The burly man hesitated for a moment before speaking, "One hundred twenty... how does that sound?"
"No bargaining," Qu Jianlei answered decisively, "If you want to find someone else for the repairs, go ahead."
The burly man couldn’t help but ask again, "Can you repeat those three questions you just mentioned?"
"Why should I?" Qu Jianlei gave him an odd look, "I didn’t charge you a diagnostic fee."
The woman finally seized the opportunity and responded promptly, "I’ll pay the diagnostic fee... how much do you want?"
Qu Jianlei glanced at her, then continued to pack his tools, speaking impatiently, "Just leave... I don’t need that small change."
The woman was about to say something but was pulled away by the burly man, and the group had to leave dejectedly.
"That’s really outrageous," Claire spoke up to express her indignation, "Can’t afford it but still want to act generous?"
"You should say less," Cindy scolded her daughter, thinking about how much her salary was just a month ago!
"Ugh," Claire sighed helplessly, frustrated by the failed negotiation; she was always eager to prove that she had grown up.
"These paupers, really don’t give me any face at all."
Qu Jianlei didn’t mind, "Hey, old driver, do you think the three of us can go hunting?" Fresh chapters posted on noᴠelfire.net
Cindy worriedly glanced at her daughter, "Leaving Blood Shadow to watch the house... is it safe?"
My daughter... what kind of ridiculous nickname did she choose?
"I’ll handle Spencer," Claire answered without hesitation, "I can take care of the house."
She really didn’t know the height of the sky, being all alone; even the snow mastiff could ambush her.
However, surprisingly, Spencer volunteered, "Let me join the hunting, I’m pretty familiar with this area."
"With Xue’Er helping, the harvest won’t be bad. You can decide the reward, after all, you’ve already fed me for so many days."
He never attempted to escape, apart from being a coward, it’s also because... he and Xue’Er could eat their fill here.
Old Spencer truly was a master of staging accidents, but in the Honest Camp, there couldn’t be outsiders every day, right?
Staging accidents succeeded sometimes, but failed more often; after succeeding, he also had to give his helpers a gesture of appreciation.
Moreover, Xue’Er had a much bigger appetite than him, usually alternating between being hungry and full.
Sometimes, old Spencer even felt, that staying here for long wasn’t bad at all.
Cindy also felt uneasy about this old guy, but if Spencer left, her daughter watching over the yard wouldn’t really be a problem.
Outside the Settlement city, the order was worse than inside, but staying in one’s own yard was fine.
When dealing with intruders, just kill them directly; Cindy believed her daughter could manage this.
So she asked, "You have such a clever snow mastiff, finding a team isn’t very difficult, right?"
"I rarely take such jobs," Spencer answered honestly, "Unless it’s someone I know well..."
Renting out Xue’Er had a high chance that she wouldn’t come back, though he could go along; he might not survive.
The bottom line was, these outsiders were heartless but didn’t mind an extra person and dog eating with them.
So unknowingly, he categorized them as trustworthy people.
Cindy raised her eyebrows and asked matter-of-factly, "Is there often conflict between Hunter teams?"
Her concerns were like Qu Jianlei’s and Flower Scorpion’s, and she wasn’t afraid to ask directly—after all, they were outsiders.
Almost simultaneously, two off-road vehicles entered the main gate of the Settlement.
In the front car’s passenger seat sat a burly man with a face full of flesh; he frowned and grumbled.
"Winter is coming soon, why did the General Settlement send us to check on people..."
The driver snorted, "Do we need to care about those things? Anyway, five thousand silver coins for capturing alive, a thousand if dead."
"That guy has a Mecha!" the man replied unhappily, "Even if it’s just a transport Mecha, it’s not something five thousand silver coins can buy!"
"There’s no need to turn in the Mecha," the driver replied nonchalantly, "We’re just relaying the wanted notice..."
"If you really think it’s dangerous, just stay in the Settlement, no one’s forcing you out, you know."
"You don’t understand anything," the man snorted, "I heard the secret he has is worth at least fifty thousand!"
"Seriously?" The driver was surprised, causing their hand to tremble slightly, "This... we might really have to risk it."
"It’s probably not your turn," the man replied casually, then muttered under his breath, "That’s why I’m hesitating."
"But what puzzles me is, how come neither Black Heaven nor Fugui, who isn’t a common person, ended up being an idiot initially?"
Qu Jianlei’s team initially planned to go hunting when the next cold wave hit.
Unexpectedly, by evening, the group who repaired the mechanical arm showed up again.
This time the woman didn’t enter, only the burly man came in.
The man raised his hand in salute, cordially stating, "My friend... we were neglectful this morning."
Qu Jianlei heard him but didn’t raise his head, continuing to inspect the light off-road truck—maintenance was needed before hunting.
Claire was chopping firewood with a small axe, she raised her head and spoke coldly, "Why are you here again?"
"Still hope your leader can help with the repairs," the burly man smiled wryly, "I’ll take four hundred silver coins, I accept."
"Too late," Claire responded angrily, "The price has gone up... eight hundred!"
Qu Jianlei heard this, lifted his head to look at her, chuckled helplessly, "Don’t mess around, where would you find a sudden price hike?"
If it were Flower Scorpion negotiating, he’d accept it, but Claire was still young, can’t let her get too conniving.