Chapter 80: The Launch of Money-Making Plan B

“Old appliances for sale! Phones, computers, portable music players, refrigerators, electric stoves, washing machines—anything and everything, we collect it all. Unused or broken appliances, we recycle them. Don’t miss your chance as you pass by!” Early in the morning, the crisp voice echoed through the residential district of Maple City.

Zhuang Xiaoyuan drove a battered four-wheeled cargo electric vehicle along the somewhat desolate street. The clear, ringing voice came from the loudspeaker on her car roof, while its owner sat leisurely inside, carefully steering the once-discarded electric vehicle.

Yesterday, after uploading the improved blueprint for the fourth-generation propulsion device of the armored suit to the bounty poster, Zhuang Xiaoyuan quickly received a reward of one hundred thousand yuan. Inspired by her newfound method of making money, she entered the research institute's forum and opened a paid thread under its classified section.

She uploaded all the weapon and equipment blueprints she recalled, ones that were relatively easy to improve and could be independently manufactured by humans at this stage. Each blueprint was priced between ten thousand and one hundred thousand, depending on its type and power. To prevent others from assuming she was a scammer and deleting the thread, she even posted two improved weapon blueprints for free.

These prices truly were a bargain, a clearance sale like no other. Originally, Zhuang Xiaoyuan had intended to upload them for free, but as she was desperately short of money and her ambitions had shrunk with her poverty, she had no choice but to label them with prices—still, ten thousand to one hundred thousand was almost like giving them away.

Yesterday’s bounty had already been credited, but the paid thread she opened afterward had yet to attract any visitors. Besides, cultivating as a Divine Gear Warrior required money in many ways, and she would never complain about having too much. So Zhuang Xiaoyuan continued with her plan, using her Guardian’s transformation ability to earn a living.

“Hey, young lady, over here, come on!” After crossing two intersections, finally an aunt called out to Zhuang Xiaoyuan. Hearing the prospect of business, she maneuvered her electric vehicle over.

“Sister, are you looking to sell any appliances?” She opened the door and jumped down, her words as sweet as honey, immediately addressing the woman as “sister.”

“Oh, you silly child, saying such honest things. Old Luo, I’m old enough to be your mother. Here, see if these are worth collecting. They’ve been broken for years, and I couldn’t bear to throw them out. Now that I heard you’re collecting broken appliances, I figured I’d bring them out.” The aunt’s face bloomed with a radiant smile at Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s address—no matter the era, women always enjoyed being praised, especially when the praise came from someone of Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s age.

“I’ll take them, any and all appliances. Sister, do you have a price in mind for selling them?” Following the aunt’s gesture, Zhuang Xiaoyuan saw a small pile of appliances leaning against the wall behind her: a washing machine, an old refrigerator, an electric heater, and a television that had clearly seen many years. In this era, hardly anyone used televisions anymore; computers had replaced them.

“You’re such an honest kid, letting the sellers name their own price. Aren’t you afraid of getting the short end of the stick? Lucky you met me. Five hundred for all of it.” The aunt praised her with a smile, but when it came to price, she didn’t hesitate to quote a rather high figure.

“All right, no problem. That’s the price, then. I trust you wouldn’t cheat me, sister.” Though five hundred was a bit steep compared to market rates, Zhuang Xiaoyuan didn’t mind. She wasn’t collecting these appliances merely to sell their power modules; she intended to make a fortune selling them at the secondhand market.

After easily completing her first transaction, Zhuang Xiaoyuan loaded the appliances, got back in the driver’s seat, turned on the loudspeaker, and continued her route. Time flew by; by noon, when Zhuang Xiaoyuan returned to her dormitory building, her battered electric vehicle was full of assorted old appliances.

“Xiaoyuan, is this what you managed to collect all morning? What are you planning to do with all this junk? By the way, I didn’t realize my old electric vehicle still worked!” Just as she parked in front of the dorm, Feng Guoqing walked over, looking puzzled at the heap of broken appliances.

“Uncle Feng, thank you for giving me the vehicle. It works perfectly now!” She ignored the earlier question—not out of secrecy, but because it would be troublesome to explain, and besides, Feng Guoqing wasn’t seeking an answer, just expressing concern in passing.

Zhuang Xiaoyuan thanked him while answering his latter question. The vehicle had been completely unusable when she asked Feng Guoqing for it this morning, but once it was in her hands, it worked again, thanks to the new character card she created yesterday.

“No need to thank your Uncle Feng. Come on, it’s lunchtime—I’ll treat you to a meal.” He patted Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s head, interrupting her gratitude, and pulled her toward the cafeteria.

“Uncle Feng, you’re not busy lately? You still have time to treat me to lunch?” She obediently followed him, asking as they walked. As for the heap of old appliances, she simply left them there. After all, this was a military-managed district; even in a residential area, no one would bother taking such junk.

“I’ve already finished most of the preparations for winter. Finally, I have some free time, though there are still a few things left—nothing urgent…” As their voices faded into the distance and their figures receded—one tall, one short—they seemed as warm as father and daughter.

“Well, I’m full. Time to get to work.” After lunch with Feng Guoqing, he returned to finish his final tasks, while Zhuang Xiaoyuan headed back to her dormitory building, with a full load of old appliances waiting for her.

Back in her room, she found a ragged towel and a bucket, then headed downstairs to start cleaning the exteriors of the appliances. The dusty machines gradually revealed their original, intact appearances under her care.

Most of the appliances maintained complete exteriors, with only a few showing obvious damage. She set aside the visibly damaged ones and grouped the intact ones together, pouring out the dirty water from cleaning. At last, Zhuang Xiaoyuan was ready to begin her real work.

“To think I haven’t used the third card yet, and now I’m going to use the fourth.” She pulled out the newly created character card from the nebula vortex at her chest, gazed at the image of the girl in black and red, and raised the card high: “Divine Arsenal—Divine Descent Transformation.”

Golden light burst forth from the card, enveloping her entire body. In the next moment, as the radiance shattered into a shower of golden particles, a girl stepped out from within: silver-white hair pinned up in the back with two wooden hairpins, dressed in a revealing black and red combat suit, skin a healthy bronze shade compared to ordinary people.