Hello, Arknights

Chapter 266 "Vaifan"

It has to be said that buying vegetables is a technical job. Ling Dengxian's ability in selecting vegetables is limited to maximizing the safe useable parts. As for which one is of better quality, he can't really tell it clearly.

However, everyone has his own duties, and his life comes later.

Shifting his gaze, he found that the aquaculture area was not far away. Various scales swimming up and down in the water tanks had their gill covers fluttering and spitting bubbles. He looked at Provence again.

"Provence, can I go over there first?"

Provence looked up in confusion and asked, "Aren't Skadi and the others in charge of purchasing over there?"

"Just taking a look, a little curious."

"...Why are you acting like a child?" Provence's brows relaxed slightly and he nodded. "But it's okay. Go ahead. I'll come find you later."

Ling Dengxian nodded. To be honest, he often didn't have time to take a good look at the creatures in this world. In Qicheng Town, he had to consider survival. In Tobrand, he was thinking about A'ran and how to get to Longmen in the future. In the wilderness, he was thinking about food and clothing... Most of the animals and plants he knew well were for food...

The creatures with sharp dorsal fins on their backs were swimming vigorously in the water tank. Ling Dengxian was not the only one here. Many children were lying by the tank, staring intently at the creatures stirring the water inside. The black or dark gradient scales reflected light under the indoor lights, stirring up fragments of light in the water. The emotionless eyes looked at the observer, and the mysteries of the creatures were hidden in their bodies.

Children are always particularly curious about animals. They are eager to explore the world and the mysteries contained in the environment they live in.

A child pulled his father's hand and asked, "Dad, why can they fly..."

"They are not flying, they are swimming in the water. Come, touch it, this is water." The man picked up the child and brought him close to the water tank. The child stretched out his hand curiously: "It's so cool..."

"Well, this is water. Although Lin can breathe freely in the water, you can't just go near a place with a lot of water. You must call your parents."

"Why can they breathe in water?"

“Because they have gills.”

"What are gills?"

"Gills are... well, you'll understand when Xiaoguai grows up and goes to school."

"Dad didn't answer seriously again." The child was pulled away by his father, but there was another child next to the water tank. However, the child looked much younger than the previous child and seemed unable to speak yet.

Is that Vaifan? What a cute kid.

But why aren't the parents around for such a young child? It's very dangerous.

Let's just wait and watch for a while...

"One... two, two..." The little girl stared at the swimming scales with her bright eyes and stretched out her little hands excitedly to count their number.

"Three, four." Ling Dengxian thought she was so young and looked so cute trying hard to count, so he reminded her of the following numbers.

Little "Vaifan" turned his head cutely, looked up at him, then looked at the water tank, wanting to know the name of the creature in the water tank. He blinked and pointed at the creature in the water tank and opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end only made a cute anxious sound.

"..." Ling Dengxian looked at Lin, then at the little girl, pondered for a moment, and came to a conclusion: "Are you hungry?"

"Goose?" The little girl nodded, not quite understanding. Just then, a fish swam over and hit the glass next to Vaifan's child with a "bang" without any warning. The little girl was frightened and exclaimed "Wow". She pointed at the "culprit fish" and was stunned for a moment before exclaiming, "Goose!"

Ling Dengxian was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that he had misunderstood the meaning. This girl was asking what kind of fish this was!

"Ah wait, wait, it's not a 'goose', it's a Luozhou scale." After checking the product label next to it to confirm the species of fish, Ling Dengxian hurried to make up for his loss. Although it seemed to be a harmless detail, he obviously did not consider that the child was too young and she might not understand what he said later.

"Hmm... Naju... goose!" the little girl agreed.

"No, no, Luo, Zhou, Lin." Ling Dengxian suddenly felt something was wrong and corrected again.

"Yeah," the little silver-haired girl nodded seriously, "Naju, goose."

Ling Dengxian looked at the little girl, and the little girl looked at him. After a moment of silence, both sides felt a little at a loss.

Ling Dengxian felt guilty for misleading young people.

A call came from the noisy crowd. The little girl turned her head to look, then turned back and waved to him, and ran towards the crowd with a somewhat unstable center of gravity. Ling Dengxian watched her until she ran into a woman's arms and then heaved a sigh of relief. Then he turned his head to look at the scales swimming back and forth, and couldn't help but feel many indescribable emotions in his heart.

"How adorable...her parents are so lucky."

"But speaking of which, Vaifan is quite rare in Longmen. And that lady just now also looked familiar, a dragon ancestor..."

Wei Wenyue, holding Vidaishiya, watched him walk away. Standing beside her was a one-armed Elafia girl. Vidaishiya never left their sight. After seeing Ling Dengxian, she had some ideas, so she deliberately created a private meeting between the two. This was also the reason why she did not meet him directly in the end.

"Little Vidaxia, do your scales look good?"

"Goose!" Hearing the key words, Vidaxia responded happily.

"…What did they teach me?" Wei Wenyue didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment, and the mysterious impression she had of the young man who confronted the Governor of Longmen also dissipated a lot.

Forget it, let young people deal with their own affairs.

After lovingly pinching Vidaxia's soft little face, Alina, who was traveling with her, finally spoke up: "He hasn't changed much."

"Change? What do you mean..."

"After going through so many events that were definitely not easy and could even be described as disastrous, he now looks no different than when I first met him." Alina had a complicated look on her face. She knew she couldn't be so calm. Even though she had recovered from the depression of disability with the help of others and self-encouragement, she had to admit that she had changed.

"Like a child? In my opinion, he is indeed like a big child. He has not lost his precious purity, but he does have his own considerations. It is rare."

"Yan Country seems to have an interesting name for such 'children'. Aunt Wen Yue, do you know it?"

"Well, the young man cleared the dusty field, and only allowed the wind and snow to make a few sores."

"Young man... Qingyang."

The purchase went smoothly, but when the group reunited, an unexpected figure waved to them at the agreed location.

Huang couldn't help but be surprised: "Doctor? How did you know we were here?"

"It's very simple. I just asked around and found out which famous markets there are in Longmen. Luckily, there's only one shopping mall near Penguin Logistics."

Pulling his hood to reveal his face, Precious smiled and waved to everyone.

However, apart from Skadi, Surtur, and Frostleaf who are not very outgoing, there is also Ling who has his mood written on his face.

"Operator White Dove, you clearly have the thought of 'big trouble is coming' written on your face. Even I would be sad." The doctor said in embarrassment. Ling Dengxian turned around and rubbed his face, then faced the doctor again: "Miss Doctor, then I believe you also understand that I am very short of money in some aspects, right?"

"Don't worry, even though it's under the pretext of delivering a document or keepsake, I also know that I asked Lin Guang and the others to bring me out this time just to sneak out and be lazy. I won't cause you any extra trouble."

"After all, there is still a budget." The doctor said with a smile, then looked at Ling Dengxian and clapped his hands again, "Oh, by the way, Operator White Dove, I also met a new friend on the way. He said that he had contact with you and wanted to formally meet you."

"Who?" Ling Dengxian asked curiously.

"Well, do you want to meet him?"

"Since you said that, I must know who the other party is, right?" Ling Dengxian wanted to spread his hands, but he couldn't do so because he had the supplies in his hands.

"Well, Mr. Li, I will complete your commission. Please negotiate with the hotel to check in the room you have reserved."

Long, who came over from a distance, took off his hat, nodded to everyone, then extended his hand to Ling Dengxian with a friendly smile:

"I've heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you, Officer Ling."

"You can call me Lao Li. I'm asked to discuss something important with you. Do you still remember the Jade Shield?"