She first glanced stealthily out of the window, and only after making sure the group was not eavesdropping from a distance did she turn back and make a chopping motion with her hand.

Back in Qingguo Territory, she had not been this sensitive.

After all, although she had been a drifter for a while back then, she had never truly met a life-and-death crisis.

It was only later, after being startled by the Liu brothers’ attack on the train and walking through the gate of life and death once, that Huang Xiaojuan realized the true danger of the wasteland and ended up with her present mild persecution complex.

“What are you thinking? Our Tian Yuan Territory is not as dangerous as you imagine.”

“Besides, they just came to me wanting to mooch a meal, saying they would provide the ingredients and a processing fee. How are they bad people?” Su Mo casually picked up a big white steamed bun, dipped it into the spicy mashed potato on the plate, and said with a laugh as he ate.

No wonder Huang Xiaojuan was so wary. When these people had just begun watching him,

on the first night, even with Oreo keeping watch outside, Su Mo had barely slept, staying in a half-asleep, half-awake state, ready to burst into a fight at any moment.

But later, after these people moved in and began showing goodwill, whether on purpose or not,

the situation changed again.

For two days, although they had been watching the courtyard at every moment and keeping track of the two of them,

there was one point they had overlooked.

Oreo!

With the look of a Chinese rural dog as cover, Oreo looked clumsy. He went out for a stroll at a fixed time every day and came back only after he had run wild enough.

But in reality, in the blind spots of these people’s surveillance, Oreo had long since slipped in and was eavesdropping on information.

With each link locked into the next, as early as the morning of June 4th, Su Mo had already made out the exact origin and purpose of these people. “Ah, they’re not bad people.”

Hearing that Su Mo was safe, Huang Xiaojuan patted her chest and sat down in relief.

But then she perked up again and continued, “Brother Zong, did they tell you how much the processing fee was?”

“Hey, I knew you were a money fan!”

Su Mo gave a helpless glance at Huang Xiaojuan, who had gotten excited again, and casually named the price Wang Qian had offered earlier.

To hide his own and the others’ intentions, and afraid Su Mo would grow suspicious, Wang Qian had not offered a high price. He had basically followed the standard of the restaurants in town.

Three meals a day, ingredients fully covered, with a processing fee of 0.1 point per meal.

That meant that even if Huang Xiaojuan busied herself for a whole day, she could only earn 0.3 points.

After three days, it still would not reach a single point.

Going by the steep price of thirty-nine thousand eight hundred points for a miniature development platform, she would have to work without sleeping or resting for 363 years to just barely reach that price.

“0.1 point, so 0.3 points a day, and with my current wage of 0.5 points a day... wow, I can earn 0.8 points in a day!”

Compared with Qingguo Territory, where a family of three working a whole year could earn only about ten points,

she calculated that she needed less than thirteen days to reach that number. Huang Xiaojuan froze on her stool and began to grin foolishly. Her expression immediately delighted Oreo, who was eating with his head down beside her, and he started laughing along with a huff and a puff.

“Quick, stop laughing and eat!”

The atmosphere was happy and the food was tasty.

Taking a sip of the sweet millet porridge in his bowl, Su Mo smiled, with not the slightest thought of telling Huang Xiaojuan the truth.

The foolish have their own good fortune.

At Huang Xiaojuan’s current daily income of 0.8 points, it would take her a full ten years just to earn back the three thousand points spent on the identity.

And those ten years did not count living expenses, eating, drinking and everything else.

If those were counted, even twenty years might not make back the three thousand points spent up front.

“So in the end, it comes back to this identity.”

“Those who can afford to buy people don’t need them, and those who need people can’t afford them. What is the point of this system existing at all?”

The question had returned to its starting point. Unable to come up with an answer, Su Mo could only press it down for the moment and store it deep in his mind.

After they finished breakfast and he gave Oreo his routine instructions once more, Su Mo shouldered his bag and began walking toward Zizai Liang Lane.

He passed through several small streets where standing water had blocked the drains, and as he was about to reach the main road, his follower Sun Quan was, as expected, waiting in the same old spot.

“Hey, Brother Su, you’ve finally arrived!”

“What did Xiaojuan make today? I can smell it from way over here!”

Because of the heavy rain, the canteen of Zizai Liang Lane had also suffered, and all the prepared ingredients had been soaked through.

In a fit of anger, Zhang Min had simply dismissed the old cook who charged too “high” a price. She planned to hire a few cheaper cooks to save on the budget and improve the taste of the food at the same time.

But she had not expected that Zizai Liang Lane would not only be unable to hire planting workers, but that hardly anyone would come to interview for cooks either.

Two days had already passed and they still had not found a decent chef.

There was no way around it, so for the time being everyone had to bring their own meals.

“It’s all packed in my bag. You’re the only one in such a rush!”

Su Mo patted the still-warm backpack and burst into laughter at Sun Quan’s impatient look. The two of them opened their umbrellas and began walking side by side toward the lane.

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