Never Forget Why You Started

Buying a mecha required crystals, so she naturally couldn't sit idle. She had to hurry up and dig for stones.

Zhou Yi had originally planned to give herself a break and enjoy the weekend properly, but she almost immediately chose to go back to work.

"A worker's soul burns bright—only by working can you rise above others!"

Who would have thought that work had no end? She had worked on Earth, and now that she'd left Earth, she still had to work.

It was still early, so Zhou Yi first ran to the library warehouse and rushed to make herself a small shovel. Only then did she dash out of the school gates, shovel in hand, and head for the crystal mine.

There was still quite a while before noon, but the miners had already started work some time ago. Only a few security guards remained at the mine entrance.

"Why are you back again?"

The guards recognized Zhou Yi. Their boss, Gal, had spent a hefty sum buying tools from this little girl.

"I..."

An idea suddenly came to Zhou Yi.

"There's a small problem with the shovel I sold your boss this morning. Let me go down—I need to see him about something!"

"Wait a moment."

They all knew those shovels had cost their boss quite a bit, so the security guard didn't dare delay. He immediately made a video call to Gal.

"The boss said you can go down. Do you need me to take you there?"

The guard quickly received a reply.

"No, no, I come here all the time. I can go down myself."

Zhou Yi waved her hand and rushed into the mine with her shovel.

Time was money. The more stones she dug up, the sooner she could get her mecha.

Watching the girl's hurried retreating figure, the security guard began to feel uneasy instead.

How serious could the problem with that shovel be for her to be in such a rush...

A long staircase led down into the mine, and the lighting was poor. Normally, the front of the team would carry lamps.

But Zhou Yi's night vision made that unnecessary. Taking the steps two or three at a time, she bounced all the way down underground.

Gal watched Zhou Yi hop down step by step.

The faster she came down, the colder his heart became.

It's over, it's over, it's over. Something happened.

That was the only thought in Gal's mind.

The shovels had already been rented out. He didn't know whether they could still be returned after being used.

"Hello, we meet again. Can I go in and mine now?"

"Mine... mine?"

Gal, who had already prepared himself for terrible news, failed to react for a moment.

"Ah, yes. My uncle asked me to test the new shovel and see whether it works well."

Zhou Yi waved the shovel in her hand.

"So there's nothing wrong with the shovel?"

"Nothing's wrong. Sorry, I might not have explained myself clearly to the guard outside."

Zhou Yi smiled apologetically. It was fine if she told a few harmless lies herself, but she didn't want to drag an innocent person outside into it.

"Phew... You scared me to death."

Gal let out a long breath.

"Go test it, then. But there really aren't many people like you—coming back to work without fearing hardship right after making a big sum of money."

Gal sighed. This little girl was truly hardworking.

"Never forget why you started," Zhou Yi said with a smile.

When people worked toward a goal, they found more strength.

Thinking about the mecha she wanted, Zhou Yi felt even more motivated than she had while mining over the past two days.

When she had been making shovels, all she could think about was ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand.

But when Zhou Yi mined, all she could think about was mecha, mecha, mecha.

Even though she hadn't worked eight hours yet today, she dug up more than usual—twenty-five crystals in total.

When they settled up that evening, Zhou Yi left only five crystals in the cart and stored the other twenty in her spatial storage.

"Only five? Then I can only count that as five bottles of Nutrient Solution for you."

When Gal settled the payment, he saw that Zhou Yi had only mined five crystals. He clearly remembered that last time, this little girl had dug up even more than the men.

"I was testing the shovel, so I was a little slower. No rush."

That made sense. After all, she had just earned such a large sum, so she truly wasn't in a hurry to make money. Gal understood at once.

Gal rented out the shovels he had just acquired today to the miners on credit.

The miners who rented shovels only needed to pay three extra stones as rent during settlement. In other words, three vials of Nutrient Solution rented a shovel for a day—a very worthwhile deal.

After all, nearly every one of the eleven miners renting shovels had dug up more than twenty pieces of Crystal Ore. Even after paying an extra three, they still earned far more than usual.

Seeing those people with more stones than a single cart could hold, the others were so envious their eyes turned red, and they all stared at the shovels.

Gal naturally saw all of this. He had never expected the shovels the little girl brought over to improve efficiency so dramatically. Their performance was practically on par with those expensive Mechanical Shovels.

"Does your uncle have any more shovels? I'll take however many he has!"

Gal pulled Zhou Yi aside and spoke with him after all the settlements had been completed.

The profits were right in front of him. The shovels could improve the miners' efficiency while also bringing in rental fees, and he would still retain ownership and be able to take them away at any time in the future. Even an idiot knew this was a business worth continuing!

Gal even planned to buy more and resell them at a markup to the managers of other D-rank Crystal Ore mines.

"Um... shovels of this quality are already sold out. My uncle said he won't be making any more. There's only the improved version left, and those cost twenty thousand each. Do you want them?"

Not only did Zhou Yi still have over a hundred thousand Star Coins in his account, he had also gained twenty crystal stones in his ring. He was feeling absolutely delighted.

He had made a net profit of twenty crystal stones from mining. As for making and selling shovels, even if he worked all day, he could only make ten at most—for a hundred thousand Star Coins.

No matter how he looked at it, working for someone else was still more profitable!

Having tasted the benefits of working, Zhou Yi was a little reluctant to make the small shovels anymore. He immediately raised the price on the spot. Whether Gal bought them or not was up to the curly-haired big brother himself.

"There's an improved version too?"

Gal was thrilled. Twenty thousand Star Coins did not discourage him in the least.

After all, the current quality of the shovels was already comparable to Mechanical Shovels worth thirty thousand Star Coins.

If the improved version was even more refined, then he could completely accept paying twenty thousand for one!

"Alright! Give me twenty first! I'll pay you your commission upfront."

Twenty shovels came to four hundred thousand Star Coins.

A ten percent commission meant four hundred vials of Nutrient Solution.

Gal carried over an enormous box of Nutrient Solution from the side.

"There are five hundred vials in here. Please ask your uncle to make them as quickly as possible."

Businessmen really did think big and throw money around. Just to build a good relationship with Zhou Yi, he casually gave away a hundred vials of Nutrient Solution.

Zhou Yi thought, Sure enough, everyone needs to have a skill. The ancients truly did not deceive us.

"I'll deliver them next week."

"Deal!"

Fortunately, each vial of Nutrient Solution was small, so Zhou Yi could still carry this box.

To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, Zhou Yi hugged the large box all the way back to school.

"You're back. What are you carrying there?"

The security guard already knew Zhou Yi and greeted him.

"This is..."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment.

Saying it was five hundred vials of Nutrient Solution sounded far too much like flaunting wealth.

"My earnings from labor."