dkrc Chapter 22 Home Delivery
Chapter 22 Home Delivery
"Uncle Wang, how much do you earn on the construction site?" Jiang He suddenly asked.
"Huh!? I can earn about six or seven thousand yuan a month. In this day and age, making money is getting more and more..." Wang Jianguo said after thinking for a moment.
"I have an idea, Uncle Wang, listen to it. It's a fact that we signed a contract with Luo Jiuchuan this time, and we definitely need to pay off the debt. But you can't just not work. How about this, I'll pay you a salary, six thousand a month, and you don't have to work on the construction site anymore."
"Ninety percent of the emotional crystals we collect with the Emotional Gourd need to be used to pay off the debt. There's no one-tenth left for us to use as we please. Give me half of your free time every month, okay?" Jiang He said.
"No... How can I accept such a high salary? I can earn about six or seven thousand a month on the construction site, but that requires a lot of hard work... and it's not like I'm..." Wang Jianguo said, clearly intending to refuse, feeling that he was not worth such a high salary.
"Yes! Sister Jiang, we're just partners. I've seen on short videos that once people get involved in something, they tend to drift apart. Don't let money ruin our pure friendship!" Chen Yang said casually.
Su Fan felt that Jiang He's idea was very good. This would also provide Wang Jianguo with a guarantee of survival, allowing him to better and without worries help collect emotional crystals.
As for Chen Yang's foolish, immature college student remarks, Su Fan and Jiang He completely ignored them, since this guy seemed to live in a hot-blooded anime.
Those who live in an ivory tower, detached from real life, have some unrealistic aspirations. Lacking the harsh realities of society, they appear too innocent.
"Uncle Wang, don't think like that. Things are valued for their scarcity. Besides us, there's no other way to obtain Emotional Crystals in the real world. Moreover, according to Luo Jiuchuan, Emotional Crystals are the universal currency of the Mountain and Sea Realm. Uncle Wang, do you think my price is too low? Uncle Wang, you should be able to tell that although my family's financial situation isn't particularly good, it's not bad either. I paid 100,000 yuan to buy the Emotional Crystals from Chen Yang before. If you think the price is too low, Uncle Wang, you can name a price," Jiang He said sincerely.
"Sister Jiang, you really are a rich woman! I suddenly feel a little regretful that I didn't accept the money earlier." Chen Yang joked, trying his best to lighten the mood.
"If you want it, I can transfer it to you. You were the one who refused to accept it before, what could I do?" Jiang He said, picking up where Chen Yang left off.
Finally, Wang Jianguo agreed to Jiang He's conditions, which relieved Su Fan.
"By the way, what about that new guy? Could he be from another world? We're new to Luo Jiuchuan, and this guy is new to us too. Should we go and make some contact with him?" Chen Yang said. After all, he seemed quite interesting. If you compare the Mountain and Sea Realm to a company, Luo Jiuchuan is probably a member of the management team, and they are probably interns. As for this new guy, Tokugawa Koji, he's a new employee.
The four of them walked towards Tokugawa Koji. Perhaps due to the psychological trauma inflicted by Fang Xiang, Tokugawa Koji seemed somewhat overwhelmed when he saw Su Fan and the others walking towards him.
He retreated in a panic, muttering in his native language, looking as if he had seen a ghost. But it was understandable, since although the Mountain and Sea Realm was a dream, the pain and feeling of death brought by Fang Xiang was real.
Su Fan, Jiang He, Chen Yang, and Wang Jianguo exchanged glances, and finally walked towards the still-shaken newcomer. Their footsteps sounded exceptionally clear on the silent island.
Koji Tokugawa, like a startled rabbit, suddenly looked up. Seeing the four approaching, he let out a short, incomprehensible whimper and scrambled backward on his hands and feet until his back hit the cold jade railing, leaving him nowhere to retreat.
He began muttering something rapidly and incoherently again, his eyes scanning the four faces with terror.
"He looked terrified." Wang Jianguo lowered his voice, with a hint of pity. "That big black bear... Fang Xiang, right? He was too ruthless."
Jiang He frowned slightly as she listened intently to the syllables uttered by Tokugawa Koji. A hint of confusion flashed in her eyes, followed by sudden realization. "He's speaking Japanese. 'Demon,' 'Don't come any closer,' 'Help me...' and some other incoherent words."
"He shouldn't be from another world!" Jiang He said, her tone firm despite it being a guess.
"Sister Jiang, how did you know?" Chen Yang asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Because he was just muttering in Japanese!" Jiang He explained, her tone very certain.
"Huh?! Sister Jiang, you even speak Japanese? That's amazing! No wonder you're a university lecturer, you know so much." Chen Yang lost interest after learning that the other person was Japanese!
"No, and I don't understand it. At least I haven't systematically studied Japanese," Jiang He said.
"How did you know? How did you know he was speaking Japanese?" Wang Jianguo asked, puzzled.
"I find it strange too," Jiang He pressed her temples, which seemed slightly warm. "In those few seconds while listening to him speak, a lot of scattered fragments came to my mind: snippets of Japanese elective courses I audited in college, lines from anime I watched, even radio broadcasts I heard while traveling... They pieced themselves together, allowing me to understand roughly what he was saying. This feeling... is very subtle, like knowledge being temporarily recalled, rather than me actually 'learning' it."
This was undoubtedly Su Fan's doing. To facilitate communication between the group and the new participants, Jiang He, although she hadn't learned Japanese, happened to have some exposure to it, making her a perfect fit.
As for why Su Fan didn't play himself, the reason he created an alternate account and integrated into the team was precisely to avoid attracting attention. There are only two or three million people in the whole country who understand Japanese, which is a relatively obscure language, so it's unreasonable for him to have such a skill.
"This is the power of the bookworm inheritance! Fragmented information integration. Speaking of which, there's a saying online that the human brain is used very inefficiently, so we subconsciously ignore a lot of things. Isn't the bookworm inheritance equivalent to brain development? So, does that mean, Sister Jiang, you just need to study, whether you remember it or not doesn't matter, because the memory will surface when you need it anyway? It's practically an enhanced version of photographic memory, and a weakened version of hyperthymesia." Chen Yang, as always, cheered for mysticism.
"It's not entirely hyperthymesia or brain development," Jiang He refuted Chen Yang's nonsense. "Hyperthymesia is about never forgetting details, while I feel it's more like... a highly efficient 'retrieval' and 'reorganization.' The information I've encountered isn't perfectly remembered, but only left as 'imprints.' When needed, these 'imprints' are activated, and relevant fragments are quickly extracted, compared, and pieced together to arrive at a rough 'understanding' or 'answer.' It relies on my existing information foundation. If I had never been exposed to Japanese, not even knowing a single kana, I probably wouldn't be able to understand it, and whether it's due to the bookworm's inheritance is another matter."
"Let's talk about what we should say about this guy first!" Wang Jianguo said, pointing at Tokugawa Koji.
"Try communicating with him," Su Fan said, looking at Jiang He. "Since you can roughly understand, use whatever you can to tell him we mean no harm. What happened just now was... some kind of 'rule' here, and he's safe for now."
Jiang He nodded. She took a deep breath, trying to recall the feeling of fragmented information piecing together in her mind, attempting to clarify her intentions. Then, speaking slowly and haltingly in Japanese to Tokugawa Koji, who was huddled by the railing, she said, "We... meant no harm. Just now, it was a test of the rules. You are... safe now."
After some reassurance, Tokugawa Koji finally recovered. During the conversation, everyone learned that he worked at Kyoto University in Japan, mainly researching linguistics, so at least he could have daily conversations with everyone.
Of course, Tokugawa Koji also keenly sensed the malice these people harbored towards him. Wang Jianguo and Chen Yang were there because of his identity or ethnicity.
As for Su Fan, he seemed indifferent. The only one who showed him any kindness was Jiang He.
Tokugawa Koji's eyes were filled with confusion, and his voice, thick with a Kansai accent and trembling with lingering fear, screamed: "Who are you people? Why am I here? That monster... the pain I felt just now... Where am I?!"
"We... like you, were also visitors who entered this place by accident, only we arrived a little earlier than you." Jiang He carefully chose her words, speaking slowly but as clearly as possible. "This place, we call 'Mountain and Sea Realm.' That... monster is the pet of a powerful being here. As for the attack you suffered, you can understand it as a screening by a powerful being; it seems he doesn't approve of you."
"Here, you won't truly die. At least you're still here. If you suffered such an attack in reality, you would already be dead," Jiang He explained.
At this moment, Su Fan sensed that he was about to leave and needed to get out as soon as possible to use the [Legendary Ring] to give the Soul-Absorbing Gourd to the others, so he needed to leave early.
He then activated his dream control technique, his form gradually fading as he spoke, "I feel a sense of alienation; it's time to leave!"
Upon waking up, Su Fan quickly took out an emotional crystal to relieve his mental fatigue and put on the teleportation ring from the Seven Emotions Gourd.
Activating the [Teleportation Ring] ability, the appearances of Thinker Chen Yang, Jiang He, and Wang Jianguo were displayed, and the Soul-Gathering Gourd was sent to them.
As he used his abilities, Su Fan quickly experienced an overwhelming sense of drowsiness. Even though he had just woken up, Su Fan was not surprised that he would fall asleep as long as he didn't resist. As for the price of being directionally challenged, he didn't feel it much since he was lying in bed.
The cost of the [Teleportation Ring] was barely acceptable; at least the drowsiness wouldn't cause him to fall asleep without any resistance.
Su Fan took out another emotional crystal to try and see if it could counteract the drowsiness, but it didn't work. So Su Fan simply accepted his fate and fell asleep again.