“Ling Zhanlou, your buns are packed.”
The clear voice shattered the stagnant air. The man turned at the sound. The moment he took the bag, the enraged man felt the pressure in his head vanish. That feeling of his brain being on the verge of exploding disappeared instantly. He slumped to the ground like a dehydrated fish, his cold sweat soaking through his clothes.
Qian Chuanchuan had seen the scene, but she wasn’t surprised.
Last time, she had seen the man blow a zombie’s head off without moving a muscle. She had already guessed he was a dual-attribute ability user, and likely a mental type. Don’t ask how she knew—as a high-level web novel enthusiast, who hasn’t read a few dozen post-apocalyptic stories?
Ling Zhanlou pulled out three Level 4 crystal nuclei and handed them to her.
“You gave me too much,” she said, taking them.
“The extra is for the water.”
Qian Chuanchuan: “…”
The Wealth God was throwing money around again. She was used to it now and accepted them without any psychological burden.
Once Ling Zhanlou left, the others stepped forward for their buns. The enraged man also walked over and said, “Boss, thank you for just now.” He knew that if she hadn’t called the man’s name, he would be dead.
Qian Chuanchuan didn’t look at him, answering casually, “Why thank me? I didn’t do anything.”
She really hadn’t. She had simply told Ling Zhanlou his order was ready. She didn’t need this man’s gratitude because if Ling Zhanlou hadn’t stopped, she wouldn’t have stepped in to intervene anyway. She admitted that she was cold-natured at heart.
Besides, this was a world of the survival of the fittest. If Ling Zhanlou hadn’t been stronger than them, they might not have let him live either. The moment he had put the buns into his spatial storage earlier, she had clearly seen the greed in everyone’s eyes.
After everyone left, Qian Chuanchuan opened the System Mall as usual. She had earned five or six thousand points this morning; her total was now 17,458 points.
Happy! (▽)
She treated herself to a self-heating mini hotpot and an apple, spending 500 points. Then, she bought six cases of bottled water for 300 points. Water was surprisingly cheap. She intended to give the water to Ling Zhanlou. He gave her nuclei for water every time, and she felt bad for just giving him boiled tap water for so long.
After finishing her hotpot and apple, her early-morning fatigue vanished. She had gone to bed before 8:00 PM the night before, so she wasn’t sleepy. She had prepared a lot of dough because she decided to increase her workload today. She wanted to finish her trial operation KPI within three days!
She didn’t rest. She turned on a TV show she hadn’t finished and began rolling out dough and wrapping buns.
“Hah—”
After an hour of continuous work, she yawned, her eyelids growing heavy. She didn’t force herself; she unfolded the bed and took a nap. She’d be a hero again once she woke up!
By 12:30 PM, 210 buns were neatly lined up on the counter, looking as magnificent as an army waiting for inspection. She bought seven more steamer trays. Fortunately, the steamer stove in the shop could hold up to fifteen trays; otherwise, she would have had to buy another stove.
Since the ceiling height inside was limited, she moved the steamer stove outside the window. She had confirmed with Sansan that as long as the stove and she remained within two meters of the shop, the defense mechanism would remain active.
A 14-layer steamer tower was honestly quite tall. She had to stand on a stool to place the final layer on top. Ling Zhanlou arrived just in time to see this.
The girl was standing on the small stool, placing the last tray atop the tower. Her light pink sportswear slid up as she reached, revealing a sliver of her snowy-white waist that gleamed brilliantly in the sun.
He abruptly looked away and strode over. “Do you need to make this many?”
“Business is good!” Qian Chuanchuan hopped down lightly and clapped the flour off her hands. She noticed the man had changed again—a deep gray tactical suit that emphasized his broad shoulders and long legs, looking even sharper than yesterday’s outfit.
“I didn’t realize you were so fond of cleanliness,” she teased. He changed clothes quite often.
“They got dirty killing zombies, so I changed.”
He had been killing zombies for the past two days. Previously, he didn’t have the habit of digging out nuclei; he only kept a few high-level ones for absorption to upgrade his abilities. But lately, he had been hunting and harvesting every single one. Zombie blood was foul and fishy, so if his clothes got sprayed before coming to the shop, he’d swap them out.
Qian Chuanchuan nodded and moved on. “Is there any water left in your cup?”
“A little,” he answered honestly.
“Wait a moment.”
She went back inside to move the water. It took her three trips to carry out the six cases. Ling Zhanlou wanted to help, but he could tell she didn’t want others entering the shop, so he stood at the door and took them from her as she brought them out, seting them on the ground.
By the time she finished, she was panting. “This… this is… water for you.”
Ling Zhanlou looked at the six cases of mineral water and then at the girl, who had her hands on her hips while catching her breath. His eyes darkened slightly. She was clearly a lover of money, yet she wasn’t stingy with him at all; she was actually quite thoughtful.
Truthfully, if Qian Chuanchuan knew what he was thinking, she would have told him loudly: That’s because you paid for it with all those nuclei!
Ling Zhanlou pulled a handful of nuclei from his pocket:
8 Level 2 nuclei
5 Level 3 nuclei
2 Level 4 nuclei
15 total.
“Is this enough? I have more if it’s not.”
“This is a gift for you!” she explained, thinking he misunderstood. Besides, he was giving way too much!
Ling Zhanlou knew what she meant, but even if she didn’t want them, he couldn’t just not give them. “I know. But you should take them.”
Qian Chuanchuan: “…”
Ultimately, she couldn’t win the argument and took the nuclei. Looking at the handful of gems and the six cases of water, she felt she was still too stingy! She should have bought sixty cases! Sixty cases would only be 3,000 points, while the Wealth God had just handed her over 8,000!
“Fine, but you aren’t allowed to give me any more nuclei when you buy buns later!” She intentionally put on a stern face, knitting her brows to look “fierce.” “If you keep giving, I won’t give you water anymore! I won’t even sell it to you!”
Ugh! Forgive her! She didn’t want to be mean to the Wealth God, but if he kept paying like this, she was afraid what was left of her conscience would pack its bags and move out overnight!