The Most Powerful Brain in the Interstellar Space

Chapter 307 Bulk Procurement
In fact, Jiang Hui had only recently come into contact with mecha, and her knowledge of mecha materials was limited to what she knew in books. To say that she was incredibly skilled and could select the most suitable materials from a wide variety of options was simply absurd; even she herself couldn't believe it.

It's called "selecting," but it's really just picking things out of the box. If something looks like it, you pick it up and throw it into the basket, then wait a while to settle the bill.

Then she could slowly pick out what to use after buying it. After all, things here were really cheap, sold by weight, practically junk. Most items were still 30-60% new, perfect for a newbie like her to practice. Although it was her first time here, Jiang Hui already understood why everyone was crowding around.

So in one morning, Jiang Hui was already quite excited about shopping. She made several trips and filled four or five shopping baskets.

Even at scrap prices, this would be worth tens of thousands of interstellar coins. However, there was a little bit of everything in it, and she even picked up some things she didn't need right now as a backup. It seemed that Jiang Hui wouldn't have to worry about running out of materials for a long time—she didn't think about whether she would actually be able to use them in the future.

Everything was going smoothly today, but then someone inexplicably pushed Jiang Hui from behind, causing her to fall on a pile of unwanted items in a corner, almost running over her leg.

Unexpectedly, she tripped and fell, unable to find her way back, and got stuck in the crowd. Jiang Hui had to wait at the stall for a while, and out of boredom, she picked up some small items. After a long while, she finally managed to slip out through a gap in the crowd. Thinking about it now, her hands and legs still hurt.

Jiang Hui, feeling somewhat resentful, carried the several shopping baskets that had been put together and followed the flow of people toward the checkout area.

The materials for the mecha are quite large, so the storage baskets will definitely have a lot of internal space. To facilitate bulk purchases by customers, these baskets can be bundled together and then reassembled into individual baskets at the front desk for checkout.

However, perhaps due to a problem with the technical algorithm, although the items inside were folded using space-saving technology, the weight of the outer baskets themselves was not reduced. Several baskets stuck together were incredibly heavy, making her arms ache. In addition, there were quite a few people, and Jiang Hui almost got pushed out of the crowd several times, basket and all.

God knows how many people there are? She now truly believes that 'people can be crushed to death when they are packed together'.

Jiang Hui carried her things from the busiest area and squeezed her way to the checkout counter, nearly having her heart stop beating several times from the crush.

As they approached the checkout counter, Jiang Hui breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Suddenly, someone tugged at the handle of the shopping basket on her arm. Jiang Hui immediately looked over warily, with a fierce feeling like a tiger having its prey snatched away.

Upon seeing who it was, Jiang Hui's expression relaxed slightly; it was Huan Xian.

The other person nodded to her and then helped her lift the shopping basket up a bit, as if to help her carry it.

Jiang Hui wasn't that weak; she had undergone military training and carrying heavy things was no problem for her. She had just been squeezed and jostled by the crowd, making her look rather disheveled. Although she didn't need the other person's help carrying things, the way they switched hands seemed to ease the tension in the huddled crowd around her a little.

She was finally able to carry the basket normally, no longer being jostled and pushed around like before, with the basket stuck in mid-air. Jiang Hui thanked the other person and took the basket back.

Although the other person was also queuing here, there was no shopping basket in their hands or on their person. They were queuing here empty-handed, not like they were going to pay, but rather like they came specifically to... find her? However, Huan Xian did not say anything about this, and just continued to walk with the flow of people.

When it came time to settle the bill for Jiang Hui, watching her struggle to empty several baskets full of stuff, the other party came over to help pack the items.

She had so much stuff that the scales were almost tipped over; it was even more than Jiang Hui had estimated. The young lady supervising the checkout looked at her with a slightly different expression, as if she were some kind of spendthrift, making her feel quite embarrassed and wondering if she had bought too much.

However, the rule here is that once something is put into the basket, it cannot be put back. So you have to be careful when you are shopping, otherwise there may be disputes at the checkout counter.

Fortunately, Jiang Hui's wallet was fairly well-stocked; the pile of items cost around ten thousand yuan, and the entire checkout process was smooth without any unexpected issues. The only problem was that there were simply too many items; even using the large storage buttons, it took several piles to fit them all in.

In the end, it was only with Huan Xian's help that the two were able to complete the payment and leave relatively quickly.

Huan Xian didn't ask her why she bought so many mecha materials, but only reminded her, "You bought too much. It's not easy to return items from places like this if they don't fit."

Jiang Hui's shopping trip exceeded her budget, but she didn't feel like she had made an impulsive purchase. The only problem was the sheer quantity of the items; in terms of price, it wasn't even half the regular price of something she'd asked about at the mecha repair shop.

However, food, clothing, housing, and transportation are relatively cheap in interstellar space. Unawakened individuals even receive subsidies for attending school, and students might not even need a few hundred interstellar coins a month if they don't make any extra spending. Her behavior of spending tens of thousands of coins without earning much is indeed a bit crazy.

But researching this kind of thing is inherently expensive and labor-intensive, and Jiang Hui can't expect to become a talent simply by studying in a mental space. Learning materials and such will definitely take a while; that's the bare minimum cost…

Jiang Hui felt that she must have been stimulated by the exorbitant prices of the repair shop, and had even lost her normal consumption sense, actually thinking that tens of thousands of interstellar coins were quite cheap.

Jiang Hui thought Huan Xian would ask a few more questions after seeing this, but to her surprise, Huan Xian only objectively said what he had just said before reminding her that if she was going to bring these things back to school, she must make sure to check whether they contained any prohibited items, otherwise she would lose points when she returned to school for inspection.

Jiang Hui hadn't thought of that before, but Huan Xian reminded her.

The school did indeed have an entire page displaying various hazardous materials and radiation-related tools. The items she had just picked out were of all types, some of which Jiang Hui herself didn't understand their purpose. These items might be on the school's prohibited list, and if she didn't deal with them and brought them all back to school, she might become a new celebrity during the next school inspection.

It seems she'll have to go to the automated sorting station later and have the machine help her sort out the prohibited items, and also categorize them.

(End of this chapter)