Chapter 4 – Capitalists Should All Be Hung on Lampposts

All the girls, including the wise and composed Su Ziyun, stared at Lin Wanqing as if she were some kind of monster.

They finally understood how terrifying the brain of a genius with economics and game theory etched into her bones could be when faced with market economy.

While everyone else was still stuck on the most basic level of thinking—just filling their stomachs—she was already operating on the fifth level.

She had begun thinking about how to exploit information asymmetry and resource scarcity to complete the most basic form of capital accumulation.

“I… I agree.” Gu Qingyan opened her mouth and barely managed to squeeze out those words. The look she gave Lin Wanqing was filled with an unmistakable “I bow to you.”

“Monster.” Qin Lan simply gave a short reply, but her eyes were full of admiration.

A genuine and unreserved smile of approval appeared on Su Ziyun’s face.

She looked at Lin Wanqing and gave a firm nod.

“A flawless analysis. We’ll do as you suggest.”

“We choose gasoline.”

With the decision made, Su Ziyun no longer hesitated.

[Reward selection confirmed. Congratulations! You have obtained 10 units of 10-liter standard cans of gasoline.]

Accompanied by the system notification, ten dark green standard military fuel cans materialized out of thin air in the open aisle of the bus, neatly arranged in a row.

A faint, distinctive industrial-era odor spread through the bus.

Su Ziyun’s gaze remained calm as she assigned tasks clearly.

“Zhou Siyu, this one unit of gasoline is yours. Prepare to activate your talent.”

“Lin Wanqing, these nine units of gasoline are yours. Begin your trading operations immediately. Use the minimum cost to obtain the survival supplies we need most right now.”

“Understood.”

The two gifted girls nodded at the same time and set to work without delay.

Zhou Siyu quietly walked over to the can of gasoline and stood before it, as if preparing for some kind of ritual.

Meanwhile, Lin Wanqing sat back down in her seat, her attention fully immersed in the trading channel. She started sifting through the massive flow of information to find potential buyers.

“Wait.”

Just as Zhou Siyu was about to activate her talent, Su Ziyun spoke again.

Her gaze shifted to Gu Qingyan, the girl with the lively ponytail.

“Gu Qingyan, activate your talent [Strings of Probability].”

“Perform a risk assessment on Zhou Siyu’s upcoming ‘Unequal Exchange.’ I need to know the probability of this exchange generating a high-value option or higher.”

S-rank Talent [Strings of Probability] Effect: Upon activation, the user can see several possible future outcomes for a specific action and display them as clear probability numbers.

This move energized everyone in the bus.

Using a probability talent to assist a resource-exchange talent!

If this worked, it would represent the possibility of synergy!

“Got it!”

A flush of excitement rose on Gu Qingyan’s face. This was precisely her area of expertise.

She took a deep breath. Her eyes instantly lost focus, as if countless fine golden threads were intertwining, collapsing, and reassembling deep within her pupils.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead. Clearly, this operation consumed a large amount of mental energy.

A few seconds later, Gu Qingyan’s body swayed slightly. Her face turned somewhat pale, but her eyes shone with astonishing brightness.

“Reporting to Teacher Su. The calculation is complete.”

“The probability of Zhou Siyu obtaining high-value resources in this exchange is 81.4%.”

She paused and then added, “I can try to push the probability to 100%, but… my mental energy consumption would increase significantly.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Su Ziyun cut her off decisively.

“Preserve your mental energy. You have more important tasks ahead. An 81.4% probability is enough.”

With that confirmed prediction, everyone’s hearts settled.

Su Ziyun’s gaze finally rested on Zhou Siyu.

“Begin.”

Zhou Siyu nodded.

She extended her fair finger and gently touched the cold metal surface of the gasoline can.

“Offering sacrifice.”

[S-rank Talent ‘Unequal Exchange’ activated!]

[Sacrificed item: One unit of 10-liter standard can of gasoline.]

[Reward exchange in progress…]

[Please select your reward from the following three options.]

A dazzling light screen unfolded before everyone’s eyes simultaneously.

On it were clearly displayed three options that made their hearts nearly stop.

[Option 1: 100 units of standard iron ingots.]

[Option 2: 100 portions of high-energy nutritional compressed biscuits.]

[Option 3: 100 units of 10-liter standard can of gasoline.]

One hundred units!

A full one hundred!

The air inside the bus seemed to have been sucked out by an invisible force. Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the third option on the screen.

One hundred cans of gasoline!

That was a thousand liters!

If the previous ten cans of gasoline only gave them the capital to trade, then…

This one hundred cans would be enough to make them an unparalleled “energy oligarch” in the entire region!

“I still recommend choosing gasoline.”

The cold, rational voice rang out again.

At some point, Lin Wanqing had finished browsing the trading channel. She pushed up her rimless glasses and looked calmly at the group.

“While you were discussing, I have already completed two trades using two units of gasoline from our stock.”

As she spoke, she reached out, and twenty vacuum-sealed compressed biscuits and twenty bottles of purified water materialized out of thin air on the empty floor before her.

[Transaction successful: You traded ‘1 unit 10-liter gasoline ×1 unit and received ‘Compressed biscuits ×20 portions’.]

[Transaction successful: You traded ’10-liter gasoline ×1 unit’ and received ‘500ml purified water ×20 portions’.]

Staring at the pile of food and water, everyone was dumbfounded.

Gu Qingyan, who had been worrying about food just moments ago, now had her mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

“Twenty liters of gasoline for twenty portions of food and twenty portions of water? That exchange rate…” she muttered to herself, feeling her mathematical skills being challenged.

Lin Wanqing explained calmly, “For players who have already hit the road but haven’t found gasoline along the way, fuel is the hard currency that can save their lives.”

“After all, the thunderstorm won’t wait for them. By exploiting this information gap and survival need, we can execute risk-free arbitrage.”

She distributed the food and water to everyone before continuing with her core argument.

“See? That’s the value of gasoline. Right now, it can be the sharpest sickle in our hands, used to harvest resources from the entire region.”

“If we choose the hundred cans of gasoline, we can use them to complete our capital accumulation!”

“Choosing iron ingots is addition. We would be just solving a 1+1=2 problem.”

“Choosing gasoline is multiplication! We are using capital to leverage an entire market!”

Every word from Lin Wanqing landed like a hammer blow on everyone’s hearts.

Once again, the bus fell into deathly silence.

They stared at this girl, who was so calm it was almost unnatural, and deeply understood why people say capitalists should all be hung on lampposts.

A light of unprecedented brilliance burst forth in Su Ziyun’s eyes.

She looked at Lin Wanqing and slowly nodded, her eyes filled with undisguised appreciation.