Holding Their Own Space, the Family Returns to the Apocalypse

3: Going to buy jadeThe biggest problem now was making money, but this didn’t stump Ai Yue. Ai Yue always had a little habit: she loved buying lottery tickets.

She bought them when she was happy and when she wasn’t. She remembered the grand prize numbers announced each period perfectly.

After the excitement, the three of them divided the work. Ai Guosheng was responsible for going to different lottery stations to buy the lottery numbers Ai Yue had instructed.

Ai Yue was responsible for listing items and arranging the remaining time. She wrote eight full pages of necessary supplies, and her time planning was also packed.

Li Shilan was responsible for renting two warehouses to transfer supplies and, while she was at it, selling this house.

The quality of this house was average; it didn’t even survive the fourth round of natural disasters before collapsing. So, they planned to rent a villa on high ground.

Two months was more than enough time for them to prepare supplies.

Without surprise, all the lottery numbers Ai Yue reported won.

It took a week for the three of them, bundled up tightly, to go to different winning lottery stations to collect the grand prizes. After taxes, they received a total of sixty million.

Ai Yue felt that the money wasn’t enough, especially with her space being a money-devouring beast.

So, Ai Yue specifically went to the beautiful country abroad to buy lottery tickets, raking in sixty million US dollars, which converted to over four hundred million in domestic currency.

Before returning to China, she entrusted a hardcore friend to acquire a batch of thermal weapons: a box of grenades, five state-of-the-art submachine guns, five pistols, one sniper rifle, ten boxes of bullets, and six bulletproof vests. All of this cost one hundred million in domestic currency.

One hundred million domestic currency seemed like a lot, but for buying weapons, it wasn’t much. If it weren’t for the Apocalypse requiring so many other purchases, Ai Yue truly wished she could have bought a box of each weapon.

The Black Big Brother who sold the weapons saw Ai Yue’s straightforward transaction, was particularly generous, and gave her ten Swiss military knives, befriending her. He told her that if she ever wanted any weapons in the future, she could just come to him, and he could get them.

Ai Yue put all these weapons into her space and brought them back to China.

With the money in place, the most important issue now was expanding the space. If the space wasn’t big enough, no matter how many supplies they hoarded, there would be no place to put them.

Ai Yue began preparing to expand her space.

She searched online for information and guides, discovering that Cai City was the ’Hometown of Jade,’ the largest jade market and the largest distribution center for jadeite and jade in China, and one of the cities in Southeast Asia with the highest jade production.

It was said that Cai City had the largest raw jade mine in China, and eighty percent of the country’s jade came from Cai City. To what extent was Cai City abundant in jade? You could even pick up a stone by the roadside and it might turn out to be jade.

Ai Yue didn’t delay and headed straight for her destination, Cai City.

Meanwhile, her parents were at home, stockpiling non-perishable goods like rice, flour, grains, and oil in the rented warehouse.

Ai Yue drove her hummer on the highway for a day and finally arrived at Cai City’s largest jade trading center.

Upon entering, she exclaimed, ”Wow!” The place was bustling with people, like a noisy market, with stalls lining both sides of the road, filled with jade, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Ai Yue squatted down at a less crowded stall, casually picked up a piece of jadeite, and rubbed it in her hand, then suddenly froze.

It was only then that she realized she knew nothing about jade. Every piece looked real to her.

She stood there dumbfounded for a moment. What should she do? She had only researched where there was a lot of jade, completely forgetting that she knew nothing about it, and had rushed over excitedly.

She couldn’t just throw a piece into her space to see if it would be swallowed!

”Little Girl? Here for tourism, are we? Take a look, if you fancy any piece, Uncle will give you a discount,” the stall owner opposite, clutching his thick cotton jacket, said with a smile to the indecisive Ai Yue.

Ai Yue showed no timidity, smiled slightly, touched every jade piece on the stall, and said to the uncle, ”Uncle, all your jade carvings are so beautiful, but I’m afraid I can’t afford them. Just looking is enough for me.”

”You’re here for tourism, how can you not buy some Cai City specialty to take back? Uncle won’t trick you, I’ll give you a discount, feel free to look!”

Ai Yue thought about it and felt she should buy something anyway, so she picked up a bracelet and asked, ”What’s the price of this one?”

”Little Girl, you really know your stuff. This is a high-end custom natural jadeite raw stone icy jade bracelet with green floating flowers from our Cai City.”

”Oh, don’t even mention it, this bracelet looks so good on such a beautiful Little Girl like you, it truly complements you, it’s really beautiful.”

”Sigh, seeing that you’re about the same age as my daughter, Uncle will give you a heartbreaking price, forty-three thousand, take it!” The uncle clutched his chest, looking pained.

Nanzhu’s heart trembled with shock. So expensive?

At this price, if she spent all the money she had just gotten, her space would only expand by a few dozen square meters. Then what about hoarding supplies? How would they survive the Apocalypse?

Ai Yue quickly put down the bracelet in her hand. ”Uncle, since it pains you so much, you should keep it yourself.”

”Hey, Little Girl, are you serious about wanting it or not? If you do, seeing as you’re about the same age as my child, Uncle will give you an even bigger discount!”

”No need, it’s too expensive, I can’t afford it!” Ai Yue shook her head, preparing to get up and leave.

”Hey, hey, Little Girl, don’t go. How about this, this one is only nine hundred and eight, take it to play with.” The uncle called out to Ai Yue, picked up a peace buckle from the corner of the stall, and put it into Ai Yue’s hand.

”Don’t think Uncle is trying to fool you with fake goods. This is a high-icy jadeite with floating flowers peace buckle produced in our Cai City. Just take it, it will ensure your peace and safety in the future!”

”Peace and safety?”

”That’s for sure, it’s been blessed.”

”Okay, since its meaning is peace and safety, I’ll buy it. But for the price, five hundred yuan, and I’ll take it.” Ai Yue tightened her grip on the peace buckle and looked directly at the stall owner.

”Oh, you Little Girl, alright, alright, it’s yours, it’s yours.”

Seeing the uncle’s eager manner, a sense of foreboding rose in Ai Yue’s heart.

Ai Yue paid the bill, left the stall, and disappeared into the crowd.

She tucked the peace buckle into her pocket, but in reality, she put it into her space.

Ai Yue found a public restroom, locked the door, and flashed into her space, only to find the peace buckle lying obediently in its original spot, with no change in the space whatsoever.

”Sigh... The foreboding came true, it’s really fake! I was tricked. What should I do now? Where can I find a large quantity of genuine and cheap jade? Oh, if all else fails, I’ll have to buy gold, but gold is expensive too.” Ai Yue irritably scratched her hair, at her wit’s end, and decided to go out and try her luck again.

She browsed every stall, only looking but not buying, until she later saw two people arguing over a piece of jade. She thought this one should be real, so she joined the competition, and finally, she spent thirty thousand to buy this piece of jade.

Ai Yue happily put it into her space, and then she was dumbfounded—it was fake again! Ai Yue was severely disheartened and walked dejectedly to a stall selling raw jade, squatting down to touch this one and that one.

The stall owner saw that she didn’t look like a serious buyer and didn’t bother with her, letting her touch as she pleased!

After touching several, Ai Yue idly touched the last raw jade and was about to withdraw her hand when her heart suddenly started pounding uncontrollably.

Ai Yue withdrew her hand and clutched her chest. Miraculously, her heart immediately returned to normal. She paused, then reached out to touch that raw jade, and the familiar feeling returned; her heart immediately began pounding again.

Ai Yue’s heart filled with joy. She reached out and touched every stone on the stall, finding another raw jade that made her heart race.

Her expression unchanged, she casually asked, ”Boss, how much for this stone?”

The boss glanced at her, displeased that she called his raw jade a stone. ”Two hundred each!”

”I’ll take two.”

This time, the stall owner looked at her directly. ”Which two?”

”This one and... that one,” Ai Yue said, pointing to two as if casually.

The stall owner, with a cigarette in his mouth, found a newspaper, wrapped the stones Ai Yue pointed to, and handed them to her. Ai Yue paid quickly, put the raw jade into her backpack, and left.

The stall owner, with a cigarette in his mouth, watched Ai Yue walk away, then scoffed and shook his head. ”Another one trying their luck.”