Chapter 90

Chapter 90

As soon as Jiang Nian mentioned his idea of buying a house, everyone raised their hands in agreement:

"Hell yeah!"

"I'm in!"

"Great idea!"

"Absolutely support!"

"Brother Nian rules!"

"Smartest man alive!"

"..."

Buying a house where they could all live together had always been their goal. Previously, they couldn't realistically plan due to instability, but now that things were steady, it jumped to the top of their list.

They deserved a proper home—something comfortable for comrades-in-arms who had faced life and death together.

Coincidentally, to accommodate the needs of Superpowered groups like theirs, the inner district of South City Base, adjacent to the central zone, had a planned residential area. A nearly finished courtyard-style collective villa complex was perfect:

These "collective villas" consisted of several smaller courtyards within a shared perimeter wall and main gate, each courtyard containing separate suites.

Additionally, each villa had a central garden, with the smaller courtyards arranged around it—that general setup.

Depending on the size, these villas could house groups of 10 to 30 people.

This way, teammates could enjoy living together while still maintaining privacy.

Though not located in the central district, the inner district’s residential properties had full-time staff, similar to pre-Collapse condo associations—but even more secure.

The security guards at the entrance were armed, and security teams made regular rounds.

Moreover, with the central district just a wall away and a back gate leading directly there (accessible with the right clearance), it perfectly suited their needs.

During their patrol shifts, Liao Yu did some digging. Similar to pre-apocalypse real estate, the villas could be purchased in installments.

A suitable layout for their team—five small courtyards, ideal for 10 people—was priced at 2 million credits, with zero-interest financing over four payments.

In other words, with a down payment of 400,000 credits, they could move in. Currently, they were only about 100K credits away.

Though most of their stake came from keeping tabs on Xiao Ya, they were confident in earning credits quickly now that they were settled.

Thus, the home-buying plan was settled with excitement.

...

While the team rested off-duty, Jiang Nian’s general store officially hung out its shingle.

Of course, they'd invited their Li family contacts, Zhou Li, Yang Kai, and Jiang Wenwen.

Everyone else came—except Jiang Wenwen, who texted that she was tied up and would swing by later.

Jiang Nian gave a polite reply, saying she could come by once she was done with her work, without asking further.

Regarding Jiang Wenwen, Jiang Nian still maintained a friendly attitude. After all, since she didn’t get along with Xia Weiwei, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

After the apocalypse, people generally kept their distance from each other. If Jiang Wenwen remained unmoved even when Xia Weiwei tempted her with the perks of S Base, then they could continue cooperating.

For now, he just had to wait it out, play dumb, and see how Jiang Wenwen reacted.

After the lively grand opening of the grocery store, it settled into regular business hours from nine to five.

The entire commercial street in the base was much like a flea market from before the apocalypse—selling whatever they had until it was gone. What was there today might not be there tomorrow.

Though more and more people were entering the base, few newcomers could rack up a lot of credits right away.

This also meant that few shops had opened, and the street vendor scene wasn’t exactly booming yet. A shop like Jiang Nian’s, stocked with so much stuff, was a rare sight.

So, business was good right from the first day. He couldn’t pin down the exact costs, but the revenue was 500 credits.

Day two pulled in 430 credits, the third day 700, the fourth day 880… climbing steadily.

As more people arrived, his business would only get better.

At the same time, Jiang Nian put his teammates’ Superpowers to work wherever possible.

For example, whenever Cheng Jing and Liao Yu had free time, he’d sometimes offer paid services, like battery charging or providing ice water and ice cubes.

Just as he expected, chilled herbal tea, saltwater, and sugar water sold well at 5 credits a cup, since there were so many regular folks around.

Bottled drinks and the like mostly sold to Superpowered folks.

While he wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, Jiang Nian didn’t have the patience for haggling, so he made sure to inventory the shelves daily and clearly mark prices for the day’s goods.

This significantly reduced the number of people trying to bargain, with the occasional one or two doubling as small-talk practice.

Leaning back in a recliner with headphones on, enjoying the fan while gaming and minding the store—it was chill and satisfying, checking off a little post-apocalyptic dream.

……

Aside from the grocery store running smoothly, Jiang Nian’s veggie seedlings were finally ready to pick.

Though the yield was small, the payoff felt huge.

Most importantly, the purified soil could be reused, meaning his purification energy didn’t expire.

Once he confirmed the veggies were safe to eat, the next time everyone gathered, Jiang Nian scattered a handful of radish seeds into a fertilized flower box and asked Sister Qian to use her Superpower to accelerate their growth.

Though she had mastered her Superpower to perfection, Huang Qian still got that rare jittery thrill when it came to speeding up plant growth. She took a deep breath and let it out slow:

“Hah… I’m starting!”

With that, she placed her hands on the edge of the flower box, channeling her Superpower to envelop the entire container.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, imperceptible plant-based energy infused the tiny radish seeds, spurring them to sprout and grow rapidly.

Like hitting fast-forward, in just over ten minutes, the handful of seeds had transformed into wrist-sized white radishes.

Thanks to the fertilizer in the soil, their appearance and size looked perfectly normal.

Zhao Lei pulled out the radishes, washed them, and passed them around for everyone to munch on raw.

It's crisp and juicy, but the radish flavor is very mild, pretty bland. When dipped in sauce, it simply takes on the flavor of the sauce.

After successfully growing the radishes, they experimented with planting tomatoes, peppers, various leafy greens, and even watermelons, continuing until Huang Qian felt exhausted.

Seeing the pile of fruits and vegetables piled high in the living room, everyone was stoked.

However, aside from their appearance, the taste was way different than naturally grown produce.

This was the downside of power-grown produce, but given the scarcity of fresh vegetables and vitamins, just having them was awesome.

Moreover, aside from texture, the nutritional content remained unchanged, which was a huge bonus.

They prepared a whole spread of veggie dishes with the fresh produce. While the taste was secondary, Jiang Nian felt the real satisfaction came from the bragging rights.

Unable to finish the leftovers, they packed them into portions and gifted them to acquaintances.

The recipients of these vegetable gift packages were pleasantly shocked but didn't push for details.

Even Li Cheng, Zhou Li, and Yang Kai simply expressed their gratitude without probing further.

They recognized the goodwill and played it cool—such gestures of friendship required mutual balance.

Though they were curious about how Jiang Nian and his team managed to purify the soil and accelerate plant growth, now wasn’t the right time to ask.

Later, Jiang Nian put together two more grow boxes—some for normal cultivation, while the other two were reserved for Sister Qian to use her superpower for rapid growth.

He wanted to plant more, but the balcony was already occupied by solar panels and generators for power supply, leaving little space.

They could only take things one step at a time and wait for an opportunity to go big at the farm later.