My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 64

At 5:00 AM, while everyone else was still fast asleep, Ren Chenxi shook off her drowsiness and took over the kitchen. She busied herself washing rice, chopping vegetables, preparing ingredients, and slicing wolf meat strips for Tantan’s breakfast. By the time the first person stirred and came downstairs, the congee was already simmering on the stove.

As Zhang Tongqi and the others offered their bashful thanks for the “breakfast made with love,” Mu Ning took a sip of the congee Ren Chenxi had served her. Just like that, the SR-grade “Explosion” card was hers.

With ten SR-grade “Explosion” cards now in her possession, Ren Chenxi didn’t hesitate for a second to synthesize them into two SSR cards. Looking at her inventory now filled with everything from Flash and Invisibility cards to Shield cards, she began to formulate a plan. Since Mu Ning and the others were heading out to hunt, she would take this opportunity to head toward the seaside and take a look.

Once everyone had finished eating and rested for a bit, they prepared to set off. Ren Chenxi was just about to put on a pained expression and claim she had an upset stomach to stay behind when Fan Juntian suddenly arrived with a group of his men. The moment Zhang Tongqi and Wu Tong saw him, their faces tightened with vigilance. Nearby, Chen Gu and the other boys rushed over, their hostility plain as they demanded to know what he wanted.

Despite the palpable tension, Fan Juntian remained uncharacteristically good-natured. He offered Mu Ning a smile and spouted his usual nauseating “romantic” nonsense before finally revealing his true purpose.

He wanted to buy a crystal engine from Ren Chenxi.

In just three days, the Fan family had caught wind of Qi Sheng acquiring both a crystal generator and a crystal engine. They weren’t particularly interested in the generator, but the engine was a different story. Two years into the apocalypse, most gas stations near H-City had been drained dry by survivors. If they wanted to travel further to find supplies—or the poisonous plants Fan Juntian required—their current fuel reserves simply wouldn’t cut it.

When Fan Juntian learned that Qi Sheng had an engine that ran solely on crystals, he nearly lost his mind wanting to seize it by force. However, the warnings from his advisors and Qi Sheng’s status in the base forced him to reconsider. Still, he couldn’t just give up. After some digging, he discovered that the engine had come from Ren Chenxi.

He couldn’t steal from Qi Sheng, but buying one from Ren Chenxi should be easy enough, right? Even if Chen Gu’s group hated him and tried to stop the sale, he had plenty of ways to get what he wanted. If all else failed. he could always find a way to “control” Ren Chenxi.

Of course, all of this assumed she had another engine to sell.

Before coming over, Fan Juntian was worried she might be out of stock. But one of his informants told him that since Qi Sheng had bought one of each and kept the generator for himself, there was a good chance he had also kept a spare engine.

Bolstered by this intel, Fan Juntian didn’t back down when Chen Gu crossly told him Ren Chenxi didn’t have any more engines. Ignoring the group trying to usher him out, he looked at Ren Chenxi with a smile, using crystals as bait. “I heard Qi Sheng paid 200,000 Level 1 crystals for his. Well, I’ll offer double that. With 400,000 crystals on the table, I hope you’ll reconsider selling me an engine, Sister Ren?”

While the “Sister Ren” nickname made her skin crawl, Ren Chenxi couldn’t deny that 400,000 crystals was a tempting offer. Seeing her waver, Fan Juntian confirmed she had more stock and pushed further: “And of those 400,000, I’ve included 100 Level 4 crystals and 1,000 Level 3 crystals.”

High-level crystals! Those would be incredibly beneficial for the ability users in their team to level up. Disregarding the protests of Zhang Tongqi, Chen Gu, and even Mu Ning, Ren Chenxi readily agreed to the deal.

“I only have one left. I was planning to keep it for ourselves for when the fuel runs out.”

“Of course, of course. I appreciate you parting with such a treasure, Sister Ren!” Fan Juntian noted her “reluctance” and congratulated himself on his cleverness. It had been the right move to test his luck here. In his mind, he scoffed; this woman was as foolish as her brother, Ren Muhui. Once the fuel ran out, this engine would be priceless—yet she was selling it now for a mere 400,000 crystals?

On the surface, he showered her with gratitude, but inside, his contempt for her grew.

One of Fan Juntian’s companions was a space ability user. The moment Ren Chenxi nodded, he produced three large sacks of crystals. Though Zhang Tongqi and the others were loath to see the deal go through, they respected Ren Chenxi’s decision and began counting the contents. Ren Chenxi made an excuse about bringing the engine down and headed upstairs to the second floor.

Mu Ning followed her, intending to tell her once more not to sell to a man like Fan Juntian—their mutual enemy. But when she saw Ren Chenxi pull the engine from her space with a smug, mischievous glint in her eyes, she suddenly understood. There was something wrong with this engine.

Realizing this, Mu Ning stopped her protests. She took the engine from Ren Chenxi, and after stalling for a few moments, they carried the “faulty” machine downstairs. The others were still counting, though with so many hands helping, they were already halfway through.

Zhang Tongqi’s group refused to let Fan Juntian inside, so he waited eagerly by the door. His eyes lit up when he saw Mu Ning carrying the machine. Chen Gu and the others looked even more displeased, but they sped up their counting.

“Alright, Xi-jie. 100 Level 4 crystals, 1,000 Level 3 crystals, and 200,000 Level 1 crystals—the count is correct.”

Once the last crystal was tallied, Ren Chenxi had Mu Ning hand over the engine. Fan Juntian wasted no time and hurried his men away. He couldn’t wait to get back and test the performance and crystal consumption of his new prize.

The moment he was gone, Zhang Tongqi couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Xi-jie, why did you sell it to him? You know what he did.” He was the reason Sun Jia had been forced into addiction and suffered so much. Why give such scum such a high-tech engine?

Ren Chenxi smiled at her, and just as she was about to explain the trick, Mu Ning spoke up in a low voice. “There’s something wrong with that engine.”

“Wait, really?”

Ren Chenxi didn’t answer immediately. She glanced around and saw neighbors poking their heads out to watch, so she ushered everyone inside. Once the door was safely shut, she explained calmly, “There is indeed a problem with it. Why else would I have kept it tucked away instead of using it myself?”

The resentment on the faces of Zhang Tongqi and the others vanished instantly, replaced by sheer, unadulterated delight. Zhang Tongqi leaned in, whispering excitedly, “So, what’s wrong with it?”

What was wrong with it? Only that in seven days, it would be reclaimed by the system.

When Ren Chenxi had first searched for engines, she had skipped the options at the top engines with expiration dates. She was all too familiar with these limited-time items from online games; it was just another “gacha” trap to get people to spend. And the Apocalypse Mall was even more ruthless. A 1-day engine cost 5,000 crystals, while a 7-day version was 20,000. It was such a bad deal that she had ignored them until now. Who knew she’d be able to use one to scam 400,000 crystals out of Fan Juntian?

Of course, she couldn’t tell them the engine was a “timed item” from a system store—it sounded too ridiculous. So, she began to spin a story. “I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but the people who gave it to me said it wouldn’t last very long and needed repairs. But no one in our base can even build a crystal generator, let alone fix a crystal engine. So it’s just been sitting there. I didn’t expect Fan Juntian to be such a sucker.”

“It won’t last long? What if it breaks in a few days and he comes back to blame us?” Zhang Tongqi asked worriedly.

“So what if he does? Who’s to say they didn’t break it themselves through misuse?” Chen Gu countered slyly.

“Or maybe it’ll break down while they’re halfway out of the base, leaving them stranded,” Jian Dan added with a smirk.

“Think bigger!” Wu Tong’s eyes twinkled with a bit of malice. “What if it explodes while they’re driving?”

This bold suggestion sent the whole group into fits of laughter. Ren Chenxi watched them smile, thinking to herself: A pity, really—it won’t explode; it’ll just vanish into thin air in seven days.

With the dark mood lifted, even the three sacks of crystals looked more appealing. No matter how they looked at it, Fan Juntian had been fleeced, yet he had walked away looking like he’d won the lottery. What a fool.

Zhang Tongqi pointed to the bags, explaining, “Xi-jie, the first bag has the Level 4 and Level 3 crystals. The other two are all Level 1s.”

Ren Chenxi thought for a moment before stashing the two bags of Level 1 crystals into her inventory, converting them into 200,000 shop points. She left the high-level crystals alone and looked at Mu Ning. “Take these Level 3 and 4 crystals and distribute them among the team so everyone can level up their abilities.”

Mu Ning frowned immediately. “They should earn their own crystals to level up. Why would they take the ones from your sale? Besides, don’t you need crystals too?”

“She’s right, Xi-jie! Keep them for your own progress. We can hunt for our own,” the others chimed in agreement.

Seeing their resolve, Ren Chenxi compromised. “Tell you what, swap them for Level 1 crystals. To me, a thousand Level 1s are the same as one Level 4.” To her, any level of crystal was just currency for card draws, but for Level 3 ability users like Zhang Tongqi and Chen Gu, using Level 3 crystals was the only way to effectively speed up their advancement.

“Are you sure?” they asked suspiciously.

“I’m sure!” Ren Chenxi nodded firmly. “You saw how I used up all those low-level crystals from Qi Sheng. If they weren’t useful to me, I wouldn’t waste space on them!”

Seeing that she wasn’t joking, Mu Ning hesitated but finally gave in to Ren Chenxi’s persistence. She turned to Chen Gu. “Alright, dig out your low-level crystals and make the trade.”

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