Chapter 6: Jade, Soil, and Foundations
Qin Yao had barely finished converting the old factory district into large-scale warehouses when Gu Mian decided it was time to begin the next critical step of her preparations—jade gambling.
The factory district, once abandoned and rusting, had been transformed into an orderly logistics zone. Warehouse after warehouse stood tall, reinforced, partitioned, and secured. Separate areas had already been planned: food storage, machinery, seeds, books, metals, and now—jade. Qin Yao worked efficiently, never asking unnecessary questions, only confirming specifications and budgets.
Meanwhile, Mu Xia had already delivered the jade Gu Mian required for cultivation. Qing Ruofu had completed the land purchase and finalized negotiations with the real estate companies specializing in movable housing. After several rounds of discussions, Gu Mian approved the construction of two massive libraries, each occupying four acres of land. The companies would handle everything—from the foundations to the shelving systems inside. Combined with the other movable houses and infrastructure, she spent approximately 100 million yuan on this phase alone.
Money was being burned at a frightening speed, yet Gu Mian's expression remained calm.
Bai Ying had already begun transporting seeds and seedlings back in batches. Huo Xu assisted her with unloading and arranging them in the backyard temporarily before Gu Mian stored them inside her space. After absorbing the jade she had previously purchased, Gu Mian felt the energy inside her body surge—she was one step away from Level Two.
She had done her homework thoroughly.
C City was close to D City, famously known as Jade City, a place surrounded by jade mines. D City alone had seven major jade mines, while C City had access to four prominent jade gambling dens. This geographical advantage made it the perfect hunting ground.
Gu Mian decided she would personally visit the dens.
Several influential families in C City, having heard rumors that Gu Mian favored jade, had already sent over high-quality jade as gifts. She accepted them without ceremony, storing them away for later refinement.
Early the next morning, she finished arranging the newly arrived plant seedlings into her space. Only after everything was in order did she prepare to head out.
She chose to start from the eastern side of the city.
Jade gambling was legal, and by afternoon, the dens were already open. Xu Qian drove two trucks, while Gu Mian brought along five experienced jade cutters. One of the cutters joined Xu Qian in driving the second truck.
The jade gambling house had a large parking lot, already crowded with luxury cars. Near the entrance lay piles of discarded ore—stones deemed worthless by others.
Gu Mian paused.
With a flick of mental strength, she scanned them.
Most truly were waste—but hidden among them were several decent-quality jades, one ice-type, and shockingly, one emperor green jade.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"A pleasant surprise."
She marked them mentally, deciding to collect them later.
The gambling house itself was divided into three sections: the warehouse, the gambling hall, and the auction room.
Those buying in bulk went to the warehouse. Those gambling went to the den. And those who struck gold could auction their jade on-site.
Gu Mian entered the gambling hall first.
It was early evening, and the place was nearly empty. That eased her nerves slightly—though she would never admit she felt nervous at all. Jade ores ranged in price from tens of thousands to five million yuan, carefully categorized by experts.
She deliberately began with the 10,000 yuan section.
She couldn't take everything valuable—that would attract suspicion.
She chose carefully, taking three good pieces, then deliberately selecting one worthless ore. Over and over, she repeated this pattern. The jade masters truly lived up to their reputation; the categorization was impressively accurate.
When she reached the two million to five million yuan section, she stopped pretending.
Anything with strong energy fluctuations—she took it.
After two hours, Mu Xia was pushing two carts filled with ore. The jade cutters had fallen asleep in their chairs, only to be woken by Gu Mian's calm voice.
"Be careful."
They worked quickly and skillfully, rarely spending more than ten minutes per ore. Except for the few pieces Gu Mian had intentionally chosen to fail, every stone produced jade.
All of it was sent directly to auction.
The auction house buzzed with excitement as several high-quality jade pieces suddenly appeared. Some bidders immediately placed offers; others checked the six-hour time limit and began calling wealthy contacts.
Gu Mian didn't linger.
She exited the den and quietly collected the marked discarded ores at the entrance, pulling them into her space unnoticed. Because she bought in bulk from the warehouse, she received a 30% discount.
She decided to buy large quantities of near-empty and empty ores—not just for space soil enhancement, but to build goodwill with the gambling house. A win-win situation.
Four hours later, both trucks were full. One carried high-quality jade; the other was filled with near-empty ores.
She negotiated again and purchased all the discarded ores outside, loading them using the gambling house's trucks. After paying approximately 300 million yuan, she returned to the auction house.
Her jade sold for a total of 700 million yuan.
It was already nearly 10:00 p.m.
The next day, she returned—and did even better.
By the third day, she had earned 1.5 billion yuan, spending 500 million yuan to fill three trucks with ores.
Seeing the pace, she hired five additional jade cutters, organizing them into two twelve-hour shifts. She ordered crates for sorting jade by color and quality.
Wei Xuming began transporting supplies.
Gu Mian instructed Qin Yao to isolate the jade storage area and convert additional buildings into cold storage. Every weekend, she cleared jade and soil into her space, planning to begin large-scale planting one month into the apocalypse.
By June 25th, Wei Xuming returned. Bai Ying received an additional 500 million yuan.
On June 30th, after lunch, everyone gathered for the second meeting.
Notebooks were open.
The real work was about to begin.