Grab with Both Hands

Sunday was another day of frantic work. Since he could not mine from Monday to Friday, naturally, making shovels had to be left for the evenings after school.

Since Zhou Yi had raised the price by claiming he would only sell better shovels, he had not been talking nonsense.

After using them for the past few days, Zhou Yi had indeed found several small areas that could be improved.

When selecting materials, Zhou Yi had also chosen a less battered mech as raw material, and his workmanship and polishing had become more refined.

Maybe having money in his pocket had made him bolder.

He truly did not want to keep using that set of shabby tools he had picked up. Gritting his teeth, Zhou Yi placed an order for a set of Mech Master tools on Star Net—the Alliance Mall.

He bought a mid-tier set, which cost him a full thirty thousand Star Coins.

When he paid, Zhou Yi deeply understood what it meant for his heart to bleed.

Fortunately, Star Net's delivery service was excellent. He placed the order in the classroom that morning, and after school, they contacted him to pick up the package at the entrance.

Mid-tier tools were considered quite good. At the very least, they could be used on any mech below S-rank.

At Huadun, even the mech instructors used only the most basic Mech Master tools.

After all, the highest-ranked mech Huadun currently possessed was only B-rank.

Using mid-tier tools to make little shovels was complete overkill.

Zhou Yi ran his hand over the brand-new set of tools, feeling extremely pleased.

With the boost from his new tools, Zhou Yi made shovels even faster. He started in the warehouse after school and worked until late at night.

Zhou Yi could make seven little shovels in one night.

By Friday, Zhou Yi had made a total of thirty-six shovels.

As usual, Zhou Yi got up early on Saturday morning and went to the mine. At first glance, he spotted Gal waiting for him, then opened the large pack on his back and began unloading the goods.

Gal picked up a little shovel and examined it, nodding in satisfaction as he did.

Whether it was the workmanship, the design, or even the material, they were noticeably different from the previous batch.

Worth it!

Over the past week, everyone had scrambled desperately for the usage rights to the eleven shovels he had bought. The miners had even raised the price on their own, driving the rental cost of a shovel up to five crystals a day.

If Zhou Yi had known, he definitely would have sighed that even competition had made its way into the universe.

Gal did not know what competition was. He was simply very happy.

And after seeing the quality of the shovels Zhou Yi had brought, he became even happier.

When Zhou Yi stopped after taking out twenty shovels, Gal glanced at the bag, which clearly still held more inside.

"Take out the ones you accidentally packed too. I'll take them all!"

"Sure!"

Zhou Yi liked how quick-witted Curly-haired Bro was.

The short five-minute transaction went smoothly. Zhou Yi had another seven hundred thousand Star Coins in his account. Adding what he had earned before and subtracting what he had spent, Zhou Yi now had a total of seven hundred and eighty thousand Star Coins.

He could properly be considered a rich man now, though he was still a little short of the mech he wanted.

"What? Are you testing shovels again today?"

Seeing that Zhou Yi showed no sign of leaving, Gal asked.

"Just earning some pocket money. Mainly because I really eat too much."

He was a producer, a seller, and a laborer all at once. Little Zhou truly worked hard to make money.

"Sure. There aren't many mining days left anyway."

Having one more miner was a good thing, so naturally Gal did not object.

"What do you mean there aren't many mining days left?"

Zhou Yi felt that something was off about Gal's words.

"This mine has been dug for too long and too deep. It could collapse at any time. Our guild decided to temporarily seal the mine after next week."

Since they had done business several times and could be considered acquaintances, Gal explained a little more.

!!

Zhou Yi was stunned. What was going on? He had not saved enough money yet, and the mine was going to be sealed?

There was only one week left? His treasure basin was about to disappear?

Zhou Yi's heart was bleeding.

Look at how pathetic you are. It's not like there aren't any other mines.

Xiao Fu, who had been resting, suddenly sensed Zhou Yi's emotional fluctuations, woke up, and said.

"Can I secretly take things out of the other mines?"

A sliver of hope flared up in Zhou Yi again as he communicated silently with Xiao Fu.

No. I checked. The star ore on D72 Star Block is the lowest grade, and the person in charge manages it the most loosely, which is why you were able to exploit the loophole. At other mines, even low-quality crystal mines have spatial detection equipment at the entrance. Your ring can't be brought in.

As a professional high-intelligence support device, Xiao Fu had already looked up the information.

"Then what was the point of telling me all this? Were you deliberately trying to upset me?"

Yes.

The tears in Zhou Yi's heart flowed even more fiercely.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

The little girl before him suddenly went blank and stopped speaking, giving Gal quite a scare.

"I'm fine. I just... can't bear to part with our mine."

Glistening tears slipped from the corners of Zhou Yi's eyes. These were the most sincere tears she had ever shed—she truly couldn't bear to part with all that money she had yet to earn.

The little girl's emotions didn't seem fake, and even Gal was moved. He patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder.

After learning that the mine would be sealed in a little over a week, Zhou Yi became even more motivated at work.

Back on Earth, she had been an office drone too, but she had never felt this passionate about working.

Sure enough, whether one loved working or not depended entirely on whether the pay was high enough.

When Zhou Yi made the shovels, she made an extra one for herself. She only took it out after entering the mine tunnel alone.

Zhou Yi had put much more thought into this shovel. Its materials were of the best quality, and she had spent more time on its design as well.

The pointed shovel could not only extend and retract, but also split into two sections in the middle. Its upper half could turn into a sword.

The other small shovels were all silver, while this one alone was gold. It was not only the most convenient tool to use, but could also serve as a weapon.

Zhou Yi had not taken out this special shovel earlier.

After all, selling it for twenty thousand would definitely be a loss, while Gal might not be able to sell it for thirty thousand. There was no need to take it out and make things difficult for him—or create unnecessary trouble for herself.

After gaining access to Star Net, Zhou Yi had developed a clearer understanding of interstellar prices and a better grasp of where her advantage in selling goods lay.

Over the course of the day, perhaps because she worked too hard and stayed focused, or perhaps because her tools had been upgraded, Zhou Yi dug up a full thirty-two crystal stones and kept twenty-two for herself.

Without the excuse of testing the shovel anymore, it would have been rather unjustifiable not to hand over a full ten crystal stones.

For the following week, Zhou Yi reported in on time every morning and kept digging until night.

Yes, even on weekends.

Zhou Yi skipped class.

There were plenty of students at Huadun who skipped class. Even when Zhou Yi had not listened during lectures before, she had never skipped them.

But this time, time was too tight. There was only a short week left.

It was like being told that the streets were covered in money, but you only had one week to pick it up. Anyone would skip work or class to collect it.

Anyone who didn't pick up the money was an idiot.