Secondary reinforcement
In the afternoon.
Han Duoduo returned from school, and Chu Xuan fed her once again, applying another BUFF.
"What is this?"
Looking at the orange-skinned, yellow-hearted century egg, even this little foodie was a bit confused.
"Century egg!"
He had signed in for a crate of them earlier, and they tasted pretty good.
Then, Chu Xuan explained how they were made.
After listening, Han Duoduo took a bite out of curiosity, and her eyes immediately lit up.
"So delicious!"
"..."
Some people ate century eggs the same way some people couldn't get used to fish mint.
But the person in front of him was a total little foodie.
To her, anything edible was delicious.
Han Duoduo chewed slowly in small bites, looking very cute, like a hamster.
It was a brand-new stimulation for her taste buds.
Seeing her finish eating, Chu Xuan gave her two more, intended for Liu Qi and Han Ziang.
He wanted to test the exact probability of the feeding trigger for the three of them.
For the past week, he had only given extra meals to Han Duoduo, and the trigger probability for the extra reward seemed to be about half, but there was still a lack of sufficient data.
Yesterday, he had given apples to all three, which triggered the probability.
But a single data point clearly lacked reference value.
He needed to test it several more times, at least ten, for the data to be valid.
If he could increase it to one hundred percent, that would be awesome!
Looking at the human-shaped BUFF in front of him, Chu Xuan couldn't help but smile, his thoughts drifting to a good life where he won prizes every day.
"???"
Seeing Chu Xuan's gaze, Han Duoduo couldn't help but feel shy.
Why was Brother Xuan looking at her like that? Could it be...
...
That night, just after midnight, it became New Year's Eve.
"Sign in!"
[Ding! Sign-in successful!]
[Congratulations on obtaining five jin of fresh beef!]
[Extra reward: Level One Genetic Enhancement Fluid!]
Beef?
Good stuff. Xue Ming could get eggs, but he couldn't get beef; this wasn't something that grew in batches like eggs.
"Can the enhancement fluid be reused?" Chu Xuan asked the system.
"Yes."
"How many can be used at most?"
"Six vials."
Suddenly, Chu Xuan thought of something and asked again, receiving the answer he had imagined.
Since there was Level One Enhancement Fluid, naturally there was Level Two.
And to use the Level Two enhancement fluid, one had to reach the limit of a Level One lifeform.
Which meant using six vials of the enhancement fluid.
No need to say more.
Inject!
The next second, his body stiffened again, but he quickly regained the ability to move.
Although his movements were slow, it wasn't like the petrification from last time.
Ten minutes later.
The second enhancement was complete.
He clenched his fist.
He was very satisfied.
His strength had increased quite a bit; although the growth wasn't as large as the first enhancement, it was still a significant increase.
...
Half an hour later.
The test was finished.
His memory and thinking ability had also become stronger.
Learning efficiency increased by twenty percent.
Without hesitation, taking advantage of the refreshed mental state after the enhancement, he continued to grind through the books in front of him, seizing every moment to improve himself.
...
Another day passed, the first day of the New Year.
He had just finished New Year's Eve dinner at Han Ziang's house; although it couldn't be called sumptuous, it was lively, a long-lost festive atmosphere.
What was surprising was that there were programs similar to the Spring Festival Gala to watch.
It was one of the few remaining entertainment activities.
Even Chu Xuan watched it with great interest.
A main melody theme was better than nothing, bringing a touch of celebration to the oppressive atmosphere of the Underground City.
Chu Xuan washed up and lay on the bed.
[Ding! Sign-in successful!]
[Congratulations on obtaining a crate of mixed hot pot base!]
[Extra reward: Space + 1!]
Now, the space had become three cubic meters.
With the increase in signed-in items, plus some personal items he had placed inside, the space was getting a bit tight.
If he didn't take them out, they would remain in the system.
Once taken out, they had to be stored in the space.
The hot pot base was a pleasant surprise for Chu Xuan; today was the first day of the New Year, and last night he had said he would invite the neighbors next door over for a return meal today.
Now, they could have a good meal.
He hadn't eaten hot pot in a long time himself.
...
"Brother Xuan, hurry, let's go to the Neighborhood Committee to get dumplings."
As soon as school was out, Han Duoduo rushed to Chu Xuan's place; even on the first day of the New Year, school didn't close.
"Wait a moment!"
Chu Xuan tidied up, and the two went out together.
Liu Qi and Han Ziang hadn't finished their shifts yet and would be back quite late, so Han Duoduo was the one running errands to collect the benefits.
...
Before long, the two arrived at the Neighborhood Committee.
There was already a long line here.
Dumplings were something you rarely got to eat once a year.
Since they were free, everyone was beaming with joy.
"So long!"
This would take an hour to line up, right? Chu Xuan thought to himself.
But there was no other way; he just had to wait slowly.
While they were in line.
"Little brother, are you selling dumplings?" a man with a shifty look approached and said to the two.
Although they were free, it was impossible for them to let you eat your fill.
Therefore, such scalpers naturally emerged.
There were always some people who lacked credit points, and always some people who had plenty of credit points.
With a quick flip, there was a significant price difference.
Chu Xuan: "Not selling!"
"The price is negotiable." The other party wouldn't give up.
"I'm not short on money." Chu Xuan said indifferently.
"Then... do you want to buy dumplings?"
The other party changed their tone, almost confusing Chu Xuan, giving him a strange sense of déjà vu.
"How much?"
"Six hundred credit points per serving."
"..."
Chu Xuan vaguely remembered that the price for collecting dumplings was usually only two hundred per serving.
Flipping it twice the profit was truly quite exorbitant.
The Underground City didn't care about this.
This was a private transaction, based on the principle of mutual consent.
"Forget it, I don't want any!" Chu Xuan shook his head.
Seeing this, the other party's eyes rolled, and he laughed:
"Brother, my price is very fair."
"Look at the little girl next to you; one serving definitely won't be enough to fill her up, and they only give them out once a year!"
"No matter what, even if it's just for such a cute little girl, as a man, you have to..."
Don't say, if it were someone else, they might have been backed into a corner and unable to back down.
Buy it, it's expensive!
Don't buy it, you lose face.
However.
Chu Xuan remained unmoved, and Han Duoduo beside him didn't feel like Chu Xuan was stingy at all.
In her eyes, everything Chu Xuan had fed her every day was extremely precious.
Dumplings were only issued by the Neighborhood Committee once a year.
Some of the things Chu Xuan gave her were truly scarce.
Any one of them was worth ten servings of dumplings, and that was a conservative estimate.
Yet Brother Xuan was willing to let her eat them.
So touched!
"..."
Seeing the expressions of the two, the other party knew his method had failed.
He could only continue to look for the next target; time could not be wasted.
There was only one chance a year, and if he played it right, he could earn the credit points that usually took months to earn.
...
An hour later, the two collected their dumplings.
Each serving contained six dumplings, three with meat filling and three with vegetable filling.
Han Duoduo collected four servings.
Chu Xuan collected two.
Because he and Liu Qi were special preference personnel, they could get an extra serving.
As for Han Duoduo and Han Ziang, they didn't have this privilege.
Many people collected for their whole family at once.
So, the two didn't stand out.
He put them into his backpack.
Han Duoduo held it happily, as if afraid someone would snatch it away.