Chapter 26: Silver-Haired Tsundere Male

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Silver-Haired Tsundere Male

"Of course I do. Do you want any fruit? I still have quite a bit here," Ophelia said.

Hearing the mention of fruit, Sail and Lam looked a bit awkward.

"Well..."

Sail rubbed his neck. "The savings we have on hand aren’t enough to trade for fruit."

Ophelia’s beautiful eyes widened. "One piece of fruit only costs a single prey animal or two animal skins. Why wouldn’t you be able to trade for it?"

"What!" Sail found it completely unbelievable. "Just one prey animal?!"

"Yeah. It’s so cheap, yet nobody wants them. Sigh." She was starting to doubt whether her decision to grow fruit was right or wrong.

"I—I want some!" Sail excitedly raised his hand.

"Alright, take your pick. Except for the lychees and grapes, the rest of the fruits can be stored for a long time."

Lychees would spoil in three days, and grapes were easily crushed during transport, making neither suitable for export.

"Great, I’ll take ten pieces of fruit!" Thrilled, Sail crouched down and began to pick out his fruits.

Lam, sharp-eyed, noticed the watermelons resting at the very bottom of the vines. "Is this frost melon also just one prey animal?" he asked in astonishment. He was a well-traveled man who had seen frost melons in the south. He knew they were incredibly valuable; a single frost melon was worth twenty prey animals down there, and around here, it could easily fetch fifty.

"Yep! My fruits are all about being affordable. My goal is for everyone on the Starfall Continent to be able to afford fruit."

As soon as Ophelia spoke these grand words, the look in Lam’s eyes changed, filling with a sense of deep reverence.

"Ophelia, you are such a good person," Sail said, giving her a thumbs-up.

Ophelia was speechless.

Since the watermelons were rare and there were only two of them, Sail and Lam shared a tacit understanding and did not choose them. They each picked out five apples, five peaches, five tangerines, five dragon fruits, and five bananas.

(Sail = 25 fruits, Lam = 25 fruits)

"Little female, I’ll take another hundred bags of rice," Lam said, taking out one Yellow Crystal Stone and three Red Crystal Stones.

"A Yellow Crystal Stone!" Ophelia had only ever heard of them but had never seen one. It seemed Lam had made quite a fortune selling rice this time.

"I’ll take eighty bags." Sail pulled out a scattered handful of five Orange Crystal Stones and thirty-two Red Crystal Stones. "I... I still have some animal skins at home. I’ll bring you the rest of the payment for the fruits later," he added, his face turning red.

"It’s fine. You can just give it to me the next time you come back," Ophelia said, waving her hand dismissively.

She turned her gaze to Lam. "Three Red Crystal Stones can be exchanged for thirty pieces of fruit. Do you want to pick five more?" The main issue was that she couldn’t easily make change for half a Red Crystal Stone, and she hadn’t traded for any prey animals yet.

"Will you still have enough left for yourself?"

"Plenty. I have lots of fruit on hand. Even if you wanted another hundred, I’d have them."

She wasn’t exaggerating. The five bags of lychee seeds and five bags of watermelon seeds she had planted earlier were about to ripen. If Sail and the others managed to sell their stock smoothly this time, she could plant even more.

"Where did you get—" Before Sail could finish his sentence, Lam slapped a hand over his mouth, cutting him off.

Ophelia simply smiled without answering, agreeing to meet them at the cave in a little while to hand over the grain. She was in a great mood after such a hefty influx of income, so she asked Tyler to slice the watermelons to share.

As soon as the watermelons were cut open, the keen noses of many surrounding males perked up. Every single one of them was practically drooling, but no one stepped forward.

Lam rolled his eyes thoughtfully before raising his voice. "Wow, such sweet frost melons for just one prey animal? What an incredible bargain!"

Sail, munching on the red watermelon flesh, nodded vaguely. "Mhm, mhm. The other fruits are also just one prey animal each. It’s way cheaper than anywhere else."

The males all had excellent hearing. The moment those words were spoken, a storm of shock surged through their hearts.

"Little female, is this fruit really just one prey animal?"

"Is it the same for the frost melons?"

The males quickly crowded around. Ophelia smiled. "Yes, one prey animal or two animal skins can be exchanged for one piece of fruit."

"But is this really a frost melon? Tell us it’s not a fake." In the past, there had been scammers who sold fake frost melons, only to take the money and run, disappearing without a trace.

Seeing how popular the watermelons were, Ophelia had Tyler chop the slices into smaller pieces so the gathered males could have a taste.

"Wow, this frost melon is so sweet!"

"Yeah, it even smells sweet. I’m going to save this to take back for my mate."

Ophelia handed out the triangle-shaped slices of watermelon, but she paused when she reached a male with long, silver-white hair. She looked at him in confusion, a hint of doubt on her face. She wondered why he wasn’t taking it.

The silver-haired male was very tall, standing at about one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters. His face was stern, and his gaze was chillingly sharp.

Seeing this, a little female with naturally curly short hair standing next to him smiled brightly and took the frost melon slice instead. "Don’t mind him. My brother just doesn’t like physical contact with others. Thank you for the frost melon."

Ophelia gave a slight nod and moved on to hand a slice to the next person.

The short-haired little female shot her brother an exasperated glare. Then, she took a bite of the watermelon, and her eyes instantly lit up. "Brother, this really is a frost melon! It’s so sweet, way sweeter than the ones you bought before."

"If you like it, I’ll trade for it for you," the silver-haired male said. He held his head high and announced in a clear, ringing voice, "I will take this frost melon."

"You can’t just claim it because you want it. I want it too!"

"Exactly! What happened to first come, first served?"

Everyone wanted a share of the good stuff.

Klein’s yellow eyes narrowed into vertical slits. His cold gaze swept over the males who had spoken, and the overwhelming aura he unleashed made the surrounding males duck their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

Seeing the warning signs of her brother’s rising anger, the short-haired little female quickly tugged on his arm.

Klein slowly reined in his chilling aura and spoke in an even tone, "Ten prey animals for one frost melon."

Ophelia chuckled. A direct bidding war? That wasn’t a bad idea. "No need. A deal is a deal—one prey animal for one piece of fruit. I won’t change the price."

"Idiot," Klein scoffed coldly. He hadn’t expected to find someone who actually refused extra payment. "Does anyone else here want the frost melon?"

Dead silence. Not a single person dared to utter a peep.

And so, the remaining watermelon went to the silver-haired Klein.

With the frost melons gone, the males turned their attention to the other fruits. Most opted for larger fruits like apples and peaches, while the smaller ones like lychees and grapes were left completely untouched.

So, Ophelia began giving away the lychees and grapes as complimentary bonuses, which also served as a form of disguised advertising.

"Little female, when will you bring more fruit next time?" one male asked excitedly.

"I’m not sure. But if you really want some, you can come find me at the Golden Dragon Clan." Ophelia was already conceptualizing the idea of opening a small commissary at the entrance of the Golden Dragon Clan’s settlement.

Aside from the lychees and grapes given out as bonuses, the apples and the other four types of fruit were completely sold out. Her earnings amounted to twenty-one prey animals and sixty animal skins.

She hadn’t brought too much stock today, and with Lam and Sail’s help, the three males easily carried the prey and animal skins to the cave.

After handing over the one hundred and eighty catties of rice, Ophelia checked her inventory.

Inventory: Capacity 5,000, Current Storage: 1,343 (Rice: 115, Wheat: 100, Millet: 200, Prey: 100, Apples: 80, Peaches: 70, Tangerines: 80, Dragon Fruits: 80, Shine Muscat Grapes: 80, Watermelons: 98, Bananas: 80, Lychees: 260)