Chapter 24

“My baby, are you alright? Let me take a look.”

The worried mother scrutinized her daughter and said, “What are you running around for? Do you know your father is looking for you everywhere?”

The little girl lowered her head and said, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

Seeing her daughter’s sad appearance, the mother couldn’t bear to scold her anymore. Holding her daughter in her arms, she came to Murong Jiao’s small shop. She couldn’t hide her surprise when she saw what was on the display case.

The woman regained her composure, bowed slightly to Murong Jiao, and said, “Thank you miss for taking care of my daughter.”

She looked at her mother with a smile, shook her head slightly and said, “It’s nothing. I just provided her with a small stool.”

The mother saw that she really didn’t mind it and thanked her again. “Thank you.”

Seeing that her mother had finished speaking, the little girl looked at her mother and said, “Mom, I’m hungry.”

The mother looked at her daughter with a distressed look on her face. She couldn’t hide her sadness when she saw her daughter staring at the glass display cabinet. She coaxed her baby with a soft voice.

“Let’s wait for your father first, shall we?”

The little girl nodded, but her stomach was growling. Murong Jiao saw the mother was upset, and she took out a chicken sandwich and said, “Please give it to the child.”

Mom was taken aback when she saw a chicken sandwich with veggies and shredded chicken, and two big baguettes on both sides. She waved her hand quickly and said, “I have nothing to pay.”

Murong Jiao looked at her for a while, then her eyes fell on the small stone on the little girl’s palm. When she looked at the transparent stone carefully, she could feel a very weak spiritual power from this small stone. After thinking about it, she said, “Can I see that little stone on her palm?”

The little girl opened her palm and stretched out towards her. She looked at the little girl with a smile, and picked up the small stone that was only half the size of a little fingernail. Touching the smooth surface, she didn’t know where the stone came from, but she was sure that there was spiritual power in the stone, although it was very faint.

Returning the little stone to the little girl, she looked at the mother and said, “Why don’t you give me the little stone, and I’ll give you something to eat?”

The mother obviously saw her interest in the little stone and asked, “Is this stone worth anything?”

Murong Jiao knew what she was thinking, as she shook her head and said, “I just think this stone is very beautiful, and the little girl is hungry.”

The mother blushed when she heard her words, and quickly said, “If you really like it, we can give it to you as a thank you for taking care of my daughter.”

Murong Jiao knew that what she just said was not what she meant. With a business smile on her face, she said, “It’s okay. Just trade that small stone for food.”

Mother saw the large chicken sandwich on the tray and couldn’t help but think, this chicken sandwich will fill the whole family’s stomach tonight. Looking at the daughter in her arms, she said, “Baby, do you want to eat a sandwich?”

The little girl nodded. “Want.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and said, “The sister said that if you exchange your little stone for a chicken sandwich, she will give it to you. Do you want to exchange it?”

Although she could exchange the small stone for food, as a mother, she couldn’t see the sad face of her child. She can only hope that her daughter agrees to trade the stone for food.

After a long silence, the little girl finally stretched out her small hand and said, “Sister, can I really use this stone to buy food?”

Murong Jiao nodded to the little girl, and said, “Yes. But only for today will I give you a huge discount. If you come back next time, you need to bring five stones in exchange for a sandwich.”

“Okay.”

With the little girl’s nod, Murong Jiao handed the chicken sandwich to her mother, and then took the small stone from the little girl’s palm. After the special transaction was over, the mother did not leave, but looked at Murong Jiao with some hesitation.

Seeing that she wanted to ask her something, Murong Jiao said, “Do you have something to ask me?”

The mother looked at her expectantly and asked, “Can we really bring this stone here to buy food?”

Murong Jiao nodded to her and said, “Yes. But it must be the same kind of stone.”

The mother was taken aback when she heard this, and after a long silence, she asked tentatively, “Miss, can you differentiate this stone from other stones?”

“Yes.”

With her affirmative confirmation, the plot in the mother’s heart disappeared immediately. Without saying anything, she thanked Murong Jiao again, turned around and left. Going further and further away, the little girl looked back at the sister standing behind the counter, and waved her little hands.

Waving at the little girl, Murong Jiao couldn’t help sighing. After she kindly helped them, the mother also tried to cheat her. Looking down at the small stones in her palm, she wondered where they came from. This stone was different from other stones she knew, in that there was a faint spiritual power exuding from that stone.

When she was still busy studying the mysterious stone, a young man and woman came to her shop. Seeing the next customer coming, she put the small stone inside a glass bowl and put it on the counter.

“Good evening, what would you like to buy?” She greeted them with a business smile on her face.

The young man pointed to the glass bowl on the counter and said, “We just saw that you sold a sandwich to the mother and daughter, and they paid you with that stone. Do you still do that kind of transaction now?”

She nodded and said, “Yes. But because they were the first customers tonight, I gave them a discount. If you want to buy a sandwich with the stones, you need five.”

The young woman gasped and asked in surprise. “Five of them? Don’t chicken sandwiches cost a stone?”

“Like I said earlier, I gave them a discount because they are the first customers tonight. Also, you can only use stones to buy food in my store. Otherwise, the stone is useless.” She calmly explained to the young woman.

“We understand.”

After the young man finished speaking, he gestured to the young woman. Seeing that her boyfriend agreed to Murong Jiao, the young woman had no choice but to take out a small purse from her backpack and hand it to her boyfriend. The young man took out the stones from the purse and looked at Murong Jiao.

“We have seven. How much food can we get.”

She still answered him with a business smile. “For convenience, I will give a conversion rate. One stone for 2 contribution points.”

The young man thought for a while, before looking at her menu list. Seeing the price there, he didn’t show any surprise. Murong Jiao silently observed his reaction and expression, waiting for him to choose what he liked from the menu.

After a few minutes, he finally spoke. “I’ll have a chicken salad and a chicken sandwich. One of each. The rest will be paid in contribution points.”

“No problem. Please wait for a moment.”

Opening the sliding doors of the glass display cabinet, she pulls out a chicken salad and a chicken sandwich. Putting it on the counter, she accepted the stones and 4 contribution points from the young man.

“Thank you for your patronage. Please come again.”

The young man glanced at her smiling face and left with his girlfriend. Unexpectedly, there were seven more small stones, and she fell into deep thought while looking at the stones. The young man just now didn’t look weak, and they also carried weapons on their bodies.

From her observation just now, there is a faint pungent smell around the young man’s body. It’s a smell from zombie blood or rotting corpses. He must have just returned from killing the zombies. She looked deeply at the seven transparent gems on the counter, and then put them together with another gem.