Reincarnated as a bamboo rat, it begins its extreme survival struggle.

Edu took it from the stall

A dozen or so tomatoes cost a copper coin; seasonal vegetables are always a bit more expensive.

"Mmm, soft, sweet and sour, much better than those tomatoes that sacrifice their texture for long-distance transport and preservation."

Bear Grylls, holding a tomato and munching on it with juice all over his face, gave it a very positive review.

He remembered that in the world before his reincarnation, when he was a child, tomatoes tasted great. When he went to school from the village, he would always pay attention to the tomatoes planted by other people's houses by the roadside, wondering if they had grown an inch bigger and redder that day.

I went to see it every day, I waited for it every day, until one morning when I was going to school, I reached out and plucked it without leaving a trace, without even wiping off the dew, and started to gnaw on it.

Along the village roadside, children would often pluck and pick at all sorts of crops from each household's produce.

However, as times have changed, those days have gradually become distant and blurred.

Seed suppliers provide farmers with better tomato seeds that have been improved over generations and have extremely high yields and are durable for storage.

Newly planted tomatoes can produce many more fruits on a single vine than older tomatoes. These fruits are larger and rounder, rarely deformed, and ripen very quickly.

However, these new varieties of fruit are hard to the touch and very sour to eat directly, so they can't be eaten like fruit, which is undoubtedly a great pity.

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen many pumpkins for sale here."

After finishing a whole tomato, Bell wiped the tomato juice off his face with his hand. Although it wasn't completely clean, it was better than nothing.

"Pumpkins are a commodity that can be stored for a long time. Except for a few farmers who want higher prices, most of them sell directly to agricultural associations."

The agricultural association will purchase the bulk agricultural products grown by these small farmers, such as pumpkins, corn, and barley. The purchase price is not high, but the agricultural association will buy them all as long as they are sold, in order to guarantee the farmers' basic income.

These products have no trouble selling, and with a little processing, they can be preserved for a long time, so the agricultural association doesn't face much pressure to buy and stockpile them.

As for agricultural products such as seasonal vegetables, agricultural associations will not accept them all. Profits and losses depend entirely on themselves, but barring any unforeseen circumstances, their income is relatively stable.

After browsing through the early winter agricultural products fair, Bell discovered that the agricultural guild in this world was surprisingly popular, and many of its measures were designed to protect the interests of farmers.

They have even launched several crackdowns to combat malicious manipulation of the agricultural market by merchants, especially the practice of selling inferior goods as superior ones, which is strictly prohibited.

In an attempt to earn more money, a few fruit farmers, under the guidance of a senior executive of a chamber of commerce, harvested large quantities of unripe apples ahead of time, intending to be among the first to market and sell them at high prices.

After the goods entered the market, the Agricultural Guild discovered the matter and urgently dispatched additional personnel to recall all the apples that had not yet been sold in large quantities. They also traced the source and brought all the important figures involved in the incident, including the Chamber of Commerce owner, to the Cangxing City Court.

They were sued by the agricultural association for disrupting market order and were condemned by a large number of farmers and citizens.

Ultimately, the farmers deeply reflected on their actions and had their farmer qualifications revoked. They will need to undergo professional ethics training for farmers again before being recertified.

The punishment for merchants was much simpler and more brutal: a fine of one hundred gold coins, which made the guild leader's face turn green with anger.

He was caught in the crossfire; in a state of confusion, he ended up paying the price for his newly promoted executive.

But as a businessman who is most sensitive to money, he certainly wouldn't let his senior executive get away with it after losing money.

Chapter 102 Magical Crops

"Keep going further in; the fruits Mr. Bell wants can only be found in the premium section."

Moving from the outermost vegetable stalls inwards, past the stalls set up by other lifestyle professionals, Edu doesn't need to buy new clothes or anything like that for the time being.

As the conference is organized by the Agricultural Association, other livelihood-related professions will take this opportunity to come here, either to set up stalls or to stock up on goods.

However, the main attraction of the entire agricultural product fair had little to do with these mobile vendors on the periphery.

As the name suggests, trade fairs are meant to showcase and sell genuine, high-quality goods. Simply selling large quantities of ordinary grains would not have allowed a trade fair to reach such a scale.

"Magic crops are the core competitiveness that has enabled the Agricultural Guild to sit at the top of the life skills professions."

Arriving at a small stall, Edu looked at the large, plump purple grapes displayed on the stall with curiosity in his eyes.

Having lived with Bell for so long, Edu's intelligence-gathering abilities have improved dramatically. In the days leading up to the agricultural fair, he had already collected relevant information and knew what the core business here was.

But knowing this information is one thing, seeing the magical crops here with your own eyes is quite another.

There weren't many purple grapes on this stall, only about twenty bunches, but they were all exceptionally plump, with a jewel-like sheen on their purple skins, and the flesh was full of magic.

Edu wanted to know more about the grapes, but the grape vendor completely ignored him, busy with his own business behind the stall.

Judging from his appearance, he had no intention of selling these grapes, at least not to an ordinary tourist like Edu.

"The old grapevines of the Nakeda family only produce this much grapes a year, but the grapes they grow are always the best in Cangxing City. Every bunch of grapes here is pre-ordered; they are very valuable."

Seemingly noticing Edu's confusion, a little old man who had just walked up to the stall took the initiative to speak with him and answer his question:

“A single bunch of grapes here, when mixed with ordinary grapes, can produce nearly a hundred kilograms of fragrant and mellow high-grade wine. If combined with some rare ingredients, it can even produce a wine with magical effects.”

With the old man's explanation, Bell used [Information Insight] to investigate the information about these grapes.

【Purple-skinned grapes with magical properties】

Description: These grapes did not come from wild, weathered vines; they are the result of meticulous cultivation and the wisdom and hard work of farmers.

The grapes here are rich in magic and can be used to make potions or medicinal supplements.

But before these grapes even reached the apothecaries and chefs, the winemakers had already gone crazy for them, and the grapes here were snapped up by Cangxing City and a few other winemaking masters from other places.

The reason why the grape vendors still set up their stalls here is twofold: firstly, to facilitate transactions, as winemakers can pick up pre-ordered goods while shopping at the agricultural fair.

Secondly, the stall owner also wants to make more connections at the agricultural fair, and perhaps by accumulating connections, he will have the opportunity to acquire new extraordinary plants.

Edu listened quietly to the old man's story, and...

Shi watched in surprise as he picked up a bunch of grapes from the stall and carefully put them into the basket on his back.

"It seems the old gentleman is quite skilled in brewing."

"Fortunately, this old fellow has lived for so many years, and I've just been lucky enough to figure out some tricks of the trade."

The old man waved his hand at Edu's exclamation, but instead showed some curiosity about Edu.

"Young friend, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time at the agricultural fair?"

After a few simple words, Edu and the old man became acquainted.

The old man's name was Sabir Tyson. He came to the agricultural fair to retrieve several magical crops that he had previously ordered, to brew fine wine.

Edu said he wanted to follow him around the agricultural fair to broaden his horizons.

The old man Sabir readily agreed, and from time to time introduced Edu to the properties and normal price range of various magical crops.

Along the way, Edu heard a lot of news that he had never heard before. He felt that Mr. Sabir was truly extraordinary. Whether it was his speech or his knowledge, he was far superior to the professionals he had met before. Even a high-level adventurer like Sister Jasmine could not compare to him.

If a comparison had to be made, in Edu's eyes, only the omnipotent Bale could be compared to him.

With that thought in mind, Edu tilted his head and glanced at Bell on his shoulder. Bell's burnt fur had been cleaned off, and he was currently in the bald patch stage where new fur had not yet grown.

"Is this your pet bamboo rat? It's shedding quite a bit. Could it be bald at such a young age?"

Sabir noticed Edu's actions and casually commented on Bale, who was looking around on Edu's shoulder.

These words made Bell turn around abruptly. He had now mastered the language of another world and knew that the old man was making fun of him.

(へ╬

"Hey, you get upset after just a few words? You're quite clever, bamboo rat."

As people get older, they become like children. When Sabir saw Bell, who was much more agile than a normal bamboo rat, he couldn't help but come over and tease Bell a few times.

But Bell clearly didn't want to pay attention to the old man who was mocking his bald patches, and turned his head away with a rather aloof air.

But Bell's temper didn't last long, because in order to attract Bell's attention, this little old man named Sabir was quite willing to spend money.

When a plump, magical grape was offered to Bell, Bell immediately said it smelled delicious and swallowed the magical grape in one gulp. Afterward, Bell gave the old man a thumbs up.

"Hey, this bald rat is really interesting."

They made a lot of noise as they walked forward, and in just a few steps, they came to a stall displaying a large number of pumpkins. These pumpkins were of excellent quality, and Edu eagerly went up to ask about the prices.

"Magic pumpkin? That's more popular with chefs and gourmets. Why are you asking about the price, kid?"

"Um... I especially love eating pumpkin."

Not knowing how to answer Sabir's question, Edu could only give this vague reply.

But this remark only drew laughter from Sabir. He walked up to the stall, banged on the pumpkins, and produced a particularly dull sound.

"This is a 'Grey Iron Pumpkin,' with a tough rind that can stop a knife, and it's as heavy as a block of iron. A chef with poor skills isn't even qualified to cook it. Are you sure you can bite into it?"

Sabir mistook Edu for an ignorant brat, and the people around him burst into laughter when they heard about it.

Edu, who was being teased, blushed instantly.

But Bell, perched on his shoulder, suddenly brightened up, indicating that this was a sure thing.

He finally found a pumpkin that could be mass-produced and used to make iron golems, and now there was only one thing he needed to do.

buy!

Chapter 103 Sabir's Dinner Invitation

Bell jumped from Edu’s shoulder to the gray iron pumpkin on the stall. He patted the pumpkin’s skin and found that it was frighteningly hard, just as Sabel had described.

This gray iron pumpkin is as big as a car tire and weighs over 100 pounds on average. Putting aside its status as food, you could use the stem directly as a weapon.

While slapping the pumpkin, Bell infused it with a wisp of his spiritual energy and discovered that the pumpkin contained an extremely abundant reserve of magic power, which was the reason for its extraordinary weight and hardness.

"One pumpkin, five silver coins."