Over the past ten days, Chen Shu had been shuttling back and forth between the Beast Tamer Association and the black market, successfully accumulating a full thirty thousand Huaxia Currency.
Chen Shu shook his head and sighed as he walked down the street. "The world is a tough place these days. Who knew making a little money would be this hard," before heading to the Beast Tamer Association to pick up another twelve stalks of Power Flower to brew at home.
As the saying goes: some families rejoice while others grieve.
In Nanjiang City's high-tech district, the top floor of an office building blazed with light late into the night as a middle-aged man with an imposing presence roared in fury: "Can someone explain to me why sales of Strength Potions dropped 30% this month?! And especially at the end of July—a full 70% decline!"
The company executives seated around the conference table all wore troubled expressions, unable to offer any explanation.
They were from Summer Star Potion Company, which had forcibly cut off its competitors' supply channels in order to dominate Nanjiang City's Strength Potion market.
The 666 Potion Company had lost its market share for Strength Potions precisely because of this.
A man wearing black-framed glasses spoke up: "Strength Potion is one of the foundational potions—sales figures shouldn't fluctuate this dramatically! There must be a deliberate cause."
"Investigate! Spare no effort! I want to know who dares to touch the company's revenue!"
The middle-aged man roared again. The company had paid a steep price to monopolize the Strength Potion market share, and before they'd even recouped their investment, this kind of problem had emerged.
Chen Shu had sold over two thousand bottles of Low-Grade and Medium-Grade Strength Potions in ten days. In a major city, this would barely cause a ripple—
But Nanjiang City was just a small city, and his potions had already disrupted the market.
[System Notice: Strength Potion brewing successful! Proficiency increased! Advanced from 'Mastery Level' to 'Grandmaster Level'!]
[Grandmaster Level: Brewed potions gain special effect—can consume an additional 25% dosage without developing drug resistance!]
Chen Shu let out a small sound of surprise. After brewing potions this many times, his proficiency level had finally increased!
He summoned his Golden Slime and had it consume a bottle of Medium-Grade Strength Potion—sure enough, the previous drug resistance vanished completely and its strength increased by another 0.5%. By the time it finished consuming another ten bottles of Medium-Grade and ten bottles of Low-Grade Strength Potion, its strength had increased by a full 10%.
This was the benefit of Grandmaster Level proficiency—even wealthy families couldn't compete with this.
The Golden Slime's talent might not be great, but hey... we can just pop potions...
Just then, his phone suddenly buzzed with a notification.
"Lonely Wolf Requests to Pair with You!"[1]
"???" Chen Shu looked utterly confused. What kind of stunt was Zhang Dali pulling now?
He frowned and clicked "Yes", only to have another message pop up: "Sorry, you're not worthy!"
"......"
Chen Shu immediately called him, and Zhang Dali picked up right away.
"Dali, what are you doing?"
"Uh, I accidentally clicked it—hit the Bluetooth pairing button."
"Why do I get the feeling you did this on purpose?" Chen Shu's tone dripped with suspicion.
Zhang Dali said, "Don't worry about the small details. I'm heading to the Capital tomorrow—are you coming with me or not?"
"Why so early? Are the exams starting already?"
"I'm going a few days ahead to visit Big Sister Fang Si while I'm there."
"Fang Si?" Chen Shu paused for a moment before remembering.
She had originally planned to come back for summer vacation, but unfortunately got assigned a mission at the last minute.
Choice options appeared before Chen Shu's eyes.
[Option 1: Travel to the Capital with Zhang Dali]
Reward: Slime's body size +5%[Option 2: Continue street vending and build your empire!]
Reward: Low-Grade Strength Potion production +1Chen Shu considered for a moment and chose the first option, nodding his agreement. "Sure! Let's go together tomorrow. I've got nothing better to do anyway." With his Strength Potion proficiency now at Grandmaster Level, the previous 30% material reduction had disappeared, limiting him to just ten bottles of Medium-Grade Strength Potion per batch—only eighty thousand yuan in revenue with profits barely reaching ten thousand. Other potions like Body-type or Defense Potions had high prices but low demand, making large-scale sales impossible, so his money-making plan had to be temporarily shelved. Of course, the most important reason was that continuing this grind was just too boring.
Chen Shu lasting ten days was already unprecedented.
With the system at his disposal, working like a common laborer was an insult to the protagonist's halo!
"With you along, I feel much better. My parents aren't around, so I'm leaving the travel expenses to you."
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow and typed: "So that was your real goal all along."
Zhang Dali replied: "If you don't go, I'll have to take out online loans. I've got the photos ready and everything."
"What photos?"
"Don't all loans require some kind of private photo?"[2]
"......"
Chen Shu ended the call immediately. If he kept talking, Zhang Dali would drive him completely insane.
He turned and started packing his bags—clothes, phone, ID card, urea sack... all the essentials got stuffed into his backpack.
Chen Shu pulled out his phone and bought train tickets, then opened ChaoXin and clicked on Fang Si's profile picture.
"Big Sister Fang Si, I have some good news to tell you!"
A reply came quickly.
"What good news?"
Chen Shu was about to type a response when he suddenly realized that telling her directly would ruin the surprise.
"The good news is... tomorrow I'll have good news to tell you!"
The moment he sent it, Chen Shu sensed a vague but unmistakable killing intent and immediately shut off his phone.
"Are you freaking kidding me?!" In her dorm room, Fang Si ground her teeth in fury. She definitely wasn't getting any sleep tonight.
She'd seen people leave you hanging before, but never someone this shameless about it!
Early the next morning, Chen Shu told his parents he was leaving, then set off on his journey with Zhang Dali.
"Driver, to Nanjiang City Railway Station!"
The two of them, each carrying a backpack, climbed into a taxi.
"Chen Pi, why didn't you book plane tickets?"
"Are you stupid? Trains let you enjoy the scenery outside!"
Chen Shu explained with perfect seriousness, even adding a philosophical observation: "People these days are too restless, life moves too fast—we've lost ourselves in the rush. We need to learn to slow down!"
Zhang Dali rolled his eyes. "Speak plain language!"
"Plane tickets are expensive......" Chen Shu admitted.
Zhang Dali looked utterly speechless. "If it's expensive, just say it's expensive. Why are you over here playing life coach?"[3]