217: Growth comes at a price

Kang Ansheng pulled Ling Zhaorui to sit down and took out a stack of notebooks from the drawer:

“These are my notes from decades of work, recording a lot of knowledge about planting and breeding. I have some more in my room, and I’m giving them all to you and Little Jiang.”

“If you encounter any planting or breeding problems in the future that you can’t solve, just flip through these.”

“Thank you, Teacher,” Ling Zhaorui carefully took the notebooks.

These were invaluable experiences that would help him avoid many detours in the future.

Jiang Fei also understood the importance of the notes and said:

“Teacher Kang, if the special medicine at the Planting Base runs out, you can send someone to the Capital to get more from me.”

After all, the Supermarket’s fountain water was inexhaustible.

Hearing Jiang Fei’s address to him, Kang Ansheng smiled and patted Director Ning’s shoulder: “See? Little Jiang called me Teacher.”

“I’ll go brew a pot of tea. Today, we’ll use tea instead of wine, and chat while we drink.”

Director Ning and Kang Ansheng were both very talkative, and with Ling Zhaorui being a chatterbox, the three of them chatted non-stop.

Jiang Fei sat beside them the whole time, drinking tea and listening.

She felt like she was surrounded by hornets.

It wasn’t until dark that Director Ning and Kang Ansheng reluctantly let them leave.

Ling Zhaorui found a few colleagues to help move the supplies off the truck, loading it with boxes of notebooks and other books Kang Ansheng had given to the two of them.

In total, there were 24 large boxes, almost filling the truck bed.

After bidding farewell to his colleagues, Ling Zhaorui followed Jiang Fei onto the truck, heading towards Dongyang District.

On the way, they ate the leftover pork buns from lunch for dinner.

Due to the earthquake, the glass lamps in every household were damaged, and residents were reluctant to use candles, plunging the Safety Shelter into darkness. Jiang Fei couldn’t help but turn on the truck’s high beams to illuminate the way.

Around 0:02, someone suddenly darted out.

Jiang Fei slammed on the brakes.

In a daze, she saw a girl in a protective suit, trembling as she blocked the car.

However, the shout from outside the car was a man’s voice.

“Miss Jiang, don’t be nervous, it’s me, Niu Er!”

“Blocking a car with your body? Do you not value your life?” Jiang Fei got out of the truck and realized that the person standing in front of the car was Yao Jin.

Niu Er stood a few steps away, panting, clearly having just run to this spot.

Afraid Jiang Fei would be angry, Niu Er quickly apologized and explained: “I’m sorry, Miss Jiang, we heard you were going to the Capital soon, and the Young Boss was anxious to find you. He acted on impulse and ran out to block your car.”

Yao Jin pointed to the small gate of Dongyang District, where six large trucks were parked.

“I’ll give you all my supplies and gold bars in exchange for an opportunity for me and Niu Er to follow you.”

His father had said that people like them, with no background or backing, needed to find a reliable patron to survive in the apocalypse.

That’s why his father sent him to Jiang Fei’s shop, firstly to protect his safety, and secondly to learn how to do business.

But he didn’t understand then and thought his father was sending him as a hostage… Now no one was protecting him, and he would live well so as not to disappoint his father.

“Alright,” Jiang Fei had originally planned to take Yao Jin and Niu Er.

Realistically speaking, she would need manpower to open a shop in the Capital.

Instead of hiring unfamiliar new people, it was better to bring along old employees she knew well.

“You two go to 04 and stay with Ling Zhaorui and the others. We’ll depart the day after tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Yao Jin bowed, completely devoid of his previous arrogance towards Jiang Fei.

Ling Zhaorui put his arm around Yao Jin’s shoulder: “Come on, brother, I’ll buy you a drink.”

Once Ling Zhaorui and the two men entered 04, Jiang Fei drove the truck to the small gate and stored it, along with the six large trucks, in the Supermarket warehouse.

System: [Ding—Detected gold: 1,000,000 grams]

[Current unlock progress: 80%]

Jiang Fei checked the supplies Yao Jin had given her with her mind.

They were boxes of instant food, bottled mineral water, protective gear, medicine, fuel, and alcohol, all over 50 boxes each.

Recalling Yao Jin’s attitude just now, Jiang Fei felt a surge of emotion.

Growth required a price.

She hoped Yao Jin would do better than Boss Yao.

—

The next day, Jiang Fei woke up early and, while no one was around, took out an ordinary RV and placed it behind the Unimog.

She had originally intended to fly a helicopter to the Capital.

But only Lu Yu knew how to fly it.

A helicopter, plus the pilot, could only carry four people.

With ten of them, they would have to go in three batches, and a round trip would take eight or nine hours.

Lu Yu also needed rest, so calculating it this way, the time consumed would be similar to driving.

Moreover, she didn’t have much aviation fuel, so she should save what she could.

Jiang Fei was about to return to 02 to pack her luggage, but the gate of 04 opened.

Ling Zhaorui ran out holding a large iron basin and said to Jiang Zhengkang in the yard:

“Uncle Jiang, just let me keep it! This basin has been with me from Lincheng to Qingyang City, and I’m used to using it for bathing!”

“There’s not enough space in the car, but I can carry the basin on my head!”

“Go check Su Liuyuan’s luggage! He stuffed so many broken rocks into his bag!”

Jiang Zhengkang immediately went inside to find Su Liuyuan.

Jiang Fei was confused and walked over to ask Ling Zhaorui: “What are you doing?”

“Uncle Jiang is helping us pack, but he wants everyone to travel light, ideally with only one backpack each. Su Liuyuan and I have too much stuff; we can’t bear to part with this or that, so we can’t agree.”

Ling Zhaorui hugged the large basin, looking forlorn: “Sister Jiang, can I really not bring the basin?”

“Let me tell you, this iron basin is really useful. It won’t break no matter how you drop it, and it can store a lot of water…”

Seeing that Ling Zhaorui was about to enter chatterbox mode, Jiang Fei directly pulled out a lollipop from her pocket to shut him up and walked into 04.

Several cardboard boxes were piled on the ground; some contained pots, bowls, and utensils, others held food and vegetables.

Su Liuyuan sat in his wheelchair, clutching the backpack in his arms tightly: “These are my lifeblood, Uncle Jiang, you can’t take them away!”

“Diamonds are useless now; they just take up space in your bag. Be good, Uncle will exchange them for steamed buns for you, which are tasty and filling,” Jiang Zhengkang reached out to take the bag but was stopped by Jiang Fei.

“Uncle, I’ll educate them.”

It was time to tell her teammates about the Supermarket.

With that, Jiang Fei pushed Su Liuyuan away, and also called Ling Zhaorui to go to 02.

After closing the door, Su Liuyuan was about to explain how important diamonds were to him when a local tyrant gold card was slipped into his hand.

“Captain, what is this?”

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Fei took Su Liuyuan into the Supermarket.

Ling Zhaorui, still in place, was dumbfounded.

Sister Jiang and his brother just vanished with a *pop*!?!

A few minutes later, the two reappeared in the living room.

Su Liuyuan, in his wheelchair, had a blank stare and an open mouth, still in extreme shock.

“Sister Jiang, how did you… just disappear?” Ling Zhaorui stammered.

The next second, Jiang Fei gave him the card and entered the Supermarket.

In a moment, she came out.

Ling Zhaorui stood beside Su Liuyuan, with the same expression, as if he had crashed.

Jiang Fei mercilessly raised her hand and pinched each of their arms.

“Ah, ouch, ouch! Sister Jiang, what are you doing?”

“Captain, how can you pinch a patient!”

Jiang Fei: “To make you sober up and realize you’re not dreaming, lest you can’t bring yourselves to do it.”

Su Liuyuan & Ling Zhaorui: “…”

Thank you so much.

After this commotion, the two also recovered, with peculiar points of focus.

Su Liuyuan: “The Supermarket also sells jewelry and diamonds?”

Ling Zhaorui: “Can I go in and plant crops when I’m free?”

“Those jewels are what I put in the Supermarket warehouse,” Jiang Fei told them about the Gold Swallowing Supermarket’s upgrade and unlock, among other things.

If she said it was a space, she would have to explain it again later, which would be too troublesome.

Besides, while Su Liuyuan and Ling Zhaorui were chatterboxes, they wouldn’t speak out of turn.

As Jiang Fei expected, after learning about the various benefits of the Gold Swallowing Supermarket, their expressions became more and more serious.

“Captain, please give each of us a Loyalty Pill. I’m afraid that in the future, bad people will torture me, and I won’t be able to withstand the torment.”

“That’s right, Sister Jiang, it’s safer that way.”

Jiang Fei said helplessly: “It’s not that serious. Only Lu Yu knows about this, and in the future, I’ll only tell Chu Xia.”

Su Liuyuan and Ling Zhaorui exchanged glances, their thoughts aligning.

Look, they’ve even shared little secrets. How much longer until the CP gets together?!

But the two were still insistent on the Loyalty Pill.

It wasn’t that they didn’t trust their own mouths; they just wanted an extra layer of insurance.

This matter concerned Sister Jiang/Captain’s safety, and they had to be cautious.

Ultimately, Jiang Fei gave Su Liuyuan and Ling Zhaorui Loyalty Pills, ensuring they would never reveal the existence of the Gold Swallowing Supermarket.

“When you go back later, only pack essentials. I’ll find an opportunity tomorrow to put other things into the Supermarket.”

“Okay,” Ling Zhaorui pushed Su Liuyuan back to 04.

Changing from his previous reluctance, he emptied everything from his backpack and repacked only the essentials.

Jiang Zhengkang looked on with admiration.

Fei Fei was truly amazing; she made the two children obedient in just over ten minutes.

Jiang Fei also came over to inform everyone to put their luggage in the RV.

Su Liuyuan, Ling Zhaorui, and she and Lu Yu would ride in the Unimog.

Everyone else would ride in the ordinary RV.

Each person had only one backpack, plus a few boxes of food and vegetables, and they were quickly loaded.

Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

“Little Jiang!”