Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 106 Good Business
Isaac Robbins fell in love with it the moment he picked up the bowl of noodles with red oil in his hands.
Isaac, who was used to light taste, never knew that he actually liked strong-flavored food so much. The slightly spicy and smooth vermicelli, the hot and oily soup, the refreshing vegetable leaves, and the bean sprout pickles that he couldn't recognize but tasted very satisfying, made this gentleman who had been away from home for several years and still adhered to the aristocratic dining etiquette stand among a group of adventurers with no manners at all and eat with his mouth wide open, breathing without caring about his image and sweating without decency due to the spiciness.
In the past, Isaac hated it when someone used a spoon to clatter the soup plate, but at this moment, he completely forgot about using a spoon to drink soup. He simply put his mouth to the edge of the bowl and drank the rich hot and sour soup into his stomach in big gulps.
"Hoo, ha! Hiccup!"
When Isaac came to his senses, the bowl was empty and he was breathing out and burping in a very ungraceful manner. He subconsciously covered his lower lip with the back of his hand, but found that everyone around him was sweating from the heat and venting from the spiciness, and no one cared whether he was decent or not.
Isaac felt a little ashamed, but more relaxed. He found that there was nothing wrong with this. Perhaps it was reasonable to behave openly and unconcealedly when eating the food of the "ferocious beast" Snow Wolf.
"This is really great! This is real food. What I ate before was nothing!" A barbarian adventurer drank up the soup in his bowl and waved his arms excitedly. "The Snow Wolf Tribe is awesome! Long live the Snow Wolf Tribe!"
The rough and tumble adventurers didn't care about the etiquette of not making noise while eating and immediately burst into laughter, with many joining in the fun and cheering for the Snow Wolf Tribe.
Yu and the Snow Wolf Warriors were all laughing. They felt proud that their food was so popular. Yu Yang picked up the spoon for adding more food: "If you want more food, please keep queuing up and pay!"
"Give me money, give me money!" The barbarian adventurer laughed so hard that he trotted to the back of the noodle stall to return the bowl, then came back to rearrange the order... Five copper coins were only enough to buy a glass of low-quality dwarven rum, which was much more refreshing than drinking bland rum.
"Isaac, Isaac!" The orc Melken had finished eating long ago and was now standing in the rearranged team, waving to the leader.
"Burp, I don't need it." Isaac waved his hand and shook his head. He was just a normal man. Three taels of noodles and soup made him so full that he couldn't eat another bowl no matter how delicious it was.
"Let's go eat some barbecue. It smells great over there, too." The dwarf Arnold also did not have an inhuman stomach, but he was not willing to just go back to the hotel, so he pulled Isaac to the barbecue stall across the street.
There weren't many people at the barbecue stall at first. After all, every adventurer eats barbecue until they vomit, and no one craves it. But barbecue... as long as you are willing to use the right ingredients, the fragrance is really not something that ordinary people can resist. When I got closer, I found that the barbecue of the Snow Wolf tribe was not just meat. The vegetables, cabbage, radish, leek, sweet potato, and potato were also skewered and grilled. There were also many varieties that looked and smelled delicious but were unfamiliar (actually, they were various tofu, potato cakes, sweet potato cakes, etc.), so the people who came here couldn't leave... Would it be in line with the adventurer's spirit of exploring the unknown if he didn't try them all? No~
Isaac just wanted to try some food with Arnold at first, but when he came to his senses, he was already obsessed with eating skewers... If the food he ate hadn't almost blocked his throat and made his eyes roll back, he might not have been able to wake up so quickly...
Looking at the handful of iron fiber in his hand, Isaac was completely confused: What happened? How did I eat so much again? !
To be honest, the Snow Wolf tribe's barbecue is also sold at a very cheap price. You can choose any four skewers for a two-gram copper coin, and each skewer is filled with enough ingredients. Generally speaking, humans, dwarves, and elves can be full after eating more than twenty skewers, and the cost is about the same as a large bowl of noodles. But if you eat a large bowl of noodles first and then eat this amount of barbecue skewers, that would be quite shocking. Anyway, Isaac was completely shocked by his own "potential".
"Isaac, you are awesome. Hiccup, I can't bear it after eating just a little bit. Hiccup!" Arnold returned the iron fiber to the snow werewolf, counted out the copper coins to pay, and covered his stomach with his hands with a painful look on his face.
"..." Isaac didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He counted the iron wire and returned it to the Snow Wolf who came to collect the money. He was calculating the fee he should pay when the Snow Wolf who came to collect the money said to him honestly, "You ate thirty-two skewers, a total of eight copper coins."
Isaac nodded and took out the money, but suddenly stopped and looked up blankly at the snow werewolf who was collecting the money.
"Eight copper coins." The Snow Wolf Man thought he didn't hear clearly, so he repeated it again and gestured to the number eight.
Isaac paid stiffly, and watched the werewolf warrior carrying a leather bag to collect the iron fibers and collect money walk towards the next group of people; the warrior's big hands flexibly counted the large handfuls of iron fibers counted by two orcs and three humans, five by five. Before Isaac could see his movements clearly, he stretched out his hand to others: "You ate forty-eight strings, twelve copper coins. You ate twelve strings, three copper coins, you ate twenty-nine strings, and the extra string will not be counted. You give me seven copper coins..."
Isaac was completely shocked!
What's going on! The legendary savage and ferocious Snow Wolf tribe is so proficient in arithmetic and so fast! This doesn't make sense!
"Wait a minute, did I calculate wrong? Why do I eat so much less than him?" An orc adventurer pointed at his companion in disbelief.
"That's right. You did eat twenty-nine skewers. Look, there are five iron fibers in one place, and the amount you ate is divided into six piles. One pile is missing one, so there are only four. Five and five are twenty-five, plus four more skewers, which makes twenty-nine."
"Hahaha, I told you I eat the most! Don't count their money, man. I'll pay for it all. How much is it in total?" The orc who won the contest of appetite laughed.
"Oh, okay, that's forty-eight plus twelve plus twenty-nine...you ate a total of one hundred and twenty-two skewers, which is thirty copper coins. The extra two skewers are not counted."
Not only was Isaac staring at the warrior as if he had seen a ghost, but the surrounding adventurers, including the orc adventurer who paid, were also stunned...
The Snow Wolf warrior took the money and went on to collect the iron fibers from the next wave of people who raised their hands to settle the bill. The orc warrior who had just paid gathered together with his companions and worked hard to settle the bill together - it was not that they suspected the Snow Wolf tribe had charged them a few more coppers, but that these guys calculated too quickly and they always felt something was wrong!
Isaac was also working hard on his mental arithmetic. He had been involved in authentic transactions with nobles, so he could do this kind of calculations, let alone the most complicated numbers. But it was obvious that he had to use mathematical formulas to calculate step by step, and he couldn't just do it out loud...
Isaac figured out the answer in several times longer than the Snow Wolf warrior, and his body was shaken... The answer was correct, he was not wrong!
Isaac couldn't help but fall into deep thought... Are these snow wolves who set up stalls outside the Elf Port fake snow wolves? !
Mumu collected a bag of iron fibers and a pocket full of copper coins, and happily returned to the back of the barbecue stall: "Ayan, Ayan, there is so much money, listen to it!"
A Yan, who was squatting on the ground and brushing the iron fiber vigorously with a boar bristle brush, raised his head and looked at Mu Mu with resentment: "I don't want to listen. I should have been the one to collect the money. I don't want to hear how much you collected."
"That's because you count too slowly. How long will it take you to collect the money?" Mumu raised his face proudly, picked up the leather bag and poured the collected iron fibers next to A Yan, poured the copper coins in his waist bag into the wooden box, and went out happily again.
Xiao Hua couldn't help laughing beside him. She picked up a square kitchen knife and cut the whole piece of dried tofu into even-sized slices. She also took out the rolled tofu skin and spread it on the table. She raised her chin towards A Yan who was pouting and said, "Why don't you thread the skewers and let me wash the iron fibers."
"No." A Yan refused angrily and buried her head in washing the fiberglass vigorously.
"If you're not convinced, then just do your math and problem solving well. Do more problems and you'll become faster as you become more proficient." Xiaohua advised, picking up a kitchen knife to cut the tofu skin.
"Just ignore him. He always tries to run out to play when others are doing their homework. He deserves it for not being able to beat Mumu." Xiaohua's partner came over with a few skinned lamb legs and put them next to the chopping board. "Let me take care of it. You go to the front and keep an eye on Mumu. She has just recovered from her injuries. If someone attacks her, it will be bad."
"Okay. Then I'll leave it to you." Xiaohua waved to the soldiers gathered around the chopping board, walked to the grill, picked up the brush and the skewers, and while grilling, he kept his eye on Mumu who was collecting money in the crowd.
Business was better than everyone had imagined. Those adventurers who came out to eat and drink were reluctant to leave after they were full, and those who couldn't eat went back reluctantly. Soon, those adventurers who didn't come or had only made do with bread came over again - the ingredients originally prepared were not enough, so they had to take out the portions intended for tomorrow's sale, and they also slaughtered two more sheep.
After nearly two hours of hard work, they fed more than a thousand adventurers, including the association officials who came after hearing the news. The forest elves came out again... and brought their vassal races with them.
During the beach bonfire party last year, these vassal races had nothing to eat and could only squat in the port and watch. This time, the supply was open and the elven generals were paying, so these vassal races ate without hesitation...
That night, after closing the stall, they returned to the wooden house assigned by the Snow Wolf Tribe to rest. Two boxes of copper coins with green rust were placed on the table to count and settle accounts. Yu shook his wrist and sighed, "Now I finally understand how hard it is for the people in the cafeteria. After just one day of preparing food, my wrist is a little out of control."
The soldier who cooked thousands of bowls of noodles rubbed his arms and nodded wildly. He thought it was not difficult to stand and cook and scoop noodles easily, but he didn't expect it to be a bit tiring.
"Have the night patrolmen been arranged?" Hongye came in from outside, holding a bark paper account book for counting supplies in his hand. He wiped the sweat off his face and sat down on the wooden bench.
"It's arranged. A Tian and his men will guard the first half of the night, Xiao Hua will guard the second half, and it will be your and my turn tomorrow night." Yu said.
A Tian is Xiao Hua's partner and an elite warrior among the Snow Wolf tribe. His combat capability is slightly weaker than Xiao Hua's, so he is arranged to guard the relatively safe first half of the night.
The same was done for Yu's arrangement for Hongye. Hongye was a warrior with special talents, a rare agile type in the Snow Wolf Clan. Unfortunately, he was relatively young and not well-trained, and lacked effective means of attack in frontal combat.
Hongye had no objection to this arrangement and nodded, "Although the night patrol has been arranged, everyone still needs to be careful. With so many humans in the port, it is inevitable that someone will have bad intentions and treat us badly."
The warriors all nodded, not thinking that Hongye's words were wrong at all... After being tortured by the dark fairy tale of the human world modified by Ayun for so long, except for Thrall, who everyone is very familiar with and knows very well, other humans are always a little scary in the eyes of the Snow Wolf Tribe, as if they will turn evil at any time and plot to kill people...
Mumu agreed and said, "I was in charge of collecting money today. A lot of people kept staring at me. Humans stared at me the most! Oh, there was a human with a white face, half-armor, and dark brown curly hair who stared at me the longest. He stared at me wherever I went. I don't think that human is a good person."
In the Elf Hotel, Isaac, who was lying on the bed feeling uncomfortable, suddenly sneezed violently.
"Is that so?" Xiaohua frowned, "Then don't go to collect the money tomorrow, and let someone else take your place."
"Okay." Mumu is a little willful, but she can tell when to be willful.
"I think we should start patrolling earlier tonight. If anyone approaches, we should drive them away in advance to avoid any accidents." Xiaohua's partner A Tian stood up.
"That's fine. Thank you for your hard work, everyone." Yu Chong nodded to several soldiers assigned to be on duty in the first half of the night, and watched them follow A Tian out.
"Today, Hailin mentioned to me that we should send someone to stay here permanently to do the noodle and barbecue business." Hongye mentioned the business seriously, "I think this is a good idea. On the one hand, we can have one more long-term business. On the other hand, this way we can know what happens at the port at the first time. Even if it is... at least we have an idea in mind."
The others didn't understand the part that Hongye omitted, but Yu understood it and nodded immediately: "This is indeed a good idea. If we want to arrange someone to come... I think we can listen to Ayun's opinion."
Hongye smiled and said, "Actually, I think Ayan is very smart. He can come."
"Eh, me?" Ah Yan was stunned, thought for a moment and immediately shook his head, "No, I want to go to the central grassland with you guys. I haven't been there yet."
"Don't mess around." Xiaohua reached out and pressed Ayan's shoulder. "It's safer to stay in the Elf Port. You are still too young to go to the central grassland with us. After a few more years of training, you will have a chance to go."
A Yan pouted his lips, but he didn't dare to object to Xiao Hua who had watched him grow up.
Yu and Hongye looked at each other. He could understand Hongye's idea. Leaving A Yan in the Elf Port was for two reasons: first, protection, so that A Yan would not follow them on the "adventure"; second, A Yan arrived late and was usually more playful, so even if someone tried to trick her, not much information would be obtained.
Thinking about the benefits of this arrangement, Yu nodded, "This is indeed possible, but it is not reassuring if only Ayan stays here. How about this, select another soldier to accompany Ayan, and let Ayun arrange the rest of the people. Xiaohua, who do you think is more reliable to let accompany Ayan?"
Yu agreed with Hongye's idea that the warriors staying in the Elf Port should be "newcomers". He asked Xiaohua for her opinion. In addition to trust, he also believed that Xiaohua would not only "focus" on protecting the people of the Li tribe.
"I think Shu can come." Xiaohua thought about it and proposed a candidate that was unexpected by everyone. "Shu can stay in the tribe to recover, but everyone in the tribe is very busy and no one has time to accompany him. So it would be better to let him come to the Elf Port. The work here is easier than in the tribe. He can do it and it can also change his mood, so that Shu won't think too much and feel uncomfortable."
Hongye & Yu: "..."
Don't even mention how awkward the two of them felt when they knew the truth about Ashu's injury... On the one hand, Xiaohua's opinion was indeed very reasonable. Ashu, who had to leave the warrior team and stay in the tribe due to internal organ damage, should indeed be assigned some more important but not too tiring work to let Ashu know that everyone still values and trusts him. For example, Mumu, who had a shoulder injury, Ayun did not let her continue to take on the heavy work at the cement factory, but let her help with the warrior team.
On the other hand...it's hard to describe in words. It just feels so weird to have the injured and weakened Ashu hanging around in front of the elves all day long!
"Is there something wrong with what I said?" Xiaohua was stunned.
"No, I think this is a good idea." Hongye said quickly, "How about this, when we go back we will suggest this to Ayun and see what Ayun says."
Isaac, who had overeaten for the first time in his life, lay down for a long time but still couldn't recover. Instead, he felt more and more uncomfortable with chest tightness and abdominal distension. He had to get out of bed with his hands on the headboard.
"Isaac?" On the other bed, the orc Melken opened his eyes, rubbed his eyelids and looked at the leader.
Isaac made a "hush" gesture and whispered, "Don't wake Arnold. I'm going to go out for a walk and digest my food. I'm so full after eating so much."
Melkan blinked and continued to sleep.
There weren't many rooms in the Elf Hotel, so the small team of four was assigned to one room, with two people sharing one bed. The big guy Malken and the short guy Arnold slept together, while the two humans Isaac and Alex slept together.
Thief Alex ran away in anger during the day and never came back. Isaac was not worried about him. This guy was like this when he got angry. He would naturally return to the team when it was time to set off. Alex, who had lived in the slums since childhood, could survive and live well in such a mixed place. In such a small port with simple personnel and forest elves, Isaac would not worry about anything happening to him.
The person in charge of this elf inn is a human female who is a vassal of the elves. This old-fashioned woman is about thirty years old. Her behavior and speech are like a professionally trained maid. She is probably a runaway slave of a noble family. After being blessed by the elves, she regards the elves as her masters. When Isaac slowly moved downstairs, the owner who was diligently wiping up and down with a rag immediately turned around, straightened his back, and folded his hands lightly in front of his abdomen. The palms of his two hands perfectly hide the slightly dirty rag, and said in a serious manner: "Mr. Isaac, it's already night, where are you going?"
"Just a walk, ma'am." Isaac nodded slightly, held his head high and strode out of the main door. This kind of old-fashioned maid of a certain age is more troublesome than a strict tutor. If you behave improperly, she will definitely find a way to remind you of your indecency with unpleasant words.
Walking out onto the street, Isaac breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't like the person in charge of this hotel very much. Seeing her always made him miss the beautiful and fragile time when he was still treated as the little master of the Robbins family.
The moon was bright, and the wooden houses in the Elf Harbor were beautiful under the moonlight. It was a pity that the sea breeze was a bit strong at night, making it difficult for people to completely calm down and appreciate this romantic and exotic customs.
Walking on the unfamiliar streets, feeling the not-so-gentle sea breeze in his face, listening to the occasional vague voices coming from different hotels on both sides, and the cold and scrutinizing glances from the elven warriors patrolling in pairs, Isaac gradually doubted the correctness of his choice of taking a walk under the moon.
"Let's go back." When he reached the intersection, Isaac lost interest in appreciating the moonlight and turned around silently.
After walking back a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned his head sharply.
A dark shadow flashed by at the intersection he didn't reach.
"How brave you are!" Isaac was furious. He suddenly drew out his sword. A faint light flashed on his body. His speed and strength were instantly enhanced. He rushed towards the direction where the black shadow disappeared without hesitation.
Even the adventurers recognized by the association as silver medal or above were not without their share of good and bad. Isaac was well aware of this. Before boarding the ship, Benjamin, the association official who organized the opening of the new land, had approached the team leaders with good reputations like him and asked them to stop any adventurers who might offend the elves, so as not to ruin the rare opportunity of opening the Elf Forest to the association.
Although the elves are well-known, there are only a hundred elven warriors guarding the entire port. This has given some people with ill intentions the wrong hint that their small actions that have always been successful in other places can also work in the elves' territory. This is not a good thing for Isaac, who just wants to follow the rules.
The other party probably took advantage of the gap in the elves' patrol. Isaac ran wildly along half of the street, but didn't see any of the elf warriors he had met twice not long ago. His heart tightened and he subconsciously slowed down his pace... If he couldn't attract the elf warriors in time, it would not be a good idea for him to go deep into the enemy territory alone.
Just as I was hesitating whether to go back to the more crowded hotel street, a person suddenly appeared from the dark corner.
Isaac was very familiar with this man and asked in surprise: "You, Alex?"
Alex put his finger in front of his mouth: "Shh... keep your voice down. Come here, Isaac."
Isaac put his sword back and strode closer with annoyance: "What are you doing? Sneaking around the streets at night. How are you going to explain if you meet an elf warrior?"
"It's OK as long as we don't get caught." Alex chuckled. "Okay, Isaac, you also ran out of the hotel in the middle of the night. Don't think I don't know what you are up to . You are also tempted, right, old friend?"
Isaac's eyebrows jumped and his face changed suddenly. He had a bad feeling in his heart. Fortunately, it was dark at night and Alex, who was standing opposite him, did not notice his abnormality.
Trying his best to remain calm, Isaac lowered his voice and said, "I don't understand what you are saying, Alex. I just came out for a walk."
Ali chuckled. "I understand, I understand. Even if a person of your status does the same thing as someone without taste like me, you still need a nice excuse that looks respectable and elegant. But I think we are old friends who have cooperated for many years, so let's not talk about those boring things anymore, what do you think?"
"Really?" Isaac gritted his teeth secretly.
"Of course, Isaac, that's not popular. At least the new friends I found don't like to hear roundabout words. They prefer to speak clearly to avoid misunderstandings among themselves... The lowest price for a Snow Wolf slave on the black market is 500 gold coins, and the value of a warrior is more than 1,000 gold coins. If you are not honest, you can't be a partner in such a good business."
