Ch 3: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

Are You Underestimating Me?

The owner fell silent for a moment.

After all, this was a small village diner, and while it wasn’t unusual for villagers to bring in vegetables and eggs, someone bringing in salted duck eggs was a first.

She didn’t say anything immediately, but after thinking it over, she decided to accept the offer. Her main consideration was that Rong Ziyin was the village’s vet at the livestock station, and since she had pigs, a cow, and several chickens herself, maintaining a good relationship with him was important.

However, the price needed careful negotiation. The village wasn’t like the city, and even though salted duck eggs were pricier than regular eggs, they weren’t exactly a rare delicacy. Given that her small diner had limited clientele, who knew how long it would take to sell through Rong Ziyin’s basket of salted eggs.

After considering it, she suggested a price, “Dr. Rong, how about we start at one yuan per egg? I’m not trying to take advantage of you. I’ll sell them at that price here in the diner, and if they sell well, we can raise the price later.”

This was standard practice for the diner—new homemade goods were usually priced low initially, and if the villagers liked them, the price would be adjusted based on demand.

The owner’s family had a good reputation in the village, and Rong Ziyin understood this well. He agreed to the deal without hesitation.

“Thank you,” Rong Ziyin said, pocketing the thirty yuan before heading back to the livestock station.

Although the village chief had taken people to confront Xiaowang Village, Rong Ziyin’s work wasn’t done. After lunch, he still needed to extract and cultivate the blood samples from the sick ducks to conduct final tests.

Rong Ziyin remained calm as he entered the station, changed clothes, and washed up, ready for lunch. However, the system couldn’t hold back its despair.

“This was supposed to be a divine lottery! And all you got was thirty yuan after thirty draws? This cheapness is making me question everything. Maybe I’m not even a divine cheat system, just here to mess around,” the system groaned.

Rong Ziyin comforted it, “Don’t be upset, thirty yuan is still money! We can start paying off the debt.”

As he spoke, Rong Ziyin casually transferred the thirty yuan to the loan shark’s Alipay account with a note that said: Payment.

Half a minute later, he received a notification that the loan shark’s anger level had increased by +1000.

Rong Ziyin mused, “Such a young man, with such a temper.”

The system was speechless, anticipating an angry call from the loan shark at any moment.

But contrary to its expectations, the usually aggressive loan shark, who often sent threatening texts to Rong Ziyin, was silent for half a day. Clearly, he was too enraged to even form words, unable to think of anything to say.

After all, in his many years of working in this line of business, he had never encountered someone as odd as Rong Ziyin. Owing twenty thousand and making his first repayment a mere thirty yuan? Even a beggar wouldn’t be this cheap!

The loan shark didn’t call to vent his anger because he knew Rong Ziyin was cautious, and he didn’t want to leave any incriminating evidence that could be recorded. That’s why he resorted to those self-destructing text threats.

Reflecting on this, the loan shark soon provided Rong Ziyin with an additional 500 points of anger.

The system was baffled by Rong Ziyin’s clever manipulation. But Rong Ziyin seemed perfectly at ease, using the 1000 coins from the loan shark to make another single draw. A salted duck egg promptly appeared in his right hand. Rong Ziyin opened his insulated lunchbox, revealing a serving of fried rice with eggs.

He cracked open the salted egg, and as he gently poked the egg white with his chopsticks, the yolk’s rich oil oozed out, releasing its unique aroma. Rong Ziyin scooped out the yolk and spread it over the fried rice. The first bite was rich and savory—an ideal accompaniment.

As the loan shark’s anger points kept popping up, Rong Ziyin enjoyed his meal even more, finding the system’s lottery quite satisfying.

The loan shark constantly harassed him, so until the truth could be revealed, Rong Ziyin figured he might as well annoy him a little in return, considering it interest.

Yes, Rong Ziyin was doing it on purpose.

Meanwhile, over at the small eatery, the first wave of lunchtime customers had arrived.

Villagers liked to chat over meals, and today’s topic was naturally about the ducks from Xiaowang Village getting sick.

“I wonder if the village chief and the others are back yet. I had something to do this morning; otherwise, I would’ve gone to see the drama.”

“Who wouldn’t want to? We’re all just scraping by, and those bastards brought disease to our village. It’s just despicable!”

Those who hadn’t gone to Xiaowang Village were gathered, speculating on what might have happened there.

As the conversation turned to the sick ducks, someone’s attention shifted to the basket of salted duck eggs on the side table.

“Hey, Boss lady, with all these sick ducks, is it safe to be selling duck eggs?”

“Don’t worry! These are from Dr. Rong,” the owner reassured them with a smile. She had no doubts about the safety of the eggs, considering it was Rong Ziyin, the first to discover the illness, who had brought them.

Eggs delivered by the village vet were guaranteed to be safe!

The villagers were simple and trusting, and they all shared the owner’s sentiments.

The man who had asked the question casually picked up a salted duck egg and said, “I’ll take one. I bet these eggs from a top student taste different.”

As he cracked open the egg, the rich oil immediately seeped out. He quickly brought it to his mouth and took a sip, his taste buds instantly overwhelmed by the rich flavor. For a moment, he was at a loss for words, as memories flooded back.

Rong Ziyin’s salted duck egg was delicious, but it wasn’t like the gourmet eggs from a restaurant. Instead, it carried the taste of home, reminding him of his grandmother.

Their generation had lived through three years of famine and the opening up of the country, growing up in the village, where everything was homemade.

Back then, life wasn’t easy. Meat was a rare treat saved for holidays, and getting a salted duck egg was a reward for doing well in school. His grandmother, pleased with his achievements, would pull one out from a jar and give it to him.

The cool, well water-chilled millet porridge, paired with a salted duck egg oozing with red oil, was the pinnacle of happiness—a pure expression of love from the elders.

Sadly, it had been a long time since he had tasted something like this.

With his eyes slightly red, he silently finished his meal and then immediately turned back to the owner, asking to buy ten more salted duck eggs to take home.

Salted duck eggs weren’t rare; most families pickled a few now and then. But this man’s eagerness caught the attention of others in the diner.

Seeing the basket of eggs quickly depleting, others soon followed suit, and they too were impressed by the taste.

“Dr. Rong’s got some serious skills!”

“Even my grandma couldn’t make them this flavorful!”

“No kidding. With the heat we’ve got now, these salted eggs are perfect with a meal. I feel so calm and relaxed after eating one, not agitated at all.”

Rong Ziyin had only drawn thirty eggs, and these villagers quickly bought them all up.

The owner, realizing how crazy things were getting, quickly saved the last egg for herself.

As they were finishing up their meals, the village chief returned with the others. The owner’s husband walked in, noticing her clutching the last egg tightly.

“What’s that treasure you’re holding onto so tightly?” he teased his wife.

She quickly nudged him, “Don’t joke around. Dr. Rong just brought these in. They sold out like crazy at lunch; everyone who tried them wanted to take more home.”

“Really?” Her husband was equally intrigued.

After dealing with the whole situation in Xiaowang Village, he was hungry, so he decided to join his wife in sharing the salted duck egg.

Sure enough, the taste lingered pleasantly in their mouths. The best part was that after eating it, they both felt an immense sense of comfort, as if all their worries had melted away.

In the stifling heat of summer, eating one of these eggs was more refreshing than sitting in an air-conditioned room while eating an ice pop.

“You know, if we sold these salted duck eggs at our breakfast stall in the county, do you think it would…” her husband began.

“Of course it would improve business!” The owner’s eyes lit up, thinking her husband’s idea was spot on. The key point was that if they sold them in the county, they could easily charge two yuan per egg!

The county was different from the village. There were more people with regular jobs, so more customers came out for breakfast. The couple usually got up early to push their cart to the county to sell breakfast. But lately, they had been losing some of their regular customers to other stalls.

After tasting Rong Ziyin’s salted duck eggs, the couple decided they wanted to discuss a partnership with him.

That evening, they went to find Rong Ziyin, who had just come out of the lab.

“What’s up?” he asked.

They explained their idea.

Rong Ziyin fell silent. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to do business, but the problem was that these salted duck eggs weren’t something he could just produce on demand.

“Dr. Rong, you don’t mean to say that you only have that one basket of salted duck eggs, right?” The couple started to get a little anxious.

“It’s not that I don’t have more,” Rong Ziyin replied, thinking about how the system’s lottery required coins and considering how to ensure a stable supply.

“!!!” The couple’s urgency value shot up to 1000. Rong Ziyin casually pulled a coin from his pocket, and another duck egg appeared.

He handed it to them, saying, “The thing is, this is my last one for now.”

“…” The wife accepted the salted duck egg with a blank expression, and the situation became rather awkward.

At that moment, the system flashed another message: Loan shark anger level +17.

Who would have thought, this guy was still fuming after all this time.

Rong Ziyin couldn’t help but chuckle.

The couple exchanged glances and then laughed as well, “Dr. Rong, you sure know how to joke.”

In the end, they agreed that Rong Ziyin could bring them the eggs as soon as they were ready. This time, they decided to buy them at two yuan each.

The shop owner was quite savvy and handed Rong Ziyin thirty yuan before leaving, saying it was to cover this batch.

A more sensitive person might have taken offense, thinking the owner was insulting him. But Rong Ziyin accepted it graciously.

The system chimed in, “Usually, when establishing a long-term supply relationship, wouldn’t you politely refuse out of friendship?”

Rong Ziyin calmly replied, “I always thought business was just a cold exchange of money.”

“That makes sense… I can’t argue with that.” The system fell silent again, watching as Rong Ziyin opened his Alipay app and transferred another thirty yuan to the loan shark.

Loan shark anger level +2000.

Yep, Rong Ziyin was certain this time—he had well and truly driven the loan shark mad.

Feeling quite satisfied, Rong Ziyin put his lab coat back on, planning to return to the lab to continue monitoring the virus cultures.

Meanwhile, the loan shark was on the verge of exploding.

In a barbecue restaurant in Yanjing, the loan shark stood up with a beer bottle in hand the moment he got the Alipay notification.

“That little bastard! Nobody stop me—I’m gonna kill him!”

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝

Thingyan: Kinda feel bad for the loan shark a bit lol