Chapter 64: Life, Lonely as Snow

Gu Junyuan and his friends and colleagues were still anxiously waiting when suddenly the powerful blare of the suona resounded from the high platform: "Di-da-di~~~ Da-di~~~ Da-di~~~" The pipa, yangqin, and bass drum joined in one after another, creating an atmosphere of chaos and conflict, yet also awe-inspiring, as if the grand curtain of a new era was being swept open—not gently, but forcefully, leaving no room for reaction.

The Overture of the Small Knife Society!

In this familiar soundtrack from days before the calamity, Alpha Princess made her shocking entrance!

She wore a circlet, wielded a golden staff, was clad in golden sacred armor, and rode atop a seven-colored auspicious cloud… trailing sparks and lightning, she strode through the long training ground corridor, finally arriving at the central stage.

"How about it? Was my entrance dazzling enough?" Alpha Princess exclaimed excitedly.

For this moment, a dozen cameras were arranged along the corridor, for only then could her cloud-riding entrance be captured in full.

For this moment, she even cross-dressed… Well, perhaps that’s not quite right—who said that monkey born of heaven and earth must be male?

He likes leopard-print skirts, flowered hats, and even insists on ‘Beauty’ in his name—‘Beautiful Monkey King’, could that really be a man?

Fine, even if the Great Sage is indeed a ‘he’, who says that someone similarly born of heaven and earth, like herself, must be a woman? She could whip out her own weapon and have it outsize his—would they believe?

This was pure acting, absolutely true to herself!

Ye Chao, with his limited appreciation, failed to notice Alpha Princess’s painstaking efforts.

He could only force a smile. "As long as you like it…"

Not only Ye Chao, most present were completely bewildered, even a bit frightened.

Though "Journey to the West: A True Story" was a classic, it hadn’t reached the point of transcending disasters—"Ghost Blows Out the Light" could, but only because it was useful; the four great classics could, because of their deep heritage.

Unfamiliar, never having heard the poignant stories, lacking the context of their era, how could anyone be captivated in an instant? If it were possible, the film wouldn’t have bombed at the box office upon its initial release.

Moreover, the lead was a sharp-faced woman, exuding an odd, discordant charm…

Their confusion was so profound, they forgot this was an inspection-based exchange.

A few scattered, hesitant applause offered some consolation.

Alas, to throw a punch and find no one to catch it—life truly is as lonely as snow!

Alpha Princess sighed deeply; the lines she’d carefully prepared and all her pretentious performances suddenly felt dull and flavorless.

Perhaps that was for the best, since her planned acts might not have made sense to these people… If she had gone all out, she might have embarrassed herself rather than impress.

She cut straight to the point: "Are these the items you’ve prepared for exchange?"

"Yes, senior, please take a look," Gu Junyuan replied politely but with pride.

He had reason to be pleased: in just over a day, he’d gathered so many resources.

Principal > Vice Principal > various directors > homeroom teachers > main subject teachers > assistant teachers… This was the perfect demonstration of his high rank in the food chain at Third Middle School.

Once this deal was done, he would have dozens of helmets at his disposal. Even if divided among two or three hundred students, each would have at least an hour of machine time per day.

This would surely boost their grades, greatly increase the university admission rate, and make this year’s exams a resounding success!

"You’re proud of your bald head, aren’t you! Is piling up the ring with junk supposed to be impressive?" Eyeing Gu Junyuan’s gleaming scalp, Alpha Princess finally erupted, turning on her dark mode, and the background music went wild.

"You think I’m a moving company? Collecting all sorts of trash and junk! Refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines—do these match my requirements in the slightest?"

"What use is an ATM? Am I opening a bank?"

"What good is a robotic vacuum? To smear dog poop?"

By the end she was nearly singing along with the music.

Gu Junyuan’s bald head lost its shine; those around him trembled, this was not what they’d expected.

Only one person remained calm—Ximen Qiong.

He seized the moment—this sharp-faced woman was a formidable bargainer!

Rubbing his handsome face, he raised his hand calmly: "Senior, um… Isn’t every appliance labeled ‘smart’ a digital product?"

‘Smart’ equals digital product? Alpha Princess was momentarily stunned, and the background music cut off.

Looking closer—he was right!

Smart TV, smart refrigerator, smart washing machine, smart robotic vacuum, smart electric toothbrush… All these bulky appliances had the ‘smart’ prefix.

This was… the fault of unscrupulous merchants before the disaster.

They could have just sold products as they were, but insisted on ‘smart upgrades’, pushing everything onto the network. A networked TV was fine, but a fridge, air conditioner, washing machine—all connected, pricier, more prone to malfunction, and they never tired of it.

From their perspective, of course—if things didn’t break, how could they sell new ones?

But now it was only hurting Alpha Princess—a bottomless pit!

"Alright, alright, there’s no explaining this to you… Simply put, these big appliances are less valuable to me than a single network camera."

"If you’d sell them at the price of a network camera, I’d take them, but I doubt you’d make such a losing deal."

Alpha Princess gave them no choice, she simply refused outright.

Why?

Because she couldn’t handle them. She could fantasize digital products, but not those fridges, air conditioners, washing machines…

Still, even though Gu Junyuan’s wide net had caught much trash, there were a few gems that caught the eye—

For example, two damaged VR holographic helmets, which could be restored with some modification;

A Google Glass, quite impressive, in some aspects even surpassing the holographic helmets—helmets for virtual immersion, but Glass for AR enhanced reality;

And a 256-terabyte NAS, matching the capacity of the F91.

This was valuable!

After all, developing virtual spaces required hardware support.

Chips could improve the efficiency of reconstructing space; hard drives could expand capacity—more precisely, usable volume.

With this NAS, she could fully materialize the unfinished parts of the big data center, or… build another building? Or open three more training grounds?

Yet, such unexpected situations were clearly unsuitable for long-term, stable transactions.

In the end, Alpha Princess unilaterally changed the rules, listing a table: from now on, exchanges would use a points system—

100 points for a helmet. 30 points for a combat account.

Phones, depending on model and craftsmanship, around 512G capacity: 40 points; 256G: about 25 points; 128G: 10 points.

Tablets and smart TVs were similar; computers and laptops required fast chips and large hard drives; robotic vacuums and electric balance scooters depended on battery count…

Other items followed suit based on quality; essentially, high-end items earned more points, low-end items fewer—for example, headphones, cameras, USB drives, power banks, often only one or two points.

This… Gu Junyuan sensed something was wrong, and wanted to bargain.

Mostly, he was confused.

Because they had no idea there was such a difference, so many intricacies!

Imagine, in an era with no 5G, 4G, 3G, or even 2G signal, where apps were extinct and there were no resources to fill space and memory.

What’s the difference between 935, 945, 985, 710, 720, 211… between 128G, 256G, 512G…? Almost none.

Thus, Redmi became genuine Xiaomi, and genuine Xiaomi became knockoff; and the indestructible Nokia, in terms of functionality, was barely inferior to a smartphone.

Only those who were internet-addicted elders before the disaster, or experts in history, could discern these differences and understand the value.

But, in a seller’s market, there was no room for bargaining.

"It’s settled then!" Alpha Princess announced unilaterally, firmly.

And so, the grand opening ended with an equally grand conclusion!

With a snap of her fingers, all confirmed exchange items vanished from the ring, leaving only a dozen holographic helmets behind.

It wasn’t entirely empty, as there remained many items Alpha Princess couldn’t accept.

The air suddenly grew quiet.

Everyone could tell the visitor wasn’t real—merely a projected illusion.

Yet, even so, she managed to whisk away such a vast pile of goods with a wave… A breathless feat! If the real Alpha Princess had come, what could she accomplish?

The more they pondered, the more terrifying it seemed!

Not someone to cross, not someone to provoke!

Especially Ximen Qiong, who had hoped to track the trader and probe her depths…

Indeed, every virtual space master was far beyond the grasp of ordinary people!

Pity they knew nothing of how Alpha Princess had managed to instantly pack and take away the exchange goods—only because… she’d crawled through the network via camera projection long ago, secretly fantasizing those items away…