Chapter 122 Economic Crisis 3

Chapter 122 Economic Crisis (Part 3)

On her way back, Su Han passed by a convenience store and went in to buy five bars of hand soap and ten bottles of mineral water. When she passed a pharmacy, she went in again to pick up some over-the-counter meds.

By the time she returned to the park loaded with bags, Zhong Rui was already sitting on a bench waiting for her, holding five lamb skewers. He said seriously, "I made too many skewers and couldn’t sell them all. You can have these five."

Su Han thought to herself, *There’s no way someone like him would mess up something so trivial—it’d be weird if he did!* He probably noticed she wanted to eat them and deliberately saved a few for her.

She kept a straight face, handing the bags she was carrying to Zhong Rui before taking the skewers and happily biting into them.

The first bite was perfectly balanced—tender and juicy, absolutely delicious!

Su Han closed her eyes in delight.

Zhong Rui silently handed her a can of beer.

So Su Han took bites of lamb between sips of beer, feeling utterly satisfied.

"How was work?" Zhong Rui asked casually.

"Pretty good. Busy, but the pay is on time, and my coworkers are nice." After a pause, she added, "Most importantly, I get to take home all the unsold bread—free of charge!"

Zhong Rui nodded, then said, "Not sure when the economic crisis will start. Better to save up more just in case."

"What about you? How’s the lamb skewer business?" Su Han asked.

"Just started, so business is average. Clearing about 200 shells a day, give or take."

Su Han let out an impressed whistle. Indeed, being your own boss paid way better than working for someone else.

"Wanna go into business with me?" Zhong Rui tried to lure his companion into the venture. If successful, they could leave together in the morning to set up shop and return to the park together at night. The thought of spending every day side by side seemed wonderful.

"Nah," Su Han refused without hesitation.

"Eighty shells a day, plus free bread—I’m doing just fine."

"Besides, setting up stalls can lead to a price war. What if someone gets jealous of your good business and starts selling lamb skewers too, pricing them even lower? What would you do then?"

"One of us running a business and the other working a job—that’s a safer approach."

She made a solid case, leaving Zhong Rui no choice but to let it go.

**

Su Han was determined to stock up before winter hit, preparing for tougher times ahead. But life had other plans.

On the third day of the game, her Innate Ability didn’t trigger, but the bakery hired a new girl.

Boss Zhang introduced, "This is Xiao Xiao, our new bakery apprentice. Everyone, play nice."

"Hello," Xiao Xiao smiled shyly, seeming a bit introverted.

Su Han brushed it off, thinking it had nothing to do with her. But when closing time came that evening, trouble came knocking—

Xiao Xiao spoke up timidly, "I’d like some bread too. Could you share some with me?"

Su Han paused. Previously, the other two employees didn’t want any, so she could take all the leftovers. But now that a newcomer had expressed interest, she couldn’t just ignore her. After all, the bread belonged to the boss, not her.

She sighed to herself, *It’s easy to grow accustomed to luxury, but hard to return to frugality.* Then she replied calmly, "Of course. Let’s split it half and half!"

Xiao Xiao grinned, showing off her little fangs, and said cheerfully, "No need for that much! I just wanted some for dinner and breakfast tomorrow."

But business at the bakery was booming, with stuff flying off the shelves. In the end, only two bags of sliced bread, a jar of walnut cookies, and a sandwich remained.

"You pick first," Xiao Xiao said very tactfully.

Su Han didn’t hesitate and took a bag of sliced bread and the sandwich.

So it worked out for everyone, and that settled it.

However, on her way back to the park after work, Su Han couldn’t help but sigh lightly, "Guess even a job isn’t steady these days."

With a shake of her head, she headed off.

On the 4th day of the game, her Innate Ability still didn’t kick in. That evening, Su Han received a croissant, a loaf of whole wheat bread, and an egg tart.

She calculated that it was enough for herself, but compared to the previous days when she could feed two people and still have leftovers, it seemed kinda skimpy.

But what could she do? The bakery’s business was too good—most of the items had sold out.

Sighing, Su Han packed up the bread and left.

On the 5th day of the game, after the system’s mechanical prompt, her silversmith Innate Ability finally triggered again.

Out of nowhere, Su Han found a pure silver longevity lock in her pants pocket. Weighing it in her hand, she noticed it was quite heavy, and she couldn’t help a small smirk.

At noon, Su Han dipped out and rushed to the silver jewelry shop.

Xiao Xiao was puzzled. "Why did she leave? Why didn’t she come eat with us?"

The senior employee replied calmly, "Probably because she never intended to stay in the shop for long? If she really wanted to stick around, wouldn’t she make an effort to get along with her coworkers? Forget about her—where were we... Oh right, are we going to the barbecue place after work today? Let’s pig out as a welcome party for the newbie."

...

Meanwhile, the silver jewelry shop staff weighed the item and said, "999 silver, net weight 21 grams. If you’re willing to sell, our shop offers 63 shells for it."

Su Han told herself—better than a kick in the teeth—and sold the longevity lock.

Shortly before 7 p.m., a senior just shrugged helplessly and approached her. "Are you free after work? Want to join us for dinner?"

Su Han beamed but replied, "You guys go ahead. I won’t be joining."

Yeah right! She had finally saved up a bit of money. If she went to dinner, not only would the extra income from selling the silver longevity lock be gone, but even her daily wage of 80 shells would be toast!

The senior just shrugged helplessly and turned back, as if to say, "See? Told you she wouldn’t come."

Xiao Xiao leaned in to persuade her. "Come with us—the more the merrier."

Su Han’s face stayed stone-cold. She hated crowds the most.

Another colleague chimed in, "Why not? If you’re free, come hang out with us."

"I’m broke, have no money, and have monthly loans to pay. I’m practically eating dirt," Su Han said without hesitation, laying it on thick.

The other three: "..."

At this point, they had to drop it. The only way to drag Su Han along was if someone offered to foot her bill. But coworkers always split the bill—who’d be dumb enough to foot her bill?

So at 7 p.m., Su Han left work on time, toting her bag of bread.

The senior just shook her head as she watched Su Han walk away. "Some people just don’t get living a little."

**

At the same time, in the Jinjiang Group office.

Li Yue focused intently, carefully observing the situations of the 20 beta testers. He noticed that three of them had maxed out their credit cards, panic-buying food, household essentials, and medicine, seemingly planning to find a place to hide after an economic crisis.

Two had taken loans to start businesses. Since their businesses were just starting up, their income and expenses were temporarily balanced, even showing small profits.

Six ran small side hustles with their capital. Though it was harder work, their earnings were at least higher than a regular salary.

The remaining nine had found jobs, putting in honest work daily. After covering daily expenses with their salaries, they still had some left over, all of which they spent on stockpiling essentials.

Overall, all 20 were doing well.

Li Yue smiled faintly and murmured, "The Titanic also set sail amid cheers. Living too comfortably breeds blind confidence and optimism. Just wait—the main event is still coming."

**

On the sixth day of the game, the system's mechanical voice finally announced, "Residents' debt has surged, burdening them excessively. They're now facing potential consumption downgrades."

Consumption downgrades refer to choosing cheaper alternatives when functionality is the same or nearly identical, and avoiding purchases of non-essential goods without compromising quality of life.

"So it's finally begun?" Su Han's eyes lit up as she worked, her mind calculating something.

That day, she felt noticeably more relaxed than any previous day.

Customer purchases at the bakery had dropped significantly. Some regulars who visited daily bought much less than usual, while others who rarely indulged in bread simply didn’t come at all.

With no need to stay cooped up in the back making bread, the employees sat on chairs, complaining to each other.

One veteran employee couldn’t help but worry, "I owe 1,800 bucks on my credit card and have to repay it daily. My daily wage is only 150, but I have to pay back 120 each day—how am I supposed to live? The remaining 30 bucks—what's that supposed to cover? It’s barely enough for food!"

Another veteran employee looked extremely grim. "You’re still better off. I owe a crushing 6,000 bucks and have to repay 400 daily! I did the math—my salary isn’t even enough to cover the repayments. I have to dip into my savings!"

"What on earth did you buy?"

"Who knows? I just charged everything whenever I wanted something. I don’t even remember what I spent so much money on!"

Nearby, Xiao Xiao looked glum. "I charged myself a few outfits, and now I’m in debt too."

Su Han nonchalantly lied, "I’ve always been in debt—never had any spare money."

One veteran employee said with lingering fear, "Each little thing didn’t seem expensive when charging, but when you add it all up, it’s terrifying."

"Being in debt messes with your head—like you don’t even dare to spend. Luckily, I still have some savings, or I’d be screwed."

"Let’s pay off the loans quickly and never use credit cards again."

Su Han lowered her eyes. The truth was exactly as this person said—those in debt would think this way once they felt the pressure. But with so many people in debt, if everyone decided to stop spending, it would mean an economic downturn was imminent.

That evening, the bakery had loads of leftovers—croissants, milk bread slices, cheese buns, honey cakes, egg tarts, sandwiches, the works. Even the usually best-selling cupcakes had two left.

Boss Zhang looked grim, his face stern and silent. Giving away a few leftovers as staff benefits was one thing, but with so much left, he was reluctant to hand them out freely. So he was torn, trying to come up with a suitable solution.

Xiao Xiao gave Su Han a meaningful look, as if asking, "Can we still take the bread for free today?"

Even the two veteran employees, who were sick of bread, had other ideas. Being flat broke, bread was still a staple—they wanted to take some home for dinner.

After a long silence, Boss Zhang finally relented and went with the usual arrangement. "Who wants the leftover bread?"

The employees unanimously raised their hands. In the end, the bread was divided equally among the four of them.

Back at the park, Su Han asked her companion, "How'd the street stall go today?"

Zhong Rui said with an indifferent expression, "Right after the system announced that residents would cut back on spending, the number of customers visiting the stall dropped sharply. A rough estimate shows I only made about 150 shells (the in-game currency) today—just half the usual income. In a few more days, I plan to close the stall to avoid losses."

Su Han clearly realized that the economic winter had arrived.

Author's Note: The Titanic also set sail amid cheers (referencing Huawei's famous 'Winter is Coming' speech about economic downturns).

Some background research came from Chinese online sources.

**

U.S. Economic Crisis (Example):

Excessive consumer loans lead to heavy debt, forcing most wages to be spent on repayments and cutting expenses → purchasing power declines, business profits decline, necessitating pay cuts and layoffs → people lose income sources or see reduced income, unable to repay debts or afford food → purchasing power further declines, businesses shut down, unemployment rises, fewer people shop... a vicious cycle.

For reference, research shows that many things just keep repeating throughout history.

**

Every time I write an economy-themed storyline, it's frustrating—some people immediately start arguing as if the world I depict must be fictional or wrong just because it doesn't match their understanding.

The U.S. has experienced many economic crises in history, each with different triggers but generally following the same pattern.

This is a game, so details have been slightly adjusted, but most cases come from history (which is why some readers find it realistic). If anyone thinks there's an issue, it must be because they know better than historical records.