Chapter 3: Damn, Who Does He Think He’s Looking Down On?!
“…” The landlady fell silent.
After all, this little eatery was in the village. They often bought vegetables from the villagers and received deliveries of eggs, but this was the first time anyone had brought salted duck eggs.
Though she said nothing, after a moment’s thought, the landlady agreed promptly.
She reasoned that Rong Ziyin was now the village veterinarian at the animal husbandry station, and her own family raised two pigs, a cow, and numerous chickens. Therefore, cultivating a good relationship with Rong Ziyin was crucial.
But the price needed careful negotiation. The village wasn’t like the city, and salted duck eggs, though pricier than regular eggs, weren’t exactly a rare delicacy in a village accustomed to raising ducks. Her shop was small, and who knew how long it would take to sell through Rong Ziyin’s basket of salted duck eggs.
After much deliberation, she proposed a price. “Doctor Rong, how about we start at one yuan each? I won’t take advantage of you. My shop will also sell them at one yuan each initially. If they sell well later, we can raise the price.”
This was standard practice at snack stalls. Whenever someone brought cooked food to sell, they started with a low price. Only after villagers tried it would they adjust the price based on taste.
The shopkeeper’s family were honest folks, well-liked in the village. Rong Ziyin understood this perfectly and agreed without hesitation.
“Thank you,” Rong Ziyin said, tucking the thirty yuan into his pocket before turning back toward the animal husbandry station.
The village chief had indeed led a group to Xiao Wang Village to demand an explanation, but Rong Ziyin’s work wasn’t done yet. After lunch, he still needed to separate and culture blood samples taken from the sick ducks for final testing.
Rong Ziyin remained remarkably composed. After entering the station, he changed clothes, washed his hands, and prepared for lunch. Yet the System couldn’t help but wail inwardly.
This was a Heavenly Path lottery! Thirty consecutive draws, and all it got was thirty yuan? That inexplicable sense of cheapness plunged the System into deeper despair. It even began doubting its own purpose—perhaps it wasn’t some divine cheat code granted to Rong Ziyin at all, but merely a joke added for comic relief.
System: I might be useless.
Rong Ziyin comforted it: Don’t be sad. Thirty bucks is still money! We can pay off our debt now.
As he spoke, Rong Ziyin casually transferred the thirty yuan to the loan shark’s Alipay account, adding the note: Repayment.
Half a minute later, Rong Ziyin received a notification: [Loan Shark’s Rage +1000].
Rong Ziyin: Young age, big temper.
The system was utterly speechless, expecting Rong Ziyin to soon receive a torrent of abuse from the enraged loan shark.
To its surprise, however, this loan shark—who normally bombarded Rong Ziyin with threatening texts—remained silent for over half an hour. Clearly, he was so enraged he couldn’t muster the energy to curse.
After all, in all his years in the business, he’d never encountered such a bizarre lunatic as Rong Ziyin. Owing 200,000 yuan, yet making a first payment of 30 yuan. That wouldn’t even cover a beggar’s handout!
As for why he hadn’t called to rant, it was because Rong Ziyin was notoriously cautious. The loan shark dared not engage in a voice call, fearing Rong might record it and capture incriminating evidence. That was precisely why he’d previously resorted to threatening via self-destructing text messages.
So, upon realizing this, the loan shark promptly provided Rong Ziyin with over 500 anger points.
The system was utterly baffled by Rong Ziyin’s unconventional maneuver. Rong Ziyin himself, however, remained unfazed. He casually spent the thousand gold coins the loan shark had provided and immediately made another single pull. A salted duck egg promptly appeared in his right hand. Rong Ziyin opened his insulated lunchbox, revealing a bowl of fried rice with egg.
He cracked open the salted duck egg. With a slight poke of his chopsticks into the egg white, the red oil, carrying the unique aroma of the salted yolk, immediately flowed out. Rong Ziyin scooped out the yolk and spread it over the fried rice. Taking a bite, he savored the rich, savory flavor—an excellent companion for rice.
As the anger meter from the loan shark’s end occasionally spiked, Rong Ziyin ate with even greater relish. He found this system’s lottery feature rather enjoyable.
That loan shark harassed him daily. Until the truth came out, causing him some annoyance was just interest.
Yes, Rong Ziyin was doing it on purpose.
Meanwhile, the snack bar welcomed its first wave of lunchtime customers.
Villagers always chatted over meals, and today’s topic was naturally the illness affecting Xiaowang Village’s ducks.
“Hey, the village chief and the others still haven’t returned. I really had something to do this morning, otherwise I’d have gone to see the commotion too.”
“Who wouldn’t? We’re all neighbors here, scraping by off the land. Deliberately bringing disease to our village? That’s just beastly!”
Those who hadn’t gone with the village chief to Xiaowang Village were now gathered together, speculating about what might be happening over there.
As they chatted back and forth, the topic turned to the sick ducks, and someone’s gaze drifted to a basket of salted duck eggs sitting on the pickles table nearby.
“Hey, landlady! Our ducks are sick—are these eggs really okay?”
“Don’t worry! These were sent by Doctor Rong.” The landlady beamed as she vouched for Rong Ziyin. She never doubted the safety of those salted duck eggs, after all, Rong Ziyin was the first to spot the ducks’ illness.
How could preserved eggs from the doctor possibly be tainted?
Clearly, the villagers were simple folk, thinking much like the shopkeeper.
The man who had asked the question picked up a preserved egg and returned to his seat, declaring, “I’ll take one! Today’s my lucky day. I’ve got to savor this. A top student’s preserved eggs must be something special.”
As he spoke, he cracked open the salted duck egg. The moment the red oil surfaced, he quickly brought his mouth close and sucked in a mouthful. His taste buds were instantly captured by the burst of savory flavor exploding on his tongue. He paused, a complex, indescribable feeling welling up inside him.
Rong Ziyin’s salted duck egg, though delicious, didn’t taste like the rich, restaurant-style variety. Instead, it carried the unmistakable flavor of home cooking, instantly reminding him of his grandmother.
Their generation had lived through the three years of famine and the Reform and Opening Up. Growing up in the village, they were all free-range children.
Times weren’t exactly prosperous back then. Getting to eat meat was a special occasion. On ordinary days, a salted duck egg was a reward for doing well on exams. When Grandma was in a good mood, she’d pull one out of the jar and give it to him.
Cold sorghum rice, chilled by well water, paired with a salted duck egg glistening with red oil. Each bite was pure bliss, a simple expression of affection from elders to their young.
Sadly, it had been ages since he’d tasted that flavor.
Thinking this, his eyes stung a little. He silently finished his rice, then turned back to the shopkeeper and asked to buy ten more salted duck eggs to take home.
Salted duck eggs weren’t exactly a novelty—every household pickled a couple every few days. It wasn’t as if they were rare enough to warrant buying them after eating them.
This person’s behavior caught the attention of many in the shop.
Seeing the basket of salted duck eggs halved in an instant, some curious customers quickly followed suit and bought one. They too were instantly captivated by the flavor.
“Doctor Xiao Rong’s craftsmanship is simply superb!”
“Even my grandmother couldn’t pickle them with such a rich, authentic flavor!”
“Let’s not even talk about anything else—with this scorching heat, salted duck eggs are the perfect rice accompaniment. After eating one, you feel completely at ease, not a trace of restlessness left.”
Rong Ziyin had only managed to set aside thirty eggs, and these villagers snapped them all up.
Seeing the villagers’ enthusiasm, the shopkeeper’s wife quickly snatched the last one for herself.
Just as they were eating, the village chief returned with his men. The shopkeeper’s husband walked in and couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw his wife clutching a salted duck egg.
“What’s this treasure you’re clutching so tightly?” the innkeeper’s husband teased his wife.
The innkeeper quickly pushed him away. “Stop fooling around. Doctor Rong just delivered it. Everyone went crazy for it at lunch today. Anyone who tasted it wanted to eat more and take some home.”
“Really?” Her husband found it quite amazing too.
Having worked up an appetite following the village chief around, he headed to the kitchen to grab some rice and share the salted duck egg with his wife.
The flavor lingered on their lips. More importantly, it felt incredibly satisfying—as if all their worries had melted away.
In the sweltering summer heat, eating one felt more refreshing than munching on an ice pop in an air-conditioned room.
“Hey, honey, what if we sold these salted duck eggs at our breakfast stall in town? Do you think business would…”
“It would definitely improve!” The shop owner’s eyes lit up, convinced her husband’s idea was spot-on. The key point was that if sold in town, just one of these salted duck eggs could fetch at least two yuan!
The county town was different from the village. With more people working regular jobs there, more folks came out for breakfast. The couple usually rose early to push their cart into town for breakfast sales. Lately, though, repeat customers had been lured away by other stalls.
So after tasting Rong Ziyin’s salted duck eggs, the couple set their minds on discussing a partnership with him.
That evening, they sought out Rong Ziyin.
He had just stepped out of the lab.
“What’s up?”
They explained their purpose.
Rong Ziyin fell silent. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do business—it was just that these salted duck eggs weren’t something he could produce on demand.
“Dr. Rong, surely you don’t only have that one basket of salted duck eggs!” the couple immediately grew anxious.
“Not entirely impossible.” But the system lottery required gold coins, so Rong Ziyin pondered how to secure a stable supply.
“!!!” The couple’s desperation meter instantly skyrocketed to 1000. Rong Ziyin casually pulled another salted duck egg from his pocket.
He instinctively handed it to them. “Honestly, this is my last one.”
“…” His wife took the egg with a blank expression, leaving the atmosphere thick with awkwardness.
Just then, another notification flashed in the system: [Loan Shark Anger +17].
Who knew? This guy was surprisingly persistent. Half a day had passed, and he was still fuming.
Rong Ziyin couldn’t help but chuckle.
The couple exchanged glances and laughed along. “Doctor Rong sure has a sense of humor.”
The three eventually agreed that once Rong Ziyin finished curing the duck eggs, he could deliver them directly. This time, they settled on a price of two yuan each.
The shopkeeper was quite the character. Before leaving, he handed Rong Ziyin thirty yuan, implying it was compensation for this transaction.
A more sensitive person might have taken it as a direct insult. Rong Ziyin, however, accepted it without hesitation.
System: Host, shouldn’t you have refused out of friendship for a long-term supplier relationship?
Rong Ziyin calmly replied: I believe business is merely a cold monetary transaction.
So logical, impossible to refute. The system fell silent again, watching helplessly as Rong Ziyin opened Alipay on his phone, entered the loan shark’s account number, and transferred him another 30 yuan.
[Loan Shark’s Rage Level: 2000]
Hmm. Rong Ziyin was now certain: this loan shark had genuinely been driven mad by him.
Thus, feeling thoroughly satisfied, Rong Ziyin slipped back into his lab coat, intending to return to the lab for overtime to continue observing the isolated virus.
Meanwhile, on the loan shark’s end, he was on the verge of exploding.
In a Yanjing barbecue joint, the loan shark leapt to his feet with a beer bottle in hand the moment his Alipay notification pinged.
“Fucking little bastard! Don’t try to stop me—I’ll kill the son of a bitch!”