My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 53

True to the metaphor of a short-lived bloom, Ren Chenxi’s smile vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. She immediately stiffened her expression, pressing her lips together to suppress the wild surge of joy bubbling up inside. She had to maintain control; she couldn’t let an overly triumphant look give Qi Sheng any reason to regret the deal or try to haggle further.

Just as Qi Sheng opened his mouth to urge her to bring out the crystal core engine, the green light on his portable power bank flickered on, signaling a full charge.

“Whoa! It’s for real! This tiny generator actually fully charged 10,000 mAh using just a single Level 1 core!” Chen Gu, who had been staring at the machine with unblinking intensity, was the first to notice. He looked at the device with a gaze full of longing and couldn’t help but ask Mu Ning again, “Boss, are you sure we can’t just keep this generator for ourselves.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Qi Sheng whipped a black backpack off his shoulders. He reached inside, pulled out a heavy black plastic bag, and hurriedly stuffed it into Ren Chenxi’s hands.

“Here, here, Sister Chenxi! Take it. This is 1,000 Level 3 crystal cores. If you’re worried, you can count them right now, but I’m taking this generator with me!”

If Mu Ning had been putting on an act to goad Qi Sheng into buying the engine for 200,000 cores, Chen Gu’s reaction was pure, unadulterated desire. The sheer, predatory hunger in Chen Gu’s eyes as if he might snatch the generator by force—scared Qi Sheng into paying the full amount on the spot. He scooped up the machine and shoved it toward the young man who had been following him.

“Xiao Chen, take this back first, then bring another 2,000 Level 3 crystal cores back here,” Qi Sheng commanded, shooting the young man a meaningful look.

As the leader of the base, Qi Sheng’s priority was to maximize the value of these expensive acquisitions. While the price tag stung, he wasn’t a fool. First, the investment was undeniably worth it; with these machines, they would save massive amounts of crystal energy in the long run and explore further to secure more resources. Second… Nanhai Base had its own technical experts. If they could reverse-engineer these machines, they could produce their own and sell them for an even greater fortune.

The moment Xiao Chen hurried off with the generator, Qi Sheng turned back to Ren Chenxi, practically vibrating with impatience for the engine. Ren Chenxi used the excuse that the engine was in her room and asked him to wait. She headed toward the girls’ dormitory, with Mu Ning naturally following close behind.

Watching their retreating figures, Qi Sheng teased Chen Gu, “Their relationship is quite something. Since they’re so close, I assume they don’t actually keep track of crystal cores between them, right?” His subtext was clear: I don’t believe for a second you guys actually pay for this stuff.

Chen Gu looked at Qi Sheng in silence, offering no reply. Hah, how naive, he thought. Given the history between the Boss and Sister Xi, it’s a mercy that Sister Xi isn’t charging her double.

Seeing the brooding look on Chen Gu’s face, Qi Sheng felt even more relieved that he had struck first. This guy really, really wanted that generator.

Ren Chenxi carried the bag of Level 3 cores straight into the girls’ building. Since the front door was still wide open, she climbed to the second floor to keep up appearances. Claiming the engine was “in her room” was merely a cover to buy her a moment to purchase the item from the Doomsday Mall.

As they reached the second floor, Mu Ning glanced at the black plastic bag in Ren Chenxi’s hand and finally asked, “Do you really trust Qi Sheng that much?” She was surprised Chenxi hadn’t even bothered to count the cores.

Ren Chenxi turned to look at Mu Ning, a slight smirk playing on her lips as she shook the bag. When Mu Ning looked closer, she realized the bag was already empty. Rather than counting them one by one, Ren Chenxi had simply dumped them into her system inventory. It was far faster to just read the digital tally on the interface.

Mu Ning assumed she had put the cores into her “spatial storage” and had somehow verified the amount when she wasn’t looking. She didn’t understand how Chenxi could count that fast, but since the tally was cleared, she didn’t press the issue. She watched in silence as Ren Chenxi “produced” a crystal core engine seemingly out of thin air.

“Actually.” Mu Ning began as the engine appeared, “I wasn’t lying earlier. I really did want to buy this engine. Our van is completely dry.”

Ren Chenxi didn’t react much to the admission. She bent down to lift the engine and said casually, “What’s the big deal? I have plenty of fuel.”

Having just turned a profit of 150,000 crystals, Ren Chenxi was definitely going to indulge in some “10-pull” gacha draws. She knew she’d end up with plenty of “Oily Cards,” which would yield more than enough universal gasoline to power their bus. There was no reason for Mu Ning to waste her own cores on an engine.

Ren Chenxi had briefly considered selling the 6L bottles of universal gasoline to other survivors in the base, but she quickly scrapped the idea. For one, the origin of the fuel was impossible to explain. Secondly, if people realized this “magic” fuel worked in any engine, they would start asking dangerous questions. There was no such thing as “universal” gasoline before the apocalypse. Furthermore, using an Oily Card on a low-level enemy guaranteed a fuel drop; such a consistent supply would eventually draw the wrong kind of attention.

It was better to just tell Mu Ning she had a large private stockpile for their own use. After all, nobody knew exactly how much she had hidden in her “space.”

When Mu Ning heard that Ren Chenxi had plenty of fuel, a surge of uncontrollable joy rose within her. To her, this meant that Ren Chenxi intended to provide for her and that they would likely be traveling together in the future. Was this a sign that Ren Chenxi was finally stopping the pushback?

At that thought, Mu Ning offered another smile and reached out to take the engine from Ren Chenxi. “Let’s go. Qi Sheng is probably getting anxious down there.”

“…” Smiling again! Ren Chenxi thought, rolling her eyes. What happened to the “Ice Queen” persona, Goddess Woody? She didn’t reject the help, though. The engine was heavy, and since the Level 5 ability user found it easy to carry, she was happy to let her do the heavy lifting.

When they returned to the boys’ building, they found Qi Sheng pacing. The moment he saw the engine in Mu Ning’s arms, he reached out to grab it.

“Payment first, goods second,” Mu Ning said coldly, blocking his advance.

“Ah… the cores haven’t arrived yet! Can’t I just take a look first?” Qi Sheng pulled his hand back sheepishly.

“You can look,” Ren Chenxi said nonchalantly. “Given how cautious you are, Sheng-ge, I assume you’ll want to personally verify if this thing actually works?”

“Oh, come now, Chenxi, what are you saying? Would I doubt my own sister? Don’t worry, we’ll exchange the cores for the engine directly—no need for a trial run,” Qi Sheng replied with a sincere smile. It wasn’t that he trusted her completely, but having tested the generator himself, he was halfway convinced. Besides, testing an engine wasn’t as simple as testing a generator; he’d have to haul it back and install it. Since Ren Chenxi was staying at the base, he could always track her down if the machine turned out to be a dud.

With his scholarly “professor” face and warm smile, he looked quite trustworthy. However, Ren Chenxi wasn’t moved. Tsk. Trust? She thought. This is the same guy who brought a specifically-sized power bank just to make sure the generator wasn’t a fluke.

After a few more minutes of awkward small talk and fake smiles, Xiao Chen returned, panting and carrying two large plastic bags.

“Sheng-ge, we didn’t have enough Level 3 cores. There are only 500 Level 3 cores here. To make up the difference, I brought 10,000 Level 2 cores and 50,000 Level 1 cores. It took some time to get the change.”

As the leader, Qi Sheng had plenty of cores, but mostly low-level ones. Level 1 cores were common currency, often paid as rent by survivors. While Level 3 cores didn’t help much with his own advancement anymore, his subordinates still needed them. He wanted to save some for his own men, so he used this transaction to offload a portion of his massive low-level stockpile.

Qi Sheng took the bags from Xiao Chen and put on a look of feigned embarrassment. “Sister Chenxi, I’m terribly sorry. We’re running low on Level 3s, so I had to make up the rest with these smaller ones. I hope you don’t mind. But you can trust me, the count is exact. I can wait here while you verify every single one.”

“It’s fine, Sheng-ge. I know Level 3 cores aren’t easy to come by…”

Ren Chenxi took the bags without a hint of annoyance. Mu Ning stepped forward timely, positioning herself between Ren Chenxi and the men as she handed over the engine. While their attention was fixed on the machine, Ren Chenxi used the moment to “swipe” both bags into her inventory. She glanced at the totals, did some quick mental math, and then pulled the bags back out, nodding slightly to Mu Ning.

The count was correct: 500 Level 3, 10,000 Level 2, and 50,000 Level 1.

She counted that fast? How? Mu Ning was stunned, but seeing the confirmation, she asked no questions and stepped back to Ren Chenxi’s side.

Ren Chenxi turned back to Qi Sheng. “Since you trust me so much, I’ll return the favor. I won’t bother counting them here. I’m sure you’re in a hurry to get back and test the engine anyway, so I won’t keep you for dinner.”

Her straightforwardness caught Qi Sheng and Xiao Chen off guard. Even though they hadn’t shortchanged her, they couldn’t believe she wouldn’t verify such a massive amount of “change” on the spot. Did she really trust them that much?

For a moment, the fake smile faded from Qi Sheng’s face, replaced by a look of genuine respect. He nodded solemnly. “Sister Chenxi, thank you for these two machines today. If you ever run into trouble in this base, just come find me!”

Ren Chenxi curled her lips into a smile, accepting the promise. With a major headache like Fan Juntian looming in the background, having the base leader’s protection was exactly what she needed.

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