Chapter 110: Selling Oneself

Qian Jin was a stranger from another place who fled to Jiangcheng after the catastrophe.

His family had an ancestral song, with a beautiful and captivating melody and uplifting lyrics—

“IngXingAiHongGin,
QinJiuDuaHaierHongYin.
uXiBinuXiBing,
QinAiBingYouNiDiuXiuXin.
……”

He used to listen to and sing it only occasionally when he missed his hometown, but today, he finally understood the true meaning of the song.

Life’s scenery truly is like the surging waves of the ocean—trenches lie hidden on flat ground, roads are laced with mines, and one careless step can lead to an explosion…

You say you’re just a high school student with a mentor who is a master of imaginary space—why didn’t you say so earlier?

You say your entire high school is clearly involved with an imaginary space master, with everyone in the school entering their imaginary space for rotational training, yet not a single hint has leaked out?

Afraid other schools will find out and come over, undermining your school’s high scores? Afraid their kids will also gain advantages, leaving your own children behind?

You’re too worldly! Too human!

Qian Jin felt utterly heartbroken and bitterly regretted his past decisions. But what could be done?

Time cannot be reversed. The imaginary space master he should not have offended was offended in the end, and the consequences were…

That very morning, he had swaggered about arrogantly, boasting because he had escaped punishment; by afternoon, he was tightly bound, hooded, and delivered to the school’s faculty apartments—the same way he had once bound Ye Chao and taken him away, now he was being escorted back.

The message was simple and clear: “This person, elder Gu, do with him as you please!”

Why the faculty apartments?

Because Ye Chao was incredibly unlucky, always attracting trouble. First there was the black-suited man, now this Qian Jin. Staying in the original home was out of the question.

He could bear it, but others’ hearts could not.

So Guan Junyuan simply had him move to the house across the street, and he wasn’t allowed to refuse—even the Alpha princess’s influence was ineffective.

Everyone at the Third High School, including the owner of the neighboring house, agreed unanimously.

After all, the bounties from the dark world would not disappear. The Third High School had few experts; Guan Junyuan’s home was one of the safest places around.

It was only for two or three months, until the college entrance exams were over, and he enrolled in university—by then, it would be as if delivering Buddha to the West…

In any case, students, teachers, whether willing or forced, a whole group of people noisily moved all his belongings—furniture, ancient books, bedding, pillows—and then looked at Ye Chao imploringly: “Can you talk to elder Gu about not having that exam…”

But that was truly impossible.

If it had been before, the Alpha princess might not have cared much, but after this incident, she fully understood the overwhelming intimidation of an imaginary space master—far beyond her expectations.

The moment Li Jing’ao heard that Ye Chao was his own disciple, his old hawk-like eyes narrowed to tiny pinpricks, his shock rating reaching seventy or eighty out of ten!

Since a master’s face was so valuable, the Alpha princess naturally wouldn’t cheapen it—it would spoil the market…

So whether to continue the exam depended entirely on how sincere Jiangcheng’s apology was.

“You should know, just this beard alone isn’t worth much, right?” The Alpha princess swaggered before the elders, proud and boastful. In truth, she was delighted, feeling utterly flamboyant and cunning—she loved it!

Though born with the beauty of a goddess, deep inside she was basically a con artist skilled in deception.

The young man escorting Qian Jin wore white clothes, his face pale, surrounded by a chill that made him resemble Ximen Chuixue. Just looking at him from afar sent shivers down one’s spine.

“Not necessarily.” His voice was as stiff and cold as a blade. With a sharp kick on Qian Jin, he said, “You tell us, how much are you worth?”

This was selling oneself and demanding a good price… Qian Jin felt suffocated, frustrated, trembling helplessly with no way out.

Forget the imaginary space master—this cold young man could crush him like a fly.

Though selling himself, Qian Jin had to steel his nerves and carefully list his assets. There was no choice—if the price was too low, it was game over.

When he reported, Ye Chao, the Alpha princess, and Guan Junyuan finally understood why the Chief Elder wanted to protect him.

Ye Chao and the Alpha princess had thought he was a human trafficker, but he really wasn’t. At most, he occasionally dealt with big clients like Ye Chao. It wasn’t personal. The dark world always had bounties on different types of communication ability users, and Ye Chao just happened to be one.

Qian Jin’s most important role was as a lab mouse breeder.

In a world ravaged by catastrophe and chaos, what was most precious? Food—ways to fill the stomach!

Why did Jiangcheng’s population only number around a couple hundred thousand?

It wasn’t due to a lack of people.

In an unplanned, unrestricted birth era, with few entertainment facilities, nights dark and silent save for the applause of love, even condoms had ceased production, life was harsh—but population was not the problem.

It was like Africa: after World War II there were two hundred million people; by 2000, the population had quadrupled to eight hundred million in fifty years, despite poor sanitation, wars, famines, and diseases ravaging the continent…

Jiangcheng could have done the same, but…

There simply wasn’t enough food, and distribution by mouth was already tight.

To fill stomachs and strengthen humanity, research on food never ceased.

The temporary solution was to find more edible food; the fundamental solution was to overcome the food’s genetic resistance to humans.

But whether temporary or fundamental, new foods and new treatments required testers.

Who would be first?

Some volunteered; others had to be forced, such as death row prisoners—but that still couldn’t meet demand.

So it became customary to have beastmen, barbarians, infected mutants, and other such beings test foods and medicines. Although mutations greatly weakened resistance genes in their bodies, their genes could be modified for data consistency…

Thus, Qian Jin’s most profitable business was not human trafficking but conducting experiments and selling data according to client requests.

Without this piece, Jiangcheng’s food supply would suffer a significant shortage…

Though unwilling to admit it, and despite the horror of his deeds, such people were indispensable in a world devastated by disaster…

Moreover, the more important he was, the more sincere Jiangcheng’s compensation appeared.

That old man’s move was clever—full apologies and compensation, while subtly probing human nature… Fine, if you’re willing to die, I’m willing to bury!

“I know what this palace likes and needs. Since this fellow has abundant assets, his current worth will be converted into what I require; his future assets, I get half. Then this matter is settled.”

“Agreed!” Ximen Chuixue’s response was concise. Clearly, the Alpha princess’s reply was not unexpected by Li Jing’ao.

“Also, the Chief Elder wants to know, is Your Highness still selling helmets in Jiangcheng as usual?”

“Highness” had truly become the palace’s title. The Alpha princess beamed with pleasure: “Of course!”

And so the matter was settled.