Jiang Yan quickly found the rice noodle shop.
At first glance, the place seemed questionable. Since it wasn't mealtime, the shop was empty except for a plump older sister still bustling about.
She stepped inside, glanced at the menu, and ordered a bowl of Huaxi beef rice noodles with extra beef, pickled vegetables, and beef tendon.
Just as she settled into her seat, her phone rang—the caller ID showed it was her private client manager from XX Bank.
They had called earlier that morning, saying they'd noticed unusual transactions on Jiang Yan's bank card.
"Unusual" was a relative term—Jiang Yan had spent millions in a single day before.
But back then, her purchases were limited to cars, houses, jewelry, and designer bags.
Today, however, her main spending had taken place in a wholesale market, which was completely out of character compared to her usual spending habits.
Where there's smoke, there's fire, so naturally, the bank had to issue a risk control reminder.
She answered the call anyway.
After confirming the transactions were indeed hers, the manager politely gave a few routine reminders before quickly hanging up.
Only then did Jiang Yan realize—
Luckily, she had only paid a deposit today. The total purchase would amount to over a small goal (100 million), but the deposit came to less than 30 million.
Her black card had a limit of exactly 30 million.
If she had tried to pay the full amount, she technically had the funds, but the bank would likely have frozen her account.
She put her phone away just as the beef noodles were ready.
As Jiang Yan approached to pick up her bowl, a rich, mouthwatering aroma hit her.
"Wow, that smells amazing!" she blurted out, swallowing reflexively.
The plump older sister didn't even glance up at the praise, her tone indifferent as she said,
"Cilantro, scallions, and chili are over there. Add them yourself."
Jiang Yan spotted the condiment station and headed straight for it, bowl in hand.
A spoonful of cilantro, a spoonful of chili, a spoonful of Sichuan peppercorns.
She pulled down her mask, mixed everything with her chopsticks, and took a bite.
The cilantro was fresh and green, the chili vibrant red, the noodles smooth and springy, the beef tender yet chewy, and the broth rich and savory—every bite was unforgettable.
Jiang Yan devoured the bowl in no time, not even leaving a drop of soup.
Truly, masters hide among the masses.
This shop's flavors were unbeatable.
In the past, she would've immediately gone live on Douyin to rave about it.
But now, she had more important matters to attend to. Besides, her Douyin account had been inactive for a week—and it would stay that way.
"Boss, how much would it cost to order 1,000 bowls of these beef noodles, with extra beef and offal?" Jiang Yan asked, putting her mask back on as she stood up.
The older sister paused mid-wipe, her tone unchanged. "Can't do it. Not possible."
"..." Jiang Yan froze for a second before clarifying, "I don't need them today—tomorrow or the day after is fine. I can pay upfront."
The older sister finally looked at her. Seeing a polite, well-mannered young woman, her tone softened slightly. "Girl, I can't do it tomorrow or the next day either. Mornings are for regular customers—I have lots of regulars from the market. I can't just close for two days."
Jiang Yan: "What about the afternoon?"
"I play mahjong then."
"Couldn't you work overtime just this once?"
"Not a chance, girl. Life's too short to chase money forever. In ten minutes, I'm closing up and leaving." The older sister sighed leisurely before resuming her cleaning.
Jiang Yan didn't feel it was her place to comment on or advise others about their lifestyles.
However, in the end, the older sister was persuaded to accept her order, though she mentioned she'd need a few days to prepare it when her husband was around before delivering it.
-
After leaving the noodle shop, Jiang Yan drove her small truck straight to the neighboring medicinal herbs market.
Taking advantage of a spot without people or surveillance, she stored all the spices and hot pot soup base from the enclosed compartment into her dimension.
By the time she left the medicinal herbs market, it was nearly six o'clock, and most of the shops inside had already closed.
This trip had been quite fruitful, though all her bank cards had been maxed out.
Yes, aside from the black card, the daily spending limits on her remaining savings cards were only 500,000 yuan each—all of them were now maxed.
Additionally, her phone was about to be bombarded with calls from various bank customer service managers.
Fortunately, she had managed to buy almost everything she needed and could afford in the market.
After browsing around, she realized that the same medicinal herbs could vary drastically in price depending on their quality and grade.
Naturally, the efficacy differed greatly as well, so she opted for the highest grade and quality available.
She purchased between 200 to 300 kilograms each of authentic medicinal materials like gastrodia tuber, pseudoginseng, pseudoginseng flowers, scutellaria, snow lotus, lingzhi mushroom, snow frog, dendrobium, and American ginseng, spending over five million yuan in total.
Cordyceps sinensis was the most expensive—just ten kilograms cost her nearly two million yuan.
A few strands of this stuff could be tossed into chicken soup or similar dishes. Whether it actually worked was uncertain, but it would last her several lifetimes.
She also bought ten kilograms each of high-quality ginseng and deer antler, which set her back almost three million yuan.
These two were more like "strategic" reserves—Jiang Yan didn't feel she particularly needed them.
She symbolically spent 20,000 yuan on a kilogram of dried bird's nest, which she could later use to pick out feathers when she had nothing better to do.
Jokes aside, she also bought 3,000 ready-to-eat rock sugar bird's nest servings, which was another hefty expense—another two million yuan gone in an instant.
For more common herbs like bupleurum, codonopsis, atractylodes, isatis root, and angelica, she bought 100 kilograms of each.
Aside from the dried bird's nest, cordyceps, and pseudoginseng flowers, the rest of the herbs were sliced or ground into powder according to traditional Chinese medicine processing methods, then packaged in 500g portions.
The market also offered processing services for prepared Chinese medicine. She ordered 4,000 doses each for common ailments like flu, fever, abdominal pain, menstrual disorders, cough and asthma relief, and blood circulation and replenishment.
Ideally, these prepared medicines should have been prescribed by a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, but that wasn't practical for her.
Western medicine and medical equipment were also on her list, but given the time constraints, she'd have to deal with those in a couple of days.
Considering the quantities she intended to stockpile, she'd likely need to tap into some special channels again.
After paying the deposits and leaving her warehouse address along with the suppliers' corporate payment details, Jiang Yan left the medicinal herbs market and drove her truck rumbling back home.
First, she was out of money. Second, she was exhausted.
Though her body had been enhanced by the dimension, it had only been a day or two. After a whole day of shopping, buying, and negotiating, claiming she wasn't tired would be a lie.
After returning home, she took a hot shower, dried her hair, and immediately entered the dimension.
The pile of supplies she had tossed in earlier were now neatly arranged in the gray [Warehouse Zone].
Fortunately, these supplies could be retrieved and placed wherever she wanted just by thinking—almost like magic.
Jiang Yan spent quite some time arranging the shelves separately.
She planned to stock commonly used supplies on these shelves once all the purchases were complete, making it easier to grab things while hunkering down at home.
Not only would it be satisfying to take whatever she needed with just a thought, but it would also save a lot of hassle.
After all, the mind wasn't always reliable.
(End of Chapter)