Chapter 20 VIP Notice: Becoming VIP the Day After Tomorrow

Chapter 20 VIP Access Announcement: Launching in Two Days

Ji An kept it from outsiders but was honest with Tang Ning: "As I mentioned before, I need materials with special energy to research spatial storage devices, and jade works for this purpose."

"If you have particularly good jade, you can give it to me. I won’t charge you a handling fee—I’ll help make a spatial storage device for you."

Tang Ning gave an awkward smile. Not only did she not have any jade, but even if she did, could it really be done? That stuff only exists in xianxia novels. So Ji An’s words at the base command center earlier weren’t just to piss off the old-timers—he was serious.

Ji An noticed Tang Ning’s lack of trust but didn’t mind. He continued gathering jade alongside her.

The shop owner had just stepped out of Ji An’s store when he was stopped by Zhao, the owner of a grain and oil shop. "Old Li, what’s the story with that new shop across the street? It just opened and already brought in the base’s top Commander-in-Chief and several Deputy Commanders. They must be well-connected."

Old Li replied, "I don’t know either. Couldn’t dig up anything, but they really are buying jade."

Zhao lit up as he grabbed a random rock, wiping it carelessly. "Well then, looks like I’ve got to go myself. You’re hopeless at digging up info."

"Boss, hope business is booming!" Zhao greeted with a grin as soon as he entered.

Ji An, not one to turn away a friendly gesture, smiled back. "Sir, do you have jade to sell?"

"Of course! This stone’s top quality—worth millions pre-apocalypse. What can I get for it?" Zhao inspected the shop’s decor while playing it cool. "Boss, do you know the base’s top Commander and the Deputy Commanders? What’s your relationship? Do they have shares in this shop?"

Ji An had already examined the so-called "jade"—just a worthless rock, filthy and completely inert.

He handed it back. "This is just a common street stone. We don’t accept it."

Zhao laughed it off. "If the Commanders have shares in this shop, why keep it so small? Kinda pathetic, don’t you think?"

Ji An’s piercing peach-blossom gaze fixed on Zhao, his dark eyes making the man rub his arms from the goosebumps.

No wonder he’s close with the Commanders—regardless of ability, his presence is intimidating, Zhao thought.

As Zhao left, Old Zhou approached. "Boss Zhao, learn anything useful?"

Zhao tossed the stone aside and snorted. "Not telling you!"

Inwardly, he thought, That young boss is scary, but damn, he’s good-looking.

Old Zhou spat. "Yeah right, you got squat and now you're taking it out on me."

In the slums of the Eastern District, where ordinary people gathered in the capital base, the environment was filthy and chaotic. Homeless people littered the sidewalks, gaunt and malnourished.

Among the dilapidated buildings on this street—crumbling walls, waterlogged stains, and constant drips—lived the poorest of the base’s ordinary citizens. Without superpowers, they scraped by in squalor, often plagued by illness. Multiple families crammed into single rented, low-cost housing units.

As dusk fell, Zheng Yan finally returned from the factory. The work was grueling, and without money to bribe supervisors, she was stuck with the hardest tasks.

Her legs were dead weights, each step a struggle, but she dragged herself home.

Opening the door, she saw her gray-haired mother and wheelchair-bound father, and her heart lifted a little.

Her mother looked guilty. "Yan Yan, I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect your dinner. Your uncles’ families took it."

"It’s fine. I ate lunch at the factory anyway." The factory provided meals, but the rations were pitiful and barely food. After a full day of labor, Zheng Yan was drained and thirsty.

"Get me some water, Ma."

Mrs. Zheng grew even more distressed, wringing her hands helplessly as she said, "The water you brought back was also taken by them."

Zheng Yan felt completely spent. She could no longer hold herself up and collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness about tomorrow.

Truthfully, it wasn’t Mr. and Mrs. Zheng’s fault. One was in poor health, and the other could barely move—how could they possibly fight off the younger and stronger families of her second and third uncles? Naturally, they couldn’t protect the food and water she had brought home.

When the apocalypse first hit and the Jing City base was newly established, reforms were implemented, and many houses were seized.

Theirs was among them, though they weren’t left empty-handed—they received a hefty stockpile of food as compensation.

Zheng Yan’s family had owned a large villa, which was exchanged for enough food to last three years. Honestly, in the apocalypse, real estate was worthless. To get that much food in return, Zheng Yan was more than willing.

At the time, her two uncles’ homes had also been seized, so the three families discussed living together. After all, they were all ordinary people who hadn’t developed any superpowers, and sticking together as a family was safer.

Before the apocalypse, Zheng Yan’s family had been wealthy and had often helped her uncles’ families. The two uncles had eaten out of their hands, even treating Zheng Yan better than their own children. So Zheng Yan’s family didn’t think much of it and agreed to live together, supporting one another.

At first, it was fine—the uncles treated Zheng Yan’s family well. But as their own food supplies ran out and the apocalypse grew increasingly chaotic, the uncles gradually revealed their true nature, treating Zheng Yan’s family worse and worse.

Eventually, they brazenly snatched food from Zheng Yan’s family, who were no match for them and had their supplies stolen.

Once the two uncles had squandered all their food, they began sucking dry Zheng Yan’s family.

These uncles and their children had grown up pampered and shiftless before the apocalypse, never having endured hardship. Even without superpowers, they refused to work in factories, lounging around doing nothing all day.

But Zheng Yan couldn’t afford to do the same. Her mother was in poor health, and her father had been pushed down by her uncles while trying to protect their food, injuring his legs so badly that he could no longer walk.

Zheng Yan had taken her father to the hospital, but she simply couldn’t afford the medical fees.

To ensure her family had food and to save up for her father’s treatment, Zheng Yan—who had never known hardship before the apocalypse and had once considered millions insignificant—had no choice but to grit her teeth and work in the factory.

For someone who had never done manual labor, the factory work was backbreaking, so exhausting that she often wanted to give up. But thinking of her parents, she endured.

And yet, even the food she worked so hard for was mostly stolen by her uncles’ families, leaving little for her and her parents.

Just as Zheng Yan was hitting rock bottom, her eldest cousin Zheng Qiu—who had been out all day—returned.

Seeing Zheng Yan sitting on the floor, he grinned and said, "Zheng Yan, aren’t you so fond of those rocks of yours? There’s a fool on Phoenix Street who just opened a shop buying your useless junk. You should go check it out—maybe you’ll strike it rich."

Phoenix Street was far from their area, a journey of over two hours by vehicle. It was a place of stark contrasts—make or break, entirely out of reach for people like them. Just like the Zheng family before the apocalypse, an old-money dynasty folks couldn’t touch.

Someone like Zheng Qiu wouldn’t last a minute in the West District, where superpowered individuals and martial artists among ordinary people resided. This rumor was just bar talk—he didn’t believe it himself, thinking it was some broke idiot’s pipe dream.

Those things couldn’t be eaten, drunk, or used to enhance superpowers—who would want them? Just for appreciation? When people couldn’t even afford food, who cared about appreciation?

Zheng Yan’s aunt had been pretending not to notice her return, but now she emerged, lighting up like a Christmas tree at the sight of her son.

"Xiao Qiu, you’re back! Have you eaten? I saved half a bowl of rice and some water for you—come inside and have it."

Mrs. Zheng shook with rage—those were the very things they had stolen from her, and now they were flaunting them right in front of her.

Zheng Yan scrambled up from the floor, ran to her room, grabbed her jewelry box, and tore out without looking back, ignoring her parents’ calls.

She ran until she lost track of how far she’d gone, the night wind cooling her fury-fueled haze. All that remained was a bitter laugh.

What era was this? Who would still want these pretty but pointless things? Only she had clung to them so stubbornly.

But Zheng Yan truly loved them. Before the apocalypse, she had been a jewelry designer, her creations selling for astronomical prices. Now, in the apocalypse, that skill was worthless—no one wanted beautiful jewelry, even if given away for free.

Many homeless people, seeing Zheng Yan clutching the box so preciously, assumed it held something valuable and glared at her with hungry eyes. Fearing they might attack, Zheng Yan opened the box. Once they saw it was just worthless trinkets, they lost interest and slunk away.

Maybe out of sheer desperation, Zheng Yan didn’t take the jewelry home despite knowing it was impossible—instead, she went to West City, somewhere she’d normally steer clear of.

Zheng Yan had assumed Zheng Qiu’s words were lies. But when she arrived at Phoenix Street and asked around casually for a jade buyer, someone actually pointed her in the right direction.

Only then did she realize that the news, which even her cousin didn’t believe, was actually true.

Her heart racing with excitement, Zheng Yan all but sprinted to the entrance of a small shop called Spatial Storage Shop.

As soon as she arrived, she saw two clerks—a man and a woman—closing up for the day.

“Hello, do you still buy jade here?” Zheng Yan asked nervously, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ji An glanced at Zheng Yan, sizing up her desperation from her threadbare clothes and gaunt figure.

He nodded. “We do. Come in.”

Ji An unlocked the already-locked door, let her inside, and turned on the lights.

Such an ordinary act from pre-apocalyptic times suddenly filled Zheng Yan with a wave of nostalgia.

Before the collapse, electricity was never a luxury—but now, everything had changed.

She had noticed upon arriving in West City that it had earned its rep as the rich folks’ turf—the streets were still illuminated by electric lights.

In contrast, the East Street where she lived was left in the dark. Once night fell, aside from the stars in the sky, there was no other source of light.

Even if there were electric lights, people like her couldn’t afford them—they couldn’t pay the bills.

Zheng Yan snapped out of her daze and pushed the box in her hands toward Ji An. “What’re these gems worth?”

Ji An examined the jewelry and found it top-notch. Most impressive was a ruby necklace made of five gemstones, each pulsing with energy—enough to make five spatial storage devices.

The remaining gems weren’t as strong, but they were still full of spiritual energy.

Ji An asked, “What would you like to exchange for?”

“Wait—I get to choose?” Zheng Yan blurted out in surprise. She had thought getting anything at all would be lucky.

“Yes.”

Swallowing hard, she blurted out, “I want food and clean water.”

“Done.” If these gems could become spatial storage devices, their value would skyrocket a hundredfold. Ji An saw no reason to shortchange the seller—it was already a goldmine.

“These items are worth 1.6 mil in credits. I can convert them into supplies,” Ji An explained. “But I don’t have that much stock or credit on hand right now. You can sell one piece first, or leave everything with me and I’ll write you an IOU to settle later.”

Zheng Yan was dumbstruck. If the jewelry box hadn’t been in Ji An’s hands, she probably would’ve fumbled it in shock.

Those worthless stones in the eyes of post-collapse folks could actually be sold for real money!

“Take it all. Just give me the IOU.” A million credits—before the apocalypse, Zheng Yan wouldn’t have cared, but now, it felt like winning the apocalypse lottery.

Not about to let this chance slip away, she made her decision instantly.

Besides, even if the shop owner ran off with her stuff, it wouldn’t matter—these “rocks” were trash to everyone else anyway.