Chapter 4: Buy Seeds

Houses and cars would become worthless in the face of life! Jing Shu shook her head, hoping the historical trajectory would change, that there wouldn’t be another apocalypse in this life, as there was in the previous one. Still, she knew she had to make necessary preparations. Thus, Jing Shu couldn’t possibly come clean to Baozi’s parents now. She couldn’t mention the Magic Cube Space, rebirth, or the apocalypse. Otherwise, knowing their personality, they might end up telling all their friends and family. Being considered foolish would be the least of her worries, and if it really came to pass, they might even accuse her of not speaking up years earlier. Once she had a plan, Jing Shu quickly found a reason to keep Zhu Zhengqi quiet: "Let me calm down for another month. If I still like being an influencer, I’ll contact you again, okay? After all, a million is not a small number." Zhu Zhengqi, who had been bombarding her with messages on WeChat, finally calmed down and didn’t dare to press Jing Shu too hard. Jing Shu changed clothes, grabbed her backpack, and pushed a shopping cart. She found Mr. Jing’s private stash of 3,600 yuan at home, leaving 100 yuan behind, along with 6,059 yuan from her WeChat balance, and borrowed another 6,000 yuan, then she went out. In Jing Shu’s family, her mother handled the finances, and Mr. Jing, an honest man, devoted his life to the three women he loved most: his mother, his wife, and his daughter. Jing Shu went to the print shop at the entrance of the community. Using her mobile phone, she modified three places in the electronic contract: she increased the deposit to 800,000 yuan and the full payment to 1.5 million yuan, and also swapped out the company name. She printed it out, signed it, and took a thumbprint, ready to discuss asking for money with her parents when she got home that night. The first thing Jing Shu now needed to do was to head to the largest agricultural wholesale market in Wu City to buy seeds, and take the opportunity to buy some spices as well. As the saying goes, having grain, you will not panic during emergencies. Even if the apocalypse were tomorrow, she could survive well. She reserved some funds for other shopping on Singles’ Day. The most significant characteristic of this wholesale market was: No retail sales. Everything was sold in bulk, a perfect match for Jing Shu’s current needs. It took a 20-minute taxi ride to reach the bustling wholesale market, filled with sounds of people, fallen vegetable leaves, and large trucks constantly entering and exiting to deliver goods. Jing Shu couldn’t help but marvel—who could imagine that half a year later, even a single cabbage could sell for a thousand yuan? The wholesale market was enormous, divided into large areas for vegetables, fruits, dry goods, frozen goods, and seafood. In the vegetable area where Jing Shu was, there were rows of heavy trucks unloading boxes of fresh vegetables; some were already half-sold, and others had packed up after selling out. She couldn’t see the end of it at a glance. On either side were seed shops and wholesale stores for agricultural products and spices. Jing Shu visited over a dozen stores and bought some of every type of seed, such as vegetables, fruits, cotton, herbal medicines, sugars, rice, wheat, beans, and oils. Regardless of whether they could be used in the future, she thought it necessary to preserve some seeds for Huaxia, in case one day they could cultivate them again, rather than these things becoming extinct. Each shop owner looked at Jing Shu as if she were a fool because there were over a hundred varieties of corn alone, not to mention various vegetables and fruits. "You see, I am from the National Bureau of Agricultural Environmental Protection Ecological Testing. This is my work ID (self Photoshopped from Baidu). I need a large number of seed samples, and if you have other seeds, please sell me some," Jing Shu explained. Usually, when your title is long and complicated, people can’t fully grasp what you do exactly. Associating yourself with a bureau makes it seem like you’re inspecting whether their products are qualified. At this point, the shop owner would put on a smile and begin introducing goods to you. Jing Shu carefully labeled each packet of seeds with tags and precautions. When it came time to settle the bill, they even threw in some other items for free. For instance, the asexually propagated crops sold by the boss—root blocks of sweet potato, seed pieces of potato, bulbs of onion and garlic, and the above-ground stems of sugarcane—were all worthless. To contribute to the nation, the boss gave some of each away, and Jing Shu gratefully loaded them into her small cart. Surprisingly, there were also fungus packs for sale. These included Black Enoki, Enoki mushroom, Yellow Enoki, King oyster mushroom, chicken leg mushroom, Monkey Head Mushroom, Shiitake Mushroom, and tea tree mushroom. They were sold at a wholesale price of 4 yuan per pack, weighing 2 kg. Once taken home, they required no watering and could grow out in about ten days, producing mushrooms about three times. However, once Jing Shu brought them home, she had a way to keep them growing continuously. Fungus could be said to be one of the few vegetables that grew in the apocalypse, and it had saved countless people. Although Jing Shu was sick of eating oyster mushrooms, it did not stop her from enjoying other types. Jing Shu ordered two packs of each type, added a 15 yuan delivery fee, wrote down her address, and shortly after, the distribution center would deliver them directly to her house. After buying seeds, she continued walking deeper into the market, pushing her small cart. Jing Shu secretly transferred the seeds and sweet potato root blocks into the Magic Cube Space, since no one could see what she was doing from the outside. Although the seeds were only one or two yuan each, the variety and types added up, costing Jing Shu a total of 1,030 yuan. Soon, Jing Shu found a large wholesale store for seasoning products. Upon entering, she was greeted by an impressive sight of ten large containers of vinegar lined up. "Hello, ma’am, do you offer free delivery?" Jing Shu asked, sizing up the astute middle-aged lady who was rapidly punching numbers into a calculator. "Free delivery for orders over two thousand. Have a look first, the prices are fixed," the lady said without lifting her head, while also shouting to a young man sorting inventory behind her, "Hurry and deliver the goods for Friendly Supermarket. They are urging us again." Despite its slightly offset location, it was clear that the business was booming and had many regular customers restocking their goods. Jing Shu walked in and began looking at each price tag, unable to help but marvel at how much cheaper the wholesale market was compared to supermarkets where goods were sold at triple the price. However, here, wholesale deals started at 100 pounds with no retailing. Shanxi old vinegar: 270 yuan (100 pounds). Low-sodium salt: 180 yuan (100 pounds). Soy sauce: 140 yuan (100 pounds). White sugar: 300 yuan. Crystal sugar: 180 yuan. Cumin: 1,000 yuan. Sichuan peppercorns: 490 yuan. Mrs. Happy Chicken Essence: 85 yuan. Oyster sauce: 280 yuan. Star anise: 120 yuan. Cinnamon powder: 760 yuan. Pepper: 700 yuan. Baking Soda: 400 yuan. Cooking wine: 300 yuan. Ground sesame oil: 3,500 yuan... Jing Shu felt like she must be going crazy, salivating over these condiments. Especially the ground sesame oil, which was incredibly fragrant and lingering when added to hot pot or noodles! God knows in the apocalypse there wasn’t even food, let alone wasting grain on making by-product condiments. In the future, if she wanted some, she would likely have to brew them herself. No condiments were available in the apocalypse, except for a little strategic resource, salt, that could be collected weekly. In the apocalypse, these condiments really diminished with each usage! The following year, after a flood washed away Jing Shu’s house, she had never tasted any other condiments. Meals were either communal pot dishes or digging up rotten food. Rotten food was a new species evolved from long periods of darkness, consisting of decaying organisms that reproduced endlessly together. They were very easy to catch. Boiled rotten food, with some bark and salt thrown in, and if feasible, a sprinkle of chopped green onion, made for a decent meal.