Chapter 191: Spent Half a Fortune Without Receiving Payment (Seeking Monthly Votes)

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Since it was the fourth dish, everyone stopped wolfing down their food and began eating in a different manner.

“Alright, you win.”

Jing Shu’s high school classmates completely disregarded how the people across from them were staring at them with strange looks. They decided to let it go. Not only was the food exceptionally good before the apocalypse, but in the post-apocalyptic world, they might never get to eat it again in their lifetime.

The fourth auction item turned out to be aloe vera. Aloe vera is an extremely hardy plant; you can easily propagate it by taking a cutting. Unfortunately, many died in the first year due to the drought, leaving very few survivors.

The benefits of aloe vera need no introduction—it’s great for beauty and skincare, can be used as a bandage for cuts, and is highly effective for treating inflammation and chilblains. Jing Shu wanted to plant some for backup in case temperatures dropped to minus 70 degrees.

The biggest advantage of Jing Shu’s yard was its constant temperature, allowing her to grow many things.

Constant temperature was the most luxurious condition in the post-apocalyptic world because the drastic temperature differences between day and night made it impossible for many crops and plants to grow.

“One aloe branch is 200 virtual coins. Taking it home to cultivate for a while can also be used medicinally.”

Jing Shu: “Then... I’ll take one.”

The fifth auction item was premium cigarettes, priced at 50 virtual coins per pack. It was said that her family owned a tobacco company. Jing Shu wanted to ask if there were any tobacco plants available for cultivation before the auction ended. After all, Jing Ye was a cigarette enthusiast.

Jing Shu: “How about... give me ten packs?” Before the apocalypse, she couldn’t afford them, and she didn’t expect that after the apocalypse, she’d be lucky enough to savor premium cigarettes.

Moreover, Jing Ye could no longer get cigarettes from Jing Dad. Jing Ye had been in poor spirits lately, constantly arguing with Jing Dad. Therefore, Jing Shu thought it was best to return to the old routine.

Seeing that people around her were staring at her with odd looks, Jing Shu decided not to buy anything else. She was someone who could spend all her money as soon as she had it.

Fortunately, the subsequent auction items didn’t include anything Jing Shu was interested in. Most were expensive furniture, luxury items like perfumes and face masks, and other strange items—all requiring virtual coins, food, oil, petroleum, or coal.

A very small number were precious foods and poultry. A white goose was auctioned for 1,000 virtual coins, a hen was also sold for 1,000 virtual coins, and 10kg of frozen beef fetched a high price of 2,000 virtual coins.

Jing Shu couldn’t help but ponder silently. She wondered how much a live black pig could fetch nowadays. Speaking of black pigs, Jing Shu thought of her eldest aunt Jing Pan’s family. After checking their location recently, she found that her aunt’s house was situated on high ground and likely hadn’t been flooded, so they hadn’t been evacuated.

A few days ago, Jing Nai called. As expected, nothing happened. They had even saved many livestock from the nearby farm, earning merit. Now, they could fully rebuild the farm, and future days would surely be better. After all, with a sow that could produce piglets, Jing Shu could easily support the farm. She had to admit that her uncle was impressive.

It seemed that the lives of the wealthy weren’t as good as Jing Shu had imagined. They were all exchanging their excess stockpiles for food, indicating that everyone was pessimistic about the future and wanted to store more provisions.

“This is the 14th dish. Burp~ I’m actually full.”

“This is the dessert after the meal.”

“Wow, is this the legendary macaron? Mmm, so sweet!”

“Dummy, macarons are meant to be eaten slowly. It takes at least half an hour to eat one.”

As the meal neared its end, all the auctionable items had been sold, with three or four failing to find buyers.

“Well, this concludes the auction segment. Next, we’ll proceed to the free exchange session. Everyone can look at the list of items on the big screen and choose the ones you’re interested in exchanging. If you need appraisals or want to trade virtual coins, you can talk to Ah Yu.”

“By the way, before that, please have everyone settle their auction transactions with Ah Yu first,” Su Mali announced.

Since only Ah Yu had access to the trading system on-site, everyone who wanted to trade virtual coins had to go through her. However, it was much more convenient than going to a supermarket.

“Who’s first? Let’s start with the highest transaction amount buyer. Jing Shu, your car materials are 800, steel is 4,000, aloe is 200, cigarettes are 500, totaling 5,500 virtual coins.” Ah Yu showed a QR code on her phone, “Just scan it.”

Everyone around eagerly gathered, especially Jing Shu’s high school classmates. For them, 20 points meant over ten days’ worth of meals, and Jing Shu had just spent 5,500 virtual coins in the blink of an eye—a sum equivalent to millions before the apocalypse.

Jing Shu hesitated for a moment. Last night, Li Yuetian said the payment would arrive within 24 hours, and there were still three hours left until the 24-hour mark. The virtual coins should be credited by now, right?

She hoped the payment had gone through; otherwise, it would be embarrassing.

Jing Shu scanned Ah Yu’s QR code...

Murphy’s Law had struck—exactly what Jing Shu didn’t want happened.

Ah Yu coughed softly and said, “Your virtual coin balance is insufficient.”

A huge commotion erupted around her.

Nima San loudly exclaimed, “What? You bought so many things and don’t have enough virtual coins?”

“Yeah, luckily you didn’t trade anything first. Can you still back out now?”

Yao Zixin: “Stop shouting. Maybe they’re still with her parents.”

Nima San maliciously remarked, “Look at Jing Shu. The higher you hold her up, the harder she falls. Let’s see how she handles this. The things she bought can’t be returned.”

Su Mali immediately stepped in to defuse the situation: “Jing Shu, I still owe you 5,000 virtual coins for the traditional herbs you found for me last time. I’ll transfer it to you right away.”

In reality, there were very few who were truly upset, especially the buyer Chen Nan: “Oh, it’s no big deal. I’ll just drop the 800.”

“You can keep the steel, or how about getting me a pair of lobsters? I’ll compensate you with an additional 1,000 virtual coins.”

...Alright, it wasn’t as awkward as Jing Shu had initially feared. Instead, it revealed the true nature of some people.

Perhaps Jing Shu’s personality had matured, or her inner strength had grown. In her past life, this would have been a humiliating ordeal, but now, experiencing it in this life, she didn’t feel as bad as she thought.

After thinking for a moment, Jing Shu realized the reason. With her magic cube space, she had enough food and supplies and wasn’t panicking. Even if the 6,000 virtual coins didn’t go through, she could offset it by fetching a few hens from her space. It was just that impressive.

“How about you collect everyone else’s virtual coins first? I estimate it will take another hour or two for mine to arrive. Don’t worry, I still want all your items and won’t back out.”

“She thinks she’s someone important. Is there still bank transfer services now?” Nima San whispered. Initially, she had thought Jing Shu was just getting too close with Yao Zixin, but it turned into pure female jealousy because Jing Shu’s performance was too perfect. They wanted to tear her down completely.

*(End of Chapter)*