Watching the kid who used to look like he'd just crawled out of a dirt pile now exuding an air of nobility, but still looking utterly adorable due to his toddler-like proportions, Wen Chuyan could hardly contain the doting smile on her face.
The little boy remained composed, his small face struggling to maintain a calm demeanor.
But the moment he stepped into the grocery store and realized his guards were all outside, a flicker of panic crossed his face.
Wen Chuyan smiled at the boy.
"Kiddo, looks like you've found your family. What are you here to buy today?"
The little boy tried his best to stay calm.
"As my benefactor, I'm not ungrateful. So, let my guards bring in the gifts."
Under his forced calm, there was still a hint of panic on his face.
Wen Chuyan glanced at the black-clad soldiers outside, all in armor and holding long spears. They clearly came from a dangerous place.
Suddenly, the system appeared. The tiny light point turned into a round ball, and its little hands grabbed her hair.
"Host, it's an equivalent exchange! Those gift-givers have ill intentions. They don't want you to pass the assessment!"
Wen Chuyan was startled.
These people who looked like they were from ancient times probably had no idea what a system was, but the system's words must make sense.
She was about to speak to the little boy when a man in a moon-white straight-collared, wide-sleeved robe pushed open the door. The jade pendant on his waist glowed softly in the light.
The man looked calm. The little boy rushed over impatiently.
"Brother, you're so slow."
The man scolded him in a low voice.
"Waner, don't be rude."
The man, seeing Wen Chuyan with her fair skin and round face, was briefly stunned. He bowed to her.
"Miss, thank you for saving Waner's life. I'm Xie An. I have nothing to repay you with, so I've brought some trivial items. If you don't mind, please let my servants outside carry them in."
Wen Chuyan's eyes sparkled at the thought of money.
An ordinary coat of the little boy Xie Wan had fetched her a whopping 200,000 yuan, which was equivalent to two years' worth of her salary!
She couldn't even imagine how much the things outside were worth.
But she had to abide by the equivalent exchange rule the system had mentioned.
Wen Chuyan forced herself to look away and assumed an air of a reclusive expert who was detached from worldly affairs.
"I saved him out of the goodness of my heart, without expecting any reward. But since we've met, it's fate."
Wen Chuyan looked at the two in front of her, her eyes filled with excitement at the sight of potential big customers.
The newbie task required by the golden finger was to earn 1 million system coins, and the amount from each transaction would be deposited into the system in the end.
System coins could be converted into Chinese yuan at a ratio of 1:100.
Wen Chuyan remained calm.
"This is a grocery store. Sir, you can come in and take a look around. There are all kinds of things here. If you find something suitable, you can buy what you need."
Xie An was taken aback.
Currently, he was in charge of Luojian County. The villagers in the county had been evacuated, and the Di tribe was only three to five days away.
The army was in desperate need of food, and the soldiers were thinly clad. His elder brothers and father in the court were doing their best to raise grain, but it was just a drop in the bucket. Moreover, the grain shops in the city were constantly raising prices, and some had even run out of stock.
Could this suddenly appeared grocery store really have the supplies he needed?
Xie An looked around suspiciously.
On the rows of shelves were bags that glistened in the sunlight. These things, which would be considered treasures even in the imperial palace, were just ordinary packaging bags here. He couldn't even imagine how precious the items inside were.
Seeing the two still hesitating, Wen Chuyan thought for a moment and gave what she thought was a kind smile.
"Kiddo, have you forgotten? You ate bread and noodles here. Sister still has a lot of them."
Xie Wan's eyes lit up, and Xie An gave a bitter smile.
This girl's methods were mysterious. Maybe there really were the things he needed here.
Maybe the reclusive expert was just too polite to take his things for free, or maybe she was just doing good deeds without expecting anything in return?
Xie An took his younger brother and strolled around the store.
There were strange symbols under the products. Xie An guessed they might be prices.
What shocked him even more was that the white rice was plump and fragrant, and the sweet smell filled the air. The white flour, as white as powder, was casually placed on the shelves.
Xie An's voice trembled slightly.
"Miss, how much are these things?"
Wen Chuyan looked at the clearly marked labels. Adhering to the principle that the customer is always right, she still answered seriously.
"I only sell Wuchang rice here. It's very fragrant. It's this year's new rice, 5 yuan a jin. The flour is cheaper. This small bag works out to 3 yuan a jin."
Xie An stood there, stunned by the new terms and the unusual unit of measurement.
But as a general, he was only thinking about the "equivalent exchange" the girl had mentioned.
If so, could he exchange all the gratitude gifts for food to feed the soldiers, even if it was just one more steamed bun?
Xie An's eyes welled up.
"May I ask how much food you have?"
He had made up his mind that even if he had to sell all his possessions, he would make sure the soldiers who had been living on chaff and wild vegetable cakes could have one more bowl of thick porridge.
Wen Chuyan stood there, trying to recall the inventory list from the other day.
Since the supplier was not far from her grocery store, she could usually get the goods the next day after making a phone call.
The grocery store was not very big, so the amount of rice and flour stored inside was limited.
There were 150 kilograms of ordinary rice, 20 bags (200 kilograms) of branded rice, and about 20 bags (200 kilograms) of specialty rice. As for flour, in this small town in the south of the Yangtze River, people didn't need much of it, so there was only some ordinary medium-gluten flour and a small amount of high-gluten flour.
All in all, there were only seven or eight hundred kilograms.
The system task required her to earn a large amount of money.
In her opinion, modern expensive handicrafts or niche foods could often be sold at a high price. As for food and fruits, she did stock them, but not in large quantities.
Hearing Wen Chuyan's accurate answer, Xie An fell silent. Although the amount of rice and flour was not much, at least there was some. It didn't matter that the quality was different.
He said, "Miss, thank you. But I don't know what your unit of measurement means. Can I exchange it with the items outside?"
Wen Chuyan's eyes lit up.
"Of course you can."
Xie An personally placed the jadeware and calligraphy and paintings at the entrance of the grocery store. Wen Chuyan tried her best to stay calm.
At the cash register at the entrance, Wen Chuyan scanned each item one by one.
The system prompted, "The current items have earned 300,000 system coins. Do you want to accept them?"
"Accept."
Wen Chuyan agreed without hesitation.
Xie An huffed and puffed as he carried several heavy bags of rice and flour to the counter. After he had taken out all the food, there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Miss, can the items I've given buy all these things?"