The people at the supply station immediately lost their other thoughts.
Qu Jianlei and the others rested at the supply station for a night, then took two more days and nights to reach the Zhou Six Settlement.
There were many houses outside the Settlement, around a hundred thousand of them, and they rented a small courtyard.
Then Cindy and Claire went into town to handle the residency procedures, which surprisingly required forty silver coins per person.
Claire got a half-price deal, but by the time she had used sixty silver coins, Cindy had little money left.
However, Qu Jianlei gave her one hundred silver notes — this was considered as handling official business for everyone.
Living outside the city was relatively convenient, and both he and Flower Scorpion couldn’t conveniently enter the city, but having resident status made purchasing things easier.
He’s not stingy, so if he can provide convenience for the group, of course it should go through official expenses.
The outer parts of Zhou Six Settlement are actually... somewhat xenophobic, but thankfully they brought Spencer along.
It’s unclear how many dirty deeds the old man did in the past, but a lot of people knew him and looked at him oddly.
There was no fear in their eyes, nor any warmth, just an interest in the spectacle at best.
Some even half-jokingly and half-seriously asked, "Old Spencer, have you climbed a high branch?"
Spencer would always awkwardly explain, "Don’t joke, I owe these folks money, providing services to repay the debt."
Upon hearing this, others would realize he was humbled, and when they looked at Qu Jianlei and the others again, there would be apprehension in their eyes.
Thus, Qu Jianlei and his group also reserved a small room for Spencer in the courtyard house.
The room was really small, about five or six square meters, probably meant for storing firewood for winter.
Spencer didn’t dare to complain, moving in with his snow dog, nor dare ask when he would be allowed to leave.
With the rented courtyard, Cindy began preparations for the winter, such as buying firewood.
She knew the team had prepared a substantial amount of energy blocks, along with generators that could use both energy blocks and fuel.
However, she thought those were for crucial moments and that selling the energy blocks after buying them at a low price could also yield a profit.
Qu Jianlei understood this well; over the past two winters, his use of energy resources was inefficient and wasteful.
But back then, he had no choice under those conditions. Now, with Cindy willing to take care of things, he was happy to comply.
With the mother and daughter joining in, the team was starting to look more put together.
Qu Jianlei also put in the effort, tidying up the courtyard and house, in preparation for the upcoming winter.
Winter came even faster than he thought. On the fifth day after renting the courtyard, the first snow in the Zhou Six Residence Area fell.
Judging by the calendar, it wasn’t even mid-autumn yet, but winter was on its way.
On the next morning, after finishing his posture stance exercise in the courtyard, Qu Jianlei discussed with Flower Scorpion, who had also just finished her stance. Follow current novels on novèlfire.net
Although supplies were plentiful enough to last through this winter, he felt it was still necessary to hunt some wild beasts.
After all, if circumstances allowed, they would reside here long-term, and living off the land indefinitely wasn’t ideal.
The key issue was the local "xenophobia." Being newcomers, forming a team with locals would undoubtedly be challenging.
Old Spencer might know some relatively reliable teams, but his status among adventurers was quite low.
Moreover, both Qu Jianlei and Flower Scorpion believed that this guy really wasn’t a good person.
For minor tasks like renting houses or buying firewood, they could trust him to make introductions, but for hunting trips, it could truly be life-threatening.
Qu Jianlei asked Flower Scorpion: should the two of us form a team... or should we add Cindy, would a three-person team be enough for hunting?
Flower Scorpion thought about it and responded seriously: the risk would be too high.
Besides, they could do this once this year, but they couldn’t do it the same way every year. Ultimately, they had to interact with the locals.
She volunteered to investigate the situation to see if they could find a relatively reliable team.
Qu Jianlei pondered it and still felt it’s a bit challenging, mainly because, like Flower Scorpion, he had just come from the Hong Character region.
Just then, the courtyard door was pushed open. Claire, leading a snow dog, walked in with Spencer.
She excitedly shouted, "Boss, I found a great business opportunity for you!"