Chapter 114: New Phone and Bank Card

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: New Phone and Bank Card

"Goddess, I’ll listen to you. From now on, I’ll make fewer wooden hairpins and jewelry boxes," Carpenter Zhao stated.

Hunters Wang said embarrassedly, "We’ve never made this much money before. Earning three to four taels of silver a day was something I wouldn’t have even dared to dream of in the past. That’s why I discussed making more wooden crafts with Carpenter Zhao, but we forgot that you have your own matters to attend to, Goddess."

Yun Zhen smiled and said, "Alright, get a good night’s sleep tonight. You don’t need to wake up too early tomorrow. We can earn three taels of silver a day now. By the time the blizzard is over, we’ll have enough to build new houses for everyone."

At three taels of silver a day, they could make nearly a hundred taels in a month. The snow disaster would last for another two to three months at most, meaning they could earn several hundred taels of silver in total. She already had over a hundred taels on her. If she got lucky, she might even stumble upon other ways to make money.

"Goddess, we’ll head back now. We won’t disturb your rest any longer." Carpenter Zhao and Hunters Wang left together.

Li Cuilan smiled. "The crocheted dolls have been delivered, Goddess. I’ll be heading home too."

Only the family of four remained in the house.

"Dad, Mom, I’m going to the Immortal Realm. You two take Little Bao and get some sleep." Yun Zhen now alternated sleeping between the two worlds.

"Go back and rest. Your mother and I will take good care of Little Bao," Yun Xiu said.

Yun Zhen nodded.

In an instant, she arrived back at her dorm.

She turned on the light. While her family home had a stove and candles, they couldn’t compare to the large dorm light that shone brighter than the moon. Unfortunately, the light was embedded in the ceiling and couldn’t be easily moved. Otherwise, she would have taken it back to the village by any means necessary, just to broaden everyone’s horizons.

"If everyone gives a little love..." Her communicator rang, playing its familiar tune. It was most likely Brother Zhao looking for her.

She answered tentatively, "Brother Zhao?"

Zhao Peng’s voice came through. "Yun Zhen, are you awake? Let’s meet at the cafeteria. There’s an update on the communicator upgrade and the bank card I applied for you last time."

Yun Zhen’s eyes lit up. "Sure!"

Carrying around a large sum of cash was incredibly inconvenient for her right now. Although the treasure land in her mind was perfectly safe, pulling out a thick stack of red bills whenever she needed to make a large purchase was risky. She worried that over time, she might catch the eye of people with malicious intentions. The money in her mind’s treasure land couldn’t be stolen, but she herself would be in danger. She wondered if having a bank card meant she could pay with just a tap, exactly like Li Mei and the others. By not flashing wads of cash, no one would ever know how much money she actually had.

She quickly washed up and headed to the cafeteria to find Brother Zhao.

"Yun Zhen." Zhao Peng was still dressed in his neat and formal suit.

"Brother Zhao!" Yun Zhen called out.

Zhao Peng took a bite of the sweet potato in his hand. "You won’t be going to Mr. Gao’s class today. I’ve taken the day off for you so I can take you to open a bank account and deposit your money. Since you’ll come of age in half a month, the higher-ups decided to follow the agency’s protocol and issue your smartphone early."

Zhao Peng suddenly added, "Hurry up and eat your breakfast; I’ll take you to the bank right after. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention the money over the phone. Go back to your dorm and grab the 30,000 yuan from the lost cat poster, along with the money from selling the pork last time. I’ll wait for you in the car downstairs.

"I remember you made 3,168 yuan from selling that pork. You get a daily wage from your part-time job, so you should still have about 3,000 yuan left. Add that to the 30,000 from the cat poster, and you’ll need to deposit a total of 33,000 yuan into your card."

The money from selling the pork had long been spent on food and winter supplies for the village. The reward from the lost cat poster had also gone toward buying tents and heating equipment for everyone. Fortunately, she had made over a hundred thousand yuan from fishing and selling wooden crafts. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to explain herself to Brother Zhao.

After breakfast, Yun Zhen took a quick trip back to her dorm. She retrieved 33,000 yuan from the treasure land in her mind and stuffed it into an envelope. Once she had the cash, she went downstairs and hopped into Brother Zhao’s car.

The car drove for a while before arriving at the bank.

Under Zhao Peng’s guidance, Yun Zhen went through the motions of shaking her head, opening her mouth for facial recognition, and pressing her fingerprints to open a bank account. The 33,000 yuan was also deposited into it.

She really couldn’t understand it. Why did getting a card require so much head-shaking? She felt like her brains were about to be scrambled. She had blinked dozens of times and opened and closed her mouth just as many. By the time the whole series of actions was complete, she felt more exhausted than if she had been doing manual labor.

At the same time, she received the very first mobile phone of her life. She also linked her new bank card to the standard payment apps.

Yun Zhen and Zhao Peng sat in the waiting area while he taught her how to use the bank card, how to navigate every app on her phone, and how to send and receive money after activating online banking. If it weren’t for her excellent memory, there was no way she could have remembered all of this in a single day.

"If you want to save money, just come to the bank, hand your cash and card to the staff, and they’ll deposit it for you. If you want to do it yourself, just look for the self-service deposit and withdrawal machines. Most banks have them, usually right next to the service counters." Zhao Peng explained the ins and outs of depositing and withdrawing cash.

Yun Zhen once again felt the profound shock this world brought her. She gripped the bank card, entirely speechless. How on earth could such a thick stack of cash fit into this thin piece of material? It didn’t even have an opening—how did they get it inside? She weighed it in her hand; it was feather-light, completely devoid of mass. She wondered how a thick stack of bills could possibly be stuffed into such a thin piece of material.

"Did you get all that?"

Zhao Peng went over it twice and had Yun Zhen practice a few times. Yun Zhen practically mastered it all. She just couldn’t quite wrap her head around how a stiff piece of card could hold so much money.

After spending the entire morning busy at the bank, Yun Zhen learned how to use a smartphone, how to make mobile payments when shopping, and how to deposit and withdraw cash at the ATMs.

Claiming he had work to do, Brother Zhao dropped her off at the entrance of the farmers’ market and drove away. Before leaving, he even bought her a cup of milk tea.

Tossing the milk tea into her mind’s treasure land, Yun Zhen went off to collect and sell scrap before rushing to the restaurant for her shift. Once she finished work, she grabbed her blackboard and headed to Jiuzhou Mall to sell her wooden crafts and crocheted dolls.

"Grandma Sun, this is for you."

Grandma Sun had changed locations again today, but as always, she had saved a spot next to her for Yun Zhen.

Yun Zhen offered the milk tea Brother Zhao had bought her to Grandma Sun.

Granny Sun quickly and politely declined. "I know you’re thanking me for saving you a spot, but you’re being far too polite, child. I appreciate the thought, but I’m getting old and can’t handle sweet things anymore. You go ahead and drink that milk tea for me."

"Then I’ll bring you a different kind of snack next time," Yun Zhen said. Seeing her firm refusal, she didn’t push the matter.

Granny Sun didn’t rush to decline this time, offering a helpless smile instead. "Such a sensible child."

She then asked Yun Zhen, "Are you still selling handmade wooden crafts and crocheted dolls today?"

Yun Zhen nodded. "Yes, I’m still selling them today." She pulled out a piece of cloth and spread it on the ground, then arranged her items neatly. She set up her blackboard in front of the stall; the prices were exactly the same as yesterday’s, so there was no need to change them.

"Yun Zhen." A familiar voice rang out. It was Su Yue.

She stood in front of the stall, beaming brightly. "You haven’t been by our school these past couple of days, so I knew you had to be over here selling your goods."

Yun Zhen was also thrilled to see her. "Su Yue."

"Milk tea." She handed the drink over.

Su Yue raised her hands, both of which were full of food. "I have some too! I even bought ice cream."

Granny Sun asked Yun Zhen, "Someone you know?"

"A friend of mine," Yun Zhen nodded.

Su Yue squatted down, her eyes instantly lighting up. "Wow! Yun Zhen, your craftsmanship is amazing! These wooden hairpins, this jewelry box, these wooden fridge magnets—they have such a great natural, forest-core vibe! They’re absolutely bursting with artistic flair!"