Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Why Do We Have to Keep Score?

Li Xingye expressionlessly finished off the last zombie in this part of the city. He took the Crystal Core handed to him by a vine and put it into his bulging pocket.

But his voice was full of grievance as he said, "Wanwan, sometimes I wonder if I’m a little useless. You’ve helped me so much, but every time you run into this kind of trouble, I can’t be there to protect you.

"But I can really help you with this. Please don’t ask that octopus... I mean, Xiahou Yu, okay?"

Chi Wan blinked. Why did she detect a fresh, dewy... scent of green tea in Li Xingye’s words?

’No, no, no, Chi Wan, calm down,’ she thought. ’Li Xingye is a post-apocalyptic big shot, the kind who can wipe out a horde of zombies with a wave of his hand! How could he possibly be pulling the whole "green tea" routine?’

’He must be worried that I’ll owe Xiahou Yu a favor that will be hard to repay later. He’s just being too considerate.’

Chi Wan immediately said, "Don’t worry, Brother Xingye, I get it. I wasn’t planning on asking him for help, anyway. I was just thinking that maybe I could sell the orchids through him~"

"Besides, you’ve helped me so much, how can you talk about yourself like that! There was Liu Dali before, and Song Yangming more recently, and all those orchids... Wait, that’s not right. Why are we keeping such a detailed score? Aren’t we friends?"

Chi Wan guessed that Li Xingye’s past experiences and the malice he faced in the apocalypse had made him a little insecure about normal human interactions, so she immediately tried to comfort him.

Hearing Chi Wan’s comforting words, the corners of Li Xingye’s lips curved up involuntarily. The suffocating feeling that had built up because of Xiahou Yu finally dissipated a little, especially when she said they didn’t need to keep score.

As for Chi Wan saying they were friends now, he didn’t feel upset by it.

The current Chi Wan still felt a little distant to him, so it was enough that she considered him a trustworthy friend.

If, one day, he could truly overcome the obstacles between them, it wouldn’t be too late to let her know how he felt.

But if he could never cross that gap in this lifetime... then having Chi Wan happily treat him as a friend would be the best possible outcome.

Li Xingye collected his thoughts and returned to his usual tone. "Wanwan is right, we don’t need to keep score between us. I found some more orchid seeds for you and put them in the flowerbed. See if there are any you like. There are also some small gold blocks, which should be easier to use."

He now knew that Chi Wan could only display things that were too valuable, unable to actually convert them into cash. So, the next time he found gold bars, he would either break them into small pieces or find a Fire Ability User to melt them down into things like bracelets, making it easier for Chi Wan to liquidate them.

Hearing that Li Xingye’s tone was finally back to normal, Chi Wan breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "Hehe, thanks, Brother Xingye. I knew you were the best~"

Li Xingye let out a low chuckle, and the last of his unhappiness vanished into thin air. No matter how many times he heard Chi Wan’s sweet, wheedling tone, it always felt like the first time, sending a tingling, ticklish sensation across his heart.

Chi Wan didn’t rush to look at the orchids. Instead, something suddenly occurred to her. "Oh, right, Brother Xingye, our family’s orchard is almost ready for harvest. The suppliers from the city will be coming to pick up the fruit. My parents and I talked it over, and we want to give your side half, but we might need you to help with the picking."

In reality, those suppliers already had their own supply chains, and breaking into them wasn’t easy.

But the fruit "enchanted" by Li Xingye was just too big and sweet. Take the orange trees, which made up the majority of the orchard—the fruit on them was nearly a third larger than ordinary oranges. Even more remarkably, although the fruit was bigger, the flesh wasn’t fibrous at all. On the contrary, it was incredibly juicy and heart-meltingly sweet.

And because they were so large, the total yield, originally estimated at 50,000 to 60,000 jin, had increased by nearly a quarter.

Chi Yuanshan had even gone to negotiate with just a few not-yet-fully-ripe sample fruits and photos showing the entire mountain covered in fruit trees of this quality.

After the suppliers had a taste, they couldn’t bring themselves to say no.

One of them even decided on the spot to help connect them with high-end fruit shops, taking a boutique approach. Naturally, the purchase price was also a cut above the normal rate.

Chi Wan did the math. For their family, this year’s harvest... could basically be considered pure profit.

After all, with Li Xingye around, they saved on not only fertilizer but also things like pesticides. And that’s not to mention labor costs, which were zero.

When all was said and done, the biggest expense was probably the gas money Chi Yuanshan and his wife spent traveling between the city and the village for business meetings...

This calculation stunned the Chi family into silence.

Chi Yuanshan adjusted his glasses and suggested to Chi Wan, "Wanwan, remember to ask Xiao Li later if there’s anything they need over there. Things like down jackets, long underwear, cotton quilts, and whatnot. Don’t you dare be stingy with the money we should be spending."

Song Yinghe snapped out of her daze and quickly added, "Right, right! And ask Xiao Li what he wants to eat or use. Have him make us a list, and your dad and I will go buy it all tomorrow."

Otherwise, we can’t feel at ease earning this money!

’Shouldn’t you two take a look at tomorrow’s 37-degree weather forecast and cool down a bit?’

’Besides,’ she thought, ’compared to the money from these fruits, isn’t the pile of gold, silver, and Jade he gave me worth a much more frightening amount?!’

She didn’t understand why her parents felt so guilty about taking such huge advantage of Li Xingye. After all, the value of their respective currencies wasn’t even equivalent...

’No, if I keep thinking like this, I’m going to start feeling guilty, too.’

Especially when Chi Wan remembered that even though the suppliers said they would send trucks to pick up the produce, her family still had to arrange for the fruit to be picked. In other words, they would have to ask Li Xingye for help in the end. With that, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

She could only clear her throat and agree. "I’ll ask him. But when the time comes, leave half of the fruit for me. I’ll give it to Brother Xingye."

Of course, Chi Yuanshan and Song Yinghe had no objections. If it weren’t for the convenience of having some official transactions on the books, they would have been fine with giving the entire mountain of fruit to Li Xingye.

Hearing Chi Wan say this, how could Li Xingye possibly refuse?

"Mhm, just give me a call when it’s time to pick them."

After all, he could just make the trees pick their own fruit. It wouldn’t even take a few minutes.

"Okay!" With her biggest problem solved, Chi Wan happily started counting on her fingers. "Then I’ll need to prepare some nice gift boxes. One for the little foodies in my dorm, one for Grandpa Zhou and Senior Brother, one for Brother Huai’an, one for Sister Xiaoyu, one for Grandpa Xu... um, and I guess I should send one to Xiahou Yu, too..."

Li Xingye could almost picture Chi Wan’s happy muttering, but before his smile could fully form, it froze on his face.

’The Zhou brothers had helped Wanwan before, so it was understandable she’d send them a gift.’

’But who the hell was Xiahou Yu? Why should he get to eat the fruit Wanwan sent?!’