Hu Gualing up and down suspiciously. "Were these sickles forged by you?"

Hu Gualing's heart tightened, and he put on an innocent face. "It wasn't me. I just happened to be passing by the Blacksmith Shop when I received a quest from Wang Dachui to help deliver some blades. As for who forged the sickles, I don't know."

Hearing this, the Pig Keeper sized him up a few more times and snorted twice. "That Wang Dachui is too unreliable. Who knows where he found such a useless apprentice to fool me with such trashy goods! I'll take them this time, but please tell him for me that if there's a next time, he'd better watch out or I'll take a bucket of pig manure and splash it on his door!" He handed the sickles to Tang Yao and slammed the door shut.

"Okay, okay, I'll definitely tell him," Hu Gualing agreed, nodding guiltily.

Tang Yao looked at the sickles for a while and asked curiously, "You already know how to forge equipment?"

"It was my first time practicing; the quality is very poor." Facing a player, Hu Gualing didn't deny it, but he was a bit embarrassed.

"Being able to forge finished equipment on your first try is already very impressive." Tang Yao put away the sickles and encouraged Hu Gualing very seriously.

Hu Gualing scratched his head awkwardly. Just as he lowered his hand and was about to leave, he suddenly noticed Tang Yao's clothes.

When they first met in the game, he had been attracted by Tang Yao's clothes because he could tell from the style and material that they were definitely very expensive.

But now he realized that besides being expensive, Tang Yao's clothes seemed to have something else unusual about them.

She stayed by the pigpens, boiling pig grass and feeding the pigs. Looking at her skillful operations, she must have been working here for a long time.

Yet the clothes on her body still looked brand new.

Then he looked at the shoes on her feet.

Hu Gualing's own straw sandals were already stained with some indescribable yellow, and that was even after he had carefully controlled his steps when walking in.

On the other hand, Tang Yao, who had been in the pig farm all along, had Cloud-Patterned Cloth Boots that were truly as white as clouds, without a single speck of mud to be seen.

"The set of equipment you're wearing..." Hu Gualing couldn't figure it out and frowned.

Tang Yao looked down and said understandingly, "You mean this 'clear water hibiscus' set? This is a Fashion Outfit from the Game Store."

"Fashion Outfit?" Hu Gualing was stunned.

He had opened the Game Store before and seen the descriptions saying that Fashion Outfits didn't add any attributes. After glancing at the prices that made him cry out that it was a robbery, he hadn't been interested in looking further.

He hadn't expected that someone would actually buy them.

Hu Gualing suppressed his inner surprise, opened the Game Store, and flipped to the fashion interface. He quickly found the [clear water hibiscus] set, which was the same style Tang Yao was wearing, and looked at the price.

Holy crap, 10 silver!

"Where did you get the money?" Hu Gualing couldn't help but ask.

"You mean the silver taels? Just exchange them with fantasy points. Also, working in the village allows you to save up a lot of money. You're helping out at the Blacksmith Shop, so you should have money too, right?"

Hearing Tang Yao's words, Hu Gualing's face darkened.

In his first two times entering the game, he had only obtained a total of 6 fantasy points. Even if he received a bit more fantasy points today, it still wouldn't be enough to pay back the 15 fantasy point debt.

As for working...

After plowing the fields on the back of an ox for a whole day, he had only received a quest reward of 2,700 copper.

After paying his medical expenses, he only had 900 copper left on him, not even 1 silver tael.

Now, as an apprentice in the Blacksmith Shop, Wang Dachui didn't pay him a single copper coin!

Then look at her—she buys a 10 silver tael Fashion Outfit just like that.

How could the gap between people be this large?

It was fine to have no money in reality.

But even in the game, he was still this poor...

Hu Gualing suddenly didn't know what to say.

But there was no need to speak; Tang Yao could see his mood through his expression and said, "If you're really short on money, I can lend you some, but I'll have to wait until I save enough to buy a house before I have extra to give you."

Hearing this, Hu Gualing couldn't help but smile. "How old are you, and you're already thinking about buying a house?" Just after saying it, he suddenly felt something was wrong, and his gaze gradually changed. "You're not... planning to buy a house in the game, are you?"

"Yeah, I'll buy it right here in the village." Tang Yao didn't think anything was wrong. She counted on her fingers and said seriously, "The Materials for the house aren't expensive, probably only about 10 silver taels. However, the land is a bit expensive; with a courtyard, it would cost 100 taels. Maybe I should buy one without a courtyard to live in first?..."

Hu Gualing listened with a trembling heart.

10 silver taels for Materials wasn't expensive? 100 silver taels for land was only considered a bit expensive?

Just how rich was Tang Yao?

And him? He only had 900 copper in his bag. Even if the merchant caravan came with Internal Skill manuals, he could only stare blankly.

Thinking of this, Hu Gualing's eyes darted around. Since Tang Yao was so rich, instead of letting her waste it on buying a house, why not trick her out of some silver to spend first and then repay her after he became successful?

Hu Gualing thought about it and nodded, feeling that was how it should be.

So he quickly began to instill correct game knowledge into Tang Yao:

"Wait, wait, wait! Why would you buy a house in a game? Even if you were going to buy one, it should be in a main city later—ptui ptui ptui! You shouldn't buy a house at all. Isn't it better to use that money to buy equipment or skill books?"

"Why buy equipment?" Tang Yao looked puzzled.

"To leave the village and kill monsters, of course!"

"Why kill monsters? I think it's quite nice just staying in the village, looking at the scenery and working, isn't it?"

"This..."

For a moment, Hu Gualing felt that all his game understanding was useless.

But for the sake of the silver, he could only rack his brain. Suddenly, he thought of something. "Then why did you buy the Fashion Outfit?"

"It looks good, and it's comfortable to wear," Tang Yao answered instinctively.

"Exactly!" Hu Gualing slapped his thigh happily. "The Fashion Outfit looks good, but don't you think it's missing something?"

"Missing what?"

"Missing a sword! Think about it, you're wearing this outfit and then you hold a sword—that appearance of Immortal Qi drifting about..."

"Oh, right." Tang Yao seemed to think Hu Gualing was right. She thought for a moment. "But the Game Store doesn't sell swords. Don't you know how to forge? Can I trouble you to help me forge a beautiful sword?"

"I can, I can, of course I can!" Seeing that Tang Yao had finally seen the light, Hu Gualing quickly agreed.

"Then the Materials and craftsmanship should be quite valuable, right? How many silver taels should I pay you?"

Hearing Tang Yao take the initiative to ask, Hu Gualing actually felt a bit embarrassed. He said thick-skinnedly, "When the sword is finished, you can give me what you think is right."

"That won't do. You have to give a deposit when pre-ordering things. How about this: I'll pay 10 silver taels first as the material cost." As Tang Yao spoke, she directly exchanged 10 silver taels and traded them to Hu Gualing.

Holding the silver, Hu Gualing was stunned for a moment.

Firstly, it was because it was his first time seeing so much silver, which secretly shocked him.

Secondly, he also felt a bit guilty in his heart.

Tang Yao watched Hu Gualing leave and smiled faintly.

She might not know how to play games, but she wasn't stupid. How could she not be clear about Hu Gualing's purpose?

But he was the first Immortal Master she had met in the game after all. If he wanted money, she would just give him some.

Anyway, fantasy points were being given out non-stop all day long; she wasn't particularly short on money.

...

At the same time, Chen Mo was also surprised for a moment.

Because 10 main god points had suddenly been credited to his account.

Where did this huge sum of money come from?

He looked and realized that Tang Yao had casually exchanged 10 fantasy points for silver in the Game Store.

This... was too generous!

Xiao Wan said with a beaming face, [Xiao Wan already saw that this player Tang Yao was extraordinary!]

[Xiao Wan was the one who welcomed her when she entered the game!]

[Xiao Wan knew back then that she would definitely achieve great things!]

Chen Mo: "...Give it a rest! You clearly looked down on her back then for not knowing how to play games!"

With this huge sum of money, it was already enough to recruit a third player.

With a wave of his hand, Chen Mo planted the spatial beacon for the third player.

---

Hu Gualing returned to the forging room. Looking at the 10 silver taels in his bag, he felt more and more uneasy.

He couldn't even forge a proper farm tool right now, yet he had tricked a girl into pre-ordering a sword from him.

And it had to be a beautiful sword.

The key was that the girl had even taken the initiative to pay 10 silver taels for material costs.

How precious was the currency in the Early Stage of the game?

Hu Gualing estimated that if this game had a few more players, it wouldn't be excessive to sell 1 silver tael for 1,000 yuan in cash, right?

Ding.

[Daily online time reached, obtained fantasy points +1]

As the last online reward was credited, Hu Gualing logged off with a heart full of guilt...

He woke up.

Hu Gualing felt himself buried in something very soft.

He rubbed his face against it; it was very comfortable.

He opened his eyes and looked.

So white.

In all his life, he had never seen such a white pillow!

White and soft.

He looked and realized that he was lying on a hospital bed with an IV drip in his hand.

Hu Gualing tilted his head and saw a somewhat familiar pair of sunglasses by the bed. His heart skipped a beat.

He slowly moved his gaze with extreme nervousness.

Sure enough, he saw Wu Yingying!

Wu Yingying was currently sitting nearby, her head tilted against the chair as she slept.

Her shoulder-length curly hair cascaded down, and the pleasant scent of shampoo drifted into Hu Gualing's nostrils.

Hu Gualing glanced at the window. The thick cotton curtains blocked the sunlight from outside, making him feel that all of this was quite unreal.

A very uncertain sense of satisfaction rose in his heart.

Wu Yingying suddenly moved. As if out of habit, she opened her eyes to look at the bed, rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, and immediately sat up from the chair, her tone carrying some excitement: "You're awake!"

Hu Gualing met Wu Yingying's beautiful eyes adorned with eyeliner and forgot to speak for a moment.

Wu Yingying seemed to remember something and quickly picked up her sunglasses to put them on.

However, Hu Gualing still noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

It looked like she hadn't slept much all night.

Hu Gualing couldn't help but say, "Miss Yingying, I'm fine now. You should go back and rest."

Wu Yingying shook her head. "You were injured to protect me. I'll stay here until your injury is healed. Besides, after what happened, I don't dare go to work at the factory for now."

"By the way, what was the deal with that group of people?" Hu Gualing asked, remembering the Black-Clad Man who had escaped.

Wu Yingying said, "Don't worry about that for now. Do you feel any better? Should I call a doctor to come take a look?"

Hu Gualing looked at his body.

No wonder he felt a bit chilly.

It turned out his upper body was bare, with only bandages wrapped around his back.

He then remembered that he had been injured before entering the game, which had caused him to lose too much blood and fall unconscious.

But modern medical conditions were truly top-notch.

Only one night had passed, yet he didn't even feel pain in his back anymore. It was likely he had almost fully recovered.

Thinking this, Hu Gualing reached out to touch the wound on his back, but Wu Yingying grabbed his hand: "Don't move! Just lie there and rest."

He had no choice but to place his hands obediently.

But he felt something was a bit off in his heart.

After thinking for a moment, he pulled out the IV drip from his hand and said, "I'm going to the bathroom."

Wu Yingying immediately stood up and held his hand. "Don't move, don't move. I'll help you there."

"..." Hu Gualing had never had the experience of being helped to the bathroom before, but he had something on his mind and didn't care too much, letting Wu Yingying support him into the bathroom.

"Take it slow, don't fall." Once he closed the door, Wu Yingying was still outside giving instructions.

Hu Gualing stood in front of the sink, took a deep breath while facing the mirror...