Fu Xin Ci’s eyes welled up like a little river the moment she saw the rabbit hair clip.
She knew it belonged to Xu Ru Yi, who was born in the Year of the Rabbit.
Her friends had finally found her. It hadn't been in vain, all the hearts she had drawn.
She was so happy, she wanted to shout. She truly hadn't imagined her friends would discover her efforts so quickly.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the parallel world, Xu Jia Can triumphantly held up the bag of rice and pulled the Captain and Yang Xin Jie to the side.
The others were still bewildered, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.
A bag of rice, a twenty-jin bag of rice, had been exchanged for a worthless hair clip.
They exchanged incredulous glances, seeing disbelief reflected in each other's eyes.
Xu Jia Can casually gestured with his chin at the others. "We're done buying. You can go ahead now."
It was only then that the crowd began to process what had happened. The people from Long Teng had just bought a twenty-jin bag of rice for a rabbit hair clip. It was an incredible deal, practically like getting it for free.
They should buy more, even if they traded it for other supplies, it would be a guaranteed profit.
With the same thought in mind, a commotion erupted around the vending machine as everyone scrambled to be the next to purchase.
Xu Jia Can, who had intended to stay and watch the spectacle, pulled his few companions out to an open space, fearing they might get caught in the crossfire.
The Captain was also in a daze. He had never dreamed they would trade a single hair clip for a bag of rice.
Xu Jia Can, however, made a shushing gesture, and even the Captain obediently covered his mouth.
Xu Jia Can scanned the surroundings to ensure no one was paying attention. With the noise inside raging, he then pointed to a spot on the rice bag for them to see.
Although everyone had their mouths covered, they nearly gasped aloud. The Captain’s eyes widened like little light bulbs.
His lips trembled, and it took him a long moment to find his voice. "Xin Ci is alive?"
"She must be. Look, this heart looks like it was drawn recently."
While the Captain found the notion preposterous, he believed it with nine parts certainty.
After all, they had all experienced the abrupt fall from grace, from an ordered life to hell overnight.
Many familiar faces had seemingly transformed into monstrous figures overnight, and he himself had awakened ice elemental abilities.
A few of the younger girls were even more convinced. "I've read transmigration novels. Xin Ci must have transmigrated and brought her space with her."
Yang Xin Jie spoke first, always hoping Xin Ci was alive. "It's so good that Xin Ci is alive."
"Yeah, yeah! I've read transmigration novels too, the female leads always transmigrate," Xiao Ai chimed in, her eyes reddening.
"I've read them too! The ones at the beginning are always the female leads who transmigrate," Xu Ru Yi said, wiping away her tears.
The girls huddled together, chattering excitedly, piecing together their fragmented understanding of the haloed heroines in the transmigration novels they had read, their eyes shining with unshed tears.
Xu Jia Can nudged the Captain with his shoulder. The sunlight on the young man's face was a flush of excitement, his narrow eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
"Captain, we'll never have to worry about supplies again."
"Mm." The Captain's voice was thick with emotion. He knew all too well that no matter how high their abilities or how much they found, they could only carry so much at once.
Moreover, carrying a heavy load severely limited their mobility.
"It's so good that Xin Ci is alive!"
"Yes, yes."
They dreamed of the past and the future, a bright prospect.
Inside, however, angry shouts erupted. "Damn it, what the hell is going on? The Long Teng people just traded a broken rabbit hair clip for a bag of rice. We gave them a pig, and it wouldn't work?"
"Try again."
"What's the point of trying? I've tried several times, and it's no use."
Hearing the angry shouts, the Captain burst into laughter. They hadn't felt this unburdened in months.
They were truly triumphant. Yang Xin Jie put a hand on her hip and mimicked Fu Xin Ci's tone, speaking grandly. "As long as I, Old Fu, am here, you'll be feasting on delicacies and drinking fine wine."
Speaking of feasting, Xu Jia Can suddenly remembered something. "Captain, Xin Ci also saved a lot of Er Guo Tou for you."
He hadn't mentioned it before, thinking Xin Ci was gone, fearing the Captain's cravings. Now that he knew Xin Ci was still in the world, he dared to speak.
"And Lao Bai Gan and Da Qu, too," Xiao Ai added.
"Right, right, right! We can vouch for that," Xu Ru Yi said, not afraid of stirring up trouble.
The Captain: "Stop talking, you'll make the alcohol cravings crawl into my throat. What if they crawl out and bite you?"
"Haha."
"I hope Xin Ci hasn't lost her Midas touch," Xiao Ai added, trying to suppress her laughter.
"Haha."
They were roaring with laughter while the people inside were about to lose their minds.
One, two, three... almost everyone had tried, and no one had succeeded in trading their hair clips for rice.
"Why could the Long Teng people trade successfully, but we can't?"
"Yeah!" Many were confused but helpless.
In the end, those who wanted to buy rice only succeeded by using gold and jewelry.
The friends who had been watching from outside all broke into carefree smiles.
The Captain was the most obnoxious, laughing the loudest.
Those who emerged carrying their bags of rice muttered under their breath, "If I could beat you, I would have lost it by now."
The Captain: "Are they all sold out? Did they leave any for us? We only bought one bag of rice."
The inner thoughts of the crowd: naked bragging, that guy is asking for it. They really wanted to fight this provoking fellow, but recalling the consequence of being frozen into an ice sculpture, they backed down.
No one wanted to be posed in an embarrassing manner by that guy and left in the middle of the road as an ice sculpture, only to melt automatically after two hours.
During those two hours, they would have to endure the ill-intentioned gazes of wave after wave of passersby.
...
Fu Xin Ci waited until the time was right before exiting her space.
Xiao Bai had also woken up long ago. It was wondering where the human had gone. Just as it started to panic, the human appeared.
"Squeak squeak?" Did the human secretly eat good things without me?
"Tch! It's my own stuff. If I want to eat it, do I need to sneak? You really don't know how to talk."
Seeing the human's smug expression, Xiao Bai looked confused. That was true, humans could eat whatever they wanted from their own belongings.
It was different for it; if the human didn't give it food, it would starve.