I'm in Warhammer, I just want to grow mushrooms

Chapter 3 Rat crossing the street
A man from the lower nest whistled at the woman at the alley entrance with a malicious smile on his face.

The man from Xiachao slowly approached and wanted to strike up a conversation with the woman. The latter intentionally or unintentionally revealed her forehead from under the hood, and the smile on the man from Xiachao's face froze.

A gray pattern resembling fish scales rose up on the woman's forehead.

The light shone on it, reflecting a greasy glow that was disgusting.

"What bad luck! He's actually a mutant."

The people from the lower nest stopped, folded their arms, spat on the ground, and went back to watch the fight:
"Get away from me, gutter rat."

It is a consensus among the people of the Lower Nest that getting close to mutants will lead to being infected by them and causing uncontrollable mutations.

Mutants are therefore unwelcome and are treated like street rats.

If the mutation is so severe that it cannot be covered by clothing, the mutant will be shot on the spot by law enforcement officers.

Facing the curses from the people in Xiachao, the woman covered her forehead again with an indifferent expression.

She has experienced a lot of discrimination and hatred since her body mutated.

At first, she felt desperate about the mutation of her body and often had thoughts of suicide.

By chance, she discovered that as long as she drank relatively clean water and food, the degree of mutation in her body would be controlled and would not deteriorate further.

From then on, she lived a life of scavenging in the ruins area.

Three days ago, a young man found her.

The boy claimed to be a mushroom farmer who could provide a long-term and stable supply of edible mushrooms.

The two decided to make their first transaction today.

Women are full of expectations for this.

"Laya, I'm here." Li Nuo walked into the alley.

"Are the mushrooms ready?" The woman named Leia led the boy deeper into the alley.

Li Nuo took out a brown glass jar from his pocket and said, "Try the sample first. Once you've confirmed it's OK, I'll go get the mushrooms."

"Okay." Laya opened the glass jar, and the rich aroma of milk penetrated into her nostrils and went straight to the top of her head.

"hiss----"

Laiya took a deep breath with all her might, letting the refreshing aroma fill her chest. "It smells so good and rich. What kind of mushroom is this?"

"Milk mushrooms, I grew them myself."

"Can milk mushrooms have such a strong fragrance?" Laya was a little confused. She picked up a mushroom from the jar and looked at it carefully.

Li Nuo shrugged slightly. "Maybe my cultivation techniques and ingredients are better, so these mushrooms are more fragrant and delicious."

Laiya stuffed the mushroom into her mouth from under her scarf and took a bite. The rich aroma and slightly sweet juice burst between her teeth.

The next second, Leia's body shook violently, her whole body stiffened, and memories emerged in her eyes.

"This smell is so familiar to me."

A memory that had long been swept deep into Leia's mind began to play uncontrollably.

She and her parents lived there before the ruins area became what it is today.

The family lived in a house with an attic and lived a happy life.

Laiya's father is the foreman of the factory assembly line.

On the day Laiya came of age, her father asked someone to buy a box of milk mushrooms from Shangchao District.

It was the first time in Leia's life that she had eaten such delicious food. She finished half of the box in one go and then remembered to share it with her parents.

From then on, she never had the chance to eat food from the upper nest area, and her life changed dramatically shortly after she became an adult.

The shock wave of the explosion that came from nowhere tore apart the happy family. Her parents died in the explosion, and only she survived, becoming a stray dog wandering in the ruins.

Now, when she ate mushrooms with the same taste, the memories of the past suddenly overwhelmed Leia's will.

She was immersed in memories, tears welling up in her eyes, and she couldn't come back to her senses for a long time.

...

Li Nuo was speechless. He just ate some mushrooms, but why did the woman in front of him burst into tears?

We are not making a live-action version of The Cooking Master Boy, so why act so exaggerated?

Although he was complaining in his heart, Li Nuo took out the sweat towel he carried with him and handed it over:

"Why don't you wipe your tears and calm down first?"

Leia's eyes focused and she came to her senses, only then she realized that she was crying.

She swallowed the mushroom in her mouth, declined the boy's towel, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve:
"I'm sorry to make you laugh. The mushrooms you grow are delicious. They remind me of the mushrooms my father brought me from the Upper Nest District a long time ago. The taste of the two mushrooms is exactly the same, equally delicious, and equally unforgettable."

It turned out that the mushrooms brought back memories, no wonder my emotions were so up and down.

Li Nuo stuffed the towel back into his pocket and asked thoughtfully:

"You mean, the taste of the sample is comparable to the mushrooms in the Upper Nest area?"

"Yes." Leia nodded and took out the second mushroom from the glass jar. "Can I have another one?"

"Sure, it's okay to eat them all. They were originally given to you as samples to try."

Li Nuo waved his hands, his mind racing, secretly rejoicing.

Fortunately, he arranged a tasting session to observe the trading partners' evaluation of the mushrooms, otherwise there would be trouble.

He originally thought that the mushrooms produced by the system could at most be comparable to the food in the Middle Nest Area, and he never expected it to reach the level of the Upper Nest Area.

The wood show will be destroyed by the forest wind.

There are many forces in the Xiachao District that like to play dirty tricks, and even law enforcers can't do anything to them.

I can't just sell the mushrooms produced by the system.

It is necessary to do something with the mushrooms to manually reduce their taste so as not to attract the attention of people with bad intentions.

"Laya, I have to tell you something first." Li Nuo pointed at the glass jar in the other person's hand and said:

"The samples are the best quality of all the mushrooms. The quality of the mushrooms I actually want to sell is far inferior to the samples."

Li Nuo reached into his inside pocket and pretended to take something.

In fact, he took the mushrooms on the stall out of the fungus warehouse by silently reciting them.

Li Nuo handed the mushroom to Laya:

"Here, try these mushrooms again. They are of the same quality as the ones I'm going to sell."

Leia picked up a mushroom and put it in her mouth.

As soon as she took a bite, her face changed, as if she was eating feces, but she still swallowed the mushroom without wasting it:

"Ugh, it tastes terrible..."

Li Nuo had anticipated Laya's reaction:

"It's unpalatable, but there's nothing we can do about it. The water and air quality here in Xiachao District aren't very good, so the mushrooms grown here are generally of this standard. If you go to a stall to buy mushrooms, you can only buy this kind of mushroom."

Leia shook the glass jar in her hand. "What's the matter with this jar of mushrooms? Why are they so delicious?"

Li Nuo spread his hands:

"You get what you pay for. The mushrooms in the jars are grown with pure water and clean air, which is very expensive. I call them sample-grade mushrooms. With just three ration cards, you can buy ordinary mushrooms at the stall. But for the same price, you can only buy a few sample-grade mushrooms. That's the difference caused by the cost."

"I see." Laiya asked, "Then how many ordinary mushrooms and sample-grade mushrooms are you going to sell this time?"

Li Nuo thought for a moment and replied:
"I want to sell 20 kilograms of ordinary mushrooms. I want to keep the sample mushrooms for myself."

Leia lowered her head and stared at the mushrooms in the jar.

Drinking dirty water, breathing air with disease-causing germs, and eating contaminated food can cause mutations in the body.

Eating relatively clean food can stop mutation, but it cannot reverse it.

If he could eat sample-grade mushrooms for a long time while taking medication, he might be able to heal the mutated parts, become a normal person, and return to the lower nest area.

Leia looked into the boy's clear eyes, with a hint of pleading in them:
"I want all the twenty kilograms of common mushrooms. I have plenty of ration cards with me so I can trade on the spot. I also want the sample-grade mushrooms. Using them with medicine may help me get rid of the mutation. Just name your price and I'll try to make up for your offer."

(End of this chapter)