"A Mechanic's Trading House?"
Lu Xiyu: "Isn't it pretty?"
Lu Wenjue nodded: "It is!"
Of course, the most important thing wasn't whether the butterfly was pretty or not, but that the company where she was interning specialized in stage design for various performances. The moment she saw it, she felt that this kind of butterfly could be used on stage.
Lu Xiyu's eyes darted around, "Hmm... Let me ask first, and I'll tell you when I get back."
This was something Lin Fuque made herself, not something that could be bought just anywhere.
But the thought that someone else might have the handmade gift her best friend had given her made her reluctant to tell her sister directly.
She should probably ask Lin Fuque what she thought about it first.
Besides—
"Then take me to buy a return gift first. I want to buy Lin Fuque a little wearable toolbox!" She felt that Lin Fuque would love it.
Lu Xiyu sent a message to Lin Fuque, saying she might be a bit late coming over to pick up the little fish in the afternoon. Receiving the message, Lin Fuque breathed a sigh of relief: the little fish had already died.
After lunch, she went to the birch forest. The white cat that had slipped into the cage was indeed the pregnant cat, Rose.
At that time, the lv5 white cat was sleeping soundly, only its ears twitching slightly in the breeze. Lin Fuque gathered her courage and knocked on the cage. The white cat gave a huge yawn without even opening its eyes—clearly, it thought nothing of a lv1 human—and buried its head between its crossed front paws, completely ignoring Lin Fuque.
Lin Fuque: "..."
She had no choice but to pick up her empty little red bucket and go look for Grandpa Ge, who had been fishing by the artificial lake that morning.
He was the one who had given her three little yellow croakers as thanks for fixing his electric fishing rod.
Perhaps because the sun was too bright, Grandpa Ge had moved to another spot to continue fishing. In truth, there weren't many fish in the residential area's artificial lake. The bottom of the lake connected to the city moat, but the water flow was weak, leaving only small fish and frogs to roam. The property management had planted lotus flowers here, but for some reason, they didn't grow well; instead, a patch of tall reeds flourished.
Grandpa Ge had switched to a larger bucket, but it was currently empty.
After listening to Lin Fuque explain the situation, the old man and the young girl looked at each other in silence. Lin Fuque felt a bit embarrassed: "Grandpa, do you have anything else that needs fixing?"
She didn't mind for herself, but she wanted to exchange for another little fish for Lu Xiyu. After all, she had promised.
"I really don't have anything else... How about this? I have another fishing rod at home," the old man straightened up. "I'll go home and get it for you, and you can try fishing yourself? Oh, by the way, keep an eye on this rod for me. Don't let a cat run off with it."
Lin Fuque nodded and sat down on the little stool.
But after sitting for a while, she stood up with the fishing rod and walked over to the railing—
Summoned by Lin Fuque, the Mizhou Butterfly, which was mainly responsible for monitoring the perimeter of the residential area, flew over from a short distance away and fluttered over the calm surface of the water.
Lin Fuque saw that, like ripples spreading across the water, faint level prompts appeared on the screen of the artificial lake in her map interface.
It was the fish underwater!
Lin Fuque realized something. "My map mainly relies on the butterflies' surveillance... It's hard to scan and model underwater, so normally the levels of underwater creatures aren't displayed."
Now that she had noticed this and made the Mizhou Butterfly fly closer, fish in the shallow water area indeed appeared on the map!
...There weren't many fish here.
She tried casting the line, walked about ten meters to the right, and cast it again.
When Ge Pingbo returned with his old fishing rod from home, he saw that Lin Fuque was not in her original spot. He assumed the child had gotten bored and wandered off to play. But when he turned his head, he saw Lin Fuque spinning in circles on the spot, holding the fishing rod upright:
"Grandpa—how do I take this fish off? It's hitting me..."
A large fish hooked on the line was thrashing its tail wildly, struggling. As it swung close to Lin Fuque, it smacked her several times. If Ge Pingbo hadn't arrived in time, she would have thrown the fish right back into the pond.
Ge Pingbo: "!?"
He hurriedly picked up a landing net. "Alright, just hold still like that. There we go. Look, you catch it with the net... Wait a minute, there are fish this big in the lake!?"
This lively crucian carp thrashed around in the bucket, looking very displeased, while Lin Fuque frowned at the system prompt before her.
What was this supposed to mean—
[You defeated a crucian carp [lv1]]
[Experience Points +0.5]
[Current Overall Level lv1 (4.5/100)]
Although she was quite happy to gain experience... was there actually a situation where it only added 0.5?
Moreover...
"This fish is too big," Lin Fuque wiped her face, looking distressed. "Lu Xiyu wouldn't be able to keep it as a pet, right?"
Ge Pingbo: ...You could let me keep it!
But considering his age, he was too embarrassed to say that, and even more embarrassed to take out his phone to snap a picture. He simply handed the fishing rod to Lin Fuque and casually asked, "Why did you come over here to fish? Are there a lot of fish here?"
"Yeah!" Lin Fuque nodded vigorously, then said, "Grandpa, you should fish here. I'm sure you'll get a bite in no time."
She decided she would just move to another spot.
She also gave the big fish to Grandpa Ge—after all, it was caught using his rod and bait. Then, she picked up her little red bucket again and moved to the west side of the artificial lake.
Ge Pingbo stuffed a few more balls of bait into Lin Fuque's hands and instructed her, "Don't get too close to the water. Be careful, and don't let the fishing line cut you."
Lin Fuque nodded.
Speaking of getting cut by the fishing line... would that count as being injured in combat?
Although she had zero fishing experience, she could directly see the positions of the fish in the shallow water. Before long, several small fish were added to her little red bucket. However, none of them were as large as the crucian carp from before; their levels were below lv1, so they didn't give her any experience points.
Staring at the big fish in the lake, she suddenly thought of the [Ice Bullet Converter] she had recently acquired. If she hit a big fish with an ice bullet, would she also gain... combat experience!?
The thought made her itch to try it, but Lu Xiyu had said she would be back soon, so she needed to go meet up with her best friend first.
She returned the fishing rod to Grandpa Ge. By now, the grandpa's bucket also had some fish and loaches in it, though none were big—
"You can keep all the fish for yourself. Queque, you're really good at finding fishing spots... By the way, do you like fishing?" he asked. "If you ever want to fish again, I'll bring an extra rod every day. Just come find me by the lake."
Nothing else was required; he would even provide the bait, as long as she could help him find a good spot where fish would bite.
Lin Fuque was delighted: "Okay!"
Aside from water fights, she had found another new way to gain experience points.
Right, her current level was lv1 (4.5/100). Hadn't she also gained 2 experience points while watching a video last night! Maybe she should export the cartoon filmed by King so she could watch it a few more times!
She carried the red bucket back to where the cat trap was. The birch trees cast shadows, making the temperature here noticeably cooler than elsewhere. The white cat had been lying down, but when the fish in the little red bucket began to splash the water, it suddenly opened its eyes and leaned halfway out of the cage.
It really came and went as it pleased.
Lin Fuque held up the bucket. "Wait, hold on a second. Let Lu Xiyu pick one first, and I can give you the rest..."
The white cat meowed as it approached, backing Lin Fuque up against a tree and rubbing its tail against her calf.
Wearing a skort for the summer, Lin Fuque felt the furry, warm creature pressing against her skin. She shuddered and blurted out the white cat's name, "Rose, don't... don't come any closer..."
Holding the bucket up high for so long was making her arms ache.
The white cat froze.
It tilted its head up. From Lin Fuque's perspective, she could see its pointed face and rather large belly. The white cat had a pair of golden-green eyes. A second later, it let out an even softer, sweeter meow and leaned in to sniff her.
But Lin Fuque couldn't shake the feeling that if it wanted to bite her, all it had to do was open its mouth.
Whimper.
"Oh my," Lu Xiyu spotted her from a distance and trotted over. "Lin Fuque—"
The white cat took two steps back, darted a quick glance at the approaching Lu Xiyu, and turned around, meowing as it squeezed back into the cat trap. Only then was Lin Fuque able to put the bucket down. She complained to her friend, "It wanted to eat your fish..."
Actually, it had already eaten them.
It was only natural for cats to want to eat fish. Lu Xiyu nodded solemnly, then flashed a bright smile. "Never mind that, look at this first! It's for you!"
She had spent a long time picking out this little toolbox. It could fit inside a matching soft bag with a strap to be worn crossbody. The tools inside were comprehensive but scaled down—her older sister said it was considered a high-end toy, designed specifically to suit a child's size.
Sure enough, Lin Fuque loved it.
She slung the bag over her shoulder, and the two girls shared a sweet hug.
"Oh, right, one more thing," Lu Xiyu pouted slightly. "My sister asked me to ask you if you're selling the mechanical butterflies. She might want to buy a lot of them... But if you don't want to make them, you can just ignore her."
Besides, it didn't seem like her sister believed Lin Fuque had made the butterflies herself anyway.
Lin Fuque let out an "Ah" and didn't answer right away.
She was staring at a screen that had suddenly appeared!
[Congratulations! As a Mechanic, your crafted item has received an external order for the first time!]
[The "Mechanic - Trading Post Panel" has been unlocked!]
[You can now process orders and purchase raw materials at the Trading Post, saving time and completing related transactions quickly!]
Lin Fuque muttered, "Let me think about it..."
She blinked and opened the Trading Post in the bottom right corner of the panel.
The Trading Post was very basic, divided into only two sub-sections: [Buy] and [Sell].
The [Buy] interface, however, was already packed with a dazzling array of items. The same item would have different prices, but the top result would only display the one with the lowest price for the same quality. If she insisted on buying a more expensive one, she could click in and continue browsing the links.
On the [Sell] interface, Lin Fuque could only list a [Mechanical Butterfly Toy & Butterfly Bracelet Bundle], which included one modified mechanical butterfly toy and a bracelet. She also had to provide the installation package for the [Mechanical Butterfly] app because they needed to be bound, and each butterfly had a unique code.
At the very bottom, a line of small text prompted her:
Until she passed the exam and obtained the [Mechanic Apprentice Badge], she could not sell things like the butterfly monitor or the wind-powered hand cannon... because she hadn't fully mastered those two blueprints yet.
The mechanical butterfly toy, however, was 22% her original creation, barely passing the requirement of "reaching an originality level of 20% or higher," so it could be listed.
"Sure," Lin Fuque nodded. "I'll go back and find a link to send to you, and you can forward it to your sister."
It seemed that after listing an item on the Trading Post, it would automatically fill in a recommended price, which was incredibly convenient!
But unlike the Trading Post... the white cat they had accidentally ignored nearby was not so convenient.
It reached right into the small red bucket, scooped out a fish, carried it off to the side, and started eating.
Lin Fuque and Lu Xiyu: "!!"
Lu Xiyu hurriedly checked the bucket and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, there's still... wait, why are there seven fish left?"
Weren't there only three at noon?
Lin Fuque explained, "The ones from noon were actually already eaten by it... so I went and caught some more."
Lu Xiyu's eyes widened. "Lin Fuque... no, Queque! You are too good to me!"
She was incredibly touched. Plus, since they had exchanged gifts, she felt they could be more intimate with their forms of address, asking Lin Fuque to call her "Xiaoyu" as well.
After a moment of thought, Lu Xiyu added, "Oh right, Queque, I just thought of something! Didn't you want to repair things but nobody was coming to you? Should we put up some ads?"
She had reflected on it today and realized that word-of-mouth promotion was still too slow. Nobody went out on such hot days, and they couldn't exactly knock on doors house by house.
Lu Xiyu figured they could draw flyers and post ads—
"I'll draw them! I have a printer and glue at home!"
"Wow!" Lin Fuque nodded vigorously. "That works, but I don't know how to set the prices... How about this? If someone comes to me for repairs, they don't have to pay money. They can just give me a little something as they see fit."
She really just wanted to activate quests. If she could do quests, there was a certain chance of earning points. If she didn't charge money, her "competitiveness" should be higher too, right?
Having sorted out their plan, Lu Xiyu pulled out an empty plastic bottle and put the smallest fish inside, deciding to take it home as a pet.
As for the remaining six... They exchanged a look, and Lin Fuque said, "Let's just feed them to it."
"This kitty is pregnant, after all."
They squatted nearby and watched the white cat finish the fish. It came over to rub against them again, meowing as if it wanted more.
Seeing that it finally wasn't going to get any, it returned to the side of the cat trap to groom itself. Whenever Lin Fuque got close, the white cat would look up, so she ultimately had to give up on retrieving the trap.
"...It hasn't got a door installed yet anyway."
She would come back when the door was ready; for now, she would just leave it for the cat.
It was still early, but since they both had work to do, the two children said their goodbyes and excitedly headed home.
Lu Xiyu went back to chew on her crayons, while Lin Fuque sat at her desk studying the Trading Post panel.
She needed to set an ID?
"Mechanic Lin" would do just fine.
She also had to set up a homepage? She could upload videos showcasing products, or videos showcasing her personal IP? What IP did she have?
And because the only mechanical butterfly that met the requirements had already been given to Lu Xiyu, Lin Fuque decided to just upload the cartoon "King the Wolf Cub vs. Three Wild Hares" to fill up the page.
The cartoon was only 28 minutes long, and after uploading it, Lin Fuque watched it again.
She thought King was filmed exceptionally well.
Then, she started buying the crafting materials for the butterflies directly from the [Buy] page.
Even the cheapest ones were slightly more expensive than at the secondhand market. Furthermore, she had to buy materials for the bracelets. After making her purchases, Lin Fuque did the math and found that the cost price of a single butterfly had risen from a few dozen bucks to 120.
Then when it came to selling, she definitely couldn't price a butterfly lower than one hundred and fifty... no, lower than two hundred bucks!
Because this was her first time selling to someone else, Lin Fuque assembled it with even more care than the first time, hoping there wouldn't be any quality issues. Then, she listed the finished product—
[Calling the auxiliary system to complete quality and price assessment!]
[Recommended tags: Autonomous Patrol, DIY Painting, Smart Motorized Toy, Recommended Age 8+]
[Recommended Price: 1470 yuan/set]
Lin Fuque silently covered the "0" with her finger, then moved it away: "One thousand four hundred... and seventy yuan?"
So expensive? Would Sister Lu really still buy it?
After thinking about it, she silently modified the price, changing it to... 1500 yuan/set.
Since it was already over a thousand anyway, she figured she might as well round it up to a nice, even number. If someone bought it, she could ship it directly and remotely through the trading house system. The mechanic barely needed to manage anything else and could just focus entirely on crafting.
She discovered that after listing the finished product, a showcase video could be automatically generated. Moreover, the animated cartoon of King served as the homepage video, while the product showcase video was only found inside the product link. They seemed not to interfere with each other.
Then she would just add a few more words!
-
After getting off work, Lu Wenjue caught her younger sister right as she was changing the cup for her fish.
"Mom said she was going to use that big enamel mug to plant flowers... Never mind, did you ask about it?"
Lu Xiyu let out an "Oh" and said, "I sent you the link."
Lu Wenjue shook her head and opened the link on her computer.
It seemed to be a website.
The website looked very clean. A flowing, ink-wash style character for "Que" floated over a white background, looking very elegant. The website's name was also quite unique, called:
"The Mechanic's Trading House?"
Was this some niche web address?
Upon opening it, a video on the homepage started playing automatically. The setting appeared to be a forest. However, as she scrolled down, she noticed an item in the module labeled [For Sale].
That mechanical butterfly!
One thousand five hundred. It was slightly pricey but still a reasonable amount, and it seemed it could even be customized. Suppressing her excitement, Lu Wenjue decided to finish watching the homepage video first to learn more about what this website was all about.
As she kept watching...
And watching...
Lu Wenjue: "?"
Wait, what exactly was this video?
The animation was done beautifully, but where was the connection to the product... With a puzzled mind, yet also drawn in by the plot and visuals, she ended up sitting there for the entire 28-minute cartoon. Finally, after the screen dimmed, a message slowly emerged in the center of the black screen:
[This Pomeranian is named King. He's cute and amazing, isn't he!]
Lu Wenjue: "..."
She understood now. What was the difference between this and those scientists who put pictures of their own dogs in their research papers and included their names in the acknowledgments?
This animation wasn't a product showcase at all. It was clearly just the owner showing off that they had a dog!
