章 2: Money hunting
The next day, he bough the emergency food, medical supplies and hygien supplies for 1880 yuans (nearly 250 euros) online. It was a lot of money for someone who lost his parents in highschool and had to take care of his little sister. He was short at least another 2640 yuans (nearly 350 euros) to finish buying his supplies, and it was really important as it was for the weapons and protective gear.
He opened his QQ and clicked on the ID of Li Jun. An idea formed in his head, and he immediately sent a message to Li Jun. Soon after, the message tone was heard. The chat interface appeared along with Li Jun's reply, "Have you seen my new login device?"
Jiang just looked at his ID, which at the moment was saying "iPhone 7 online." No wonder he was online. The iPhone 7 was just the latest cell phone launched that month.
"This phone costs about 8,000 yuan!!!" Jiang Liushi exclaimed.
He could not afford it at all. He could never buy a phone like that in his whole life.
Li Jun triumphantly replied, "You wonder how I got the first batch at such a low price? I found a cell phone dealer that helped me buy it for an additional 2,000 yuan!"
'A cell phone costing 10,000 yuan!' Jiang Liushi could not believe it. His parents had died prematurely, so he'd had no choice but to take care of his sister. As a result, their life had always been frugal. However, it seemed that Li Jun had plenty of money.
Jiang Liushi quickly typed, "Do you have any plans for next Tuesday?"
"Next Tuesday? Let me think. Ah, I met a girl on WeChat and next Tuesday I will take her to a bar. Then after drinking… you know what I want to do!"
Jiang Liushi became upset and thought for some time. Biting the bullet, he finally said, "Next Tuesday I want to play games with you. Just relax in the bedroom and not go out?."
"What?" Li Jun did not react at all.
"Did you see the news about the uncovered ancient super-virus? I'm worried it migh be reactivated and start to spread. I try to avoid being outside."
"Are you out of your mind? Sorry, I'm not free."
"Well..." Jiang sighed and shook his head. He had tried.
In fact, even if they stayed in the dormitory and locked the doors and windows, they still would not be able to avoid the outbreak of the virus. Actually, everyone was already infected. Ten days later, it would ultimately depend on their immune system whether they would turn into a monster or not.
By spending the night together, he just wanted to make sure that those monsters would not kill Li Jun, and he could help him escape. Obviously, Li Jun would not agree with him, so there was no other way.
Jiang said, "Li Jun, I need money before then. Can you return the 2,000 yuan you borrowed from me?"
"Oh. I will give it to you in a few days. I promise."
Jiang Liushi frowned. "I need it, can you give it back before Sunday? It was my emergency money."
"Really? Wait, that girl is calling me. I have to talk to her. Hold on a minute."
Jiang shook his head and didn't bother to wait. The guy was obviously stalling, so he called his other roommate. "Luo Ming, can you lend me 2,000 yuan?"
"I am broke, I spent everything on games. I wanted to borrow some money from you. What do you need the money for anyway?" Luo Ming asked.
"Nothing. I just heard some worrying news about a virus and wanted to take some safety measures."
Jiang Liushi knew that Luo Ming was a big fan of games. Although his family was fairly well off, due to his habit of spending everything on games, he was always short on money.
"Luo Ming, listen. Next week you should stay in the dormitory and play games. Avoid going out more than necessary. You might catch something nasty. At least get some food and water for a few days."
"What? Why?" Luo Ming asked in a shocked voice.
"There was news about an ancient super-virus being found. Just do it! Better safe than sorry!"
Jiang hung up the phone. He had tried, but it was to no avail. He couldn't be forcefull.
Li Jun could not return the money he owed him, and it was even harder to borrow money. After all, they were all students. Jiang Liushi checked his phone over and over, and suddenly saw the icon of a foxy guy. An idea popped into his head.
The foxy man had shiny hair and was wearing a pair of sunglasses. He was called Ma Hao. He was very well-known in school, not because of his talents, but his strong connections. No wonder Jiang and Ma were QQ friends.
He vaguely remembered that he had heard from Li Jun that Ma Hao had a friend who gave loans to students. In order to borrow money, some girls went as far as to provide him with indecent photos. If they did not pay him back, then their private information and pictures were released to the public, sent to their classmates, or even to their families.
Ma Hao often took girls' indecent photos from his friends and sent them to the student's group "to share". Many classmates would then comment on them. Jiang Liushi didn't know how to feel about these girls. Some may have been to vain, in that case they would deserve it. But other may be just desperate due to hard living conditions.
Originally, Jiang Liushi had felt that he could never associate with them, but now there was no need to worry about it. Jiang Liushi called Ma Hao and waited a bit before he answered, and got straight to the point.
"Ma Hao, can your friend lend me some money?"
Ma Hao soon replied, "No problem, just send me your student ID."
Jiang sent a photo of his student card right away. Ma Hao confirmed and asked, "How much do you want to borrow?"
"5,000 yuan!" Jiang said bluntly.
His family background was not a secret, and Ma Hao could casually inquire about it. Jiang decided to borrow twice what he needed just to be on the safe side. He may come across something he didn't think about before and need the extra money.
"That's quite a bit for you. What do you want to do?" Ma Hao asked.
"Precautions due to some worrying news. Don't ask, just tell me the conditions," Jiang said.
"En…Well, give me your student card as well as your home address. You should also write me an IOU for 6250 yuan. Meanwhile, record a video of the IOU, reading the above content willingly. When you pay me back, I will destroy it in front of you. When will you pay me back?"
"In a month," Jiang Liushi said.
"You should pay me back in time. I trust you because we are classmates." Ma Hao said.
"Okay"
Jiang Liushi grimly smiled. What interest? What threat? Would he have time to care about Ma Hao while the end of the world was approaching? Would Ma Hao even have the time to worry about loans the next week? In the afternoon he went to sign the IOU contract with Ma Hao and got the money.
Once he got home, Jiang Liushi called his younger sister… Although he knew that this call would not matter, just like a stone dropped into the sea. Before the Starseed popped up in his body, his younger sister had gone to the mountains for investigating. The reception on the mountains was bad.
To make things worse, his younger sister was still in the mountains while the end of the world was approaching. But fortunately, Jiang Liushi knew, through the Starseed, that both he and his younger sister would not be negatively affected by the virus. Despite not specialising in biological interactions, the Starseed knew enough about both the virus and Jiang's blood to infer this much about close members of the family.
His younger sister would finish the investigation in two days, which made Jiang Liushi very happy. He and his younger sister kept each other alive in the past years. They had become quite close after the death of their parents. If Jiang Liushi couldn't contact her, he would go crazy.
Just as he expected, her cell phone was off. Jiang Liushi sent a text message to her; telling her to contact him immediately after seeing it. Jiang would ensure that his phone would be switched on and in service 24/7. He believed that his younger sister would call him back immediately because he sounded so anxious.
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