After speaking, he didn’t even look at Ji He before turning around and continuing to collect stall fees.

Ji He’s heart sank. Something felt off.

She didn’t rush to set up her stall. Instead, she crouched down beside a nearby vegetable vendor. The uncle’s stall had far fewer vegetables than usual.

At the moment, he looked quite worried.

Ji He’s stall was close to his, and they usually got along well.

“Uncle, why do you have so few vegetables today?”

“It’s already hard enough to have even this much!” The uncle sighed heavily. “When I woke up this morning, guess what? Almost everything in the fields was dead! Big or small, they were all ruined, completely inedible—only good for feeding livestock!”

“Not even a little could be saved?” Ji He glanced down at the dozen or so small bundles of leafy greens left on his stall. Usually, the leftovers from the previous day would be more than this.

“No hope at all. Completely unsalvageable,” the uncle shook his head while sighing. “The weather’s been so hot this year, and it hasn’t rained. Even the small river near my home is nearly dry. I have a bad feeling about this. Once I sell off what I have today, I’m heading back home. Girl, it’s not easy for you alone. Stock up on food—it won’t go bad.”

“Then, Uncle, don’t bother selling here anymore. I’ll buy all your vegetables. I usually sell food, so I don’t have anything at home.”

“Alright. As for the scallions and cilantro you wanted, there isn’t much, but I brought whatever looked decent. Just give me whatever you think is fair.”

Ji He chatted with the uncle a bit more before standing up, feeling a heavy weight in her heart.

The vegetable crops had died—this didn’t seem like a good sign.

After thinking it over, she asked the uncle to watch her stall for a moment and ran to the tofu shop nearby, ordering ten slabs of tofu.

She had a bad feeling. If she didn’t buy it now, she might not be able to get tofu in the future.

By the time she finished ordering, customers had already arrived at her stall.

Adjusting her mindset, she put on a smile, set up her things, and continued doing business.

One day at a time. Whether or not she would come back tomorrow didn’t matter.

For today, her business had to go on.

There was never a shortage of smart people in the world. Seeing how little leafy greens were available at the market today, some of the elderly folks began asking around. The vegetable vendors didn’t hide the truth—after all, with such a shortage, prices had surged. If they didn’t explain why, no one would buy.

Before long, word spread—everyone knew that all the leafy greens had died overnight.

A buying frenzy erupted instantly.

Even wilted vegetables that were several times their usual price were snatched up.

Ji He’s small stall was also caught up in the rush. Before eight o’clock, most of the braised food she brought was sold out.

Carefully setting aside the remaining pieces of braised food, tofu, and radish, she prepared to bring them to the stern-faced uncle.

That man had looked out for her often. Since she wasn’t planning on coming back tomorrow, this would be her farewell gesture.

After packing everything up, Ji He brought the braised food to the uncle and told him she wouldn’t be returning the next day.

The stern-faced uncle paused briefly before accepting the food. Then, without a word, he pulled out his phone and added her on WeChat, saying he would notify her if he heard any news.

Ji He gladly accepted. It was only then that she learned his surname was Yan.

At least she had been calling him correctly all this time.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Yan, Ji He picked up her tofu and, with the 40,000 yuan she had earned over the past few days, headed to the wholesale market.

Passing by a stall selling stainless steel basins at the morning market, she stopped and bought over forty large ones.

These were perfect for storing food. Her storage space was already packed, so she needed more.

Lately, her business had used up a lot of seasonings, so she planned to restock both seasonings and staple foods.

If nothing unexpected happened, she predicted that temperatures would continue to rise. When that happened, food prices would skyrocket. Stocking up in advance would never be a loss.

The wholesale market was still bustling. While vegetable prices had surged several times over, staple foods and seasonings remained relatively stable.

Ji He spent 10,000 yuan on grains and another 10,000 on seasonings before heading to the electronics store.

Now that she had money, she planned to buy an oil press and a peeling machine.

Both machines cost her a total of 3,800 yuan.

Afterward, she stopped by the clothing wholesale market, picking out twenty sets of pajamas and twenty sets of sportswear, spending 1,000 yuan in total.

Keeping only 300 yuan for herself, she used the remaining 20,000-plus yuan to buy gasoline and natural gas from a fuel vendor.

She needed to upgrade her storage space. Even if the process was difficult, she couldn’t give up, could she?

By the time everything was settled, it was almost noon.

This was the hottest time of the day. After just a short ride in the sun, Ji He started feeling dizzy.

She looked around. The streets were nearly empty.

After some thought, she decided to detour into a large shopping mall nearby.

She still had time, and since coming to this world, she hadn’t visited a mall yet.

The moment she stepped inside, she sighed in relief.

The mall was luxurious. Not only was the environment nice, but the air conditioning was on full blast. Clearly, the owner had deep pockets.

The place was crowded with people escaping the heat.

With offices on break, many couldn’t stand staying home and had come out to stroll around, enjoy the cool air, and pass the time.

Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans that cost less than 100 yuan in total, Ji He didn’t feel out of place at all.

She curiously looked at the clothes in the glass displays, then at the five-digit price tags, clicking her tongue in disbelief.

So expensive. Did wearing them make you cooler?

For that price, she could buy so much rice!

Shaking her head, she continued walking, knowing she couldn’t afford anything and not wanting to trouble the store staff. Just browsing was fine.

As she walked, she noticed an ice cream shop. Thinking of buying one, she stepped closer—

And was stunned.

188 yuan for a small cup?!

With that money, she could buy 60 ice creams from the supermarket near her home!

Just as she was about to leave, someone called her name.

“Ji He?!”

She turned around and saw her cousin from her uncle’s family—Ji Yin—along with her classmates.

Ji Yin glanced her up and down, taking in the plain T-shirt and jeans. Then, she covered her mouth and giggled. “Ji He, why aren’t you in school? Dropping out isn’t right. Grandpa and Grandma would be so heartbroken if they knew.”

The girl holding hands with Ji Yin, Su Qian, also smirked and said loudly, “Ji He, your parents are dead—do you not have money for school?”