Chapter 78: Hoarding Soil Like Crazy

Since they had already agreed, the group quickly sprang into action.

On the first trip, they didn’t carry too many gas canisters—those things were just too heavy.

Thankfully, the flower market wasn’t too far—just across the street.

But the situation there wasn’t optimistic either—there was still about three floors’ worth of water.

They entered through the nearest top floor.

In the center was a large hall, surrounded by open stalls without any partition walls.

Everyone placed the supplies together. From a distance, it looked like an ocean of flowers and vegetation.

But now, only withered branches and leaves remained.

Jiang Yuan’s eyes lit up. With so much soil here, her storage space probably couldn’t even hold it all. She was thrilled.

“This place looks abandoned. Look at it—it’s completely lifeless.”

“Still, we shouldn’t let our guard down.”

“I’ll go check upstairs. You guys unload the stuff first.”

Jiang Yuan said this and walked ahead.

“You okay going alone?”

She flashed an “OK” hand gesture without even turning back and went upstairs.

Both floors above were empty, and the higher floor was in even better condition. Aside from potted plants in the center, there was a row of small rooms around the perimeter.

They were likely used by merchants for rest or storage. Jiang Yuan quickly headed back down.

The others had already unloaded the gas canisters, stacking them near the hallway entrance.

“Upstairs looks good too. Some merchants left behind a few things.
They’re mostly daily items, but who knows—there might be food. I’ll go search.”

She spoke earnestly. This was their mission anyway, so naturally no one objected.

“Alright, just be careful.”

“Got it!”

Song Yi felt something was off but didn’t dwell on it due to time pressure.

She started from the top floor. The rest rooms weren’t large, but each was nicely furnished.

Some had shelves, some had beds, even computers.

In the front areas were coffee tables, sofas, or wicker chairs and tables.

Some had tea tables—clearly these were used by some big bosses.

Jiang Yuan didn’t waste time. The first room alone had many bags of potting soil under the bed, each weighing around 20–30 jin (10–15 kg).

There were more nearby. She stashed them all in her space, then entered herself.

She worked nonstop, upgrading her land as she went. By the time she finished that one room, she had upgraded her farmland by 25 square meters.

She was in a hurry because they were heading to the building materials market next. Furniture made of wood would take up a lot of space.

In under ten minutes, she pulled out a woven bag and started looking for other things in the room.

She couldn’t come out empty-handed—it’d raise suspicion.

They’d probably only manage about ten trips moving those gas tanks.

All said and done, the whole process wouldn’t even take an hour. She had to make every minute count.

Doing a quick scan, she found plenty of useful stuff. Every room had potting soil.

After all, this was a flower market—soil was one of the main goods.

She also found some snacks, bottled water, and paper products—lots of them.

She even grabbed a bunch of small metal trowels, presumably for digging. Might come in handy.

She left them by the door in case anyone else needed them, while quietly slipping a few and some small rakes into her space.

In one of the rooms, she discovered 38,000 yuan—likely business earnings.

The stacks were neatly wrapped, still held together with the white paper bank bands—fresh from the bank.

A pleasant surprise—she was ecstatic.

Jiang Yuan worked against the clock, rummaging through everything.

To avoid suspicion, she had to move quickly.

In 40 minutes, she had gone through more than half the floor.

She had found nearly 100,000 yuan in cash, plus a gold ring.

She packed the miscellaneous items into two woven duffel bags.

Realizing time was almost up, she didn’t dare stay in her space anymore—she didn’t want to risk exposure.

She quickly collected the rest of the soil from the remaining rooms, ignoring solid wood tables and tea stands.

Just as she reached the last room, she heard Zhang Kaiyang’s voice.

“Over here! You guys come up!”

“Wow, Yuan-jie, your efficiency is amazing!”

“There’s just this bit left. How about Mianmian stays with me while you two guys sweep the lower floor again?”

“Sounds good!”

No one objected. Jiang Yuan assigned sections of the upstairs area, making sure not to overlap with places she’d already cleared, and got back to work.

Even with a more thorough search, there were still quite a few items left.

“Yuan-jie, let’s go downstairs to help.”

“Okay!”

Downstairs, the two guys were almost done too.

Song Yi suggested they look for a suitable spot to store the gas canisters.

The four of them brought all the supplies downstairs and began looking for a hidden place.

When Jiang Yuan brought down another bag, she noticed a cashier counter directly across the room.

“You guys keep looking. I’ll go check that out.”

There wasn’t an office area on this floor, but the center of the flower market had several tables and chairs.

On closer inspection, you could see them clearly.

Jiang Yuan headed toward the cashier’s counter. Below the register was a small locked compartment.

She pulled out a small iron trowel and forcibly broke the lock.

Sure enough, there was a decent amount of money—at least ten or twenty thousand yuan in small bills and coins.

No time to count—she even scooped up the loose change.

It was probably a female cashier’s post—there were lots of flower teas above, and in the drawer she found two packs of cookies, a notebook, two gel pens, a box of tissues, and three small packs of facial tissues.

There was also a huge keyring, though she didn’t know what they were for.

She moved the chair aside and squatted under the counter, when she suddenly noticed a small hidden space beside it.

From the side, it wasn’t visible at all.

She picked up the keys and tried them one by one.

Bingo! It was a small storeroom.

Very well hidden—probably designed that way so it wouldn’t ruin the market’s aesthetics.

Without a word, Jiang Yuan went straight in.

Holy moly—it was packed full of potting soil.

Score!

This haul would probably last her a lifetime. Her mission to collect soil was complete.

While gathering, she remained on edge, worried someone might barge in.

Her nerves were taut, but she didn’t dare slow down for even a second.

“Yuan-jie, where are you?”

“Over here…”

She had just finished collecting the last bag of soil and let out a breath of relief. The entrance of her space was now piled high with it.

“I found a storeroom. Think this spot works?”

The three others, curious, followed her voice and came over.

“Wow, this place is perfect! You’d never spot it from outside.”

“I thought so too. We could even move those big flower pots over to block the entrance.

Plus, it has a lock—and I’ve got the key.”

She tried to make it look like she’d done a ton of useful work—this way no one would suspect how much time she’d spent.

All this… just for some soil! It was exhausting!

“Yuan-jie, you’re amazing!”

Ye Mianmian was in the middle of showering her with praise when Song Yi interrupted.

“Let’s move quickly and get the rest of the stuff in!”

“Right!”