Chapter 7: The Pre-Order of the Rich
Su Wudeng hung up the phone and immediately began preparing for her next journey back to the Great Prosperity Era.
She turned on her phone and logged into an online mall, swiping past one high-tech gadget after another before her gaze locked onto a pair of seemingly ordinary glasses.
“That’s the one. Vanke Smart Glasses.”
These compact glasses stored all known recorded data on spiritual plants and pet beasts. Once worn, they could automatically scan the user’s surroundings, identify items, and display real-time information. It was incredibly convenient. In times like this, advanced technology certainly had its perks.
Without a shred of hesitation, Su Wudeng dropped 3,000 credits to purchase the glasses, tacking on an extra 100 credits for expedited delivery.
The moment the courier dropped off the package, she unboxed them, put them on, and immediately initiated the cross-world transmission.
“Ding-dong! Traversal initiated. Destination: Great Prosperity Era. Initial map: Random.”
The scenery before her eyes warped and twisted. Following a brief wave of vertigo, she opened her eyes.
A breath of crisp, fresh air brushed against her face. It seemed the sky in this era was eternally clear and sunny. As her eyes swept across the landscape, dense streams of data flashed across her lenses, nearly filling her entire field of vision.
“Holy crap, I’ve really struck gold this time.”
With the smart glasses equipped, every single plant in her sight was clearly labeled with its name, attributes, and rarity. It was exceptionally convenient.
Su Wudeng marched straight toward the patch of Astraea Grass she had spotted during her last visit. The stalks shimmered with a faint silver light under the sun, blinking beautifully. She cautiously approached a cluster, and her glasses instantly projected the precise steps required for harvesting.
This time, Su Wudeng was far more meticulous. Following the instructions to the letter, she gently uprooted four mature stalks of Astraea Grass. She left the remaining young shoots completely untouched.
“This should be plenty. It’ll be more than enough for Yulan,” Su Wudeng murmured, carefully storing the grass away.
Since she was already here, she figured she might as well harvest some other spiritual plants.
A little further out from the Astraea Grass, she spotted blood-red vines winding around a tree trunk—Dragon Blood Vines. Su Wudeng lightly brushed her fingers against one, and a sudden wave of warmth instantly surged through her entire body.
“Improves physical constitution. Gathering it!”
Next, a cluster of Sky Eye Fruits caught her attention. They emitted a soft blue halo, and the fruits themselves were shaped like bizarre eyeballs, glowing with an eerie azure light.
“Significantly enhances eyesight. Gathering it!”
The final spiritual plant she selected was the Jasper Spirit Flower. Its petals were crystal clear, looking exactly like exquisite jade carvings. Its fragrance was incredibly refreshing, instantly clearing Su Wudeng’s mind.
“Purifies the spirit and acts as a rare mental soothing agent. Gathering it!”
By the time she finished harvesting, the spiritual plants had packed her bag to the brim.
Su Wudeng was thoroughly satisfied. Just as she turned to leave, a distinct black-and-white figure flashed past in the distance.
She froze mid-step. “Wait, that color scheme…”
Could it be the national treasure from her previous life—a giant panda?
She instinctively wanted to give chase, but quickly caught herself. What on earth am I thinking? How could I possibly transport a fully grown, powerful giant panda back with me?
Su Wudeng felt a pang of deep regret, but she was powerless. Not all creatures were as gentle and affectionate as the Snow Crystal Cats; some could easily pose a threat to her life. She had no choice but to keep a low profile and only take what she could realistically manage.
As she turned the thought over in her head, a series of booming, energetic barks echoed from the deeper parts of the forest.
“Barking that loudly… it must be incredibly healthy.”
Realizing these creatures were far beyond her current capacity to handle, Su Wudeng didn’t linger any longer. She cast a lingering, regretful glance at the forest and initiated her exit.
Back in her shop, she carefully organized the spiritual plants and snapped a few high-quality photos. Without losing a second, she uploaded a listing for the plants onto the Star Network. There was no helping it—she desperately needed capital.
Su Wudeng began mapping out her next steps. First, I need to buy a high-end mechanical beast to guard the premises, something like Uncle Lan’s War Hound. It can help with heavy lifting and keep the shop secure.
Second, I need to expand the shop and add more functional zones.
Finally, I need to invest in some advanced tech for my trips to the Great Prosperity Era—like cloaking technology. That’s a literal lifesaver.
Once she sorted out her financial plans, Su Wudeng set aside one of the spiritual plants for herself. She happily arranged it, thinking, Even if I can’t command a mechanical beast right now, it never hurts to improve my own physical attributes.
As for the best specimen, she kept it for her sister, Su Yulan. She packaged the plants with care and scheduled an express courier to deliver them directly to her sister’s dorm.
Meanwhile, back at the Beast Taming Academy.
“Su Yulan, are you seriously not going to consider my offer?” Pei Xueqing asked one final time. “If you join my team, I’ll personally cover your share of the cost for the Star Soul Grass. You’ll just need to follow the team’s directives.”
Su Yulan looked up, her gaze icy.
Directives? What directives? She wants me to intentionally throw the finals so Pei Xueqing can take first place and claim the glory.
She really takes me for a fool.
If this had happened before, she might have actually entertained the idea. Compared to a priceless spiritual plant, a hollow academic title was meaningless to her. But now, every time she looked at Pei Xueqing, she was reminded of the utter disrespect the girl had shown toward her sister.
“No need,” Su Yulan replied flatly.
Pei Xueqing froze. Had all her careful grooming and subtle coaxing over the past few weeks been completely in vain? Her face twisted with anger, but just as she opened her mouth to snap back, her communicator buzzed violently.
It was a message from the wealthy heir on their academy team:
How’d it go? Did Yulan agree? Please tell me she did! Put in a good word for me! She’s so incredibly talented and gorgeous. If I can actually win her over, I’ll be the envy of the entire campus!
Pei Xueqing’s expression darkened instantly, her fingers trembling slightly as she furiously typed back a response:
Forget about it. She refused. She isn’t… and never will be, one of us.
Back in the shop, Su Wudeng stared at her phone, watching the spiritual plant listings she had just posted on the Star Network. They were currently pending review.
“They should sell pretty quickly, right?” she muttered to herself. “I set the prices strictly based on current market trends. At worst, I can always negotiate with buyers later.”
Suddenly, the shop’s front counter intercom chimed.
Su Wudeng blinked in confusion. Who would be calling her line?
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this the owner? I’m Chu Yansen,” a smooth, cultured male voice filtered through the speaker. “I’m calling to inquire about the advanced cat-shaped mechanical beast from the ‘Moon Shadow’ series that I pre-ordered. Is it ready for pickup? I happen to be in the area today and would love to swing by.”
Su Wudeng went rigid, her mind instantly thrown into a tailspin. She understood every individual word he said, but when strung together, they made absolutely no sense.
The Moon Shadow series? A high-end, cat-shaped mechanical pet? How much does something like that even cost? Millions?
Most importantly… the original owner actually took an order like that?!
She instinctively scanned her tiny shop, which was packed to the gills with cheap inventory worth a few thousand credits at best. Where on earth was she supposed to find a luxury, high-end mechanical beast?
“Um…” Su Wudeng’s heart plummeted into her stomach. Holding her breath, she managed to ask, “Excuse me, sir, but could you remind me how much you paid for the deposit?”
The line went dead silent for a second before the man’s voice dropped several degrees, turning noticeably colder. “One million credits. Why? Is there a problem?”
“One million!” Su Wudeng’s head spun, her vision blurring.
Chu Yansen paused before continuing, “Did something happen? Tell you what—I’m driving past your block right now. I’ll pull up to the shop immediately, and we can discuss this in person.”
“Right… Okay,” Su Wudeng managed to squeeze out before the line went dead.
She collapsed backward into her chair, entirely paralyzed with dread. I’m dead. A one-million-credit deposit? This is going to be the end of me.
Where am I supposed to pull a multi-million-credit luxury mechanical cat out of? She had never even heard of the Moon Shadow series. How did the original owner manage to land such a massive client in the first place?
Su Wudeng scrambled out of her chair and began tearing through the shop’s digital ledger. Sure enough, there it was. The transaction had cleared exactly one month ago—the precise day she had transmigrated into this body.
“But where did the money go? There are only withdrawal logs, absolutely zero purchasing records.”
Even she had no clue what the original owner had done with that fortune before dying. This time, she had truly been left holding a live grenade.
A sleek, aerodynamic luxury hovercar glided effortlessly through the upper tiers of the city streets.
Chu Yansen sat behind the wheel, clad in a flawlessly tailored suit. His slightly wavy black hair was neatly swept back, accentuating his sharp, commanding brow. His long, slender fingers rested lightly on the steering wheel as he stared intently at the traffic ahead.
“Brother Chu,” Shu Can spoke up from the passenger seat. His short blond hair was slightly disheveled, catching the ambient light filtering through the window like spun gold. He arched an eyebrow. “I told you this was a bad idea. How could a bottom-tier fourth-sector planet possibly stock the kind of high-grade mechanical beast you’re looking for?”
“Since when did you become such a pushover? Dropping a one-million-credit deposit without a second thought? What if the owner skipped town with your money? You’ll lose every single cent.”
Chu Yansen lightly tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “Her shop is right ahead; where could she possibly run? Besides, we’ll know soon enough whether she has the inventory or not.”
Shu Can scoffed, leaning back into the leather seat. “I think you’ve just lost your mind from watching too many kitten videos. The owner clearly sniffed out your weakness and used it to fleece you.”
Chu Yansen didn’t argue the point, but his sharp gaze softened ever so slightly. As the sole heir to a massive interstellar conglomerate, he had always maintained a perfectly composed, logical exterior. But beneath that cold façade, Chu Yansen was an unapologetic, hopeless cat lover.
Whenever the world went quiet at night, he would lose himself for hours in ancient documentaries featuring living felines. Every single one of them was so incredibly vibrant, graceful, and intelligent; just watching them was enough to melt his cold heart. He wanted nothing more than to physically hold one of those adorable creatures, to feel if their fur was truly as velvety soft as the footage suggested.
But harsh reality offered no such luxury. Authentic cats had long vanished into endangerment, their tracks completely erased from the galaxy. No matter how many billions someone possessed, money couldn’t buy a living cat.
He could only settle for the next best thing. If he couldn’t have a real cat, he would commission the most hyper-realistic mechanical substitute money could buy.
No, Chu Yansen thought silently, his fingers tightening slightly on the wheel. He recalled his initial conversation with the shop owner. She had sounded entirely sincere; it didn’t feel like a scam.
Noticing his friend’s distraction, Shu Can spoke up again. “You don’t seriously expect to find a functional Moon Shadow unit in there, do you? I’ll bet you ten thousand credits her shop doesn’t have it.” He muttered under his breath, “That line was discontinued a lifetime ago. How could a backwater shop in a remote sector like this possibly have a brand-new unit sitting in the back?”
In truth, Shu Can was willing to bet that this pathetic little shop didn’t even have a basic high-level pet, let alone a collector’s piece.
Before long, the hovercar glided to a halt right outside the entrance of Pet Love Home.
Chu Yansen killed the engine and was just about to step out when his phone gave a sudden vibration. He pulled it out out of pure habit, but the moment his eyes locked onto the screen, his calm demeanor shattered, ignited by an instant spark of intense focus.
The screen lit up with a push notification for a newly uploaded video. Chu Yansen spent a massive portion of his free time browsing cat media, and the platform’s algorithm had long mapped his preferences with terrifying accuracy. The clip, which had been uploaded only an hour ago, had been pushed straight to his device.
He had intended to give it a passing glance, but the title alone made his heart stop.
Exclusive Footage: Infant Snow Crystal Cats Having Lunch! Cuteness Overload, You Have Been Warned!
In the thumbnail, four snow-white, fluffy kittens were clustered together, their tiny paws awkwardly clutching at feeding bottles.
Chu Yansen froze, entirely unable to move.
