Chapter 004: Buying Seeds

Houses and cars become worthless in the face of life!

Jing Shu shook her head, hoping to change the course of history. Her previous life was her previous life, and this time, there would be no apocalypse. However, the necessary preparations still had to be made.

Therefore, Jing Shu could never confront Baozi’s parents about it. She couldn’t mention the space, rebirth, or the apocalypse. Otherwise, given their personalities, if they told their relatives and friends, being considered fools (stupid) would be a minor issue. If the prophecy were to come true, she might even be scolded to death for not having spoken up a few years earlier.

With her plan in place, Jing Shu quickly found a reason to calm Zhu Zhengqi down: “Let me have another month to think. If I still want to be an internet celebrity, I’ll come to you again, okay? After all, a million yuan isn’t a small amount.”

Zhu Zhengqi, who had been bombarding her with WeChat messages, finally quieted down and didn’t dare to push Jing Shu too hard.

Jing Shu changed her clothes, put on her bag, pushed a shopping cart, and found her father’s secret stash of 3,600 yuan at home, leaving at least 100 yuan. Additionally, she had 6,059 yuan in her WeChat wallet and borrowed 6,000 yuan through Jiebei before heading out. In Jing Shu’s family, her mother handled the money. Her honest father had devoted his entire life to the three women he loved most: his mother, his wife, and his daughter.

Arriving at the print shop at the entrance of the residential complex, Jing Shu used her phone to change three aspects of the electronic contract: she altered the deposit to 800,000 yuan, the full payment to 1,500,000 yuan, and even changed the company name. She printed it out, signed, and stamped it. That evening, she could discuss getting the money with her parents.

The first thing Jing Shu needed to do now was to go to Wucheng’s largest agricultural wholesale market to buy seeds, and while there, purchase seasonings and other items.

“As the saying goes, ‘With grain, there’s no panic.’ Even if tomorrow was the end of the world, she could survive well. She would save some for ‘Double Eleven’ (Singles’ Day) on Taobao to splurge on other things.”

The main feature of this wholesale market was: no individual sales. Everything was sold in bulk, by the box or piece, which perfectly suited Jing Shu’s current needs.

It took a 20-minute taxi ride to reach the place. Looking at the bustling wholesale market, with vegetable leaves scattered on the ground and large trucks constantly coming and going to transport goods, Jing Shu couldn’t help but sigh. Who would have thought that in six months, a single cabbage could sell for over a thousand yuan?

The wholesale market was vast, divided into major sections such as vegetables, fruits, dried goods and snacks, frozen and preserved foods, and seafood.

In the vegetable section where Jing Shu was, the middle two rows of stalls had heavy-duty trucks carrying box after box of fresh vegetables. Some had already sold more than half, while others had been removed after selling out. Looking out, she couldn’t see the end of it.

On both sides were wholesale stores selling seeds, agricultural by-products, seasonings, and other bulk items. Jing Shu visited over a dozen of them in a row, purchasing a variety of seeds for vegetables, fruits, cotton, medicinal herbs, sugars, rice, wheat, legumes, and oils. Regardless of whether she could use them in the future, she thought to herself that at least she was preserving some roots for Huaxia (China). If one day there was sunlight and she could cultivate land, it would be better than all these things becoming extinct.

Every shop owner looked at Jing Shu as if she were a fool, as there were over a hundred varieties of just corn, not to mention the various vegetables and fruits.

“It’s like this, I’m from the National Agricultural Environmental Protection Ecological Testing Bureau. This is my work ID (photoshopped it myself from Baidu). I need a large number of seed samples. If you have any other seeds, please sell me some more.”

“Usually, at this time, a longer name would be needed so that others wouldn’t understand what exactly you were doing. Associating with the XX bureau made it seem like you were inspecting whether their store’s products met quality standards.”

“At this point, shop owners would put on a friendly smile and start introducing their products. Jing Shu carefully labeled each package of seeds with instructions and precautions. When she finally checked out, they even gave her some additional items as gifts.”

“For example, the boss sold asexually propagated cultivated crops: sweet potato and yam tubers, potato tubers, onion and garlic bulbs, sugarcane stems—these weren’t valuable, but to contribute to the country, the boss gave her some of each. Jing Shu gratefully placed them into her small shopping cart.”

“To her surprise, they also sold mushroom kits: black flat mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, elm yellow mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, chicken leg mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and tea tree mushrooms. The wholesale price was 4 yuan per package, weighing 2 catties (about 1 kg). They didn’t require watering, could sprout in about ten days, and would produce mushrooms three times. However, as long as she took them back, Jing Shu had a way to keep them growing indefinitely.”

“Mushrooms could be considered one of the few vegetables that could grow in the apocalypse, saving countless people. Although Jing Shu had gotten sick from eating flat mushrooms, it didn’t stop her from eating other types.”

“Jing Shu ordered two packages of each, added a 15 yuan delivery fee, wrote her address, and after a while, the distribution center would directly deliver them to her home.”

“After buying the seeds, Jing Shu continued walking, pushing her small trolley. She secretly transferred the seeds and sweet potato and yam tubers into her Rubik’s Cube space, since it couldn’t be seen from outside anyway.”

“Although the seeds were only in one or two units each, the variety was so extensive that Jing Shu spent a total of 1,030 yuan.”

“Jing Shu quickly found a large seasoning wholesale store. Upon entering, she was greeted by ten large jars of aged vinegar neatly arranged, creating a spectacular scene.”

“Hello, boss. Do you offer free delivery?’ Jing Shu asked, eyeing the shrewd middle-aged woman diligently calculating numbers with a calculator.”

“Free delivery starts at 2,000 yuan. Take a look at what you need first; no bargaining,” the middle-aged woman replied without lifting her head, while also busy telling the young man behind her who was stocking shelves, ‘Friendliness Supermarket’s goods, hurry and deliver; they’re pressing again.'”

“It was evident that although the location was a bit off, business was good, mostly supplied by regular customers.”

“Jing Shu walked in and began examining the prices one by one. She couldn’t help but admire how cheap things were at the wholesale market—items in supermarkets were being sold for three times the price.”

“However, here, wholesale sales started at 100 catties and weren’t available for individual purchase.”

Prices:

– Shanxi Aged Vinegar: 270 yuan (100 catties)

– Low-sodium Salt: 180 yuan (100 catties)

– Soy Sauce: 140 yuan (100 catties)

– White Sugar: 300 yuan

– Rock Sugar: 180 yuan

– Cumin: 1,000 yuan

– Sichuan Pepper Powder: 490 yuan

– Taitale Chicken Essence: 85 yuan

– Oyster Sauce: 280 yuan

– Star Anise: 120 yuan

– Cinnamon Powder: 760 yuan

– Black Pepper Powder: 700 yuan

– Baking Soda: 400 yuan

– Cooking Wine: 300 yuan

– Cold-pressed Sesame Oil: 3,500 yuan…

Jing Shu felt she must be crazy—how could these seasonings make her drool? Especially the cold-pressed sesame oil; adding a bit to hotpot or noodles made them truly aromatic, lingering on her teeth!

Heaven knows that in the apocalypse, there wasn’t even enough food, let alone wasting food byproducts like seasonings. In the future, if she wanted to eat well, she’d probably have to make them herself. There were no seasonings in the apocalypse, except for a small amount of strategic supplies—salt—that could be obtained weekly.

These seasonings were truly used sparingly in the apocalypse! In her previous life, after Jing Shu’s family was washed away by floods in the second year, they never tasted any other seasonings again. They either ate communal meals or dug up rotten food.

Rotten food referred to a new species that evolved over long periods of darkness—a type of decayed organism, tiny things densely packed and continuously reproducing, easy to catch. Boil the rotten food in plain water, add some tree bark, some salt, and, if possible, sprinkle some chopped scallions. That was a decent meal.