Chapter 29: The Grand Purchase—No More Contribution Points!

Lu Li was filled with excitement; she was determined to exchange all this money for supplies. There was no way she was going to let anyone force her to eat nutrient paste ever again.

As the group discussed matters in the lobby, a barefoot child suddenly ran out in a panic. Upon seeing Lu Li sitting there, the child immediately threw themselves into her arms.

She took the child by the hand, scanned her surroundings, and walked silently forward.

Because she had arrived so early, there were hardly any stalls set up yet, only people hurrying along with bags of all sizes. Having barely grasped the situation, Lu Li didn't dare to rashly join the ranks of the vendors—and following the old woman's advice, she didn't have much on her that could be openly displayed anyway.

However, browsing for novelties and getting a feel for the market prices was still feasible.

When she reached the alley mentioned by Uncle Liu, it was already packed with merchants. For someone like Lu Li, who only arrived once the voices grew loud, she was already late to the game.

Seeing Lu Li enter the alley, the vendors—who had been arguing over stall space—immediately united in common cause. They eyed her warily, terrified that she might join the fray to snatch up a spot.

Lu Li dodged around them as she moved forward. The two men gave her a look that said, "At least you know your place," before continuing their brawl.

Lu Li, wanting to buy some supplies, found that whichever stall she approached would immediately go on the defensive. The moment her toe crossed the so-called "marked line," the busy stall owners would look up instantly.

After being glared at like that for half the street, Lu Li thought for a moment and pulled out her "miracle" notebook, flipping to a blank page: *I have my own stall; I’m just here while it's early and the goods are fresh because I want to buy things to take home.*

Realizing she was there to contribute credits rather than steal them, the crowd relaxed and began to greet her enthusiastically. As fellow vendors who saw each other every day, they didn't want to overcharge and risk souring their reputations. One after another, they offered their lowest prices, accompanied by explanations of the items' origins.

She wandered through several stalls but found absolutely no low-pollution food—not in vegetables, meat, or fruit.

The only place selling fruit had a sign stating the fresh apples had a 22% contamination level, priced at 100 credits each. But the apples were mostly deformed, half-rotted, pockmarked on the surface, and either overripe or half-eaten by bugs. It was obvious they had been picked up off the ground rather than freshly plucked from a tree.

And for 100 credits? How was that any different from armed robbery!

Yet, seeing the longing in the eyes of those around her, the way they kept counting their money, and the owner’s laid-back, smug attitude—as if he wasn't worried about selling and wouldn't wait for latecomers—Lu Li suddenly understood how the female lead in a story could easily become rich in a few days after awakening a rare healing ability.

Moving further along, she came to pottery and plastic goods.

"Little girl, want some pottery? Five for two credits! These are all hand-fired by me, a craft passed down from my ancestors."

"Get out of here! That junk you’re selling is only good for an art project! You have the nerve to call these yellow, muddy clay lumps pottery? Look at those large blue-and-white porcelain vats at the market entrance—that's what you call pottery! Little girl, look at mine instead!"

The two who had been fighting over the stall space had reconciled and were now half-competing to snatch each other's business.

"Little girl, take a look at my plastics. How about five for two credits? They can be used as decorations or for storage; they’re cheap and won’t break if dropped."

"Charging for hundred-year-old trash! 'Won't break'? Your plastic is so old it’s become brittle. If it hasn't degraded in a hundred years, what kind of quality could it possibly be? Little girl, you’d be better off digging in the dirt; you might find some for free!"

"My batch of goods was newly manufactured in the Safe Zone! Your pottery is just garbage that others didn't want—it’s shaped so ugly and disgustingly."

As they peddled their wares, the two grew red-faced and were about to start fighting again!

Lu Li hurriedly pulled out her notebook to play the peacemaker, signaling that she wanted both—she would buy from both of them.

The two men snorted, turned their heads, and began a new round of bickering over who Lu Li would buy from first.

"Little girl, pick whatever you want. If there’s a pattern you particularly like, draw it, and I’ll custom-make it for you. But since I hand-shape these, I can only imitate as best I can; I don't have mineral pigments for coloring, so I have to use the mud from outside my door."

"My family has an ancestral craft; I guarantee they won't crack! But they’ll definitely break if you knock or bump them."

After picking out some plates and bowls, and with the auntie next door helping to strictly supervise, Lu Li felt very reassured. Then, she switched her attention to the plastics.

Seeing her move over, that owner eagerly crowded in. "Little girl, my plastic buckets definitely have a higher density and lighter weight than those produced before the apocalypse. Nothing can pierce them, except for the evolved teeth of mutant rats!"

"Try tapping them to test the hardness, then look at this thickness!"

The porcelain owner snorted and received another eye-roll for his trouble.

Lu Li bought several plastic buckets of various sizes and happily moved on to the next stall.

Towels, bath towels, toiletries, toilet paper... sanitary napkins?

Although she wasn't sure if she would come back, under the owner's earnest persuasion and clinging to her own desire to remain human, Lu Li bought a pack. It was something you worried about if you had it, and worried about if you didn't.

After buying all sorts of daily necessities, her relief money was wiped out, but Lu Li was draped in bags and items of all sizes.

As for Jiang Linyi's credits? Ha! They wouldn't process. She even went to the extent of finding the garrison troops about it, and she almost got arrested!

There wasn't a single cent in that account. After Lu Li’s desperate arguments, and seeing that she was delicate, frail, and accompanied by a child, the garrison troops reluctantly believed she had found it rather than stolen it from a murder victim.

However, Lu Li still had to register and file a record, and Jiang Linyi's wristband was confiscated.

Lu Li only felt it was bad luck—incredibly, super-duper bad luck! She ended by spitting on Jiang Linyi’s name in her mind once more.

Meanwhile, Jiang Linyi, after tidying up the room and patrolling his territory, was waiting for Lu Li to come home.

He waited from day until night, and from night until day, and then he began to panic.

He couldn't sit still the moment the sky began to brighten, pacing back and forth while looking out the window.

Why hadn't the zombie returned? Had she encountered danger? Was she discovered by humans and captured?

But when he left the laboratory, he had seen that the zombie was perfectly fine!

For the first time in a long time, there was a hint of panic in Jiang Linyi's eyes, and his entire demeanor was chillingly gloomy.

He watched the blackbirds outside searching for the marked spots, taking a deep breath, yet failing to suppress the irritation in his heart.

He grabbed his gun, put on his protective suit, and opened the door.

"Bang!"

A bullet fired, and a blackbird fell to the ground. Jiang Linyi walked under the window, picked up the pitch-black bird carcass, and peered into the dense forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure.

Unfortunately, there was nothing.

He didn't know where to go to find her. He was afraid that the zombie was as forgetful as a squirrel, and that this place was just one of many she had marked. He had no idea when she would return—in a day, two days, ten years, or eight. But he was also terrified that if he left, he would never see her again.

His hand, gripping the bird's leg, tightened until his bones creaked. A cruel smile curled the corners of Jiang Linyi's lips: from now on, Lu Li would never again be allowed to leave his sight for even a half-step.