Chapter 008: On the Skill of Chatting Up

Lin Jiu emerged from the Little Immortal Source the next morning at 7 o'clock, after a sleepless night, feeling wide awake and energized.

She made a simple breakfast of rice porridge and enjoyed it with some pickled vegetables drizzled with sesame oil. Then, Lin Jiu began to reorganize her supply plan.

With the appearance of the Little Immortal Source and the Pearl Space, Lin Jiu needed to adjust her initial focus on supplies.

After checking the time, as soon as it passed 9 o'clock in the morning, Lin Jiu quickly called the suppliers to cancel all the goods that were still being delivered. With the existence of the space, she no longer needed to spend money on things that could be easily obtained in the post-apocalyptic world.

After settling the previous payments with the suppliers, she saved half of the food budget, which she then reallocated to gasoline for her car.

Next, she began to plan for new supplies.

Firstly, she noticed that the grassland in the Little Immortal Source was suitable for planting, but it was yet to be determined if it possessed the legendary ability to accelerate the maturation of crops. Lin Jiu decided to conduct an experiment to verify this.

She took a handful of mung beans from the Pearl Space and divided them into four portions. Two portions were soaked in regular well water from the yard, and the other two were soaked in the spring water from the Little Immortal Source. These four sets of experiments would provide clear results, and the mung beans would sprout quickly, yielding results in about a day.

Since planting was possible, the focus of supplies would no longer be on ready-made food and easily preservable items like rice, flour, and canned ham.

Furthermore, since the Pearl Space could maintain stability, some fresh vegetables and meat would also be included in the stockpiling plan.

With this approach, Lin Jiu only needed to stock enough food for self-sufficiency before the Little Immortal Source could be used for planting and breeding. In addition, with the Pearl Space, she could easily collect resources in the post-apocalyptic world without spending a lot of money.

Despite the fact that she could eventually reach a level where she wouldn't need to eat, the goal seemed distant. Moreover, even if she could sustain herself without food, Lin Jiu had no intention of living a life of scarcity. She held the Little Immortal Source not to continue living a life of scarcity from her previous life, but to live and thrive.

As she contemplated this, Lin Jiu continued to jot down notes on paper.

The existing food, weapons, and daily necessities had already consumed about a fifth of her overall savings. With a substantial amount of money remaining, she needed to stockpile a wide variety of seeds and seedlings, which could be temporarily stored in the Pearl Space until she could expand the area of the Little Immortal Source and plant them.

Next was the source of meat, poultry, and livestock. While chickens, ducks, and geese were affordable, young animals were also inexpensive. However, pigs, cows, horses, and sheep were more expensive, and the space in the Little Immortal Source was not very spacious.

Lin Jiu also considered introducing aquatic products into the Little Immortal Source, as it had a pond formed by a gathering of spiritual springs. She made sure to plan for a variety of food ingredients that she could consume in the post-apocalyptic world.

Seeds could be obtained from the local agricultural market, and if she couldn't find what she needed there, she could always turn to online platforms like Taobao.

As for seedlings, she decided to rely on the convenience of Taobao, even if it meant putting in extra effort to receive the deliveries. This was more efficient than going out to buy them one by one.

Then there were medicines. Although Lin Jiu didn't currently need them as a cultivator, they were still valuable resources in the post-apocalyptic world and could be used to exchange for crystal cores and other items.

She made a mental note to collect some medicines after the apocalypse. The items she had purchased from Taobao, such as various clothing and daily necessities, had already arrived and were currently stored in the Pearl Space. The surplus would be collected after the apocalypse.

After meticulously categorizing items such as candles for lighting, gas canisters for cooking, gasoline for vehicles, tissues, sanitary pads, and sleeping bags, Lin Jiu finally completed her plan after filling dozens of sheets of paper.

Supplies were a major concern, but she also couldn't neglect the improvement of her cultivation. Lin Jiu decided to temporarily give up the luxury of sleep and use the nighttime to practice cultivation in the Little Immortal Source and translate inscriptions in seal script to gain more insights and experience.

Lin Jiu touched the jade bead hanging around her neck, a priceless treasure in the post-apocalyptic world. She knew that she had to reach the Foundation Building stage before the apocalypse and refine the Pearl Space to protect her secrets to the fullest extent.

Currently, the reinforced steel bars she had on hand were useful in the early stages of the apocalypse and didn't attract much attention. However, in order to train her physical skills, Lin Jiu had spent a large sum of money on Taobao to purchase a replica Tang sword that had been modified to weigh 3 kilograms.

She claimed to be a collector, and eventually convinced the shop owner, who usually sold props to film crews, to modify the sword to the desired weight.

Lin Jiu then logged in with another phone number and started buying seedlings from all over the place. After all, Lin Jiu was not a professional fruit farmer, and the space in Xiaoxianyuan was limited, so she only bought three or four seedlings of each kind.

These seemingly inconspicuous things actually added up to a large sum of money.

The more common shrub fruit seedlings could be bought for three to five yuan each, while more common ones like apples and pears cost only a dozen or twenty yuan. The rarer ones ranged from thirty to several hundred yuan. The stores only sold them in wholesale, and if it weren't for Lin Jiu buying a variety of species, they might not have been willing to sell to her.

After logging out of the online marketplace, Lin Jiu waited for the delivery, and her card balance decreased once again.

It was the 24th day of the countdown to the end of the world, and there was still a lot of work waiting for her.

After a simple lunch, Lin Jiu went out in the afternoon, heading straight to the car rental company in the city. In the next few days, she would also need to go out to buy livestock and fish seedlings, and it would be impossible to do so without a car.

Because she was wearing a hat and a mask and dressed casually, the salespeople at the rental company didn't pay much attention to Lin Jiu. She looked through the car models at the rental company and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few interesting options.

Her understanding of cars all came from the post-apocalyptic world, so her selection was more targeted. After looking around, Lin Jiu finally settled on the Grand Cherokee and the G500.

The Grand Cherokee had fast acceleration and a sturdy body, making it the best choice for crushing zombies in the early stages of the apocalypse in urban areas. The G500 had strong off-road capabilities, which would be very useful for her journey to the large base in the future.

The prices of these two cars, with the amount of money Lin Jiu currently had, were not even enough for the down payment. She could only shamelessly choose to lease them, and then... well, it would be the end of the world, so who would care about her then?

After calculating the cost in a sly manner, Lin Jiu decided to first get her hands on the Grand Cherokee, which had a cheaper rental fee, and then rent the G500 a few days before the end of the world.

She planned to store them directly in the Pearl Space and take them out when needed. After making up her mind, Lin Jiu called the salesperson and straightforwardly confirmed the two cars, leasing the Grand Cherokee for a month and also pre-booking the G500, paying a deposit.

The salesperson was quite surprised by Lin Jiu's decision. At first, he thought she had come to choose a wedding car, and seeing her attire, he didn't think she could afford a good car, so he didn't pay much attention to her.

"Miss Lin, right? Your taste is quite unique..."

Looking up, the young salesperson clearly hesitated. He hadn't paid attention to Lin Jiu's appearance before, but when he suddenly looked into her eyes, he realized that she was far from what he had imagined. Her eyes were just too beautiful.

"I'm in a hurry."

Lin Jiu glanced at the salesperson indifferently. This kind of low-level salesperson barely got any commission, so it was even less likely for him to give her a discount. She was only wasting her time by haggling with him.

"Ah, okay, please wait."

Lin Jiu was still waiting to sign the car rental contract and pick up the car, looking through the glass door of the shop at the street outside. The winter sun was not particularly warm, and there was a constant stream of pedestrians on the street.

The car rental company was at the end of the street, and at the intersection of the street, two young men arrived.

"Where's your card?"

"It's frozen... What about yours?"

"Mine was frozen by my brother a long time ago, okay!"

The two handsome young men stood on the street, looking at each other, and finally dumbfounded.

"You don't have any money?!"

"Damn, I don't have any either!"

In unison, they shouted these two sentences, instantly becoming the focus of the crowd.

"Get out of the way, what are you pretending to compare for when you have no money!" A young man with blonde hair staggered over and squeezed past the two of them, leaving a disdainful glance at their branded clothes, then walked away with a smirk.

"..."

The two of them huddled together, muttering to each other, while the blonde had already walked far away.

Yes, these two were none other than Lu Shi Yi and Mo Ze Yuan, who had traveled from city B to city Z to seek refuge.

"What kind of rotten idea did you come up with? It's really a good death. Now, your card is frozen, and why the hell is my card, with the surname Mo, also frozen?! Your second brother is really ruthless."

"Stop talking nonsense, it's not like you didn't get the medicine."

Lu Shi Yi pulled Mo Ze Yuan off his shoulder, feeling like crying without tears. It seemed that his second brother was really angry this time, and he didn't have the habit of carrying cash!

"Tell me, what do we do now? How do we get back?" Lu Shi Yi scratched his head, almost able to catch flies with his furrowed brow.

"What else can we do? Just stay in city Z and wait for your brother to show mercy."

"Nonsense, do you think I dare to go back to city B now? I mean, how do we get back to your family's feng shui treasure land?"

"Rent a car, it's convenient to go out."

"Do you have money?"

"My credit card is frozen, not my savings... Hey, Lu Xiao San, don't tell me you don't have any savings?"

Lu Xiao San didn't say anything. As the youngest son of the Lu family, carrying the banner of a playboy, how could he possibly have any pocket money left?!

He had grown up wearing the same pants as Mo Ze Yuan since he was a child, and Mo Ze Yuan would definitely know if he had any savings or not. He was always teasing him. Seeing Mo Ze Yuan walking into the rental company, Lu Shi Yi hurriedly followed.

"Mo Big Head, wait for me!"

Mo Ze Yuan and Lu Shi Yi arrived at the rental company just as Lin Jiu was picking up her car. Looking at the imposing figure in front of her, a hint of satisfaction finally appeared in Lin Jiu's eyes.

The faint smile collided with Mo Zeyuan's eyes, what a beautiful pair of eyes!

"Cough, cough." Mo Zeyuan was stunned for a long time, until Lin Jiu finished checking and was about to open the car door to drive away, he came back to his senses.

"Miss, have we met somewhere before?"

Mo Zeyuan put on a flirtatious smile, walked to Lin Jiu's car, leaned against the door with his elbow, and began to flirt with his charming eyes.

Yes, that's it, don't be nervous... I can definitely strike up a conversation!

Lin Jiu: "..."

Lu Shi Yi, who was watching the show: "..."

Is this guy a fool?

"Excuse me, let me through. I don't know you."

Lin Jiu had no time to deal with the flirtatious lunatic in front of her. She was in a hurry.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Mo Zeyuan, I'm from City B, and currently living in..."

Before Mo Zeyuan could finish, Lin Jiu simply bypassed him blocking the driver's seat, got into the car from the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, started the car, and drove away in a flash.

Lin Jiu's actions were fast enough that the car's sudden start caused Mo Zeyuan to be thrown forward and lie flat on the road. Fortunately, Lin Jiu's car turned onto the outer road and didn't drag Mo Zeyuan into the car.

Lu Shi Yi, on the side, watched the spectacle and almost burst into laughter. It's rare to witness the little master of the Mo family having a car accident while trying to pick up a girl. This was quite a scene.

"Why are you laughing?" Mo Zeyuan got up from the ground and looked at the junior staff member who was struggling to hold back his laughter. "What are you looking at? The girl just drove away. Get me another car."

The junior staff member, struggling to hold back his laughter, asked, "How long do you want to rent it for?"

"Rent it until your company goes bankrupt!"

"Alright."

In the end, Mo Zeyuan successfully drove away with a car worth 150,000 for the price of 2 million, as seen in the bewildered eyes of the staff member.

Lu Shi Yi: "..."

He might really be a fool.

"Do you really like that girl?"

Mo Zeyuan drove the car, and Lu Shi Yi approached with a gossipy look on his face.

"I didn't expect you to like this type, a delicate beauty? Tsk tsk, young and naive. If you want a girl, go for the gentle and cute type, think about it..."

"Ugh, lolicon!"

"??? This is a personal attack! If you really like her, go to the rental company and ask for her contact information, it's just a matter of money."

"You don't understand. Do you know what sincerity is?"

Lu Shi Yi pursed his lips. A person who had that kind of medicine in his possession was now talking about sincerity to him? Could it be that his definition of sincerity was wrong?

But... the girl's features seemed quite familiar. Mo Zeyuan's approach to strike up a conversation with her was not wrong; he seemed to have actually seen her before...