The man’s name was Xie Cheng, and he held a position in the Talent Institution, overseeing everyone under his command.

Though he wasn’t a Talent himself due to his age, his years of experience were invaluable. His leadership was widely acknowledged, and when he made a decision, no one questioned it.

After all, Pralan was simply too precious. With it, many soldiers could move around normally during the day, making it possible to rescue supplies more efficiently.

It also helped prevent heatstroke in those with weaker constitutions.

Not everyone could stay in air-conditioned rooms 24/7. Even though the country wasn’t short on generators, prolonged exposure to artificial cooling wasn’t good for the body. And many still needed to work outdoors.

Xu Jingyu nodded and continued typing.

[Tribute: Can you give us five minutes to gather silver coins? Then you can list them in the store.]

Ji He did some calculations. She currently had 405 silver coins and 40 copper coins. She still needed 594 silver coins and 60 copper coins to reach her goal of 1,000 silver coins.

If she listed 170 units, after deducting the tax, she would earn exactly 595 silver coins, just enough to meet her target.

[Borrowing Five Billion More: Fine. Since we’re from the same country, I won’t raise the price.]

Ji He had seen this person’s messages before—it seemed like they were from the government.

On the other side, Tribute let out a sigh of relief.

At least she agreed.

[Borrowing Five Billion More: I’ll list 170 pieces in a bit.]

“Alright, inform everyone. We need 180 people ready to grab them,” Xie Cheng ordered. The amount wasn’t too large, and they could manage to gather the money.

Exactly five minutes later, Ji He listed 170 pieces of Pralan.

Every time she listed one, one disappeared from the marketplace instantly. By the time she listed the last piece, she had finally gathered 10 gold coins.

Without hesitation, she immediately clicked to open her store.

The 10 gold coins she had just acquired vanished before she even had time to savor them.

A store management interface appeared in front of her.

[Please name your store.]

[Satisfaction Guaranteed]

[Name Approved! Congratulations on opening the 200th store, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’!]

[Store slots are full. No new stores will be opened for now.]

That last message was a system-wide announcement.

Ji He felt a sense of relief. She had barely made it in time—just a little later, and she wouldn’t have been able to open her store.

So there were only 200 slots? This despicable system didn’t even bother to warn her!

She exited the store and went to the homepage.

All the stores were listed in order of opening, from top to bottom. Scrolling down, she noticed that the earlier ones were mostly state-owned.

Only around the 170th spot did private stores start appearing.

The names were highly corporate, instantly recognizable.

Coca-something, Chick-something, Star-something…

It seemed that, no matter the circumstances, corporate power remained formidable.

She scrolled all the way to the last store—Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Owner: Borrowing Five Billion More.

Ji He: “…”

This felt like an utterly pointless attempt at anonymity. It made all her previous efforts to stay low-key seem completely unnecessary.

Out of sight, out of mind.

She closed the interface and removed the individually listed food items, transferring them all to her store instead.

The initial store setup allowed only 100 item slots.

Ji He placed 20 units of Pralan and filled the remaining 80 slots with braised meat dishes.

However, she changed the trade terms—everything could now only be exchanged for gasoline.

Pralan was priced at 200 liters of gasoline per unit, while food items required 5 liters each.

Now, with a store, she only had to pay a 15% transaction tax. Ji He was very satisfied.

With this marketplace, her space upgrade was finally within reach!

After listing her items, she didn’t forget about her major client.

[Borrowing Five Billion More: Pralan is now available in my store. If you need it, please place an order.]

After a moment’s thought, Ji He added a smiling emoji.

Perfect. Full marks for customer service.

She had worked hard today.

[Tribute: Understood.]

Xu Jingyu had just finished organizing the numbers on how many Pralan they had managed to grab when the message arrived.

He immediately instructed his staff to place an order.

The employees didn’t hesitate, quickly navigating to the last store.

They worked with the marketplace every day, constantly refreshing pages.

They had memorized every store name and knew exactly what each sold.

The only newly opened store could only be Satisfaction Guaranteed.

“She wants gasoline! Quick, gather 4,000 liters of gasoline!”

With that announcement, staff members sprang into action.

Within a minute, fuel was brought in.

People ran back and forth, bringing more gasoline while others quickly purchased Pralan from the store’s shelves.

After several trips, the team successfully bought all 20 pieces of Pralan.

Honestly, for them, this was a better deal than paying with silver coins. Gasoline was much easier to obtain.

Xu Jingyu finally relaxed. He hadn’t expected her to accept gasoline as payment.

They hadn’t been prepared, and he’d been worried about missing the opportunity. The stress had left him drenched in sweat.

“Deputy Director, I think the store owner might be a woman,” someone reported.

“What makes you think that?” Xu Jingyu frowned. How could a name reveal gender?

“Well, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’ sounds a lot like ‘Guaranteed to Cure Anything.’ Maybe next time you should send her a handbag.”

Xu Jingyu: “…”

That sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t find a reason to refute it.

Meanwhile, Ji He, having finished listing her items, paid no attention to the massive stir she had caused in the game’s chat channels.

[Spring Breeze and You: Whoever just listed Pralan, please contact me! I’m willing to give you a fully furnished luxury apartment in the heart of A City. Move-in ready!]

[Forget Worries: I haven’t gotten one yet, but according to insider information, Pralan is incredibly effective. Just carrying a palm-sized piece makes you feel instantly cooler, and the coolness quickly spreads over your whole body, allowing you to walk outside during the day. If Pralan can be mass-produced, society might be able to resume normal production and daily life!]

[Young Master: Seller of Pralan, are you there? Can you contribute this item for official research? Don’t be so selfish. If you have something good, you should share it!]

[Watching Snow in the Wind: I finally saved enough silver coins, but I still couldn’t grab one! How fast are these people? They must be doomed to be single for 100 years with that kind of hand speed!]

[Hotpot Lover: A rich person! We’ve found a rich person! Who in the world has 5 silver coins? Damn, I finished a mission and only got 20 copper coins! You actually have 5 silver coins?!]

[Xiao Xiao: Silver coins have already skyrocketed to nearly 50,000 each—rising faster than housing prices! And someone actually spent 200,000 on a ‘portable air conditioner’? My poverty has truly limited my imagination!]