Su Ping looked up at him. It was an aged man wearing a Tang suit with a bird pet about half as large as a human.
This bird was covered with crimson feathers and it looked like an ostrich with its head dangling down. The bird seemed to be lifeless.
Su Ping was surprised the moment he saw this bird.
“Sir, do you have some unique bird food? Something tastier?” Fan Shangde looked at the seemingly young Su Ping who was behind the counter and stepped forward to talk to him.
“Tastier pet food?” Su Ping didn’t expect this question. But Su Ping understood after he looked at the depressed bird. “Its appetite is not good recently, is it?”
Fang Shangde nodded. He sounded vexed. “It began to eat less a few days ago. I don’t know why. I took it to the doctors but none of them found any results.”
Su Ping said that he understood the problem. He turned around and took out a bottle of “Scarlet Stone Fruit.””I think it will like this,” Su Ping proposed.
“Oh?” Seeing that Su Ping was confident, Fan Shangde picked up the Scarlet Stone Fruit and took a look. “What is this pet food? How come I’ve never heard of it?” Fan Shangde asked.
Su Ping didn’t know how to explain the details. After all, he had no idea whether the cultivation planes the system sent him to were in the past or still in existence. Maybe this food was from ancient times.
Either way, he trusted the system’s judgment.
“You can let it try the food,” Su Ping added.
Fang Shangde had his fair share of bird food studies, and yet, he failed to recognize this type. On second thought, he believed Su Ping would not sell something that could harm a bird given this was an official store. He opened the lid and poured two grains out.
The moment he opened the lid, the upset fire bird suddenly flapped its feathers. Then, the bird looked up. The depressed and lazy looks in its eyes turned into a radiant glow. The bird was staring at the two Scarlet Stone Fruits in Fan Shangde’s hand.
“What?” The bird’s reaction took Fan Shangde off guard. He felt confident about the food. He lowered his hand and fed the fruits to the bird.
The fire bird pecked on his hand quickly and ate up the two fruits. As soon as it finished, the bird began to chirp happily. Its short wings were flapping quickly. Next, the bird turned its sight to the entire bottle of fruits placed on the counter, glaring at it with passionate anticipation.
Fan Shangde was stunned. This little guy had been suffering from a loss of appetite for days. It was a surprise that the bird could gobble down the food and it seemed to be wanting more.
Since the food was good, Fan Shangde had no more concerns. He asked Su Ping at once, “Sir, what kind of food is this? Give me several bottles, please.”
Su Ping saw that the fire bird was licking its chops as if it was going to pounce on the food because it could no longer wait. Calmly, Su Ping grabbed the bottle and moved it back to his side. “This is the Scarlet Stone Fruit, the most favorite for Vermilion Birds. This is the only bottle available in the store. One fruit is 130 coins and we have 34 here. Do you want all of them?”
“Well, 130 coins for one bottle…” Fan Shangde felt this price was reasonable. He came to his senses in the next second. “For one fruit?”
Su Ping nodded. “For one fruit.”
Fan Shangde was speechless. He looked into Su Ping’s eyes; since he saw that Su Ping was serious and composed, Fan Shangde was sure that he wasn’t hearing things.
At the same time, from the corner of his eye, Fan Shangde noticed the other products behind the counter. He was taken aback as he saw the prices. The food he had chosen was not the only pricey one. There were others even more expensive!
He then understood that Su Ping was not deliberately ripping him off.
“Is there anything special about the pet food here?” Fan Shangde restored his calmness soon and asked curiously.
Su Ping was surprised that this customer could stay this collected. “The food available has different effects, but the majority can help pets to improve their abilities. Some of the food varieties can produce extra effects. They are far from being mundane pet food. Your money will be well spent,” Su Ping said honestly.
“They help pets improve their abilities?” Fan Shangde was intrigued. Pointing to the “Colored Buddha Leaf” with the highest price, he asked, “This price is over 20,000 coins. What can it do?”
“This one can enhance a pet’s power of understanding,” Su Ping answered.
“Improve the power of understanding?” Fan Shangde was dumbstruck. His eyes flickered but soon, he covered up his interest. “This Scarlet Stone Fruit… give me ten. I will come back if my pet likes it,” Fan Shangde said.
Su Ping didn’t see this coming. Was this man placing an order?
That was to say… he was making money, right?
Su Ping felt a surge of emotions as if he could see the energy points waving at him. On the outside, he remained calm. He did the calculation fast. “Ten fruits will be 1300 and your Vermilion Bird has eaten two, so that is 260 coins, which makes for a total of 1560 coins.”
Fan Shangde nodded and transferred the money to Fan Shangde. “How long can the ten fruits last?” Fan Shangde asked.
Su Ping gave it some thought. “If you want it to be full… the ten won’t not even be enough for one meal. But, if you want to save, you can mix the Scarlet Stone Fruit with other pet food. This way, those will be enough for 10 meals.”
“Eh…” Fan Shangde didn’t find this food pricey to begin with, but he realized it was expensive after considering Su Ping’s suggestions.
He was not in want of money but when he thought about 1500 coins for one meal…
“Thank you, sir.” Fan Shangde left the pet store after this gesture of appreciation. When he was about to step away, he turned around and took a look at the shop sign—Pixie Pet Store.
“…”
Having sent away the customer, Su Ping checked his account immediately. There was an addition of 1560 coins!
If converted, it would be 15.6 energy points!
For him to collect the pet breeding mission, it would only cost him 10 energy points and he could breed a pet. That was to say, he could already finish his mission!
“Lucky for me, the cultivation plane I chose was not desolate. It would have been a bad start if I had chosen a barren world…” Su Ping felt fortunate.
…
…
Azure Bay Garden.
This was a neighborhood that seemed quite ordinary. The buildings were shabby and aged.
Fan Shangde walked with his hands clasped behind his back. He was in a superb mood. He walked the Vermilion Bird back to the neighborhood, leisurely and carefree. Along the way, he met some old friends, some with their pets, or with their better halves. They were also strolling in the neighborhood park.
“Old De, you’re walking that silly bird again…”
“You’re walking your better half as well…”
“Pff, you’re walking your better half!”
“Old De is old but still licentious. Let’s go…”
An old couple hurried away.
Fan Shangde laughed once their bickering was done. He took the Vermilion Bird back to his building; then he took out his keys and opened the door.
He stepped into the elevator and rode to the sixth floor.
He lived in room 601.
As soon as he opened the door, Fan Shangde could tell that someone else had arrived. The most obvious mark was that the several pairs of dirty socks he threw by his door were gone!
“Was it a burglary?”
Fan Shangde did not panic; rather, he was quite calm. He changed his shoes at the foyer and headed to the living room. He saw two people sitting there and smelled some delicious dishes coming from the kitchen.
“Grandpa, you’re back.” The two young people sitting on the couch stood up at once.
From their reactions, the girl was livelier. Her eyes glowed as she saw Fan Shangde. She ran over cheerfully and said, “Grandpa, we’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Fan Shangde smiled and patted the girl’s head. “How come you have time to visit me today?”
“I missed you, grandpa,” The girl said with honeyed words.
“Well, aren’t you sweet?” Fan Shangde pinched her nose.
The other young man that was standing by the couch smiled fatuously. “Grandpa, didn’t you say that your Vermilion Bird had no appetite and would not eat? I asked someone in my team to get something birds of the fire family love. I’m here to deliver them to you today.