Chapter 4: Buying Seeds

"Houses and cars become worthless in the face of life!"

Jing Shu shook her head, hoping to change the course of history. Her previous life was her previous life, and this time, there would be no apocalypse. However, the necessary preparations still had to be made.

Therefore, Jing Shu could never confront Baozi's parents about it. She couldn't mention the space, rebirth, or the apocalypse. Otherwise, given their personalities, if they told their relatives and friends, being considered fools (stupid) would be a minor issue. If the prophecy were to come true, she might even be scolded to death for not having spoken up a few years earlier.

With her plan in place, Jing Shu quickly found a reason to calm Zhu Zhengqi down: "Let me have another month to think. If I still want to be an internet celebrity, I'll come to you again, okay? After all, a million yuan isn't a small amount."

Zhu Zhengqi, who had been bombarding her with WeChat messages, finally quieted down and didn't dare to push Jing Shu too hard.

Jing Shu changed her clothes, put on her bag, pushed a shopping cart, and found her father's secret stash of 3,600 yuan at home, leaving at least 100 yuan. Additionally, she had 6,059 yuan in her WeChat wallet and borrowed 6,000 yuan through Jiebei before heading out. In Jing Shu's family, her mother handled the money. Her honest father had devoted his entire life to the three women he loved most: his mother, his wife, and his daughter.

Arriving at the print shop at the entrance of the residential complex, Jing Shu used her phone to change three aspects of the electronic contract: she altered the deposit to 800,000 yuan, the full payment to 1,500,000 yuan, and even changed the company name. She printed it out, signed, and stamped it. That evening, she could discuss getting the money with her parents.

The first thing Jing Shu needed to do now was to go to Wucheng's largest agricultural wholesale market to buy seeds, and while there, purchase seasonings and other items.

"As the saying goes, 'With grain, there's no panic.' Even if tomorrow was the end of the world, she could survive well. She would save some for 'Double Eleven' (Singles' Day) on Taobao to splurge on other things."

The main feature of this wholesale market was: no individual sales. Everything was sold in bulk, by the box or piece, which perfectly suited Jing Shu's current needs.

It took a 20-minute taxi ride to reach the place. Looking at the bustling wholesale market, with vegetable leaves scattered on the ground and large trucks constantly coming and going to transport goods, Jing Shu couldn't help but sigh. Who would have thought that in six months, a single cabbage could sell for over a thousand yuan?

The wholesale market was vast, divided into major sections such as vegetables, fruits, dried goods and snacks, frozen and preserved foods, and seafood.

In the vegetable section where Jing Shu was, the middle two rows of stalls had heavy-duty trucks carrying box after box of fresh vegetables. Some had already sold more than half, while others had been removed after selling out. Looking out, she couldn't see the end of it.

On both sides were wholesale stores selling seeds, agricultural by-products, seasonings, and other bulk items. Jing Shu visited over a dozen of them in a row, purchasing a variety of seeds for vegetables, fruits, cotton, medicinal herbs, sugars, rice, wheat, legumes, and oils. Regardless of whether she could use them in the future, she thought to herself that at least she was preserving some roots for Huaxia (China). If one day there was sunlight and she could cultivate land, it would be better than all these things becoming extinct.

Every shop owner looked at Jing Shu as if she were a fool, as there were over a hundred varieties of just corn, not to mention the various vegetables and fruits.

"It's like this, I'm from the National Agricultural Environmental Protection Ecological Testing Bureau. This is my work ID (photoshopped it myself from Baidu). I need a large number of seed samples. If you have any other seeds, please sell me some more."

"Usually, at this time, a longer name would be needed so that others wouldn't understand what exactly you were doing. Associating with the XX bureau made it seem like you were inspecting whether their store's products met quality standards."

"At this point, shop owners would put on a friendly smile and start introducing their products. Jing Shu carefully labeled each package of seeds with instructions and precautions. When she finally checked out, they even gave her some additional items as gifts."

"For example, the boss sold asexually propagated cultivated crops: sweet potato and yam tubers, potato tubers, onion and garlic bulbs, sugarcane stems—these weren't valuable, but to contribute to the country, the boss gave her some of each. Jing Shu gratefully placed them into her small shopping cart."

"To her surprise, they also sold mushroom kits: black flat mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, elm yellow mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, chicken leg mushrooms, lion's mane mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and tea tree mushrooms. The wholesale price was 4 yuan per package, weighing 2 catties (about 1 kg). They didn't require watering, could sprout in about ten days, and would produce mushrooms three times. However, as long as she took them back, Jing Shu had a way to keep them growing indefinitely."

"Mushrooms could be considered one of the few vegetables that could grow in the apocalypse, saving countless people. Although Jing Shu had gotten sick from eating flat mushrooms, it didn't stop her from eating other types."

"Jing Shu ordered two packages of each, added a 15 yuan delivery fee, wrote her address, and after a while, the distribution center would directly deliver them to her home."

"After buying the seeds, Jing Shu continued walking, pushing her small trolley. She secretly transferred the seeds and sweet potato and yam tubers into her Rubik's Cube space, since it couldn't be seen from outside anyway."

"Although the seeds were only in one or two units each, the variety was so extensive that Jing Shu spent a total of 1,030 yuan."

"Jing Shu quickly found a large seasoning wholesale store. Upon entering, she was greeted by ten large jars of aged vinegar neatly arranged, creating a spectacular scene."

"Hello, boss. Do you offer free delivery?' Jing Shu asked, eyeing the shrewd middle-aged woman diligently calculating numbers with a calculator."

"Free delivery starts at 2,000 yuan. Take a look at what you need first; no bargaining,” the middle-aged woman replied without lifting her head, while also busy telling the young man behind her who was stocking shelves, 'Friendliness Supermarket's goods, hurry and deliver; they're pressing again.'"

"It was evident that although the location was a bit off, business was good, mostly supplied by regular customers."

"Jing Shu walked in and began examining the prices one by one. She couldn't help but admire how cheap things were at the wholesale market—items in supermarkets were being sold for three times the price."

"However, here, wholesale sales started at 100 catties and weren't available for individual purchase."

Prices:

- Shanxi Aged Vinegar: 270 yuan (100 catties)

- Low-sodium Salt: 180 yuan (100 catties)

- Soy Sauce: 140 yuan (100 catties)

- White Sugar: 300 yuan

- Rock Sugar: 180 yuan

- Cumin: 1,000 yuan

- Sichuan Pepper Powder: 490 yuan

- Taitale Chicken Essence: 85 yuan

- Oyster Sauce: 280 yuan

- Star Anise: 120 yuan

- Cinnamon Powder: 760 yuan

- Black Pepper Powder: 700 yuan

- Baking Soda: 400 yuan

- Cooking Wine: 300 yuan

- Cold-pressed Sesame Oil: 3,500 yuan...

Jing Shu felt she must be crazy—how could these seasonings make her drool? Especially the cold-pressed sesame oil; adding a bit to hotpot or noodles made them truly aromatic, lingering on her teeth!

Heaven knows that in the apocalypse, there wasn't even enough food, let alone wasting food byproducts like seasonings. In the future, if she wanted to eat well, she'd probably have to make them herself. There were no seasonings in the apocalypse, except for a small amount of strategic supplies—salt—that could be obtained weekly.

These seasonings were truly used sparingly in the apocalypse! In her previous life, after Jing Shu's family was washed away by floods in the second year, they never tasted any other seasonings again. They either ate communal meals or dug up rotten food.

Rotten food referred to a new species that evolved over long periods of darkness—a type of decayed organism, tiny things densely packed and continuously reproducing, easy to catch. Boil the rotten food in plain water, add some tree bark, some salt, and, if possible, sprinkle some chopped scallions. That was a decent meal.

--- Chapter 005: Stocking Up on Seasonings

Seasonings like vinegar, sugar, and salt theoretically don't expire. As long as spices like star anise and cinnamon are kept dry, they're fine too. These can be stored for a long time, so it's worth stockpiling more in the villa's basement without taking up precious space in her Rubik's Cube space.

Jing Shu discreetly wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth and said to the busy calculating lady boss, "I'll take 1,000 catties of aged vinegar; 200 catties each of salt, soy sauce, white sugar, rock sugar, chicken essence, oyster sauce, and star anise; and 100 catties each of five-spice powder, cumin, Sichuan pepper powder, cinnamon powder, black pepper powder, baking soda, cooking wine, and cold-pressed sesame oil."

Although the items were sold by weight, in reality, the vinegar came in 5-liter portable jugs, soy sauce and oyster sauce in 1-liter jugs, cooking wine and sesame oil in glass bottles, and the rest in 500-gram or 250-gram packages, making them very convenient to use.

The lady boss quickly wrote up the order, glanced up at Jing Shu, and asked, "Doubanjiang (fermented bean paste), chili sauce, and chili powder sell very well. Don't you want some?"

Jing Shu thought for a moment. She planned to stockpile raw materials in the first month and process food in the second month. By then, she'd definitely pickle a lot of vegetables. She could make chili sauce from the peppers grown in her space. As for doubanjiang, she could make it too, but it wouldn't taste like the store-bought kind.

"Then add another 200 catties of doubanjiang," Jing Shu said, unconsciously swallowing a mouthful of saliva, which earned her a strange look from the lady boss. This girl had been swallowing saliva since she entered; could she be ill?

The lady boss continued calculating, and Jing Shu also started crunching numbers on her phone's calculator. She wasn't the type to accept whatever price the shopkeeper quoted.

"That'll be 12,890 yuan in total!" Jing Shu announced first. The lady boss nodded, recalculated to confirm, and then said, "Orders over 10,000 yuan come with a free case of curry blocks." Jing Shu immediately thought of curry chicken rice, and her mouth started watering again.

Jing Shu left her address, paid the money, received the receipt from the boss, exchanged phone numbers, and agreed on delivery before the end of the day. She happily left the shop and continued exploring.

With 1,630 yuan left, the vegetable stalls were already emptying, and the seasoning shops were starting to close. Jing Shu decided to make some additional purchases: she bought 10 catties of whole black peppercorns for 80 yuan—freshly ground over steak would be incredibly delicious; she wholesale-ordered 100 catties of brown sugar for 600 yuan and 150 jars of Wangzhihe fermented bean curd for 920 yuan, all to be delivered together by the seasoning shop.

With only 30 yuan left and the sky turning dark, Jing Shu took a taxi home.

When Jing's father returned home from work today, he stealthily prepared to take out 500 yuan to buy a birthday gift for Old Sun's son. However, when he opened his stash, there was only one 100-yuan bill left. His expression changed unpredictably—shocked, uneasy, and unwilling—all at once, probably recalling the fear of being dominated by the "demon king."

When Jing Shu arrived home, she saw her father sitting on the bedside with a constipated expression, sighing and hesitating whether to confess to Jing's mother. Jing's mother was cooking in the kitchen. "You little rascal, always come home right at mealtime."

Smelling the aroma mixed with a burnt scent, her mother's cooking skills were as bad as ever. Looking at her mother's still relatively young and pretty face from ten years ago, Jing Shu felt a lump in her throat, not daring to imagine how her mother would look ten years later—aged, with white hair and malnourished, gaunt cheeks.

Suppressing her emotions only strengthened Jing Shu's resolve to sell the house and car to stockpile supplies, determined not only to keep the family well-fed during the apocalypse but also to live a good life.

Just after dinner, the deliveries of mushroom kits and seasonings arrived together. Under her parents' puzzled gazes, Jing Shu had all twenty-some large boxes moved into her bedroom. She then took out the contract to show her parents and explained, "Zhu Zhengqi helped me find a marketing team. They said they'd package me into a gourmet internet celebrity, live-streaming while selling food. So this afternoon, I went to wholesale seasonings."

Since she couldn't let her parents know about the space, she had to openly explain the reason for stockpiling supplies to avoid arousing suspicion in the future. Jing Shu felt she was a genius for coming up with this plan that killed three birds with one stone.

"Why did you buy so much? Can you use it all?" As the family cook, her mother was always concerned about economic issues.

"Won't hundreds of jars of pickled vegetables need thousands of catties of vinegar?" Jing Shu pulled her parents aside and explained the process of building a persona, hype, hiring internet trolls, how much it costs, how to accept advertisements once she became popular, and how profitable it could be.

Just like in her previous life, her parents immediately started figuring out how to help their daughter with her career, not wanting to worry about her future once she succeeded.

Jing Shu added, "A rich second-generation making and selling gourmet food by herself—this kind of persona needs to be live-streamed from the villa. We also need to renovate some areas of the villa."

"Alright, tomorrow I'll find people for you. Labor and materials will be at cost. Once the money is freed up, we'll renovate as you wish," her father agreed without hesitation. He always unconditionally supported the three women in his life, no matter what they wanted to do.

"Let's sell that commercial property and my car," her father decided, making the same choice as in her previous life without hesitation.

"We can sell my car too, but we're still short by 600,000 yuan," her mother said worriedly. "How about selling this apartment and moving to the villa?"

"Commuting from the villa to work is over 30 kilometers; that won't do," her father objected, mainly because the villa was too remote.

Jing Shu suggested, "The contract says we need to pay an 800,000 yuan deposit within three days. Why don't we sell the commercial property and Dad's car first to pay the deposit? If we don't have enough time, we can borrow some emergency funds from Aunt, Uncle, and my aunts. We have a month to gather the rest."

In this life, Jing Shu no longer felt any guilt about spending her parents' money; instead, she was excited. She wanted her parents to see her aunt's true colors through the act of borrowing money.

So they agreed on this plan. They immediately registered the sale information on 58.com, setting lower prices due to urgency and requiring full payment. Jing Shu aimed to attract wealthy buyers, leaving ordinary people out of it.

"Dad, look, it's Uncle Sun's son's 23rd birthday today. Did you give him a gift?" Jing Shu showed her father a picture from her social media feed.

"Not giving one this year," her father said gloomily. With his secret stash gone, what could he give?

"Oh, Dad, look! Uncle Sun's son just got a new Mercedes-Benz and said, 'Thanks to Dad for the birthday gift! So lavish.'" After saying this, Jing Shu saw her father's face darken. Knowing when to stop, she quickly left. "Uncle Sun, who owes you 100,000 yuan, better cough it up soon."

Back in her bedroom, Jing Shu closed the door. She first stored the mushroom kits, which occupied one cubic meter in her space, then moved all the boxes into her Rubik's Cube space. Using her perspective ability, she checked everything: the unopened packages of salt, chicken essence, sesame oil—all quantities were correct and the dates were fresh. Only after confirming did she place them back in her bedroom. Although 3,000 catties of seasonings sounded like a lot, stacked high, they only formed three rows and didn't take up much space. Jing Shu marked off the items she'd purchased on her phone's checklist, noting quantities and adding curry blocks (100 boxes per case), 10 catties of black peppercorns, 100 catties of brown sugar, 150 jars of Wangzhihe fermented bean curd, and 22 mushroom kits.

Organizing her stockpile was Jing Shu's happiest time; it was like counting money every day.

---

Author's Note:

All the prices have been verified and researched, referencing previous wholesale prices. Every amount of money spent has been carefully calculated, real and effective—not randomly written. O(∩_∩)O