Chapter 73: Unboxing Reveals the Essential Bloodline of a CEO Romance?

What a perfect opportunity to exchange for gold and other valuables—she had been scavenging the streets for over ten days before it even occurred to her.

Facing the curious gazes of the crowd, Jiang Huan cleared her throat and said, “Earlier, I found a pharmacy. Back when contribution points were still worth something, I traded medicine for quite a lot of food, so I’ve been able to eat an extra meal at home.”

The crowd exchanged glances. Now, that was some luck.

Jiang Huan, who had always been so quiet, turned out to have some savings after all.

Someone with a shrewd mind asked if she’d made a profit from the exchange and whether she could share some with them, since they were all comrades scavenging the streets together.

Jiang Huan shook her head, then seemed to hesitate. “I could consider trading with everyone since we work together, but I only have a little left. If I exchange it for contribution points, I’d rather go to the base. However, I do like gold and silver. If you have any, I could swap some rice and flour with you.”

Who, in times like these, would prefer gold and silver over practical goods?

“I’d like to trade for some rice and flour. I don’t care about the taste as long as it fills me up.” Someone immediately pulled off a hefty gold chain from around his neck, still warm from his skin. Jiang Huan took off her gloves and examined it, then used a lighter to burn it and scraped it against the wall with some makeshift tricks to confirm its authenticity.

But she couldn’t help but comment, “Big brother, wearing a chain that’s almost half a kilogram, doesn’t your neck hurt?”

The man grinned sheepishly. “It’s gold, so the weight doesn’t matter.”

Jiang Huan shook her head and calculated—the chain could only be exchanged for a few dozen contribution points at the base nowadays. With the inflation in points, it could only buy about ten pounds of rice at best, and the lowest quality at that, the kind that would turn to mush when boiled.

She negotiated with him for ten pounds of rice and two pounds of flour, to be exchanged directly at the official station later.

After all, she had already spoken. At the time of her exchange, contribution points had more value, but now their purchasing power had plummeted. Even if she was wasting a bit, no one would complain.

Soon, someone else reluctantly offered a ring in hopes of trading for some medicine.

There were also those who tried to fool Jiang Huan with fake items, but with her experience, she saw through them at a glance and told them to go to the base to trade themselves.

Such people wouldn’t dare use fakes at the official base—who wasn’t afraid of getting hauled out and shot?

After the lively bustle, Jiang Huan ended up exchanging for more than sixty pounds of food, took out some common medicines from her own bag, and traded them for two pounds of gold and over three pounds of silver.

Once home, she tossed everything into the box opener—barely eight hundred points, with less than a thousand left after adding the ones she hadn’t used before.

Jiang Huan used to want to open the big boxes, but now she thought it was better to actively open small boxes and look for opportunities to hoard valuable things.

She was still riding high from last time, when she’d found five medium boxes herself, all with good stuff inside.

Now, after scavenging ten more small boxes, she was down to just four points left. Both anxious and excited, Jiang Huan rubbed her hands for warmth and muttered, “Good luck, come to me,” as she opened the first small box.

After the familiar white light faded, the contents were revealed.

[Panda Blood, 5000cc.] Jiang Huan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

What was this? What on earth could she do with it???

Wasn’t this the kind of thing that showed up in those melodramatic CEO novels, where the heroine or her romantic rival always had this rare blood type, and the male lead seemed to have some mysterious illness that could only be treated with her blood? The heroine would be forced to give blood, the hospital would draw endless amounts without worrying about her going into shock?

The first box she opened was a useless oddity. Jiang Huan’s ambitions deflated considerably.

She got up and sat next to her brother, who was diligently sketching and taking notes, and leaned against his back. “Let me use you as my sofa.”

Jiang Xi bent his back a little, not letting it go stiff. “Is this comfortable, Sister?”

Her brother was too cute; Jiang Huan couldn’t help but laugh. “Perfect, just like this.”

With this stroke of luck, she thought, my treasure boxes, come to me—

[Bulletproof vest: can withstand over five impacts in the same spot before being penetrated.] She was thrilled—almost enough to shout.

No matter how good a marksman was, could they hit the exact same spot five times on a moving target?

Most importantly, the vest looked light and flexible enough to allow for large movements.

Next box.

[Concentrated calcium tablets, 10,000 pills.] A bit of a niche item, but better than nothing.

Next.

[Anti-snow blindness sunglasses, which become infrared goggles in the dark.]

Essential for survival!

The following boxes contained:

[20,000 water purification tablets.]

[Six sets of multifunctional knives.]

[Two thousand pounds of free-range chicken meat.]

[A set of whistle and steel needles, 200 needles.] Jiang Huan immediately decided these were for her brother.

[Fifty pounds of mouthwash, edible, with ingredients that aid digestion.] This was a bit off-putting, but the benefits were undeniable.

[200-gram metal duplicator.] How to use: perfectly replicate any metal item weighing less than 200 grams. Jiang Huan thought, no need to painstakingly sharpen arrowheads one by one anymore!

Over seventy percent of the items were things she could use right away.

Jiang Huan began to allocate them.

The blood—she’d keep it, maybe sell it to a CEO someday.

The bulletproof vest—she’d keep that for herself.

The sunglasses—hers.

The water purification tablets, multifunctional knives, chicken, and mouthwash—into storage.

The whistle and steel needle set, she brought out and immediately taught her brother how to use. “But don’t show this off around others. If you’re ever in danger and have no other means of defense, this could save you. In the future, come to my place to practice.”

Even if they ran out of needles, she wouldn’t worry. Besides duplicating arrowheads, the duplicator could also replicate steel needles, which were even lighter.

She painted the duplicator and put it upstairs as a decoration.

However, she still needed to source steel, so when she went scavenging with the group, she kept an eye out. She actually found a steel factory, but it was guarded.

It seemed that after the scavenging campaigns and with support—or perhaps orders—from the capital, the official base had fully resumed city reconstruction. Steel was a necessity.

Jiang Huan could only regretfully seek out Monkey at the base, telling him to notify her if anyone sold new steel.

Monkey was the young man who had volunteered to guide her the first time she came to the base.

Every time she visited, she’d only seek Monkey as her guide, so he earned more from her than from ten other people combined. He’d even developed a network, giving a few orphaned youths a way to make a living.

Upon hearing Jiang Huan’s request, not only Monkey but the other boys also sprang into action, asking around through all their contacts.

They really did find someone—a thug from the official base whom Jiang Huan had met once before, Brother Meng.

When Jiang Huan met Brother Meng through an introduction, both were momentarily surprised before exchanging forced smiles and jests.

“Sis, that’s not fair. Instead of coming to me, you gave the job to a bunch of kids.”

“Brother, if I’d known you had it, I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”

Their friendliness was all for show; after a few pleasantries, they got down to business.

There was a lot of steel, and Jiang Huan only needed about a thousand or so pounds—Brother Meng could really get it.

As for the price, they haggled until they settled on five packs of cigarettes, a case of white liquor, and Jiang Huan treating Brother Meng to a meal.

She was surprised by the meal. “This vegetable… is it a new cultivar?”

It tasted even fresher than the organic produce from before the apocalypse.

Where could anyone find fresh vegetables now? Even dried or rehydrated ones were a luxury.

Brother Meng leaned in mysteriously. “Didn’t know, did you? Let me tell you, this is something to broaden your horizons…”