Chapter 383 Sorry, I Can't Do It

In the warehouse behind the "Daily Grocery" store, a round-faced little boy in loose overalls and cloth shoes was busy.

The little boy lifted a large wooden box that could fit him in both hands, walked steadily all the way to the basement, and gently placed the box on the shelf.

After stacking the large boxes neatly, he marked the date and quantity of the day on them with charcoal.

Then, the little boy swept the floor with a broom, waved a feather duster to clean the dust and cobwebs on the shelves, and wiped the stair railings, cabinets and countertops with a rag.

After all this, he washed the cleaning utensils with water and put them back in place, then washed his hands and face. He walked all the way to the front hall and knocked gently on the door.

"Uncle Yanbu, I have sorted out the warehouse and cleaned it up. Come and have a look."

The middle-aged man who was dozing off in front of the counter rubbed his eyes and yawned: "No need to look, Xiaoye, I am relieved that you are working."

He stood up and stretched, then took out two 50-denomination city bonds from his pocket and handed them over: "Take them, don't drop them."

"But, Uncle Yanbu... the weekly salary is 50 seashells? You gave too much."

Xiaoye hesitated, but raised his hand but did not take the two banknotes.

"You deserve this."

Yanbu stuffed two banknotes into Ono's pocket, rubbed his nose and said, "A month ago, I went out to buy goods and there was a fire behind the store... The boss next door said that you fought hard to put out the fire and rescued this guy."

He looked at a brown hound at his feet: "I'm not married, Dagu is my child, you saved it, I want to express my gratitude. I should have given you a little more, but this store is not doing well. I'm penniless after the last reconstruction, and I don't know how long I can last."

Ono hesitated and put the two city bonds in his pocket on the table.

"Please keep this shop open. When you have money in the future, pay me."

This time, Yanbu was stunned for a moment, and then he laughed: "You have to think about it. If you don't take the money today, you may not get it in the future. This small shop may close down at any time."

"Please hold on! You are a good person who will not deduct money! Business will get better!"

Ono bowed and ran out quickly.

The middle-aged man looked at the back of the child who seemed to be running away, and the smile on his face gradually faded. He gently put away the two banknotes on the table and put them in his pocket.

"What a simple and stupid child. It's because I don't know how to deduct money that I can't do business well."

Yanbu touched the head of his pet dog: "Dagu, don't you think so?"

The puppy barked twice.

"Seeing that child, I think it seems not bad to have a child."

Yanbu showed a little melancholy on his face.

He looked at the dog Dagu: "What do you think about me and Xiaoye becoming father and son? You think it's good? What? You want me to adopt him, and you said you won't fight him for the inheritance... Do you like him so much? Well, since you've asked me so much, I have to think of a way."

...

Xiaoye left the store, regretting more and more.

Without the 50 seashells, he would have to starve.

The boss's business has always been bad.

Xiaoye has been working in the store for five years. He knows the situation of the store's shipments and purchases, especially the losses in the past two years. The fire not long ago caused heavy losses to Yanbu. The middle-aged boss was in a daze for a long time. Many times he couldn't hear him when he was called. He was hit very hard.

Xiaoye stared at the street in a daze.

The boss is miserable, but how can I fill my stomach.

As a fire tribe, Xiaoye needs to make money to buy omnipotent stones to fill his stomach.

The fire tribe feeds on omnipotent stones, whether they are polluted or pure. But it must be purchased at designated stores through city bonds. If there is no omnipotent stone, no matter how much coal, kerosene or wood you swallow, you will still feel extremely hungry, have no strength to move, and your brain will not work.

Ono can feel that the burning in the fire furnace in his chest is weakening.

Without the supply of omnipotent stone, the body of the fire tribe will become extremely heavy, and in serious cases it will even fall into downtime and hibernation - equivalent to the death of a fire tribe.

Even if the omnipotent stone and fuel are refilled, it may not be able to wake up the fire tribe again. At that time, it is just a fire furnace with a human form.

God Yao, please help me and give me inspiration... I am so hungry that I can hear birds singing in my head.

As a devout believer, Ono has never forgotten to pray.

A voice suddenly came from his ear.

"Little friend, do you want to come to work for me? Are you from the fire tribe?"

The speaker was a smiling woman.

Ono was alert.

It is difficult to recognize the fire tribe just by looking at the appearance. But if you have frequent contact with the Fire Steam Tribe, you will find that they are different from ordinary people.

No matter how much the body looks like flesh and blood, the Fire Steam Tribe will not feel pain when the body is damaged, so the Fire Steam Tribe was not originally considered to be human, but a kind of alien produced by transmutation.

The perception of the Fire Steam Tribe is actually very sharp. They do not use the five senses to touch the world like ordinary people, but use the extraordinary power generated by the burning of the omnipotent stone to touch other objects to get feedback, and their perception ability is more three-dimensional.

It's just that because the transmutation is affected by the Yao Tribe environment, they still habitually see, hear, and touch.

The strange woman recognized his identity at a glance, which made Xiaoye very careful.

In the early days, many Huoqi people were trafficked and deceived. Later, Yaocheng and Yancheng recognized the legal status of the Huoqi people and jointly promulgated relevant protection bills, which curbed this trend.

But even so, because the Huoqi people belong to a special minority group, they are still easily targeted by some lawless people.

"Don't be nervous, I'm the owner of that store, my name is Shang Zi."

The woman raised her hand and pointed across the street.

Ono took a look.

It was a pet taming shop, dealing in training and taming pet cubs, including various dogs, foxes, rabbits, lizards, pheasants, etc.

The trend of pets is changing rapidly in Yancheng, and it is not easy to do this business. Ono found the image of the woman in his memory. She was indeed the owner of that store.

“We’ll have pets that are less temperamental.”

The female boss blinked: "Ordinary animal trainers can't stand it and are often injured, but if it's a fire and steam tribe, it should be fine, right?"

"Why are you looking for me?"

Ono still kept his distance from the other party.

"You work in Yanbu's shop, right? I opened the shop for two years, and you worked in his shop for two years, with a weekly salary of 50 seashells. It has not changed in two years. Am I right? I am a person I care more about the reliability and duty of my employees. According to my experience, if Yanbu’s store is burned down by that fire, I’m afraid it will be difficult to keep it open.”

"Come work at my place and I'll give you a weekly salary of 140 seashells." Shang Zi said with a smile.

“What pets do you have in your store?”

"Let me think about it..."

Shang Zi clapped his fingers: "There are lions, wolves, crocodiles, pythons...Customers nowadays have more serious tastes. Without these ferocious guys, no one would want to keep them."

"Oh, there is also an aberrant beast, but its prototype is a steam carriage, so the danger is not bad. It's just not easy to appease this guy."

There was a thump in the little ambition.

really.

The focus is on the aberrant beast.

Shang Zi expressed his position: "If you are willing to come, I can give you a daily salary. You look hungry, right? It would be more comfortable to eat some Almighty Stone, even if it is just for one day?"

In the end Ono accepted the employment.

He followed Shang Zi into the large pet store. There was a special warehouse behind the store, and two tall jade rabbit bodyguards guarded both sides of the door.

After opening the door, Ono saw an old-fashioned steam carriage inside.

It has classic wide iron wheels, and the carriage and seats retain the old-fashioned style from decades ago.

The body of the steam carriage was wrapped with iron ropes, and copper chains were wrapped between the iron ropes. The thick iron ropes were connected to the foundation stones at the four corners of the warehouse.

"It doesn't have much fuel left in its body, so it can't break out of here."

Shang Zi said: "But it is an aberrant beast after all, and it can go crazy easily. Xiaoye, try your best to get along with it. The coal is in the box next to it. If it is hungry, just feed it some."

"Mainly, my client is a big shot. He likes aberrations and is interested in this classic car. He has no choice but to keep it. This aberration has a weird temper and is suspicious. If you throw coal to it, it will only To crush it, you have to run around in front of it with coal and let it grab it... before it will eat. "

The female boss also looked helpless: "So you know what's causing trouble at work, right?"

"Understood."

Ono nodded.

"Then, it's your job tonight. Be sure to feed it something. It has been on hunger strike for nearly a week, and I don't want it to be of poor quality anymore. The price will be reduced by then."

…

The door slowly closed.

A hanging lamp was fixed on the top of the warehouse, and the dim yellow light shrouded the small space, coating the chained carriage with a layer of light gold.

Ono first took off a set of thick leather armor from the hanger in the corner, put on a face-covering helmet, long boots and thick gloves, then opened a box on the side and took out a bag of coal.

Then he ran around the fire carriage.

There was no response from the other party.

Ono tried throwing a piece of coal and hit the iron horse head of the old car, making a clang sound.

He muttered to himself.

Could it be that this aberrant beast...is dead?

At this time, a cold voice came from the car: "Are you sick? Did I provoke you while I was sleeping? Can you be polite?"

not dead?

Ono was surprised, but what shocked him even more was that this aberrant beast could actually talk!

"You can actually talk?"

"Nonsense, I can speak seven languages: Yao, Dragon, Bo, Elf, Bamboo Reed and Ghost Realm."

Ono was shocked.

His eyes suddenly opened wide: "You are not an aberration...are you a fire tribe?"

"Not all fire and steam tribes have good brains, and not all aberrations are primitive beasts. Some of the fire and steam tribe are born with disabilities, and some of the aberrations are good at various languages. Thank you."

The steam carriage made a clicking sound, and the front of the carriage slowly stood up. The body of the carriage was greatly twisted and deformed, folding and twisting into a strong horse-headed man sitting cross-legged on the ground. Under the illumination of the hanging lamp, his angular body reflects the metallic halo.

"While I'm still normal, let's make a deal. If you let me go, I'll give you a box of omnipotent stones. It's very simple. You just need to remove the chain over there..."

"Sorry, I can't do it." Ono kept his distance from it and shook his head.

"I'll give you double whatever they give you."

"Are you hungry?" Ono raised the charcoal bag in his hand.

"I'm talking about cooperation with you, and you ask me if I'm hungry?"

After a moment of silence, the horse-headed man sitting cross-legged raised his metal finger and said, "Give me half a box of washed coal, a bucket of heated magic oil that has been used to absorb impurities with charcoal, and a bundle of raw pine firewood. Finally, remember to sprinkle rose petals, dried roses will do. That's all."

"..."