Chapter 49: Crowdfunding to Exchange for Gold Coins

“Boss Chu is right. I think you should ask them.

If they aren’t even willing to contribute this little, then they really are… ungrateful wolves.”

Ling Feng also spoke up. Watching Song Chengjun struggle over the gold coins while the teachers and students said nothing—not even a word of concern—he felt his heart grow cold.

These people were wasting their goodwill.

“If there’s anything we can help with, we will do our best.”

Lu Hua’an had been listening carefully to the conversation between Song Chengjun and Chu Jiangyue. He knew they needed items to exchange for money, but he didn’t know what items were required.

“The problem right now is that if everyone gets on the vehicles, it will be overloaded. To get everyone on regardless of the overload, we need to gather 25 gold coins, activate a temporary exchange channel, and exchange enough items for 20 gold coins to cancel the overload warning.

To exchange for gold coins, you can use jewelry. Zombie crystal cores also work.”

Song Chengjun knew that the few psychics who had gone out with Lu Hua’an to kill zombies, after seeing them collect zombie crystal cores, had also gathered the cores from zombies they had previously killed.

If they were willing to exchange their zombie crystal cores, it could provide a considerable sum of money.

“Jewelry? I only have a watch and a jade pendant my mother gave me.

From the zombies we killed today, I only found a few small white transparent crystal cores—not many.”

Lu Hua’an took off his watch, but he hesitated to part with the jade pendant—it had been a gift from his mother.

“With zombies running rampant, jewelry isn’t useful anymore. Food is the priority,” Song Chengjun reminded him.

“Well, any contribution is better than none.”

Lu Hua’an handed over the watch, pendant, and the crystal cores he collected today to Song Chengjun.

The other psychics who had accompanied him also put forward their belongings.

Unfortunately, most teachers and students rarely wore jewelry. Besides the crystal cores, they had nothing to contribute.

“I have a gold bracelet, a platinum ring, and a necklace. You can take a look.”

A teacher who had been organizing the students also stepped forward, removing all the jewelry he was wearing.

Seeing a few people set the example, more started coming forward, handing over whatever they had.

Song Chengjun couldn’t manage so much alone, so Shen Zhigui had Jiang He, a spatial-type psychic, help collect the items.

Thanks to Jianglin Hotel, Jiang He’s spatial pocket still had some room to store jewelry.

Chu Jiangyue sat in the driver’s seat of her silver off-road vehicle, quietly waiting for Song Chengjun to raise the funds.

“Um… Big Sister…”

“Boss Chu?”

Hearing her title, Chu Jiangyue instinctively opened her eyes and looked toward the voice. “What is it?”

“Brother Song keeps asking you questions. He asked if Jianglin Hotel is yours?”

Chu Jiangyue nodded. “Yes, it’s mine.”

“Just now Brother Song said there are zombies everywhere. Aren’t you afraid running a hotel alone?”

Kids ask a lot of questions.

“Zombies can’t enter my hotel.”

Within a 10-meter radius around Jianglin Hotel, zombies automatically avoid it—they won’t step inside.

“Wow! Your hotel is so powerful! Then the base must be even stronger. No zombies can get in—amazing!”

Unlike them, these past few days in the cafeteria, they had lived in constant fear of zombie attacks. That day, when zombies surrounded them, not even their bones would have been left.

Chu Jiangyue glanced at the student. Her big round eyes were cute, but she looked a little weak.

“You’re wrong. The base doesn’t have this feature.”

Chu Jiangyue’s words poured cold water on the little girl.

“But that’s okay. As long as you can pay the hotel fee in gold coins and eat enough to fill your stomachs, you can stay here for a long time.

As long as you don’t harm the hotel’s interests, I will never kick you out.”

After giving her a cold shower, she immediately offered a sweet treat.

“Really? But we’re just ordinary people…”

The little girl looked a bit glum. Seeing those psychics use their powers, she had been very envious.

This boss lady also had powers.

“Level 1 zombies are still easy to kill. In my hotel, the minimum cost is two crystal cores per day.”

100 copper coins cover the single room fee, and the remaining 100 copper coins can buy buns and steamed bread for food. If they eat less, they could even save some.

“You can also try to learn some skills from the brothers who have free time today. That way, killing zombies will be easier.

As for powers… everyone has a chance to awaken them—it just depends on whether you can seize the opportunity.”

Some awaken powers when on the brink of life and death, surviving by a miracle.

Some awaken powers during extreme emotional fluctuations, opening a different path in life.

Some awaken powers unexpectedly, bringing a touch of the extraordinary to ordinary life.

…

Of course, some never awaken powers in their lifetime. That’s just fate.

“So Boss Lady means we also have a chance to awaken powers?”

The girl’s eyes shone with hope, almost sparkling as she looked at Chu Jiangyue.

But what exactly should they call this boss lady?

“Everyone is the same.”

Chu Jiangyue, of course, wouldn’t give a definitive answer. She had never seen them before and didn’t know if they would awaken powers in the future.

If they didn’t awaken and blamed her, that would be unfair.

“Thank you, Boss Lady! We’ll try our best to awaken powers!”

As long as there was hope, they had motivation to strive to become psychics.

“Good luck.”

Chu Jiangyue’s encouragement was a little half-hearted.

Before the girl could react, Song Chengjun came over with Jiang He and his subordinates.

“Boss Chu, all the collected items are here. Thank you.”

“First, pay 5 gold coins to activate the temporary exchange channel.”

Chu Jiangyue waved her hand, and a double-sided virtual screen appeared between them.

“Just place your ID card on the sensing area.”

It was just for show—the little fox handled the actual transactions.

Following instructions, Song Chengjun placed his ID card on the screen’s sensing area.

As soon as he did, he saw his balance decrease by 5 gold coins.

Don’t ask—it hurt.

“Alright, pile everything together. I’ll open the exchange channel.”

Song Chengjun laid a layer of transparent plastic on the ground before dumping the collected items on it.

Jiang He added the items he stored in his spatial pocket, and Song Chengjun’s subordinates also placed their items down.

Individually, the items didn’t seem like much, but together, they formed a sizable mound.