Made Money

By the time Zhou Yi woke up again in her dorm bed, half of the wonderful Saturday had already passed.

The first thing she did after waking up was drink nutrient solution. It had become a habit for Zhou Yi.

The second thing was checking her balance.

210,000 Star Coins. Four neat zeroes followed the 21, and the sight left Zhou Yi feeling utterly refreshed.

"Xiao Fu, would this much money make me rich in your plane?"

Zhou Yi was getting carried away. Since arriving in this world, she had never seen so much money. Even after her parents had worked hard for so many years, the family only had a little over a thousand in savings, and that was what they had managed to save by scrimping and pinching.

"In our plane, we stopped using fragments of Primary Crystal Stones like Star Coins for transactions long ago. The smallest unit is a medium-grade crystal stone, about a quarter of a palm in size. If converted, one medium-grade crystal stone would probably be worth ten thousand Star Coins."

Zhou Yi: ...

The confidence that had just begun to swell was ruthlessly punctured before it could even take flight.

"One medium-grade crystal stone can buy one meal. Your money is enough for twenty-one meals, just enough for a week."

Like a merciless output machine, Xiao Fu continued.

"Oh, right. Given your current appetite, it would only last about three days."

This inflation was way too severe...

The corners of Zhou Yi's mouth slowly dropped, and she gradually calmed down.

It seemed she really had seen too little of the world to think that the money in her hands now was already a fortune.

The road ahead was still long.

Sensing the shift in Zhou Yi's mindset, Xiao Fu secretly rejoiced.

It would never admit that what it had just said was calculated according to the living standards of wealthy and influential families!

After being doused with several buckets of cold water and calming down, Zhou Yi went to the bathroom and took a full half-hour shower.

Before, she had not even had enough Star Coins to eat properly, so she had carefully budgeted every aspect of her life.

Now that she had money, she naturally would not keep mistreating herself.

After coming out of the bathroom, Zhou Yi changed into a clean set of clothes, dried her hair, and made a video call to Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying.

Ever since arriving at Huadun, she had been busy every day. She spent very little time in the dorm, did not even get enough sleep, and naturally never thought to call Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying.

Her dad and mom rarely contacted her either. Other than transferring five hundred Star Coins every month at a fixed time, they hardly said anything else.

Beep, beep.

The video call went unanswered for a long time.

Zhou Yi tried again, but still no one picked up.

They were probably busy. Although neither of them worked on weekends, perhaps they had something to do.

Zhou Yi did not force it. She transferred one hundred thousand Star Coins to Tang Ying through the Star Brain.

Then she left a message:

Mom, I became a Mech Master. I'm learning well. I made some little things and sold them, so I earned some money. You and Dad should hurry and move. Don't move to a C-Class Star Block again. I checked the information—move to B75 Star Block instead. The environment is good. Just handle the immigration procedures for you and Dad first. If the money isn't enough, tell me. Take care.

As the lowest-class Star Blocks, D-Class Star Blocks were extremely unstable. Leaving aside their poor living environments, they also faced the risk of dissolving at any time.

Zhou Yi had checked. Moving to a B-class Star Block required an immigration fee of thirty thousand per person.

For Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying, that came to sixty thousand. The remaining forty thousand was for moving expenses and living costs.

She had looked into it. B75 Star Block had a pleasant climate and a good environment. It had not suffered a Star Beast attack in a long time, making it a harmonious place suitable for living.

Although Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying were not Zhou Yi's parents.

Since she had taken over the original owner's body, she naturally had to take responsibility for the original owner's parents.

Besides, during the year she had been here, her dad and mom had truly treated her well.

Even if she was not their daughter, the kindness she received was real.

At the D71 Star Block landfill, Zhou Jiang tightly held his wife's hand.

Just moments ago, Tang Ying had accidentally dirtied the clothes of someone who had come to dump garbage while she was scavenging.

"Do you know how much these clothes cost? Can you afford to compensate me after dirtying them?"

Although hauling garbage was not a respectable job, it still counted as working for the government, and their lives were far better than those of these scavengers.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We'll compensate you."

Zhou Jiang pulled his terrified wife along as they repeatedly bowed and apologized to the man.

"Compensate me? You can't even scrape together the immigration fee. You're poor as dogs—what are you going to use to compensate me? Your lives?"

The man had been scolded by his superior that morning and had nowhere to vent his anger, so he refused to let the matter go.

People at the landfill slowly gathered around them. Most of those who came to scavenge were residents struggling to make ends meet or trying to save up immigration fees.

The man's words struck at everyone's sore spot.

"Could you not be so harsh? We're all from the same place."

"Yeah, who came here to pick through trash to sell unless they had no other choice?"

"Exactly! And do you even know who this couple is? Their ancestors were important people!"

Everyone spoke up for Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying.

D71 Star Block was not large to begin with, so it was not hard to find people who knew Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying. They had also heard a little about Zhou Jiang's ancestors, and now they brought it up to throw back at the garbage worker.

"Who says I'm from the same place as you? I've already saved enough to immigrate to D79 Star Block. I have 10,790 Star Coins in my account! I'm nothing like you poor bastards."

The man had taken enough abuse in his daily life, and now he was looking for a sense of superiority at the dump.

He pulled up the account balance on his Star Brain for everyone to see.

10,790.

After setting aside the 10,000 Star Coins needed to immigrate to a D-Class Star Block, he still had 790 left.

Everyone's expressions darkened.

It was true. None of them had more money than he did.

"Important people? What important people? If they had money, would they need to come pick through trash?"

The man snorted and shot Zhou Jiang a sidelong glance.

"If you've got the guts, show me your balance too."

Zhou Jiang stood ramrod straight, but his face flushed all the way to his ears, equal parts anger and humiliation.

Ever since Xiao Yi had started school, they had to send her living expenses every month. These past few months, he and his wife had not been able to save any money at all.

There were only a little over 1,500 in their account...

If life had not truly been so tight, he would never have brought his wife here and made her suffer this humiliation alongside him.

"Brother Zhou, show him."

"Yeah, Brother Zhou, show him! Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse."

"Go, Brother Zhou! What's he got to be so proud of?"

The people around them flushed as well, but with the atmosphere having reached this point, no one could bring themselves to back down. They pushed Zhou Jiang and Tang Ying right into the eye of the storm.

"I..."

Zhou Jiang had never felt so ashamed. As a man, he knew exactly how humiliating it would be to show them that balance.

But everyone had formed a circle around him, watching him with burning eyes.