In a frigid apocalypse, I went on a shopping spree with the reborn.

Instead of being returned, the transaction coins flew out of the computer and into a small, shiny bottle.

It contained a tiny bit of pale blue liquid, which looked very dreamy and beautiful. The bottle opening was sealed with a cork.

Perhaps because the previous owner had already appraised it, and Jiang Qingyue had bought it with trading coins, she obtained the information about the small bottle as soon as she got it, so there was no need for further appraisal.

Special item: Constitution potion, serial number 8293.

8: Originated from the Eighth Experimental Zone.

2: Increase two points of physical fitness.

9: A total of nine were deployed in this area.

3: You are the third recipient.

Jiang Qingyue stared at the serial number for a moment, then asked, "Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi, how can this serial number change?"

Before the transaction, she remembered that the serial number of the physique potion was 8292, and now the last digit had changed from two to three.

[The last digit will change depending on the number of transactions.]

Jiang Qingyue nodded, then suddenly had a question: "Xiaoyi, you said before that the largest number is nine. What if it exceeds nine times? Will the sequence number revert to one, or will it become a five-digit number?"

[It could become a five- or even six-digit number. If a special item changes hands too many times—whether stolen, given away, or traded—and each time it changes hands without being used before falling into the hands of another, the serial number at the end will increment by one.]

Jiang Qingyue understood: "In other words, if it changes hands many times, the serial number of a special item may become five, six, or even more digits."

Of course, this is not important.

The most important number is actually the second one, which adds points and represents the quality of this special item.

The third number represents the degree of rarity.

Jiang Qingyue carefully put away the constitution-enhancing potion, not in a hurry to take it. Looking at the nine trading coins she had left, she realized that this amount wouldn't buy her anything particularly good, but browsing around and broadening her horizons was still worthwhile.

With plenty of time left before the hour was up, Jiang Qingyue opened up many more people's stalls.

These people were selling a wide variety of things; it was unclear whether they hadn't obtained any special items or were simply unwilling to trade them. The most common items on everyone's stalls were food, warm clothing, and water.

She didn't know how other people's transactions were going.

Almost an hour had passed, and when she opened her stall again, she hadn't sold a single one of her ten items.

Even if it was just a trial run to test the waters and probe the market, this result still surprised her.

As soon as an hour was up, the ten items that Jiang Qingyue had put up for sale flew out of the personal terminal.

At the same time, a notification popped up on the computer: The trading area has been closed. The next opening time is August 1st.

After the channel was closed, the section that belonged exclusively to the trading area also disappeared.

"Sigh." Jiang Qingyue sighed helplessly, "I wanted to take a look some more, but unfortunately, there's not enough time."

She couldn't help but complain: "When I was little, my grandma told me that in the past, there was a big market in the countryside once a week."

"That's good, only once a month, and for only one hour."

The key point is that when you enter this trading area, you don't see a dazzling array of goods, but rather a list of names; you have to click on them to see what's there.

I often click on something, only to find it's not what I want, and then I have to switch to the next one, which wastes a lot of my time.

After complaining for a while, Jiang Qingyue quickly grabbed the constitution-enhancing potion next to her.

"Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi, should I drink this constitution-enhancing potion directly, or should I click the plus sign next to the overall index?"

[Master, this can be drunk directly. Among special items, those that are edible are generally eaten directly.]

As soon as Xiao Yi finished speaking, Jiang Qingyue uncorked the bottle and downed it in one gulp.

"Huh?" Her eyes lit up. "Strawberry flavored."

Surprisingly, this constitution-enhancing potion tastes pretty good; it's sweet and tastes almost like a beverage.

As soon as I drank it, I felt a warm sensation in my stomach.

The warmth spread from my stomach to every part of my body, and it grew hotter and hotter.

"That's awesome?" Jiang Qingyue kicked off the blanket covering her.

After waiting for a while, I found it was still hot, so I took off my cotton-padded coat again.

After waiting a while, I found it was still hot, and sweat was starting to seep from my hair.

"These 350 transaction coins were really well spent." She smiled and quickly took off her thermal underwear.

I was only wearing a thin set of thermal underwear, and that made the temperature feel just right.

I took out a thermometer and checked the temperature. With both stoves burning brightly, the indoor temperature is now -7 degrees Celsius.

"Hiss." Jiang Qingyue was so shocked that she couldn't close her mouth.

This is different from adding nine points of luck before. Luck has little to do with physique or strength, and you can't feel any change after adding it.

Although my physical condition only improved by two points this time, the effect was immediate.

Looking at the shelter door: "Minus seven degrees Celsius, for me right now, it's like early autumn."

"If you wear a padded coat and trousers, and put on a fur coat, can you go outside for a walk?"

Without hesitation, Jiang Qingyue quickly put her thermal underwear, cotton-padded clothes, and other outerwear back on.

After getting out of bed, I thought to myself, "It's better to be on the safe side."

She then took out the hat with ear flaps and put it on, along with her gloves.

This way, apart from the eyes, there is no skin exposed.

After checking and making sure it was properly secured, they opened the door to the shelter.

As soon as it was opened, a blast of icy air rushed in, even though the tent was blocking the wind.

Inside the tent, Jiang Qingyue assessed the situation and said, "It's alright."

It felt like wearing short sleeves and shorts on a rainy autumn day. It was cold, but still within a tolerable range.

More confident in her physical condition, she opened the tent and tentatively stuck out one foot.

She wasn't wearing professional cold-weather gear, but rather thick, fur-lined boots, which she had worn before and almost froze to death.

Now, I no longer feel that near-death sensation of losing consciousness instantly. I am still cold, but it's bearable.

Slowly, she stretched out her feet and hands, and finally her whole body came out of the tent.

After moving around and experimenting for a bit, they returned to the shelter.

It's confirmed. As long as you don't expose your skin, even without wearing professional cold-weather gear, just wearing a fur coat and not getting wet, you can stay for two hours without any problem.

"This physique-enhancing potion is amazing!" Jiang Qingyue looked at the empty little bottle, her eyes burning with excitement.

Based on this effect, if we add two more points, wouldn't she be able to go out and stroll around in sandals and with bare arms?

"It's a pity that only nine of these were deployed."

"If nothing unexpected happens, Wang Dawei should have used one himself, and it should have been a good one. Otherwise, he would never have been willing to put it out for sale."

Jiang Qingyue quickly calculated: "Then the Eighth District will only have a maximum of seven constitution-enhancing potions left."

Instantly, Jiang Qingyue felt like she was being horny and then someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head, leaving her feeling utterly disheartened.

"Eighth Experimental Zone, billions of people, seven constitution-enhancing drugs... My God, one in a billion."

Jiang Qingyue was completely numb.

Even with an increase of nine points in her luck stat, she still didn't believe she could become one of the lucky ones in a billion.

As for buying, forget about it. The situation in the trading area today is not optimistic, with very few people selling special items.

Anyway, she only encountered Wang Dawei, and that was because she knew that Wang Dawei's name was special, so she quickly clicked on it.

In addition, this is the first time the trading zone has opened, and the apocalypse is not far away, so many people probably don't have that many trading coins.

When the trading zone reopens, many powerful figures will no longer have scarce trading coins, and at that time, she won't be able to compete with them at all.

"Never mind, let's go to sleep." There's no use thinking about this now. If we want to get special items or more trading currency, we still have to go outdoors.

Jiang Qingyue extinguished one of the stoves, leaving only the smallest one burning.

She popped a multivitamin into her mouth, took off her bulky clothes, and lay down in bed wearing only her close-fitting thermal underwear.

It was a bit hot in the middle of the night, so Jiang Qingyue pulled the blanket up a little higher, leaving her feet outside to breathe.

No need to get up early to open the shop, this time Jiang Qingyue slept until she naturally woke up.

I checked my phone; it was 8 a.m.

After a perfunctory wash, I put the clay pot on the stove, tore open the eight-treasure porridge ingredients I had bought earlier, poured them into the clay pot, added water, and covered it.

Put on your clothes, hat, and gloves.

They started moving the soil out.

Last night, she tried listing a bag of soil, just to make up the numbers, but she was thinking that maybe by sheer luck someone would need soil.

She'd be happy to sell if given a trading coin.

As it turned out, she was overthinking it.

Right now, we still have to carry the soil out one bag at a time and dump it out. Today's task is to clear away this dirt and free up space in the shelter. We'll start chopping firewood tomorrow.

Although her physique had improved and she was less afraid of the cold, Jiang Qingyue still dared not be careless, after all, the third cold wave was only 180 days away, no, only 173 days left.

No one knows how much the temperature will drop by then, so it's always good to stock up on firewood.

"Huh? It's so light?"

Jiang Qingyue bent down as usual to collect the soil bag by bag, but when she touched it, she found that the soil was incredibly light.

It's the same old bag, still full to the brim. Before, dragging just one bag required a lot of effort.

Now, Jiang Qingyue tried it and found that she could lift it with just two fingers.

"Wow, amazing! I need more constitution potions!"

Jiang Qingyue was far more interested in items that could immediately make her stronger than intangible items like the Lucky Star.

She used to carry bags of mops one by one, but now she can easily carry five bags in one hand and mop ten bags at a time.

What used to take a whole day can now be done in less than an hour.

At the same time, in the former Xingfu Community, now Xingfu Base, at Wang Dawei's home.

Wang Dawei sat on a single sofa holding a roster.

His right and left arms were sitting on the long sofa opposite him.

Looking at the roster in his hand, Wang Dawei tapped the table: "Have you found the people?"

"Not yet." A burly man on the long sofa trembled and stammered, "Captain, I really didn't slack off, I did everything I could."

"We sent out many messages, both on the regional channel of Quanshui City and the world channel."

"But Jiang Qingyue acted as if she didn't see it. When there was internet, she didn't chat with any of us privately. Now that there's no internet, she hasn't posted anything on the personal computer."

Wang Dawei looked up at him. His originally chubby and comical appearance was ruined by those sharp and sinister eyes, making him look extremely awkward.

"Didn't I tell you to look among those powerful forces?"

Wang Dawei opened his personal terminal and looked at the name Jiang Qingyue, who ranked fifth on the survival index list. His voice grew colder: "A woman like her couldn't possibly have climbed to fifth place on her own. She must have found a backer by relying on her decent appearance."

"Captain, we've really searched. There are only forty-six major forces in Springwater City."

"Some of the teams were originally run by supermarket owners, while the rest were organized by neighborhoods and streets."

"We have tried to verify with those who have a voice, and Jiang Qingyue is not in their team."

Another couldn't help but ask, "Captain, could he not be in our Spring City?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Dawei remained silent with a gloomy face.

The more silent he became, the more worried his two right-hand men became, for no one knew Wang Dawei's methods better than they did.

At this moment, Wang Dawei's wife brought tea from the kitchen: "If she's missing, she's missing. If we really can't find her, then so be it. Happiness Base is so big, it doesn't matter if one person is missing or one person is added. She's just a fishmonger, not some kind of technical expert."

In response, Wang Dawei casually slapped her across the face.

Snapped!

This slap knocked the petite middle-aged woman to the ground, spilling tea everywhere.

The two assistants sitting on the opposite sofa didn't dare to breathe, sitting properly like kindergarten children with their legs together and hands on their knees.

As for offering advice?

They don't want to die so young.

After slapping her, Wang Dawei took a deep breath and didn't hit his wife again. Instead, he instructed, "Men are doing their jobs, so don't interfere."

He then said to his two right-hand men, "Keep searching. I remember Old Jiang once said that he seemed to have a younger brother. Go and see if he's still alive."

"If he's still alive, he's Jiang Qingyue's family. Let's see if we can use him to lure Jiang Qingyue out."

"Yes."

"In addition, we asked our regular customers who had bought things from her seafood shop to try to contact her in various ways."

"Especially the regional channel in Quanshui City, let those regular customers send more messages."

"Whoever can find out where she is, or lure her into joining the Happiness Base, I will reward them with a special item."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the two henchmen immediately forgot their fear.

A special item! If they got one, they would completely turn their lives around in this apocalypse.

When the time comes, leaving the Happiness Base and joining another faction, or creating your own faction and becoming the leader, will be better than being Wang Dawei's dog now.

After the two left, Wang Dawei glanced at his wife, who was huddled in the kitchen crying, and went into the bedroom without any change in expression.

His bedroom had already been renovated; it was well-heated, clean, and bright.

Wang Dawei opened the drawer by his bed and took out a photo album.

He used to hide this thing, but now that he has the power, he doesn't have to worry about his wife seeing it anymore. He takes it out to look at it openly every day.

Wang Dawei carefully wiped it clean, then flipped it open. The first picture was of a girl wearing sportswear and a sun hat.

If Jiang Qingyue saw this photo, she would remember that this was what she wore when she was fishing by the river with her father during her vacation when she was eighteen.

Wang Dawei flipped through the pages, and every single one belonged to Jiang Qingyue.

Some people were jogging in the community garden, some were shopping, and some were cleaning fish in a shop...

The entire book contains hundreds of photos, all taken from various candid angles.