Chapter 45: Temperature-Regulating Fabric

This temperature-regulating fabric hasn’t even been successfully developed by the Taiyu Group yet—so how does Zhao Ping’an have it in his hands?

An Nan asked him, “Where did you get this thing?”

Zhao Ping’an smiled a little shyly. “I made it myself. It took me three whole years, and I only managed to finish it in the last couple of days.”

An Nan was incredulous. “You’re saying you developed this yourself?”

“That’s right!” Zhao Ping’an nodded. “I used to work in product development at a tech company. This was my project. But later, I didn’t agree with the company’s direction, so I quit and started working on my own.”

He scratched his head. “When I left, the fabric still hadn’t been developed. I think they kept working on it after I left, but I don’t know if they ever succeeded. Anyway, I only figured it out myself in the last few days.”

“Your company wouldn’t happen to be part of the Taiyu Group, would it?”

“How did you know? It was Taiyu Group’s Innovation Technology Company.” Zhao Ping’an’s eyes lit up. “Are you familiar with this field, Idol?”

An Nan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. This was exactly the temperature-regulating fabric she’d been searching for at the tech building back then.

What a case of searching high and low, only to find it when you least expect it!

Back when she was looking for it, the thing hadn’t even been invented yet—and now it had just fallen right into her lap.

This Zhao Ping’an really was something—not only had he worked at Taiyu Group, he seemed to be a key player there.

Zhao Ping’an watched her expression. “Idol, do you like this? If not, I can find something else to trade with you.”

Like it? How could she not!

An Nan coughed. “Let me take a closer look—what’s it like?”

She pulled a piece of the fabric out of the bag and stroked it. It felt a bit like her silk comforter—soft and comfortable.

She wrapped it around her right arm, and could immediately feel the dampness being blocked out.

Ever since the city had turned into a water city, people had been shrouded in damp humidity every day. As soon as she wrapped herself in this fabric, she felt a long-lost sense of comfort.

At that moment, Zhao Ping’an pulled a lighter out of his pocket and flicked it on, holding the flame to An Nan’s right arm.

An Nan exclaimed in surprise, “I really can’t feel any heat!”

Next, Zhao Ping’an took out a fruit knife and made as if to chop at her arm.

Startled, An Nan quickly pulled her arm back.

Seeing how guarded she was, Zhao Ping’an hurried to explain, “Don’t get me wrong, Idol! I just wanted to show you its cut-resistant feature.”

An Nan breathed a sigh of relief. “No need. The fabric is great—I’ll trade with you.”

She wasn’t about to test that function herself. What if he actually hurt her? Or even if she was fine, what if the fabric got damaged?

What she valued most was its ability to maintain a stable temperature once worn. Nothing else mattered. She just wanted to stop suffering whenever she had to go out in extreme heat or cold.

Seeing her agree to the trade, Zhao Ping’an was delighted.

“Idol, you have a good eye! The temperature-regulating feature might seem a bit useless, but the cut-resistance is really amazing! You can try it yourself when you get home.”

Useless?

An Nan thought to herself, How could temperature regulation be useless? It’s incredibly valuable!

Silly kid, you have no idea what the weather will be like in the future!

She asked, “This stuff is great. Do you have any more?”

Zhao Ping’an replied, “I do. The piece I gave you is ten meters long—enough for four sets of clothes. I have about the same amount left at home. Do you want more?”

“No, this is enough.”

She wasn’t about to drain his resources dry. It was only fair to leave Zhao Ping’an with some for himself.

An Nan put the fabric away. “What kind of snacks do you want in exchange?”

“Anything is fine, I’m not picky. Whatever you think is good.”

An Nan nodded and headed home with her plastic bag.

She couldn’t help but marvel: Such a high-end item, and he just stuffed it in a big black garbage bag to give away?

This fabric, once it hit the market, was supposed to be beautifully packaged and displayed in shop windows, sold at a high price.

She remembered hearing that the rumored price was 70,000 yuan per meter…

The piece in her hand was about ten meters long—worth roughly 700,000 yuan.

And he was trading it for some snacks?

An Nan couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

Both times she’d traded with Zhao Ping’an, it felt like she was getting the better end of the deal.

…

Fugui, who had been sitting on the ground watching them talk, saw his owner heading home and quickly followed.

Only then did Zhao Ping’an notice the little dog.

He’d been so focused on his idol that he hadn’t even realized the dog was there.

His eyes lit up as he looked at it. “You take good care of your dog! Its coat is so shiny and smooth.”

He loved cute things!

“Does it bite? Can I pet it?”

As soon as Fugui was mentioned, An Nan immediately watched Zhao Ping’an warily.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but in these chaotic times, there were just too many people eyeing her dog. She couldn’t afford to be careless.

To her, Fugui was more than just a pet—he was the only family she had left.

She studied Zhao Ping’an’s expression but didn’t see anything suspicious.

Zhao Ping’an carefully petted the dog’s head, and Fugui didn’t resist.

An Nan relaxed and called Fugui to go home.

She figured Zhao Ping’an hadn’t gone hungry yet, so he wouldn’t be eyeing her dog for food.

An Nan went home with the fabric to look for snacks, while Zhao Ping’an patiently waited outside her door, not the least bit worried that she’d run off with the fabric without paying.

Back home, An Nan stared at her stash of snacks, feeling a bit troubled.

She really didn’t know how to handle this trade.

What kind of snacks could possibly be worth 700,000 yuan?

Even though she had way more than 700,000 yuan’s worth of snacks, if she took out too much at once, it would look suspicious.

Even before the disaster, hardly anyone kept dozens of boxes of snacks at home.

And now, in the post-apocalyptic world, taking out that much would be way too conspicuous.

It wasn’t just about people knowing she had a lot of supplies. If anyone started suspecting she’d foreseen the disaster, or that she had some kind of storage space, that would be real trouble.

Zhao Ping’an was a pretty imaginative guy.

He’d probably read a lot of apocalypse novels. If she wasn’t careful, he might really guess her secret. So she had to be cautious.

Better to give less.

After all, food prices weren’t what they used to be.

These days, it took a big gold bracelet just to trade for two bags of millet.

An Nan found a big cardboard box and started filling it up.

Potato chips, spicy strips, squid snacks, pickled chicken feet, five-spice sunflower seeds, seaweed, crispy sausages… three to five bags of each.

Do self-heating hotpots count as snacks?

She wasn’t sure, but since there was still space in the box, she put two in anyway.

Once everything was packed, she sealed the box with tape and even made a handle out of tape for him.

Finally, she grabbed a case of Coke.

Honestly, even before the disaster, all this would have been worth maybe a few hundred yuan. Trading it for tens of thousands’ worth of temperature-regulating fabric made her feel a bit guilty.

Would Zhao Ping’an think it was too little?

An Nan nervously carried the goods outside."