Chapter 46: This Entire Screen Smells Like an Insurance Sales Pitch~

Qian Qi cleared her throat, tapped her little foot on the step, and suddenly channeled her inner hype person, shouting with great dramatic flair:

"Ladies and Gentlemen~ Welcome to Qian Qi's auction! I am your host, Qian Qi, and I will be explaining live why the Defense Fruit is an absolute must-have for every household!"

"Are you worried that one day a mutated beast will burst out of its nest and trample you to death, leaving behind your helpless, aging parents with no one to protect them, vulnerable to bullying?"

"Are you worried that one day, you'll be just 10 minutes away from escaping a dungeon alive, only to be crushed to death under the foot of a D-rank mutated beast?"

"Do you want to secure life insurance for yourself and your family? Do you want to buy a policy against future dangers? Do you want to leave a precious inheritance for your children and grandchildren?"

Qian Qi held the small iron box high, her voice filled with excitement, "Then come and buy a Defense Fruit! A single Defense Fruit can protect you for 10 minutes at the most critical moment! One Defense Fruit gives your family an extra layer of life security! One Defense Fruit represents your overflowing love for your future descendants! What are you still hesitating for? Buy a Defense Fruit and bring happiness to your whole family!"

Everyone: ???

Wait a minute, what is up with this overwhelming insurance-salesperson vibe?

They had originally expected the big shot to deliver some passionate, inspiring speech to entice them into buying the Defense Fruit, but these sales pitches... weren't they a bit too down-to-earth and tacky?

"Better safe than sorry! What if you survive just because of a single Defense Fruit?"

Qian Qi spoke with earnest persuasion and heartfelt concern, agonizing over their safety, "Of course, I'm not saying I'm cursing you, but in today's society overrun by mutated beasts, it is extremely dangerous out there! By purchasing a Defense Fruit policy, don't we get a bit more protection?"

Everyone: ...

Hey, hey, hey! The insurance pitch vibe is getting even stronger!

"Fellow students! You hesitate a lot when buying, but you regret having too few when using! Don't hesitate, don't waver! Trust Qian Qi's recommendation—the Qian Qi Brand Defense Fruit! You'll know how good it is once you use it!"

"Whether you buy it for yourself or your family, whether you resell it at a high price to awakeners outside or to classmates who didn't come to watch the match, it is an absolutely stellar choice!"

Qian Qi raised her thumbs-up cane, officially kicking off the auction: "Today we have a strict limit of 8 fruits up for auction, one per person, to the highest bidder!"

"We will now start the bidding for the first Defense Fruit! Starting price is 30,000, with each increment no less than 2,000!"

As soon as Qian Qi finished speaking, the students present couldn't help but shout out their bids:

"Thirty-five thousand!"

"Thirty-eight thousand!"

"Forty thousand!"

The students called out their bids one after another, eager to squeeze into the front rows to make an offer. Even students from the other stands rushed over, wanting to see what that magical Defense Fruit actually looked like.

Soon, the price of the Defense Fruit was driven up to 120,000.

This price was just right. 120,000 could rent a D-rank awakener as a bodyguard for a day, whereas a Defense Fruit only lasted for 10 minutes. However, when facing a swarm of mutated beasts, a single Defense Fruit provided brief, invincible protection, making the price quite reasonable.

"120,000! Are there any bids higher than 120,000?" Qian Qi raised her thumbs-up cane high and shouted, "Going once for 120,000, going twice—"

"130,000." At this moment, Su Ang, who had been sitting in the front row without leaving ever since Qian Qi took the stage, suddenly spoke up. He looked at the small iron box in Qian Qi's hand and said calmly, "I bid 130,000."

Qian Qi tapped her thumbs-up cane against the railing and said in pleasant surprise, "This classmate bids 130,000! Are there any bids higher than 130,000?"

After shouting three times with no further bids, Qian Qi hurriedly pointed her thumbs-up cane at Su Ang and announced loudly, "Congratulations to this classmate for winning the first Defense Fruit! Please wait until the auction ends to pay and collect your item from me. Now, let's proceed to the auction of the second Defense Fruit!"

Qian Qi's little auction went on in full swing, with each subsequent fruit selling for a higher price than the last. Even the principal joined in on the fun and bought one. It wasn't until two o'clock in the afternoon that Qian Qi finally sold all 8 Defense Fruits.

Yet, several students were still unsatisfied, setting their sights on the last Defense Fruit tucked inside Qian Qi's pocket.

Qian Qi quickly covered her pocket, "Don't be so hardcore, classmates!"

Everyone sighed with sorrow and eventually had to retreat with reluctance, while the six wealthy student tycoons who successfully bought the Defense Fruits rushed excitedly over to Qian Qi, ready to pay and collect their goods.

Su Ang stood up and handed the optical computer he had been holding the entire time over to Qian Qi.

Qian Qi smiled brightly as she strapped the optical computer onto her wrist. Seeing that all the payments had successfully transferred to her account, she handed the Defense Fruits to the paying students and reminded them, "Take good care of them normally, alright? If you crush them, I won't compensate you!"

"You got it, Big Shot!" Those students left with radiant smiles on their faces.

After sending those people off, Qian Qi turned her head to look at Su Ang and said with a beaming smile, "Senior Su, it was you who controlled that contracted beast just now, right?"

Su Ang lowered his gaze to look at Qian Qi, noticing her eager expression as if she wanted to cozy up to him. He maintained a detached distance, stepped back slightly, and nodded, "No need to thank me."

"How can that do!" Qian Qi clapped her hands, indicating he was being far too polite. "You saved me, so the least I can do is give you a discount, right?"

Standing nearby, the principal felt a bit sour in his heart upon hearing this. He couldn't help thinking that if he had made a move a fraction of a second earlier, perhaps he would have gotten that discount too.

Getting a discount from someone as stingy as Qian Qi—just thinking about it brought a strong sense of achievement!

Then the principal watched as Qian Qi took out a Defense Fruit from her small iron box, placed it into her own hand, and shoved the small iron box containing the very last Defense Fruit straight into Su Ang's hands.

"Thanks for saving my life just now, Senior. I'll waive the packaging fee for you~" Qian Qi figured this was the greatest benefit she could possibly bestow.

Principal: ...Pfft~

Su Ang: ...

Su Xingle: ... (Covering face.jpg)

Junior, do you remember that this small iron box was the one I fished out of my wardrobe yesterday?

Could you please not be quite so stingy?! Forget about giving a discount of even a few bucks, you're actually gifting someone a secondhand small iron box that wasn't worth anything to begin with?

Yet Qian Qi felt there was nothing wrong with it.

For one thing, she didn't believe she would actually die at the hands of a D-rank contracted beast. For another, Su Ang had saved her the money of buying another Defense Fruit, which truly counted as saving her "life," so she ought to show some appreciation.

Su Ang looked down at the small iron box in his hand and fell silent for a moment.

He wondered if he had been meddling pointlessly just now.

Perhaps Qian Qi had already prepared a backup plan all along, and instead, he had awkwardly forced himself into the role of a life-saver.

With his fingertips tightening slightly around the small iron box, he tucked away the strange feeling in his heart and said flatly, "Thank you for your discount."

Seeing that Su Ang had accepted it without standing on ceremony, Qian Qi nodded in satisfaction, then turned around to display her payment QR code to the principal, "Principal, pay up."

Principal: ...

What's with the rushing! Am I, a dignified principal, someone who would run off without paying?!

The principal slowly opened his optical computer and asked with a casual facade, "Qian Qi, where did you get these Defense Fruits? I heard they seem to be the fruit of some kind of demonic plant?"

But demonic plant fruits couldn't be ingested directly, could they? Why didn't this Defense Fruit have any side effects?

Could this also be something Qian Qi had improved?

Qian Qi stared at the principal, an innocent and pure look plastered across her face, "That's right, they really are the fruit of some demonic plant."

Seeing that Qian Qi was deliberately brushing past the first question, the principal refused to back down and pressed further, "Then where did you find these Defense Fruits?"

"Forgot," Qian Qi maintained her innocent expression, "Back when I was almost starving to death, I picked and ate snow on the mountain, and accidentally ended up eating a Defense Fruit. That's how I discovered it had defensive properties."

Principal: ...

Principal: ???

What on earth???