Chapter 446: Chapter 446

She checked her most precious luggage again to make sure the fat chicken was guarding it well, confirming that the surroundings were still secure.

Jing Shu felt a bit bewildered, her mind still sluggish from the long sleep. Just like that, she watched an old man in a white lab coat and three others play several rounds of Fight the Landlord. Meanwhile, she managed to brush her teeth and wash her face. It wasn’t until she took out a frying pan that the men in lab coats realized she was the person they had been eagerly waiting for!

The old men chuckled.

Several kindly-looking old men put down their cards, pushed up their glasses, and moved closer, causing Jing Shu to step back two paces.

"So, you’re from the Special Intelligence Bureau, here to reassess me?" Jing Shu began, piecing things together. "You’re from Skyline Hospital in Imperial Capital, here because of Monk and Monkey’s injuries, to discuss academics and, incidentally, buy those Wanzi I made myself, right? Yes, I know you aren’t short of money, but please wait a moment. You’re from an Imperial Capital research institute asking for sponsorship and wanting to borrow some ZS880 potion samples from me? And you, sir, are from the Starvation Food Supervision Bureau, wanting to trade for the Z10 bacteria synthetic meat formula? Okay, just put the sack on the ground and wait a bit. And you all played Fight the Landlord to determine who could approach me first, but then played so many rounds just to decide which three of you even qualified to play for that right?"

Jing Shu asked, her jaw practically on the floor, as the four old men in lab coats nodded in unison.

"So, you still haven’t decided who goes first?"

The four old men nodded again.

Why would these important-sounding and imaginative institutions choose a few unreliable-looking old men to handle their affairs? It makes everything seem so much less impressive, Jing Shu mused. Still, the tasks needed doing. One couldn’t underestimate even the street sweepers in Imperial Capital; who knew, they might casually pull out a potato or cucumber that countless people would scramble for.

"Alright then, let’s start with the gentleman from the Special Intelligence Bureau," Jing Shu said. "What rating are you thinking of giving me? No worries, I don’t have any special abilities or hobbies. My strength is just as my teammate explained. Are you going to give me an A+? No, no, I prefer to keep a low profile; an A would be better. What? My chicken got a B rating? So, my overall strength remains A+? Okay, I understand. Do I sign here? Thank you so much. The Special Intelligence Bureau is really professional these days, even offering door-to-door service." Thıs content belongs to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝘯𝘦𝘵

After bidding a warm farewell to the first old man, Jing Shu turned her attention to the old man from the prodigiously expensive Skyline Hospital.

"Come, sir," she said, "these are the secret Wanzi I’ve prepared over time. They’re made from various precious herbs, which I’ve, well, rubbed off myself. Please apply them directly to Monkey and Monk’s affected areas. There’s no need to discuss academics; you can see I’m quite busy..."

The old man dabbed a bit of the Wanzi with his ring finger, tasted it with his pinkie, and kept nodding. "Truly a good medicine!" He happily took a box of black Wanzi, signing a debt acknowledgment for Monkey for two thousand Contribution Value before leaving. Naturally, the medicine for Monk was a gift from Jing Shu.

"So, my good sir," Jing Shu said to the next, "are you here to borrow a sample of ZS880? Oh, you mean to borrow one and return ten later? No problem, just get Yang Yang or Zhen Nantian to vouch for you. What? Lingling is from your research institute? Alright then, let’s draw up a contract..."

Finally having seen off the first three gentlemen, Jing Shu turned her attention to the last customer. "Sir, you’re from the Starvation Food Supervision Bureau, and you’re here to trade for that formula, but I’m curious what you plan to barter with?"

The last old man had an unkempt beard and wore muddy rain boots. Though clad in a white lab coat like the others, he looked more like a rice paddy farmer underneath.

The man produced a burlap sack and opened it, revealing two black-beaked creatures with fleshy growths on their necks. They were still formidable fighters despite being bound and seemed quite aggressive.

Jing Shu frowned, peering intently before asking uncertainly, "Are these two geese?"

The old man laughed, revealing gapped, yellowed teeth. "These are Lionhead Geese, the king of geese! They lay eggs very rarely, but their value is high, especially after special processing. The taste is incredibly delicious, absolutely delectable! In the Imperial Capital right now, people are queued up all the way to the Mediterranean for a taste."

Jing Shu swallowed the drool that was about to spill. She rummaged through her Magic Cube Space—she had no geese!

I can’t believe I haven’t bred geese! she thought. Before the apocalypse, due to lack of funds and because her Magic Cube Space was too small, she had only bred the most common Domestic Poultry—chickens, ducks, sheep, cows, quails, and rabbits. Besides, duck eggs could be made into salted duck eggs, and Peking duck was also delicious.

Geese had low yields, their eggs were too gamey, and they consumed a lot of food, so she hadn’t bothered breeding them. But braised goose, red-braised giant goose, plum goose, goose meat stewed with vegetables, braised goose, and sauce-braised free-range chicken... those dishes must taste amazing, right? I haven’t eaten goose meat in fifteen or sixteen years!

Times were different now. In the apocalypse, what’s most important? Fill my stomach! Hoard resources! Arm myself! Every creature in the apocalypse needs to fully manifest its value. A goose can be trained as a guard goose, a patrolling goose. Though they lay fewer eggs, if they reproduce more, there will be more eggs.

After some mental calculation, Jing Shu affirmed the value of the geese. "Alright," she declared, "your kind meets my standards. Approved."

Now that Jing Shu’s Magic Cube Space had expanded and she had enough funds, she was considering how to revive nearly extinct Domestic Poultry when someone brought her two paired Lionhead Geese! Jing Shu quickly checked in the Magic Cube Space app; indeed, the value of Lionhead Geese was the highest among all geese. ’The king of geese’ was no exaggeration—regular geese had red beaks, but Lionhead Geese had black beaks and were very distinct.

"You want to trade the formula for these two geese?" Jing Shu gestured back and forth with her fingers, asking uncertainly.

The old man looked at Jing Shu as if she were a fool. "Nowadays, Domestic Poultry is precious indeed. These Lionhead Geese are the last of their kind. Swap them for your uncertain formula? Do you take us for fools?"

Jing Shu’s face stiffened. Hmm... had I smiled too much, making them think they could take such liberties? Did he bring the geese just to mock me, to make me envious? Was he intentionally trying to tempt me into committing some unforgivable crime?

Sir, you’ve successfully caught my attention! she thought.

Before Jing Shu’s expression could change further, the old man, grinning with his gap-toothed smile, said, "Tan Ke from your team is from our Starvation Food Supervision Bureau. He said you’ve raised chickens that can lay dozens of eggs a day. We’ve observed them, and indeed it is so. That’s why, well, I brought these geese to you."