SWNOVELXO Chapter 16: 016 Energy Anxiety
But Hua Mi hadn't been charging for long when someone approached,
"Hey, how much for the power bank?"
"Not for sale."
Hua Mi replied with two words, continued swiping on her phone, playing Candy Crush, and siphoning electricity.
After a while, another person came over,
"How much for one of your charging pads?"
"I said they're not for sale."
Annoyed by the questions, Hua Mi pulled out a Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator from her casual shoulder bag and placed it at the front of her stall, found a hardcover card, and wrote with a marker:
"Power banks not for sale, children's Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators available for self-service, 25 yuan each."
Finally, she attached her payment QR code and then focused on charging and playing with her phone by the power strip.
She thought this would bring her some peace, but the survivors came and went...
It wasn't long before Hua Mi received 25 yuan.
Shortly after, she received another 25 yuan.
Then she received 250 yuan... Someone had bought 10 children's Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators.
With the ding-dong of payment notifications, it wasn't long before that big bunch of Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators was sold out.
The children's version sold that well?
Hua Mi perked up a bit; she had thought these things were only for people with pollen allergies, worth just a few cents in pharmacies, practically useless.
"Do you still have Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators?"
A mother, carrying a child and in a rush, approached Hua Mi's stand with great urgency,
"I heard you were selling these here."
Hua Mi glanced at the child held by the woman – with innocent and pure big eyes, holding a yellow Psyduck, looking at her.
Her heart softened, and she nodded,
"Yes."
After saying that, she reached deep into her large shoulder bag and pulled out a big handful of Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators.
It looked as if she was pulling them from the large bag, but in fact, she was getting them from a level 4 storage.
"I'll take 10."
The woman quickly took ten, transferred the money to Hua Mi, and didn't even have time to leave before fitting one on the child's face.
Then, with a grateful look toward Hua Mi,
"Thank you so much. I've been looking everywhere for children's ones, and they're sold out everywhere. Ah, look at this messy world, dust everywhere; this way, the kid is sure to cough."
"Mhm, mhm, yes, it's probably going to be more troublesome later. It's better to have some protection."
Hua Mi nodded, watching the woman walk away with the child.
The child's face was covered with the Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator, his little face leaning on his mother's shoulder, snuggled next to the yellow Psyduck, still looking at Hua Mi.
Hua Mi looked back at him.
Suddenly, the child smiled at her with his eyes curved, cuteness overload.
Although she couldn't see his smile, Hua Mi's heart was still fiercely struck.
Wow, she wanted a cute baby like that, too.
Hua Mi felt a twinge of longing deep inside, but instantly shook her head, dismissing the impractical thought from her mind.
What kind of life had she lived in her last life? Did she not know? Bringing a child into this world under conditions of utter scarcity was an utterly irresponsible idea.
And adding up her two lifetimes, she'd only been intimate with a man once—the time she got drunk with heartbreak, spent money, and bought a man's company.
She couldn't remember anything about the process.
Where was she supposed to go to have a child?
Shaking her head, Hua Mi sat back down and continued reaching into her bag, pulling out a Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator.
She also checked the portable chargers on the stall one by one.
If the charger was fully charged, she tossed it into her bag, which was actually a level 4 storage.
If the charger wasn't fully charged, she still put it in level 4 storage but separated the fully charged from the less than fully charged, storing them in two piles.
That way, the next time she came back to the emergency center to leech power, she could just grab the chargers handily and start charging.
So she kept on pulling out Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators, little by little, and collecting the chargers into the level 4 storage.
Little did she know, she had actually sold off those 10,000 child-sized Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators...
Not a single one left.
Parents continued to come looking for her, led by their children's reputations.
Hua Mi waved her hands to show she had no more stock, then turned her head and hurriedly spent 30,000 yuan to upgrade her level 2 factory to a level 3 factory.
[Level 3 Factory: Mineral Water Bottles (550ML), Mineral Water Bottles (1.5L), Mineral Water Bottles (10L), Limited Production: Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator (Child Size) X20000, Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator (Adult Size) X10000]
Was she supposed to keep producing mineral water bottles forever? Couldn't they let her regularly produce Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators? Enough with the limited quantities.
Hua Mi decided to take a gamble, thinking perhaps the level 4 factory would have the ability to produce an unlimited quantity of Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators.
Hence, on an impulse, teeth clenched in determination, she made an impulsive purchase and spent another 40,000 yuan to upgrade to a level 4 factory.
[Level 4 Factory: Mineral Water Bottles (550ML), Mineral Water Bottles (1.5L), Mineral Water Bottles (10L), Mineral Water (350ML), Limited Production: Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator (Child Size) X30000, Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirator (Adult Size) X20000, Ethanol X10000]
"Why is it 350ML water bottles again?"
Hua Mi was getting angry, ready to curse, but upon closer inspection, she realized, hey, this 350ML wasn't a water bottle, it was water!
It contained water!!!
Hua Mi quickly checked the energy bar, estimating that the previously nearly depleted energy bar on the factory icon had been replenished with green energy after the upgrade.
So her consecutive two-level upgrades were a sheer waste.
She could have produced some goods after reaching level 3 and then upgraded to a level 4 factory when the energy bar was empty.
Thinking this, Hua Mi couldn't help but sigh with regret.
Such waste did not fit with her virtue of thrift and frugality.
She stared depressingly at the full green energy bar on the level 4 factory, feeling a bit energy anxious ever since the energy bar hit bottom.
Under such conditions, only a massive amount of mineral water could calm her anxiety.
So, Hua Mi clicked on [Mineral Water (350ML)], ready to produce tens of thousands of bottles in one go.
They might be small bottles, but Hua Mi didn't mind.
However, to her dismay, the panel prompted:
[You need a water source.]
Hua Mi: Anxious X2.
She could only continue resentfully producing various sizes of mineral water bottles, starting with 100,000 of each size.
And also, continue producing those 30,000 child-sized Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators, 20,000 adult-sized Self-suction Filtering Particulate Respirators, and 10,000 bottles of ethanol.