90: This is the surprise.

【Ding!】

【Today's Intelligence (Level 2): At the New Yangcheng Bird, Fish, and Insect Market, inside Fenfen Floral Shop, there is an unbloomed mutant rose for sale this afternoon. After blooming, this rose will display three colors with solid-colored petals as a transition. If you can contact a research institution like the Agricultural Science Institute, it is expected to sell for 60,000 yuan.】

【This intelligence has successfully triggered a hidden easter egg (Attribute Reward): After purchasing the mutant rose, the Host can receive a +1 Physique attribute reward.】

The hidden easter egg is here!

"A +1 Physique attribute reward?"

Ye Su had read plenty of novels and instantly understood that this reward could help him improve his Physique.

"Good stuff!"

He had originally thought the surprise from the "hidden easter egg" would be money, antiques, or some other valuable item. He hadn't expected the surprise given by Brother System to be even more precious than material goods—something you couldn't buy even with money.

"So this is the real damn surprise!"

Besides making money, Ye Su now had another motivation to complete the intelligence content.

After understanding what the surprise was, Ye Su finally turned his attention back to the intelligence itself.

"A pot of mutant tricolor roses, sell it to a research institution, and it can fetch 60,000 yuan?"

Ye Su didn't understand what kind of mutant rose could sell for 60,000 yuan a pot, but since the system gave a quote of 60,000 yuan, it definitely wouldn't be wrong.

The only trouble was finding a way to contact a research institution that would purchase it.

As for that pot of mutant roses, Ye Su naturally already considered it his own.

"Use 'Sleep Aid Service'."

After confirming the intelligence content, Ye Su couldn't wait to spend 99 yuan to use his first "Sleep Aid Service" on himself.

【Deduction successful】

The system prompt sounded, and Ye Su immediately felt his eyelids growing heavier.

Almost the moment he closed his eyes, Ye Su entered a state of deep sleep, and his breathing became exceptionally calm.

...

"Ah—"

Waking up in the morning, Ye Su stretched.

Feeling refreshed and comfortable all over, Ye Su couldn't help but let out a blissful groan.

"This 99 yuan was well spent!"

Thanks to the over seven hours of deep sleep last night, Ye Su was energetic throughout the entire day, and his mind felt much sharper.

The "Data Structures and Algorithms" class he had previously listened to in a daze now made perfect sense, and he understood exactly what the teacher was talking about.

He didn't even need a nap at noon. By 2 PM, Ye Su had arrived at the New Yangcheng Bird, Fish, and Insect Market.

As the largest wholesale distribution center for ornamental birds in South China, the entire market covered an area of 100,000 square meters and was divided into multiple zones such as aquatics and birds based on product type.

Walking and asking around, Ye Su soon found the gardening and horticulture zone where the floral shops were located.

After wandering around inside for a while, Ye Su finally found the flower shop with the "Fenfen Floral" sign. At this moment, a middle-aged proprietress in the shop was taking her phone off a tripod.

Seeing Ye Su arrive, the proprietress greeted him enthusiastically: "Handsome guy, buying flowers?"

"Yes, I want to buy a pot of flowers to take home and grow."

"Roses!"

Ye Su forced himself to swallow the "maybe" he was about to add.

"That whole section is roses, both blooming and unbloomed ones. Take a look and see which one you want."

After saying this, the proprietress went about moving her tripod, fill light, and other tools to the corner.

Among the dazzling array of various flowers, Ye Su couldn't identify which ones were roses at all, but without the proprietress's reminder, Ye Su found his target.

It was a red rose planted in a plastic pot that hadn't bloomed yet.

"Proprietress, I'll take this one. I'll buy it and grow it until it blooms."

"Okay."

After putting away her tools, the proprietress agreed and was about to help Ye Su pack up the flower.

But after seeing the direction Ye Su was pointing, the proprietress was stunned: "You want this pot of flowers?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"I'm sorry, Handsome guy, but when I was livestreaming just now, I already sold this pot of flowers."

"Ah!" Ye Su was instantly dumbfounded.

How did someone manage to snatch it out from under me!

On the way over, Ye Su had indeed seen many shops livestreaming, but he hadn't paid it any mind.

Who would have thought that the mutant rose he thought was already in the bag would actually be sold by the diligent proprietress in a livestream!

"How about you pick another one? They're all about the same anyway."

Pick another one my ass!

"This is my first time buying flowers, and I took a shine to this one right away. Why don't you let me have this one and send the other person a different one instead?"

The proprietress refused righteously: "Handsome guy, that won't do. The customer saw exactly this pot in the livestream. If I swap it out for someone else, wouldn't that be deceiving the consumer?"

"Oh, didn't you just say that these flowers all look about the same? The phone screen is so small, how could the customer in the livestream tell the difference?"

"No, we business people value integrity above all else."

"But I really like this pot of flowers." Ye Su looked full of regret, then continued: "Isn't this flower pot marked at 39.9 yuan? How about I pay 50 yuan, and you just sell it to me."

Being able to rent a shop in the New Yangcheng Bird, Fish, and Insect Market, the proprietress wasn't so easily swayed to sell the flower just because Ye Su added ten yuan.

Compared to making an extra ten yuan, the proprietress was more curious about why the young man in front of her was so fixated on a single pot of flowers.

"Sister, selling it to anyone is the same, and if you sell it to me, you make an extra ten yuan. See how good that is."

The proprietress was just about to ask Ye Su why he was so fixated on this rose, but before she could get the words out, she was stunned by Ye Su calling her "Sister."

"What sister? At my age, I could be your mother."

"Not necessarily, my mom is fifty this year."

"I'm already fifty-two. You tell me if it's necessary."

"Fifty-two!" Ye Su appropriately feigned a bit of surprise: "I'm sorry, Auntie, I was mistaken."

"It's fine."

Having her age mistaken, and for a younger age at that, the proprietress said "It's fine" with her mouth, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Auntie, just sell me this flower, or do I need to add another ten yuan?"

"Sigh, fine, fine." The proprietress said helplessly: "I'll sell it to you for fifty."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Ye Su pulled out his phone and scanned the code to pay in one smooth motion.

The proprietress also took out some plastic wrap and wrapped it around the pot a few times to prevent the soil inside from spilling out.

"Handsome guy, do you want to buy anything else?"

"I'll just buy this one for now. I'll take it back and grow it for a few days to see. If it survives, I'll come back to you to buy more."

"Alright."

As he picked up the flower pot, a system prompt sounded in Ye Su's mind.

【Congratulations to the Host for successfully purchasing the target item "Mutant Rose", receiving a +1 Physique reward. Do you wish to claim it?】

After walking out of the shop, Ye Su silently thought to himself: "Yes!"

【Claim successful】

At the same time the prompt sounded, Ye Su felt a warm current at his dantian instantly surge throughout his entire body, making him feel as comfortable as if he had taken a hot bath.

Having already been refreshed from using the "Sleep Aid Service" in the early morning, and now with an additional point of "Physique," Ye Su felt completely relaxed and at ease.