"Brother Wu, you’re amazing! You sold 5,000 bags of rice in one go."
Xu Fei held the purchase contract that Wu Jun had just brought back from the Industrial and Commercial Bank, still "warm" to the touch. Her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, her gaze full of admiration for him.
To land an order worth over a million while running such a small supermarket... in Xu Fei’s eyes, Wu Jun was like Superman.
"This is just the beginning," Wu Jun said with a smile. "There will be even bigger orders than this in the future."
"Mhm, I think so too," Xu Fei said, nodding. "Our Hongyun Rice isn’t just delicious, it’s also affordable. It’s definitely going to be sold all over the country someday."
Wu Jun chuckled. "You sure know how to dream big."
’At the game’s current level, he could produce a maximum of 100 tons of rice per day. Over 365 days a year, that’s just over 30,000 tons—not even 40,000.’
’With a national population of 1.6 billion consuming nearly 200 million tons of grain annually, his few tens of thousands of tons wouldn’t even make a ripple in the grand scheme of things.’
’Forget the whole country, just look at Shimen City alone. With a population of over ten million, it consumed about 1.5 million tons of rice annually. His few tens of thousands of tons, while sounding impressive, were really just a drop in the bucket.’
’Still, if he sold all those tens of thousands of tons, he could make several hundred million a year.’
’The game was still in its early stages, and being able to generate an annual income of several hundred million already put him ahead of 99.9% of the country’s population. Wu Jun felt quite content with that.’
’Once the game leveled up and he unlocked new resources, that income would surely double again.’
’As the game leveled up, the new resources he unlocked should get progressively better.’
’It wouldn’t make sense for the resources to get crappier as the game level increased. If that were the case, what would be the point of leveling up? He might as well just sell rice for the rest of his life.’
"Brother Wu, look at this clause." Xu Fei, who had been looking over the contract, suddenly held it out to Wu Jun with a frown. "It says here that if we default, we have to pay them double the order value as a penalty. Who puts in a clause like that?"
"It’s fine. That clause might as well not exist." Wu Jun wasn’t concerned. ’Who in their right mind would default on a contract when there’s good money to be made? It would ruin your reputation and cost you a fortune. Completely unnecessary.’
He had five days to fulfill the order, which was plenty of time, so Wu Jun wasn’t in a rush to arrange for delivery just yet.
His dad’s surgery was at two o’clock this afternoon. Compared to that, everything else had to take a backseat.
Without even stopping for lunch, Wu Jun locked the contract in the safe in his bedroom, said a quick goodbye to Xu Fei, and left again, taking a taxi to City First Hospital.
At two in the afternoon, Wu Guangqiang was wheeled into the operating room.
In the corridor outside the operating room, his mother’s brothers and sisters were all there, some sitting, some standing. Not a single one was missing.
Ma Siyu and Dong Lizhu had also broken the ice, exchanging a few lukewarm words.
His second uncle, Wu Guangkun, who had never traveled far in his entire life and had only been to the county town a few times, had uncharacteristically taken the bus to the city today.
Wu Guangkun couldn’t read, so he couldn’t find the bus stop signs. He didn’t speak Mandarin, which made taking a taxi difficult. Wu Jun had to take a cab to the bus station to pick him up and bring him to the hospital.
"Jun, reimburse me for this bus ticket first. I won’t have enough for the trip back otherwise." Wu Guangkun pulled Wu Jun aside and quietly handed him the ticket he was clutching.
"Uncle, take this for now." Wu Jun pulled out all the cash he had on him and stuffed it into the pocket of Wu Guangkun’s jacket.
"Alright! My boy Jun always looks out for his uncle." Wu Guangkun clapped Wu Jun on the shoulder, then turned and headed to the stairwell to count his new cash.
There was nothing Wu Jun could do about his thoughtless second uncle, so he just let him be.
Last year, a matchmaker had tried to set him up and asked him to come to the city to meet someone, but he had stubbornly refused.
The fact that he was concerned enough about his dad to make the trip from his hometown this time was a rare occurrence indeed.
The surgery lasted for over six hours. It wasn’t until eight-thirty at night that the doors to the operating room opened and Wu Guangqiang was wheeled out.
The group that had been waiting outside the whole time swarmed forward. Wu Guangqiang, who had been in a coma for over two months, was finally awake.
"Dongmei... Siyu... Jun..." Wu Guangqiang’s eyes were barely open, but he recognized the three people dearest to him and called out their names in a hoarse voice.
"Brother-in-law, it’s me! It’s Siyu! You recognize me! This is wonderful, wonderful!" Ma Siyu grabbed Wu Guangqiang’s hand, shouting excitedly.
Ma Dongmei wept with joy. "Guangqiang, you’re finally awake! We’ve waited so long for this day! Heaven is watching over our family, watching over you."
Wu Jun took his father’s hand, tears in his eyes, and asked, "Dad... why am I third? Are you sure you’re fully awake? I’m your son, you know."
Ma Siyu shoved Wu Jun aside. "Get lost. You’re lucky you even made the list."
The antics of this pair of clowns made everyone laugh through their tears, instantly lightening the mood.
Wu Guangqiang was only lucid for a short while before he fell unconscious again. The doctor said this was a normal reaction and asked the family not to be too loud and to let him rest.
After the nurse wheeled Wu Guangqiang into his room, Wu Jun took the group of relatives to a restaurant outside the hospital for a big meal, ordering a whole table full of dishes.
After dinner, the group dispersed at the restaurant entrance, and everyone headed home.
Wu Jun found a nearby hotel for his second uncle, Wu Guangkun, to stay in. Then he and Ma Siyu returned to the hospital room and stayed until midnight before taking separate taxis home.
It was already 12:30 AM when Wu Jun got back to the small supermarket. He took out his keys, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.
’Dad’s surgery was a success, and he’s regained consciousness. But he’ll have to stay in the hospital for a while longer for rehabilitative therapy.’
’The next steps were simple: work hard, make more and more money, and let his parents live a good life, enjoying their years in comfort.’
’That scene in the stairwell a month ago, with his mother and Xu Xiulan, had a huge impact on him.’
’He still remembered how intense his desire for money had been that day.’
’Look to the money, and earn it thick. That was how he’d stay true to his mission and never forget why he started, right?’
As he entered, he saw that there were only a few bags of rice left in the supermarket. Although sales had been average the past few days, this handful of bags wouldn’t be enough.
Entering his bedroom, Wu Jun took out the phone linked to "Resource Tycoon." He unlocked the screen with his fingerprint, opened the "Resource Tycoon" app, and prepared to withdraw the rice the supermarket would need for tomorrow.
Game Name: Resource Tycoon
Bound User: Wu Jun, Male, 27 years old.
Current Main City Level: 1.
Current Population Capacity: 100.
Current Resources: 0 mu of paddy fields.
Current Product: Rice.
Current Production: 0 tons of rice/day.
Current Population: 1 Farmer. (Summonable)
Account Balance: 0 Gold Coins.
Inventory: None.
Seeing his in-game personal information, Wu Jun thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed them and looked again, but nothing had changed.
’What is going on?!’
The anomaly in the game caught Wu Jun completely off guard. His hand holding the phone began to tremble from extreme anxiety, as if he had Parkinson’s.
Suddenly, Wu Jun noticed about ten unread notifications in the message box on the right side of the game screen.
’The game had suddenly ended up like this; maybe the answer was in these messages.’
He opened the first message: [Attention, City Lord Wu Jun. As of today, in-game resource production has reached 200 tons. The "Resource Guardian" mission will commence tonight at 00:00. Beasts will attack the main city at that time. Please prepare in advance to avoid unnecessary losses. A successful defense will be rewarded.]
There were ten messages in a row, all of them announcing that the "Resource Guardian" event was about to start and warning Wu Jun to prepare.
He clicked on the second-to-last message: [City Lord Wu Jun, the first "Resource Guardian" mission has failed. 9 Farmers killed, 10 mu of paddy fields destroyed, 138 tons of inventory plundered. Main city is 99% damaged, but not yet breached.]
The last message read: [The next "Resource Guardian" mission will begin this Sunday at midnight. If all residents are killed and the main city is breached, the current City Lord will be forcibly unbound.]
After reading the last message, Wu Jun broke out in a cold sweat.
’He was raking in money hand over fist and had just signed a contract for over a million with the Industrial and Commercial Bank. If he were forcibly unbound, he’d be sent right back to square one. There wouldn’t even be a place for him to cry!’
’Not a single grain of rice was left of the 138 tons of inventory. All the farmland he had developed in the game was destroyed, and only one Farmer remained. The total loss this time was around 1.6 million.’
’A whole month of hard work had gone down the drain, sending him right back to where he started.’
Wu Jun tossed the phone linked to "Resource Tycoon" onto the bed and flopped down after it, a look of utter despair on his face.