Chapter 46: A Simple Outing (Part 2)

The gigantic bookstore left Shuisheng dazzled.

After wandering inside for a while, he casually picked up two books to his liking at the bestseller recommendation stand near the entrance and walked out. This was his first time having the leisure to stroll around downtown Fuling City, and he wanted to walk around and see more.

He had only spent about ten minutes inside in total. This caused Yanning and the other three to let out a massive sigh of relief.

Shuisheng then strolled down several commercial streets within a radius of a few kilometers centered around Courtyard No. 3, Yan Garden. What he saw and heard truly opened his eyes.

He saw a few strapping fellows fiercely beating a man at a street corner, reducing the victim to a bruised and battered state with wails echoing continuously. The law enforcement officers of the police bureau simply stood nearby watching without intervening. Among the onlookers, very few showed any concern.

"They're beating someone right in the street, why aren't they stopping it?" Shuisheng asked Yanning, bewildered.

"It happens all the time. If you listen to what they're saying, it's most likely that guy owes people money and is being a deadbeat who refuses to pay," Yanning said.

"Even so, with law enforcement officers present, they shouldn't condone people beating others," Shuisheng argued.

"Does that mean people should be condoned for being deadbeats?" Yanning retorted. "This world doesn't run on just one set of rules, but several sets. There is the moral order, the legal order, and then there is the order that neither morals nor laws can manage."

What kind of logic is that?

Passing by a bus station, he saw a middle-aged woman kneeling outside with her head lowered, uttering not a word. There were a few onlookers around her, but not many; most people hurried past her as if she were invisible.

Shuisheng initially thought she was a beggar, yet he spotted neither a bowl nor any signs in front of or behind her, and no one was giving her money.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's been kneeling there for days..." one of the team members said. "Word is she got caught cheating by her husband, who wants a divorce. She regrets it to death but refuses to divorce him... Her husband said that if she kneels there publicly for seven days, he'll take her back... This made the city's trending searches a few days ago..."

City people sure know how to play. Shuisheng thought to himself.

Turning the corner into another block, he heard the blare of sirens, followed by a crowd gathering to the east of the street. Driven by a desire to watch the excitement, Shuisheng walked over and saw a person standing on top of a tall building, seemingly attempting to jump. People below were shouting, and others were trying to persuade him from the roof.

"I heard his stock trading leveraged position got liquidated," two middle-aged women in front of him were gossiping. "Not only did he lose his entire life savings that he poured into it, but he also ended up owing a massive debt he can't repay... He's only thirty-two, such a fine young man. Everyone used to say he was young, promising, and making a fortune daily. I was even thinking of introducing my daughter to him..."

Hearing the words "stock trading," Shuisheng's heart instantly grew gloomy as he thought of his own twenty thousand yuan trapped deep in "Fuling Aquatic" stocks.

We are truly two wretches sharing the same misery far from home.

At that moment, his phone chimed. Activity popped up in the "No Hunger No Meal" chat group.

*Seeking Seafood Without Fear of Distance*: Have you guys heard about the nodal point in Ting'ao Town from the past couple of days?

*Sparing Wolves to Feed Fat Sheep*: Heard about it. A minor nodal point, what about it?

*Seeking Seafood Without Fear of Distance*: I heard there's an Ice Warden in there with a pretty decent sword—extremely sharp—and it's going to the auction house.

*Death is Weightier Than Mount Tai*: Really? Who said that?

*Seeking Seafood Without Fear of Distance*: Word coming from the Eldest Miss's security guard team.

*COS King*: I heard it too. Originally didn't want to tell you guys, I'm planning to go snap it up. There's also a set of armor; it seems a bit battered, but it should be pretty good for cosplay flexing. Didn't expect you guys to know about it too.

*Sparing Wolves to Feed Fat Sheep*: Such treacherous intentions.

*Death is Weightier Than Mount Tai*: Such treacherous intentions.

*Even Vegetable Plots Are at World's End*: Such treacherous intentions.

*Xun'er*: Such treacherous intentions.

*COS King*: ......

*No Hunger No Meal*: If it goes to the auction house, the price is going to be driven way up, right?

*COS King*: For yours truly, money is not an issue.

His tone displayed considerable confidence in his family background.

*Sparing Wolves to Feed Fat Sheep*: True that. For you, Young Master Yuan, spending a few million every day is just child's play.

*Xun'er*: Then we wish you easy success in getting it.

......

Ah, truly, while some people throw away fortunes with casual dashing elegance, others live in poverty facing internal and external distress. The well-fed choke while the starving die.

Shuisheng couldn't help but think of Ni Ximei once again.

These people in the group were solely focused on discussing the Yan family's harvest on Ice Prison Island, and not a single person mentioned the four fallen guards.

Shuisheng dug out his contact list, saved the phone number of his fishing village childhood friend Zhou Yudong into his phone, and then sent a WeChat friend request.

Although still in middle school, Zhou Yudong had his own phone.

Shortly after, the verification passed.

*Zhou Yudong*: Brother Shuisheng, is it really you?

*Shuisheng*: It's really me.

*Zhou Yudong*: When I came home from school a couple of days ago, I suddenly found out you had moved away. Why so sudden? Why didn't you say goodbye before leaving?

I wanted to say goodbye, but you'd have to ask the Yan family's Eldest Miss if she agrees first.

*Shuisheng*: I'm doing great. Friends in Fuling City found me a place to stay. The environment is much better than before.

*Zhou Yudong*: That's great then. Now you're someone living in a big city, I'm so envious.

*Shuisheng*: Envious my foot. Big cities have big city hardships, you know.

Do you know I was stepped on by the Eldest Miss's guard with a blade at my throat? Do you know I almost froze into an ice sculpture on Ice Prison Island? Do you know I was used as fishing bait for the Yan family? Do you know that after buying this phone and bookshelf, I only have a three-digit sum of money left to my name?

Thinking of money, he hurriedly asked about the question he cared about most.

*Shuisheng*: By the way, how are those Fuling Aquatic stocks of mine doing these past two days?

Zhou Yudong sent a bitter smile emoji: The broader market is bad, continuing to slide. Dropped another 16% in three days.

*Shuisheng*: ......

Big brother, you can't play me like this. Are you trying to make me end up like that promising young man on the rooftop?

He calculated: starting from the initial purchase, it had continued to drop, and coupled with the losses from these past few days, his twenty thousand yuan seemed to have dwindled to barely sixty percent of its value.

*Zhou Yudong*: You can download a brokerage app to see its trend... The market is bad, really can't blame me. If you want to cut losses and bail, or if you want to add more funds to average down your cost, let me know in time.

Cut losses my foot.

Average down my foot.

*Shuisheng*: (Sigh) Let's leave it at that for now. We'll wait and see.

*Zhou Yudong*: Yeah, sometimes stubbornly holding on is also a strategy.

Strategy my foot.

*Zhou Yudong*: Brother Shuisheng, my mom is calling me to do my weekend homework, talk to you later.

*Shuisheng*: Alright, come find me in Fuling City to hang out when you have time.

*Zhou Yudong*: I definitely will. Bye.

*Shuisheng*: Bye.

With a rather unhappy mood, Shuisheng put away his phone. Adjusting his earphones, Shuisheng asked Yanning, "Captain Yanning, is there any place nearby where I can sell things? A place that deals in Awakened items?"

Yanning thought for a moment: "The biggest place is the Awakened Grand World. As long as it's related to Awakened ones, they have everything. It's Fuling City's largest formal trading market for Awakened goods."

Shuisheng didn't want to attract attention; he wanted to handle that Ice Prison Bear in a low-profile manner without stirring up any complications.

"Are there any smaller places, places that aren't too eye-catching... I'm short on cash right now," Shuisheng asked.

"Then go to Spirit Street. It's also a pretty decent place, not too large, run entirely by small shops. The quality varies, but the prices are cheap, and a lot of people go there to hunt for treasures," Yanning said.

"I've been there; there are quite a lot of fake goods," a guard remarked.

"Shall we go take a look there then?" Shuisheng said. "I'm going there to sell things, not buy things, so it shouldn't matter."

"Many of the bosses around there are as crafty as ghosts. No matter how good your items are, they'll drive the price down and make them sound utterly worthless," Yanning warned.

"It doesn't matter. If they offer too little money, I simply won't sell," Shuisheng said. "Let's go take a look."