Title: A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse
Translator: Little Bamboo Spirit
Chapter 198 - For the first time in her life, Bei Nuan experienced the pain of having too much money and nowhere to spend it (3)
Jiang Fei gave a good suggestion. "If you don't like cassava, there's a ruby mine on the island. I guess that you're not the only one that's picked up a rough ruby. Maybe you can buy them?"
At a time like this, there were probably people willing to exchange rubies for money to buy food.
Although rubies were useless, they were pretty. She would feel much happier looking at rubies in her pocket space than a pile of cassava.
But, who had rubies?
"That's easy," Tang Tang said, "I'll just go ask around."
Tang Tang was lively and quick-witted. He had a likable face, and everyone was willing to chat with him. Soon, he came back.
"There's a guy who sells groceries who has a small rough gem. He's been wanting to sell it, but no one is willing to buy it at a time like this. Bei Nuan, do you want to go take a look?"
Bei Nuan eagerly followed him, but she ended up being disappointed.
The grocer mysteriously took out a ruby as if it was a big secret, but his gem was smaller than the one she had given Du Ruo. It was only the size of her fingernail, and its color wasn't as bright.
However, the grocer wasn't greedy. His asking price was only $2,500, which was enough to buy countless cassava. Although it wasn't ideal, it was better than nothing.
They went to the island's bank to transfer money. It was more convenient and safer to transfer the money from Bei Nuan's account to the grocer's.
Right after the money was transferred, someone behind them asked, "You're here?"
Bei Nuan guessed the speaker just from his lazy tone.
Qiu Ji stood behind them with two guards. His current status was different from before, but he didn't look any different. His shirt was still unbuttoned, and his standing posture was still relaxed.
However, he was a lot more likable than his brother.
"What are you busy with?" He looked at the small ruby in Bei Nuan's hand.
Bei Nuan quickly considered her options and decided to tell him the truth.
"I want to buy rough rubies with the money I won from cage fighting."
Qiu Ji understood and tried to persuade her, "You should save your money. What if you have an emergency and need money later?"
"I don't want to keep this money." Bei Nuan blurted out nonsense, "My grandma said that the money you win from gambling is unlucky."
Qiu Ji smiled. "You're quite superstitious for someone of your age. But, that's a good idea. This is a rare opportunity to buy rubies at a cheap price. When the zombies are gone in the future, you'll be able to earn a big profit from selling them."
His words were novel. Since the zombie outbreak, during their extensive journey, she had only met people that were struggling to survive. No one had the energy to speak of the future. He was even optimistic enough to think of a future when zombies would be gone.
And, this was a guy that owned a casino.
Next to them, Du Ruo broke his silence to ask, "Do you think the zombies will be gone one day?"
Tang Tang chimed in, "More and more people are infected. The area occupied by zombies is growing. It doesn't look optimistic for humanity."
Qiu Ji had his hands in his pockets. He didn't look like the new boss of the island. He still looked like a wastrel that owned a casino.
He smiled at them. "I said it last time. I believe in probability and miracles. Miracles do happen sometimes. Look, the miracle I believed in is standing in front of us."
Bei Nuan knew that he was talking about her. She felt a bit embarrassed.
Qiu Ji smiled. "Others might think you're a fool for buying rubies instead of food, but I think it's worth making this bet. Who knows? The return from this bet might be very good."
Of course, Bei Nuan hadn't thought that much. She merely thought that gems looked pretty. Besides, the future they spoke of had nothing to do with her.
Qiu Ji continued to say, "I know of people who have decent rough rubies. They're storing them at the casino. They would probably be willing to sell them to you for the right price."
As it turned out, the casino also offered safe deposit boxes as a service.
Qiu Ji sent his people to look for them. Soon, those people were brought over.
It was a middle-aged woman with a child. She was beaming. She had the ruby for a while and had been wanting to sell it, but at a time like this, people only cared about eating. No one would buy a gem.
She had taken the ruby from the casino to show Bei Nuan.
This ruby was way better than the grocer's. It had also been simply polished. The gem was big and extremely clear. There were barely any flaws, and it had a beautiful red color.
The woman's starting price was $30,000.
Qiu Ji seriously looked at it and smiled. "That's doable."
Lu Xingchi also took it over, carefully examined it, and concluded, "It's pretty good."
Since they both said they agreed, Bei Nuan didn't haggle. She happily bought the ruby.
"Do you want to store this gem at the casino?" Qiu Ji asked.
Of course not, they were going to leave soon.
Bei Nuan refused, "I want to keep it to play for two days."
Qiu Ji glanced at Lu Xingchi and smiled. "No one would dare to openly rob it from you, but be careful. You might get pickpocketed."