Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 277 The impoverished pine tree dreams of getting rich

"Hmph, getting rich is just around the corner, getting rich is just around the corner..."

The sparrow, already obsessed with money, hopped and skipped excitedly down the road. The topic of aliens, if handled properly, could bring immense wealth—even if these two were con artists trying to fool her, it didn't matter. A talking snake alone was worth more than any amount of silver!

She had already begun to fantasize about the wonderful life she would have after "selling" Qiong and Kiana—once she had money, she would feed the kids pastries and fried dough sticks every day!

"No, no, this is such a big deal, who would believe it if I just told them?"

While Songque was still pondering how to convince everyone that Qiong and "Nian Gao" were alien visitors, Qiong couldn't stand it anymore.

"That, the sparrow?"

Qiong couldn't bring himself to keep calling him "teacher." He found it hard to reconcile the boy, blinded by the allure of money, with the playful, friendly, and caring psychology teacher who was always there for his students…

"Hero, what do you need from me?"

Upon hearing Qiong's call, the pine sparrow walking in front immediately turned around, waiting for Qiong to speak.

These two are her saviors and future cash cows, so she'll have to treat them well and provide for them properly. Once her fame takes off or she's promoted, she'll be rich!

Even if we take a step back and say that Qiong is capable of defeating Tie Tou and his gang, even if he only goes to Langqiu to make a living, wouldn't building good relationships be a valuable asset?

However, Qiong's expression was slightly strange in the face of the smiling pine sparrow.

"You shouldn't call me a hero or anything like that. Just call me Qiong."

The gentle female teacher who used to call him a hero suddenly changed his relationship from teacher and student to rescuer and rescued. Qiong was a little uncomfortable with this. She thought, "Why not call him benefactor? Or why not just call him by his full name?"

"That won't do! But since it's your request, Hero, then... Qiong?"

Song Que's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter, and seeing that Qiong was even a little shy, she felt that her grand plan to make a fortune could take another step forward.

Song Que tried to suppress her barely suppressed smile and instead discussed more practical issues with Qiong.

"Sora, and... there's also rice cake, right?"

Song Que glanced at the "rice cake" on Qiong's body and noticed that the snake, which had been silent all along, was just staring at her, which was rather cute—but since it didn't object, she continued.

"Let me clarify first, we're very willing to believe you come from that blue planet—"

"That's called Earth, 'Martians'!"

The word "rice cake" is emphasized in the pronunciation of the word "Martian".

"Okay, okay, Earth. Also, this isn't Mars, it's Luo Xing!"

Song Que adopted a coaxing attitude towards a child. In her opinion, although this "rice cake" was clever and quick-witted, it was at most at the level of a human child. The real person in charge was Qiong.

"Getting back to the point, we believe you, but others certainly won't. You need to provide some evidence."

The pine bird stared at "Nian Gao," its golden light even outshining "Nian Gao's" starry eyes—for no other reason than that "Nian Gao" was too special! A talking and flying snake—just those two features alone wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her an alien treasure worth tens of millions of taels of silver, right? And the kind that's priceless and unavailable!

"Do you have any special abilities? Besides things like being able to fly or startle fire, can you perform something else? If you can demonstrate it, won't people believe you?"

"They do have superpowers, but what happens after they're shown?"

Before Songque could answer, "Nian Gao" couldn't wait to speak.

"Is that even a question? I think she's up to no good. She's definitely planning to turn us into her laborers, make money for her, or even sell us out, right?"

Song Que was a little embarrassed by the bluntness of the word "rice cake". Her intentions were not pure, but she hadn't gone that far.

"Huh? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Song Que quickly defended himself against the unfounded smear campaign against "rice cake".

"Nian Gao, don't make false accusations! We're good people! Yes, we do sell cheap props and fake talismans, but go ask around the streets and alleys of Langqiu. Which family doesn't know that Master Song Que is a good person? Besides, at most, we just want you to perform so we can pull off a bigger heist sometime. We have absolutely no intention of enslaving you or trafficking aliens or rare animals!"

Immediately, Song Que covered her mouth. What did she say? Did she reveal that she wanted to make money off the two of them?

Unable to hide his true intentions any longer, Song Que could only chuckle awkwardly and steel himself as he looked at the silent man and snake.

"Haha, aren't we just thinking of you two? You need money to make a living in Langqiu, right? You know, a bag of pastries costs 200 Lang! We're doing this so you can support yourselves here... How about we split the profits 50/50? No, no, how about 30/70? We get 30, you get 70, isn't that fair?"

Sora & Kiana: ...

Qiong shook his head helplessly. He should have known that among the inherent traits of the pine sparrow were greed and cowardice—as well as kindness and courage.

"Nian Gao, what do you think?"

Qiong and "Nian Gao" exchanged a glance. This pine sparrow had her intentions written all over his face without any attempt to hide it! Did he think they were part of a circus? He wasn't Gui Naifen!

Although we're really in dire straits, maybe we could consider having Nian Gao temporarily sell his skills, like rummaging through trash cans to make ends meet? After all, even a hero can be brought down by a lack of money, and this pioneering journey needs funding! Of course, this would require Nian Gao's support.

"don't want!"

Do you really want Kiana Kaslana to perform for her potential rival and make money?

Don't even think about it!

The pine sparrow got anxious when "rice cake" refused, and actually stuck to it.

This forced Qiong to turn his head away, because because "mochi" was on his head, the close proximity of the sparrow made him notice that the loosely secured strips of cloth and the bandages wrapped around his hands were swaying—plus, due to the lack of gravity on Mars, Qiong's heart rate had been much faster than on the ground from the very beginning, leading to the conclusion that...

Grandma Songque can probably be considered to still have some charm.

Although she is not yet the "grandmother" of the pine tree.

"Nian Gao, think about it some more? How about I treat you to some fried dough sticks?"

"Nian Gao" hid behind the dome in disgust when facing the pine tree sparrow.

"Qiong, keep your distance from her! If you get too close to her, she'll devour you, a fool as gullible as you, leaving not even bones behind!"

"We're willing to split the profits 30/70, how can anyone be so heartless?"

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Although their time together wasn't particularly pleasant, the group still made their way out of the mountains and, led by Song Que, arrived at a remote street corner where her residence was located—a very simple but very clean little wooden cabin.

You live here?

Looking around, there was a makeshift bed and a bunch of things that Qiong couldn't understand; this seemed to be all of Song Que's possessions.

"Was Teacher Maria this poor before...?"

Seeing the sparrow's living conditions, Kiana couldn't help but think of her own time wandering in Siberia and the Far East, and the period after the War of Destiny. Even though she repeatedly emphasized that the sparrow was her rival, she still felt a little pity for it.

Maria, who lives in abject poverty, must have had a very difficult time.

"Haha, don't laugh at me, but our old place was being targeted by our enemies. This is all we managed to salvage! Come on in, let's get inside!"

In any case, both the man and the snake were benefactors of Song Que, so Song Que warmly invited them into the house and poured them water—but that was all; Song Que didn't seem to have any snacks to offer as guests.

After all, it's unlikely that there would be any guests here! If there are, they would be uninvited guests, so why would we prepare to entertain them?

"Since you're new here, you probably don't know how lively Amber Street in Langqiu is. If you show off your skills—like flying rice cakes or being able to throw fire—you'll definitely attract a lot of attention! Don't blame me for being nosy, but we can collect some entrance fees or get tips from people, and then—"

The "rice cake" floated in mid-air and stuck out its tongue in dissatisfaction. Why won't it give up?

"I don't want to perform like a circus performer!"

I could consider doing it with Sora, but what if I had to share with Matsuko? The thought of Matsuko using the money Sora and she earned from their performances to buy food...

It seems that...

"Oh, just think of it as experiencing something new. Once we make money, everyone will be better off. Besides, it's earning a living through our own abilities, there's nothing shameful about it, is there?"

Just as Song Que was still trying to persuade them, a sharp explosion suddenly came from outside.

"Ah! A shadow monster! Help, help me!"

"What the hell? A shadow monster?"

Qiong jumped up from the bed.

"Quick, go out and see!"

Qiong brandished his baseball bat and charged out.

"I'm going too!"

"Nian Gao" immediately followed. Seeing that the two had both gone out, Song Que felt he couldn't let this money tree get away, so he immediately grabbed a plank and followed as well.

"Let's go too!"

A wooden plank won't be enough to hit the shadow monster, but it'll definitely be enough to distract those silly monsters.