Chapter Eight: The Snack Shop

"That chicken claw! Does anyone else have one? I'll pay a high price for it!"

"I'm so sad. I managed to grab a chicken claw, but I'm just a little chick myself..."

The pheasant spirit who gave the chicken claw to Su Daji was crestfallen. Out of the countless delicacies, it just happened to get the one thing it couldn't eat.

Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, sent a private red packet to Yu Qian. When she opened it, she found a basket of fruit.

"Little girl, do you have any more of those small red fruits? They're delicious, but there's nothing like them on Flower-Fruit Mountain."

Sun Wukong was talking about strawberries. During the Immeasurable Calamity, Huaguo hadn't developed this variety yet, and tasting it for the first time was truly addictive.

Unfortunately, because they were expensive, Yu Qian hadn't bought many, so Sun Wukong barely had a taste before they were gone.

"I'll go buy some more, Great Sage! Please wait for me!"

Though Sun Wukong wasn't Yu Qian's ultimate idol, that didn't mean he wasn't a hero. Besides, the Great Sage had sent her a whole basket of fresh fruit from Flower-Fruit Mountain, so Yu Qian decided to buy a large amount of strawberries to return the favor.

With Sun Wukong leading the way, the immortals who had managed to snatch some food also sent Yu Qian one red packet after another, while those who hadn't were even more eager to send gifts.

As she walked, Yu Qian accepted a few from familiar names and then politely declined the rest, claiming she didn't have enough space. What she really lacked was merit, and most of the miscellaneous items from the immortals couldn't be sold or used—some were even less useful than Sun Wukong's fruit.

Take the spirit stones from Dragon Nine and Jingwei, for example. After the Immeasurable Calamity, Earth had lost its spiritual energy, so without the ability to cultivate, the stones were useless to her.

But the fruit from Sun Wukong, the roasted meat from the Three Immortals, and the rootless water from Guanyin—all edible and containing even a trace of spiritual energy—could improve her constitution.

In addition to these, Yu Qian also received a cloud brocade dress from the Weaver Girl, and a kitten from Erlang Shen.

The cloud brocade could change its appearance and kept her warm in winter, cool in summer—just perfect for her.

But the little cat from Erlang Shen left Yu Qian awkward: "True Lord... I'm allergic to cat fur. Can I send it back to you?"

"Allergic? What's that?"

"I know, I know! Father once said allergies are a very strange mortal ailment, with many triggers and varying degrees of severity, and it's incurable! The key point is that it's incurable!"

"My original words were: it can't be cured at the root, only relieved. Avoid the triggers and you'll be fine! When did I ever say it was incurable!"

"There's not much difference between that and incurable! Father, did you manage to grab any food?"

Seeing Jingwei asking for food, the Flame Emperor went back to lurking. He did dote on his daughter, but some things—fine food and his wife—simply couldn't be shared!

"It doesn't matter. What I gave you is not a cat, but a primordial beast. It only appears as a cat for convenience in the mortal world. It will protect you."

"Will it be affected by the lack of spiritual energy here? What does it eat?"

Knowing it wasn't a real cat, Yu Qian accepted it instantly and asked what to feed her new pet.

She'd had a cat in her previous life but had to give it away because of her allergy—since then, she'd only ever admired cats from afar. Now, having a cat she wasn't allergic to, even if it wasn’t truly a cat, was more than enough.

Remembering Erlang Shen's instructions for caring for the creature, Yu Qian, in her excitement, bought all the strawberries at the fruit shop, then went to the supermarket and picked up several bags of dog food and a dog bed.

In the small county, few people kept pets, and most of the dog food brands were unfamiliar, so Yu Qian bought the most expensive one to ensure quality.

The chat was still flooded with requests for food; fruit and roasted meats, which were usually popular, were now snubbed. Even the God of Cookery joined the chorus.

She made a loop past the high school gates, where three adjacent streets were lined with decades-old snack shops, offering every flavor imaginable. Back in her high school days, Yu Qian and her friends had two of their three daily meals here, so she knew every shop's strengths and weaknesses.

Because of school dismissal and her age, carrying too many things would draw attention, so she bought a little from each shop and discreetly stored the purchases in her phone when no one was looking.

After making two rounds of the three streets and returning to the main street, her phone's storage was once again full, and her account had dropped by three thousand.

Eating a popsicle and calculating her future expenses, Yu Qian realized that even in 2004, at her current rate of spending, her savings of over two hundred thousand wouldn't last long.

"I still need to figure out how to make money," she thought. She had a long list of things she wanted to learn—her former major in directing, drawing, dance, guqin—none of which came cheap. Art had always been the pastime of the wealthy.

She planned to discuss this with her parents when they returned. But before going home, she found a bamboo grove and released the kitten.

The kitten was tiny, no more than two or three months old, pure white except for its four black paws.

Holding the kitten filled Yu Qian with joy. "You're such a good little thing. Let me give you a name—Fishy. You'll be called Fishy."

"Your owner is called Shallow Water Fish, and True Lord said you like eating fish, so Fishy it is."

When she got home, the news was on TV, her grandmother's recliner had been moved to the living room, and her grandmother lay on it listening to the broadcast, while her grandfather, wearing reading glasses, sat beside her watching.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I'm home!" she called out loudly.

"Ah, you’re back! Is it hot? The jelly vendor just left, but there’s a bowl cooling in the pot. Go fetch it and have some." Her grandfather, ever strict, still managed to look stern.

She quietly picked out some soft, easy-to-digest fruit from the ones the Great Sage had given her, then brought the jelly back to the living room. Fishy followed her the whole way, staring longingly at the bowl, eyes full of desire.

After handing the fruit to her grandparents, Yu Qian turned and saw Fishy crouched on the table, gazing at the bowl of jelly, clearly wanting to eat but too afraid to try. The sight was so adorable, Yu Qian’s heart melted.

"It's cold. Can you eat it? If you can, nod your head." Unsure if Fishy could handle cold food, Yu Qian didn't dare give it any.

"Meow~" Fishy nodded, then tilted its head and meowed again. After a moment, it approached Yu Qian, and suddenly bit her hand. It bit a bit hard—her finger bled—but right after, Fishy licked the wound, and before her eyes, it healed as Fishy swallowed her blood.

"Meow~ Master! Can you understand me?" After swallowing her blood, Yu Qian seemed to see a golden thread flash between the kitten’s brows, and its meows now sounded like human speech in her ears.

"Yes." After a pause, Yu Qian took out her phone to message Nuwa privately.

"Lady Nuwa, the True Lord’s beast just swallowed my blood. Is that alright?"

"It's fine. It's a master-servant contract: the master gives blood, the servant swallows."

"Are you home? Did you buy more food?"

After answering, Nuwa went back to asking for snacks.

Yu Qian sent her a sample of everything she had, then returned to the group chat.

She sent out a red packet: Pickled Chicken Feet.

Another: Cola.

Another: Sprite.

Another: Spicy Potato Skewers.

Another: Spicy Chicken Skewers.

Nuwa immediately muted the whole group.

"@Shallow Water Fish, you bought all these with your own money. Sending them once for free is already very generous."

No sooner had Yu Qian sent five red packets than Nuwa muted her.

Then she got a private message from Nuwa: "You can open a shop in the group system. You can barter or use merit as currency. Open a shop."

"Aren't you short on merit to change your fate? If you put things in your shop, the system will automatically assess their merit value. Accumulating merit this way is faster than doing good deeds."

"Stunned.jpg This group is amazing. Even in my previous life, Penguin's system couldn't open shops!"

"This group was altered by the Dao Sovereign. It's different from your mortal systems. Whatever function you want, the Dao Sovereign can make it happen with a snap."