Chapter 43: Coin of Great Observation |
With a chicken leg clamped in her chopsticks, Zhou Xiao Zhen listened to Yu Xiao’s words and felt her fingers slacken, and the succulent meat tumbled from her grasp. Zhao Lan, ever alert, snatched it with a bowl before it hit the floor.
“Smiley sis, you’re longing for home, aren’t you?” Zhou Xiao Zhen murmured, her face clouding over. “I feel the same. I miss Mum and Dad so much. Mum’s braised chicken legs are the best, nothing like this hospital slop. You miss your mum too, right?”
Yu Xiao paused, spearing a shred of potato with her chopstick and dropping it into her bowl. She answered with a bitter smile. “My mum left us and remarried when I was in junior high. I was stuck with my dad until he also remarried.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen bowed her head, biting her lip. She looked like a child who had said something wrong.
Zhao Lan, who had been devouring the chicken leg, wiped her mouth and asked, “Smiley, did Luo Jin tell you anything about leaving the hospital?”
“Yes,” Yu Xiao said, “But I thought I’d wait until you finished eating. I didn’t want to spoil your appetite with it.”
“Smiley sis, you’re too considerate,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said, eyeing the chicken leg in Zhao Lan’s bowl with envy. “The night I found out I had cancer, I still wolfed down a huge bowl of rice. Your news, however serious, can’t be worse than that.”
Yu Xiao realised she had underestimated them. These two friends were stronger than they looked.
She summarised the main points of Luo Jin’s words, then added, “I did a rough calculation. I’m twenty this year, and if I live until seventy, that’s still fifty years. That’s more than eighteen thousand days, which means I need over eighteen hundred points to make it.”
“Bugger!” Zhou Xiao Zhen involuntarily threw her head back. “Is the mission that bloody hard? It’s not that I’m afraid of suffering, but I’m worried I’ll lose my appetite after running the instance dungeons to death. And that’s being hopeful. You know, most people don’t get titles after running instances. They only get the basic three points. So, the number of instance runs has to double…”
She shook her head, exclaiming, “This is too much. No wonder leaving the hospital is a myth.”
Zhao Lan shrugged, showing a relaxed attitude. “Actually, I don’t mind running three hundred instance dungeons. To survive and live healthily until seventy, I think the rewards are worth it. Besides, we don’t really have to complete three hundred instance runs.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen gaped at her, “What do you mean?”
“We’re in business now, aren’t we? Smiley’s talisman shop is up and running, and we’ve already made our first sale,” Zhao Lan grinned, “Precious, you said it yourself, making money through business is better than production.”
“Yeah, right.” Zhou Xiao Zhen swivelled her head, gazing at Yu Xiao with a pitiful look, “Smiley, can we leave soon? We’re depending on you~”
Yu Xiao felt a surge of pressure and began to calculate in her mind how many talismans she needed to sell to earn enough points. Sadly, her maths skills were poor, and after some calculations, the result was basically a lot.
“Drawing talismans, I’m fine with that,” Yu Xiao said. “I’m just concerned not many will buy, given the patients from the Sixth Hospital are still dirt poor.”
“Don’t fret about sales,” Zhao Lan’s eyes sparkled with assurance, exuding a vibe of social prowess. “We can sell talismans not only online but also in instances. You see, most of the people you meet in treatment instances are veterans from other hospitals, and they’ve got more points to spare than the Sixth Hospital patients, at any rate.”
“Smart,” Yu Xiao suddenly lamented, “Why did I choose the nickname ‘Deaf Descendant’? I should’ve gone with ‘Talisman Wholesale,’ right?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen proposed, “How about asking Luo Jin how to get a name change card?”
Yu Xiao wavered, “…”
Once life had a purpose, a person became full of drive.
Yu Xiao swiftly polished off the food in her bowl, wiped her mouth, and said, “Let’s inspect Luo Jin’s delivery and, while we’re at it, apply for tomorrow’s treatment.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen wiped her mouth as well, “Sure!”
“…” Observing the two spirited individuals as if infused with chicken blood, Zhao Lan quietly set down her bowl. Youthfulness sure brings vigour.
Luo Jin’s delivery was small, barely half the size of a palm, wrapped in a filthy and unsightly packaging. Yu Xiao ripped it open, disclosing a paper folded into a pentagram with words written on it.
“Wow” Zhou Xiao Zhen commented. “Luo Jin is quite dexterous with his hands; I can’t even fold a pentagram.”
“Neither can I,” Yu Xiao confessed.
Zhao Lan frowned, eyeing the pentagram with suspicion. “The pentagram is already so small, how tiny could the stuff inside be?” she wondered. “He said it’s an offensive prop? How can such a small prop attack?”
Yu Xiao shrugged, curious to see what Luo Jin had sent. “I don’t care, let’s just open it and see,” she said, carefully unfolding the pentagram, revealing what was inside—a coin that looked ancient and worn.
Yu Xiao picked it up, squinting at the faded characters on it. She could barely make out the words ‘Coin of Great Observation (大观通宝 Dàguān tōng bǎo).’
“Coin of Great Observation…” Zhou Xiao Zhen murmured, tilting her head. “When is this coin from? I only know about Tang Dynasty currency.”
Yu Xiao racked her brain, trying to remember her history lessons. She wrinkled her nose, thinking for a moment, and said, “I think it’s a coin from the Song Dynasty.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen held the small coin, puzzled by Luo Jin’s choice. “Isn’t it supposed to be a prop?” she asked. “Why did Luo Jin give you an antique?”
Yu Xiao gestured at the note that came with the coin, covered in tiny handwriting. “Look at what he wrote, and you’ll know why,” she said, picking up the note and reading it aloud.
“Coin of Great Observation, capable of fortune-telling. Face up for good luck; all ghosts and monsters within a radius of ten metres will suffer the torment of raging fire if they intend to harm you. Face down for bad luck; everyone within a radius of ten metres will harbour animosity towards you. Cooldown time, one hour.”
“…”
She stared at the note, speechless. Wasn’t the side effect of this thing a bit too extreme?
Zhou Xiao Zhen gazed at the coin with admiration, impressed by its description. “Cracking stuff, this,” she said. “It’s much better than my mahjong set, and the cooldown time is very short.”
Yu Xiao felt a twitch in her lip, unconvinced by the coin’s appeal. “But there’s a fifty-fifty chance it’s cursed, you know?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen shrugged, dismissing her concern. “What are you scared of?” she asked. “Don’t you remember your high luck score?”
Zhao Lan nodded, agreeing with Zhou Xiao Zhen. “Yeah, for others, this copper coin has its ups and downs, but for you, the ups outweigh the downs.”
Yu Xiao looked at her, feeling a pang of guilt. “But,” she said, “I was planning to give this item to you.”
Zhao Lan fell silent. She stared at the coin for a moment and said, “I don’t want to use it for now. Give it to me when my luck score gets better.”
Yu Xiao decided to keep the coin for herself, seeing how useful it could be. “Fair enough, then, it’s a pretty handy thing.” she said, slipping the Coin of Great Observation into her pocket. “Let’s apply for the next session.”
She was about to leave when Zhao Lan reminded her, “Aren’t you sending the talismans to Luo Jin?”
Yu Xiao almost forgot. She quickly mailed twenty talismans to Luo Jin and then gave him a call, “The courier’s on its way, make sure to check it, yeah?”
Luo Jin: “Okay.”
Yu Xiao: “Remember, if you ever need talismans again, be sure to look for me, alright?”
“Sure.” Luo Jin ended the call.
Ah, heartless man!
She rubbed her hands together, trying to cheer herself up. They had grown stronger now, so the treatment instance difficulty should be easier, right?
“Have a good rest tonight,” Yu Xiao declared eagerly. “Let’s face the future challenges with courage!”
She waited for a response, but none came. She looked at her friends, puzzled. “What’s wrong? Don’t you have courage?”
“We do have courage,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said. “It’s just a bit awkward, can’t shout it out.”
…
Yu Xiao had a lot of things to carry now. The copper coin and the talismans could fit in her pocket, but the sunglasses and the wig were more troublesome. She thought of finding a bag to hold them.
Zhao Lan disagreed, shaking her head. “We don’t know who we might run into. A backpack is too obvious; people will immediately suspect there’s something valuable inside.”
Yu Xiao frowned, holding the wig in her hand. “What should we do then?” she asked. “The sunglasses can squeeze into the pocket, but the wig is too big, can’t fit it in.”
Zhao Lan thought for a moment and said, “You can wear the wig on your head.”
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