Forget ten thousand, she didn't even have a few hundred virtual coins left in her pockets. Her private stash had all gone into the previous factory project in Wu County, leaving her accounts nearly drained. What she had now came from the grueling work of squeezing into various salvage teams every day and grinding out bounties in the dangerous outskirts of the city.
Money burns fast, in any era, and the apocalypse was no exception. Her spending was legendary among those who knew her. When broke, she pinched every penny and calculated the cost of every grain of rice. With cash in hand, she bought everything she might need for the future. Nothing stayed in her pocket for long before it was exchanged for something tangible.
Still, she dared to put up ten thousand this time because she had a substantial safety net hidden away.
She had first dug up six blood mushrooms from the dark, rich soil of her space. One went to Yang Yang, two became a nutrient-rich soup, and one revived Grandma Jing when she fainted in the old apartment. Later she harvested another twelve, the deep red caps glowing with a healthy sheen. That left her with fourteen intact blood mushrooms and three with only the root stubs remaining in the dirt.
After several days of intense cultivation, she was delighted to find a tiny new cap sprouting from one of the root stubs, its surface wet and gleaming. At this rate, it would mature into a full specimen in a week.
Mushroom propagation was not like ordinary grafting or seed planting. It relied on complex spore separation and sterile culture in a controlled environment. Her rough approach, simply leaving the roots in the ground and hoping for the best, shouldn't have worked by any scientific standard, yet it did. The unique environment of the Rubik's Cube Space and the presence of the nutrient-absorbing leeches must have helped bridge the gap.
The earlier small caps were also swelling nicely, their stalks thickening as they grew. It was proof that her mixed breeding method was on the right track for mass production.
She culled the tiniest and the largest to maintain the quality of her stock, then decided to take ten blood mushrooms to Su Mali for auction. Something this precious was a risk to carry; she only half-trusted anyone she didn't know personally, and that rich woman at least wouldn't shortchange her on the final price.
After signing the new factory agreement at Su Yiyang's cramped home, everyone moved to their respective tasks.
Wang Gang took her to the reserve depot in his vehicle. It was buried deep in the mountains like an air-raid complex, well hidden beneath layers of rock and earth, with more than one entrance concealed by the natural landscape. On another side of the ridge, she glimpsed the gray blocks of military housing. The gate they used was clearly a different, more secure access point than the main one.
Troops in rain-slicked gear guarded the road up the mountain. Only after both Wang Gang and she scanned their IDs at the checkpoint were they allowed through the heavy gates. He obviously had the high-level right to bring someone into the facility.
It was her first time inside a local reserve depot. One look at the massive lead doors, which groaned as they slid open, and she knew the immense scale of the project. The site lead from the grain corporation was a steady man in his forties named Liu Dabo, his thick glasses giving him a scholarly air that contrasted with the cold concrete surrounding him.
"This depot was built to the highest national standards," Liu Dabo briefed her as they walked through the echoing halls. "It can withstand a direct hit from a 500-pound (around 226 kilograms) bomb, the shock of a 600,000-ton hydrogen airburst, and even an 8.0 earthquake. In the past, nuclear weapons were secretly fabricated here in these tunnels. It used to be a major military stronghold.
If civilization faces annihilation, the government can shelter hundreds of thousands of citizens inside these walls. At the first sign of doomsday danger, the lead doors can drop in one second to seal the space. It's more than just a reserve depot: it's our forebears' lifeblood."
Jing Shu listened, impressed by the sheer engineering might of the place. Pride stirred in her chest at the thought of such a refuge. In her last life, she never got the chance to take refuge here among the elite. In this life, just seeing its might with her own eyes was a gift.
"These bays are currently vacant," he said, his footsteps echoing on the polished floor. "Let me show you the layout."
In the dim tunnel, she saw thick storage halls made of special, moisture-resistant materials; they were nothing like the leaky stone sheds or those makeshift eco-warehouses she had seen in the city. There wasn't a drop of water on the walls, and not a single bug was in sight. The budget here had been lavish, and it showed in every seam.
Liu Dabo led her to her independent bay. It had both a heavy key and a fingerprint lock as promised. The space inside was large, dry, and cool, making it perfect as a cold room for long-term storage. She would still toss in several bags of lime desiccant this year to be safe from any humidity.
"Good. This will do perfectly."
Jing Shu already felt safer knowing her investment was protected. Storing her feed beside the state's own grain was security enough, and with her own dual-locked bay, she could finally relax. Unless Liu Dabo betrayed his post, her supplies were untouchable. She wouldn't get careless, though. Red nematodes were cheap now, but in a year they would be as valuable as gold.
Compared to building her own giant warehouse or renting a place that would mold in a week in the damp air, this was the least stressful option available. Liu Dabo's only ask in return was that she help absorb the daily red nematode intake he lined up through his connections.
He insisted on sending her money, which was in effect a way to ensure the factory stayed operational. Well, she would accept it with a cough and a nod. In her past life, all she wished for was a daily bowl of white rice, not virtual coins. This life taught her that coins vanished quickly if you didn't have enough of them. It was better to stack more for future bartering.
They registered her fingerprints for the bay on the digital scanner. Wang Gang said the plant could open in two days once the paperwork was finalized. She only needed to deliver the first tranche of purchase funds and the fuel for processing the red nematodes within three days.
With that settled, she returned from the distant mountains to the villa, then headed straight to Su Mali's guarded home.
Her four hired guards were back at their posts, looking sharp in their uniforms. She waved to them on her way in, and they nodded back.
"Jing Shu," Su Mali blinked her big eyes, her expression one of pleasant surprise, "I heard you have ten blood mushrooms for the auction?" Three other people stood nearby, their eyes shining with expectation at the mention of the mushrooms.
Trust the artistic Su Mali to count them by "stalk," as if they were priceless lingzhi in a traditional painting.
She knew the trio standing with her friend: Chen Nan, who had refitted her vehicles with such precision; Ah Yu, a high-ranking official who helped arrange the exclusive auctions; and another acquaintance she had seen at previous gatherings.
She arched an eyebrow and nodded to the group. "A little gathering today?"
"Are you short on virtual coins?" Su Mali asked, her voice dropping as she clasped her hand. "Name your price. I will buy the lot from you above the usual auction rates."
"You're my lucky star," Su Mali added, her grip tightening. "I was just about to source a batch of high-end medicine. My father's health is failing, and he needs nourishment to recover.
How about twenty thousand for the lot? That's five thousand above what you would clear at a standard auction. If it's not enough to cover your costs..."
"It's enough," Jing Shu said, rubbing her temple as she felt the weight of the offer. She wasn't out to squeeze her friends for every coin. A fair price was fine for both of them.
Chen Nan watched like a starving cat as the girl produced the ten (yes, ten) blood mushrooms from her bag and passed them to Su Mali. She couldn't hold back her frustration any longer.
"Mali, you have to compensate me for my losses," Chen Nan groaned, her face showing the strain of her recent work. "I have been miserable lately. That Chu Zhuohua screwed me over on our last project."
"???"
Jing Shu thought. "Wasn't that Wu You'ai's mentor she was talking about? What had happened between them?"
"Wait, Chu Zhuohua conned you? How had he do that?" Jing Shu asked, her curiosity piqued.
Chen Nan flushed, the color rising in her cheeks. "It's nothing to do with you personally. I covered all the materials for your RV as we agreed. But Chu Zhuohua also 'modified' another vehicle on the side and drained my entire inventory of aerospace aluminum, every memory metal recovery kit, and every high-end part I had in the shop; and it still wasn't enough to finish. The worst part? I couldn't even tell it was a car he was modding based on the parts he took."
The girl stood there and stared, speechless at the news of the secret project.