Chapter 69 - 67: A-Level Rating, Rock Armor Eagle
"Xinrou saw patients for half the day while Jia Wen and I were busy brewing medicine. We’re completely exhausted."
"But the haul was pretty substantial. We didn’t know how to set prices, so we just told them to pay what they thought was fair. As long as it had value, we accepted it as payment. Everything from about ten groups of people is in here. Take a look..."
As he spoke, Xu Jun brought a bag over from the doorway, filled with all sorts of random things.
There were food items like instant noodles, bread, ham sausages, and drinks, and even various spicy strips and other snacks.
There were also daily necessities like cut-resistant gloves, a warm hat, body wash, laundry powder, and some pills.
Of course, there were also some wild fruits and mushrooms, and even bundles of what might have been wild vegetables or just weeds.
"And these items were also part of their payment. I set them aside."
Xu Jun then produced a basin containing two half-pound fish and some jerky... It was impossible to tell what kind of animal it came from, but it was already processed.
The total haul wasn’t massive, but the variety was impressive. The problem was, it was impossible to know if most of it was edible. It seemed a shame to throw it out, but they didn’t dare risk keeping it.
For instance, the plants that looked like either wild vegetables or weeds, the wild fruits, the mushrooms, and the jerky from some unknown creature...
"Not bad at all."
Chen Chong frowned. The haul was a random assortment, but he was still quite satisfied with the quantity.
His original plan was just to have the three of them secure the new space. He figured the clinic and any promotions could wait a couple of days.
He hadn’t expected them to get patients in a single day...
And to top it off, the results were this good.
Just as Xu Jun said, medical care at the school was indeed in short supply.
With over a thousand people in the school, most had already formed their own small groups and teams to operate, aside from the Survival Association and a few other clubs.
While out looking for food every day, there were always some unlucky souls who suffered from sprains, scrapes, and other external injuries.
And issues like upset stomachs, diarrhea, and stomach aches from eating the wrong thing were even more common.
In the early days, there wasn’t much food people could get their hands on. Animals that could fly or run were completely beyond the abilities of most novice hunters, so they could only resort to figuring out if common things like wild vegetables and fruits were edible.
The lucky ones discovered new sources of food. The unlucky ones were either poisoned to death or were left writhing in pain from an upset stomach.
Without medical care, they could only tough it out, which was not only painful but also hindered their activities for days to come.
Now that a traditional Chinese medicine clinic had suddenly appeared, those who were suffering and hadn’t recovered naturally couldn’t wait to come over.
Even if it cost them some resources, getting treated early meant less suffering and a quicker return to searching for food...
’Sure enough, the idea to open a clinic and charge for treatment was the right one.’
’Not only does it open up another channel for acquiring resources, but it also raises our standing among the other students and builds goodwill...’
"Let’s keep the two fish, the food, and the daily necessities. But the jerky and mushrooms... are they edible?"
Xu Jun shook his head. "I don’t know. They said it’s all edible, and I even saw one person eat one of the fruits right in front of me, but I have no idea if there will be any problems later."
Chen Chong’s brow furrowed. After a few seconds of silence, he thought of the Survival Association.
"Tomorrow, find someone they don’t know to trade it to the Survival Association. Don’t they take anything? If they recognize it and accept it, trade it for whatever resources you can get. If they don’t recognize it and refuse it, just get rid of it. In any case, I’m not brave enough to eat it."
"Got it." Xu Jun nodded.
Chen Chong looked at Shen Xinrou, his tone softening. "See? It’s going smoothly, isn’t it? I told you, with your skills, treating patients is no problem at all."
Blushing from the praise, Shen Xinrou lowered her head and spoke in a timid voice.
"The students who came today all had relatively simple problems—mostly upset stomachs and common muscle strains. I could handle those easily enough, but if I encounter anything more difficult, I’m not confident I can handle it..."
Chen Chong cut off her self-doubt. "Just treating problems from bad food, plus sprains and bruises, is more than enough. Anything more serious is outside your scope. Believe in yourself. You’ve got this!"
Shen Xinrou stared at Chen Chong, stunned for a long moment, before finally giving a firm nod.
"Okay!"
Chen Chong smiled. "Let’s consider today’s clinic a trial run. We still need to plan out the staffing and fee structure more clearly."
"Xinrou, when you get back, could you make a list of the conditions you can treat? Please arrange them by severity and difficulty of treatment. Show it to me afterward so I can figure out the final pricing."
Shen Xinrou nodded again.
Chen Chong turned to Xu Jun.
’He and Jia Wen are different from Xinrou. They’re the main force of the team, the combat personnel for outside operations.’
’It’s not feasible for them to stay at the school forever doing logistical work like Shen Xinrou.’
’But the clinic needs people to help Xinrou, to handle chores like brewing medicine and collecting fees, and to maintain order and prevent troublemakers. So...’
At this, Chen Chong took two Cards from his bag.
They were the two D-Level Recruitment Cards he hadn’t used yet: Laborer and Maidservant!
’Finally, a use for these two Recruitment Cards...’
’A man and a woman. One for inside, one for out.’
’The Laborer is good at manual labor. He can be responsible for maintaining order outside, managing the line, and helping patients register.’
’The Maidservant is meticulous, so she can be in charge of sorting and brewing medicine indoors, as well as inventorying and recording the resources received as payment.’
’In their spare time, she could even accompany Shen Xinrou to search for medicinal herbs.’
’With them helping Shen Xinrou, there shouldn’t be any problems.’
’Thanks to the nature of Recruitment Cards, he wouldn’t have to worry about their loyalty at all.’
’Not only could they help manage this support operation, but they could also keep an eye on things for him whenever he was away.’
’The income they generate should more than cover their upkeep...’
...
「Time slowly trickled by, until it was late at night.」
Shen Xinrou had already left.
She didn’t return to the girls’ dormitory, but instead moved into the newly acquired clinic on the first floor.
Xu Jun, Jia Wen, and Wang Biao also returned to their respective rooms.
Chen Chong checked on the farm plot and the mud pond, as well as the wild ducks and wild rabbits in the bathroom, before finally returning to his room.
For now, there were no dead fish in the fishpond, and the eagle egg in the incubator still showed no signs of hatching.
Though exhausted from the long day, Chen Chong sat on his bed, unable to sleep.
Before he knew it, the time reached midnight...
[Daily settlement commencing. Based on your gains and performance over the past day, a score and Rating will be assigned, automatically converted into Card rewards of the corresponding level.]
[Over the past day, you have: captured two live wild rabbits, a large number of live fish, and several birds using traps; directed personnel to open a traditional Chinese medicine clinic, harvesting a small amount of resources; preemptively killed two unhatched Extraordinary Creatures, Stone Claw Eagles; successfully brought back an unhatched Extraordinary Creature, a Rock Armor Eagle...]
[Score: 150]
[Rating: A]
[Reward: Ability Card: Water Mastery, Recruitment Card: Royal Hound, Resource Card: Fragmented Jungle Atlas]
[Note: Excess score points have been automatically converted into lower-level Cards.]
The A-Level Rating Chen Chong had been dreaming of had finally appeared!
But after he finished reading the settlement information, he suddenly froze.
After a long moment, his gaze slowly drifted to the incubator.
"Rock Armor Eagle!?"
...