Chapter 181: Rumor Has It, Someone Wants to Start a Water Plant

Because of this, just yesterday at Min Yuxuan’s place, Bian Changxi had collected several houses’ worth of antiques. Who knows, maybe she’d stumbled upon something interesting—after all, it didn’t cost her any effort.

Maybe she’d been staring at these little “antiques” for too long, because the shop owner greeted her enthusiastically: “Miss, why not buy a bracelet, or maybe a ring? You know how in those novels, people just casually buy some trinket, and sometimes that unremarkable little thing turns out to be a space farm or something. Maybe you’ll get lucky too!”

The shop owner was a girl in her early twenties. Her skin was sallow, her hair dry and brittle, and her cheeks deeply sunken—like so many others, she bore the marks of hardship. Her fingernails were caked with black grime, a sign she couldn’t spare water for washing.

Bian Changxi squatted down to rummage through the items, then dusted off her hands and said, “Even if there was some treasure, it wouldn’t be sitting here, would it? I bet everything here’s already been tested a hundred times. Am I right?”

The owner looked embarrassed and shrank back, her hands covered in knife scars.

She used to run an online jewelry shop—your typical homebody, living paycheck to paycheck. When the apocalypse hit, she had nothing but dragged several big boxes of jewelry with her as she fled. She knew these were all cheap, mass-produced items, but still, holding onto a sliver of hope, she tried the method from those novels—cutting her finger and dripping blood on each piece…

It was a foolish move—she nearly died from blood loss.

“Well, daydreaming is kind of fun too,” she mumbled, then perked up, “Who knows, maybe it’ll work for you! Even if it doesn’t, these look nice to wear. They’re cheap—look, five bracelets, just one loaf of bread for all five.”

Zhang Bubai hesitated. Five bracelets—useless for eating or drinking, and not even that good-looking—traded for a loaf of bread? That was a bit much. He worried Bian Changxi was being ripped off, but seeing how pitiful the girl looked, he didn’t know what to say.

Bian Changxi shook her head. “Too expensive. You’re trying to fleece a fat sheep here. These days, everyone’s practical—even the most wasteful show-offs wouldn’t wear this kind of junk. I bet you haven’t sold a single piece.”

The owner glared, unconvinced. “Who says I haven’t? People come by all the time to pick through these. They buy a lot, and pay well. Ask this lady here!”

Next to her was a middle-aged woman selling jade bangles, bead strings, horn combs, and wooden brushes. The two shared a stall to split the rent. The woman nodded proudly. “That’s right! Some people come just to buy these things. Business is good!”

“Oh? If that’s the case, why haven’t you sold out yet?”

“Don’t believe me? Those people only come out once every couple of weeks. I bet they’ll show up again today. Just wait and see!” The woman’s temper was clearly fiery—her face twisted with disdain.

Before she could finish, something caught her eye. She exclaimed, “Look, there they are again!”

Bian Changxi looked over. Two professional-looking women, magnifying glasses in hand, were squatting at similar stalls, carefully examining items like they were authenticating antiques.

Bian Changxi narrowed her eyes and quietly called Lin He over. “Stay here and follow those two when they leave. See where they go.”

Lin He hesitated. “Major Gu told me to stay with you at all times.”

“He also told you to follow my instructions, didn’t he?”

Lin He had no comeback and quickly left.

Bian Changxi moved on, when suddenly a crowd caught her attention. People were shouting, “Give me some! Give me some!”—almost fighting to get something. Even the other stall owners looked tempted.

She went over to take a look—it was a water vendor. A girl was filling buckets nonstop, a man was weighing them, and another woman was collecting crystal cores as payment.

Soon, the water ability user looked pale and about to collapse. Her two companions told the crowd they were done for the day, packed up, and prepared to leave.

Bian Changxi calculated: From arrival to departure, it hadn’t even been five minutes. The water ability user’s hands had been running the whole time—the stream was narrow, but the total amount was decent. Each customer could only buy up to five jin (about 2.5 kg).

This seemed to be the rule—no one objected, and everyone brought their own (small) containers, clearly prepared in advance.

The man called out, “Sorry, everyone! We have a special situation, so we’re forced to sell water here. We’re really grateful for your support, but today is our last day. We won’t be coming back…”

Before he could finish, the crowd erupted, demanding to know why. None of them were rich, and even if they had money, there weren’t good channels to buy water—they always got ripped off. This group’s water was limited, but fairly priced: one first-level white core for four jin of water.

For comparison, the official water plant only gave you three jin per white core—and that was if you were lucky; two and a half was more common. How far could that go? Now that someone was selling water on the side, no one wanted to let them go.

Before the man could answer, a sharp voice rang out: “Because from now on, they’ll be supplying water exclusively to me!” A group of thuggish-looking people swaggered over, their appearance practically screaming “I’m a troublemaker, don’t mess with me.” The leader shoved the man aside and leered at the water ability user. “Jiangnan girl, I’m here to pick you up. This noisy place isn’t fit for you. Come with me—I’ve already got your room ready, you can move in right away.”

The water ability user’s pale face flushed bright red. She stared at her toes, lost in thought. Her two companions were furious but didn’t dare argue. The man said stiffly, “We agreed you’d come tonight… Nannan needs to go home and pack first. She can’t go with you yet.”

“Cut the act. You’re just stalling so Jiangnan can recover and give you another bucket of water, aren’t you? She’ll be living the good life with me, unlike you penniless leeches who do nothing but exploit her. Spare me your act—I’m sick of it! If you know what’s good for you, get lost!”

He motioned for his lackeys to grab her, and chaos broke out.

Bian Changxi overheard an elderly person sigh, “What a sin. Why doesn’t heaven take care of scum like that?”

She watched with interest. When the thugs inevitably succeeded in taking the girl away, she called Zhang Bubai to take a different route. Zhang Bubai looked heavy-hearted. “That poor girl, falling into their hands…”

“What’s so pitiful? Maybe it’s a good thing,” Bian Changxi said.

“Wh-why?”

“She’s going to live the good life, isn’t she?” Bian Changxi asked. “Are there a lot of people selling water privately these days?”

“Quite a few. The water plant is hard to get into, and the pay isn’t great, so many people aren’t interested. Some water ability users have no other way to make a living, so they sell water. When it was hot, there were even more selling ice—it was faster money. But the base doesn’t really support this kind of business. You have to get a license from the relevant department upstairs in the mercenary hall.” Zhang Bubai paused, glanced shyly at Bian Changxi, and added, “Plus, water ability users are usually good-looking. A lot of them get snatched away while selling water, so…”

Bian Changxi nodded. “So, what do you think—if I set up a proper water plant, make it official, lower the entry requirements so any water ability user can join, and offer a base salary plus commission, would people apply?”

Zhang Bubai was surprised. “But… isn’t there already a water plant? And Jiangcheng has its own water supply base.”

“That’s different. That’s only for Jiangcheng people, and it’s non-profit. I want to set up a real company.” She continued, “So you see what I need in a storefront: it has to be big, impressive, have that big-company feel, and be conveniently located, because I want to offer home delivery too.”

As they spoke, they reached a huge intersection. The first thing that caught their eye was a bright yellow five-story building: Su City Bank.

“That must be the base’s public bank.” Too bad it wasn’t open yet.

Opposite the bank was another five-story building, but painted a deep black, giving off a stifling vibe. The sign read “Su City Auction House.”

There were plenty of other storefronts around—some under renovation, some with doors tightly shut, some with stairs still being painted. Of course, it was just a simple paint job—paint was scarce and expensive these days.

Bian Changxi looked at this area, which was supposedly meant for the Su City military district’s barracks. She mentally calculated the distance: not far from the villas, even closer to the Jiangcheng factory—convenient if anything happened.

She and Zhang Bubai started picking from the many unrented storefronts. In the end, based on location, rent, and layout, they shortlisted three. Thanks to her black card, the attitude of the staff changed from impatience to the manager personally coming out to help, and they could even handle the paperwork on the spot.

But Bian Changxi felt a little guilty—she hadn’t told Gu Xu about this yet. She decided to leave the final decision to him, since she’d need his help with some things later.

The main reason for starting a water plant was to help Chen Yisha. Her future was at risk. The best solution would be for her to become stronger, but she just wasn’t cut out for that. Going out to hunt monsters was too exhausting and dangerous—Chen Yisha would just end up scared and dragging everyone down. She was better off staying safely in the base.

She’d said she could get by selling water, but her family thought it was shameful. But what if she was a formal employee—or even a boss—of a legitimate water plant, with status, reputation, and a decent income?

Besides, Bian Changxi felt a water plant was absolutely necessary.

There was only one water plant in the base, and its reputation was terrible. All the powerful families’ water ability users took turns working there, bureaucracy was rampant, and with their monopoly, they jacked up prices. Ordinary people had no choice but to accept it.