Chapter 36 [VIP]

"The weather is good now. If we don't go out now, if the temperature drops further, we won't be able to go out even if we want to."

The wise man's words successfully made many people who did not plan to go out to search for supplies give up the idea of ​​staying at home.

Soon, the crowd dispersed. Everyone went about their business. Qin Mingyue and Yu Xiaowan also emerged from the Taoyuan Inn.

The two of them planned to form a team and go out together to look for supplies.

The first choices are Jiang Lijun and Liu Yan. The couple are very good partners.

After just a few words, he was stopped by a familiar stranger.

"Mingyue, Xiaowan!"

It’s Sanshui and Liu Yong.

They are both still alive.

But he was covered in weathered clothes, and looked much more haggard and worn than when we parted.

"Old Liu, why are there only you and Sanshui? Where are the others?" Qin Mingyue asked happily and worriedly.

"We arrived today." Sanshui said bitterly, "We were supposed to arrive last night, but something unexpected happened."

As for what the accident was, Sanshui did not elaborate, and Liu Yong had no intention of explaining.

Yu Xiaowan raised her eyebrows slightly, knowing in her heart that their team was probably broken up.

No, it’s already dispersed.

Yu Xiaowan and Qin Mingyue are now staying at the Taoyuan Inn. They are so comfortable. If they continue to team up with Liu Yong and Sanshui...

It depends on whether Liu Yong's family is easy to get along with.

If you get along well, you can regroup. If not...

Who the hell wants to be servile to their friends during the apocalypse? Just ask yourself if you won't be embarrassed by your friends' families.

Qin Mingyue didn't understand Yu Xiaowan's little thoughts. If she did, she would have sighed that she was indeed a good friend, as they understood each other so well.

Because Qin Mingyue thought so too.

"We rented an apartment," Liu Yong said. "It's only 15 Starlight Coins a month. Staying in an inn would cost 22 Starlight Coins, and since I'm a big family, there's no room in an inn."

"You live in an apartment, then Sanshui..."

"I'm going to stay at the inn."

Sanshui spoke, and although he could not hide his weathered and haggard appearance, there was no gloom on his face. It was obvious that he had accompanied his friend back to his hometown to pick him up, and Sanshui believed that he had done what a friend should do.

And then, it is impossible for friends to stay together all the time, as they all have different lives.

"Compared to the apartment, staying at the Taoyuan Inn is indeed more expensive, but it includes three meals a day," Sanshui said earnestly. "I'm traveling alone, so the inn is more cost-effective."

Liu Yong felt a little embarrassed, and more ashamed.

Having said that, I should be embarrassed.

Although Liu Yong's helplessness is genuine, it also feels like he is destroying the bridge after crossing it.

Qin Mingyue and Yu Xiaowan exchanged a glance, and Yu Xiaowan began to chat for a long time.

Not to mention, when I heard it suddenly, I felt it was quite familiar.

After chatting for a while, Liu Yong said goodbye and went to the apartment to help his family clean up. Qin Mingyue and Yu Xiaowan both politely asked if they needed help.

Liu Yong was quite tempted, but he still refused rationally.

"I'll treat you guys to dinner tomorrow when I'm done."

Qin Mingyue looked at Liu Yong's back and said speechlessly for a moment: "Do you feel that Liu Yong is weird?"

Sanshui: "Maybe his wife and girlfriend had a fight, which delayed him from going to pick up his parents, and his mother was almost bitten to death by his father."

"Wait for me to sort it out." Yu Xiaowan was extremely surprised. She felt that this short paragraph contained a huge amount of information.

"Is Lao Liu's child okay?"

"Do you mean your wife's or your girlfriend's?"

"It seems that Old Liu realized his dream of having three wives and four concubines before the end of the world."

"Don't be sarcastic." Sanshui was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say. "Let me put it this way, Lao Liu's wife is not his real wife, but his girlfriend is his real girlfriend."

“???”

Qin Mingyue and Yu Xiaowan were both stunned. After a moment, Yu Xiaowan became excited first.

"What happened? Tell me more about it."

Sanshui: “…”

I don't really want to talk about gossip about my former teammates, but at this time, both Yu Xiaowan and Qin Mingyue are very curious, and this is not a matter of gossip.

It has to be said, but how to say it is a skill.

On the way to Taoyuan Inn, Sanshui briefly recounted what happened when he followed Liu Yong to his hometown.

The reason why Sanshui was unwilling to continue living with Liu Yong and preferred to stay in an inn was because there were many things that made him unable to refuse but also very annoyed.

"What's there to be upset about?"

Mingzhu rarely heard such a "wonderful" story. He was so curious that he took the initiative to get closer to the tenant.

Sanshui: "...Brother Liu Yong borrowed Liu Yong's identity and got married to his 'wife'. Then, the apocalypse arrived, and Brother Liu Yong died. Then, Liu Yong's nominal wife and their daughter moved in with the old couple."

"...The day before Liu Yong found his girlfriend and returned home, Uncle Liu was bitten. Luckily, we returned in time, otherwise, I'm afraid Uncle Liu would have already bitten Aunt Wang and Liu Xiaotu."

relation! "

"Boss, come closer and ask with great curiosity.

.”

"Male, asexual, thank you!" Mingzhu asked Yu Xiaowan. "Why do you humans always get so caught up in love affairs? Isn't it more fun to just focus on your careers?"

"What do you mean by us humans? Look at what you said, boss. It sounds like you are not human."

"That's just serious nonsense. No, it's not really nonsense.

After all, the body he was using now was the same one he had in the interstellar world a generation ago. Strictly speaking, people in the interstellar world were no longer considered human.

I've heard of orcs!

Mingzhu's body was fused with the beastman gene. However, the beastman gene was not activated, so he could not transform into an orc like other people.

However, Mingzhu has all the strength that an orc should have, so Mingzhu can barely be considered a human.

It was the truth, not too much nonsense. However, no one believed it, not even Yu Xiaowan, who possessed the ability of intuition (super sense of direction), and thought Mingzhu was joking.

Mingzhu admitted it. "Yes, that's right, I was just kidding." With a cold snort, Mingzhu suddenly remembered something, "Aren't you going out to collect supplies?"

"Ah," Qin Mingyue finally remembered what she had forgotten. "It's late today, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Mingzhu: "...How hardworking."

Yu Xiaowan smiled shyly on purpose and said in a coquettish voice, "No way."

Mingzhu suddenly felt a chill and didn't want to talk to Yu Xiaowan anymore.

In fact, Mingzhu's focus was not on Xiaowan, but on Sanshui.

"A monthly room package costs 22 Starlight Coins. Both single and double rooms are priced the same. Three meals are also included. Guests will eat whatever we eat. If you need anything else, please find someone to trade with."

"Boss, I heard there's a vegetable garden at the base now. We residents of the Taoyuan Base are free to purchase it?"

"The vegetables in the garden are now ripening once a day. Due to the current climate, we can only grow frost-resistant cabbages and radishes."

After a pause, Mingzhu continued, "I just planted the cabbages and radishes the day before yesterday. They'll be harvested in five days, and I'll sell two-thirds of them then. If you need them, you can buy and sell them in the square outside the Taoyuan Inn."

"What about the price?" Sanshui asked again.

Mingzhu rolled his eyes. "Residents can enjoy a 20% discount by showing their ID cards."

“The price…”

"Price." Mingzhu pondered. "What's the price before the end of the world?"

"Rice before the apocalypse costs over 3 RMB per pound." Sanshui replied, still timidly saying, "Boss, you're not going to sell it for 3 Starlight Coins per pound, are you?"

"No!" Mingzhu said seriously, "For ease of management, rice and flour are priced uniformly at 1 Starlight Coin per kilogram. A 20% discount means 0.8 Starlight Coins."

"It's cheap!" Mingzhu exclaimed.

“It’s cheap, and the vegetables…”

"Ask the price when you buy it yourself." Mingzhu said unhappily, "It won't be more than 1 Starlight Coin per kilogram anyway."

"Oh, meat, poultry, and eggs, too." Mingzhu stated clearly, "I built the 'Taoyuan Base' just to provide a comfortable life for myself. I never thought of dominating the apocalyptic world. The prices I set are relatively low. If you don't believe me, just look at other bases out there. Who would dare to sell food for one crystal core per pound?"

Yes, the prices at Taoyuan Base are set very low.

It was because they could grow their own food and be self-sufficient, but more importantly, it was because of the preferential treatment given by Mingzhu.

First of all, it is true that a first-level crystal core cannot buy a kilogram of grain outside. Outside, people pay attention to barter. On the contrary, the value of crystal cores is not that high.

In Taoyuan Base, in addition to crystal cores that can be exchanged for the exclusive currency of Taoyuan Base, Starlight Coins, all collected resources, even garbage, can be exchanged for Starlight Coins.

Many people who live in the "Taoyuan Base" will choose to save the crystal cores after exchanging them for the first batch of starlight coins in exchange for the status of "Taoyuan Base" residents, and instead use the resources they search for every day to exchange for starlight coins.

Although there are few jobs available in Mingzhu, the residents go out diligently to collect resources every day, and the amount of Starlight Coins they exchange for is quite good.

Even the resident with the least Starlight Coins had a few hundred on their personal ID card. Given the prices at Taoyuan Base, one could comfortably lay low for months.

"Ask the dedicated waiter for any subsequent matters." Mingzhu paused and suddenly complained. "I remembered I forgot to build something. A farmers' market. I forgot to build a farmers' market."

"Ah!" Qin Mingyue asked doubtfully. "An ancient farmers' market?"

"Then it shouldn't be called a farmers' market, it should be called a vegetable market." Yu Xiaowan said with a smile, "Don't they often see them on TV saying 'beheaded at the Meridian Gate'? That Meridian Gate is the vegetable market."

"As you please."

Mingzhu began to yawn. "I'm going to get some sleep, then I'll start building the farmers market."

"I will be applying for the position of Farmers Market Manager. If you are interested, you can go to Jin Suanpan to sign up."

After saying this, Mingzhu went to rest.

He slept for about an hour, then woke up, opened the Trans-Time and Space Mall, and bought the vegetable market blueprint.

Yes, there are only vegetable market blueprints, and they cannot be upgraded.

It's not expensive, 10,000 Starlight Coins. But it actually requires the five element crystal cores of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

In addition, 1000 units of stone, 1000 units of bamboo strips, 1000 units of wooden boards and 500 units of hemp rope or straw rope are needed.

Hemp rope is woven from thatch/flax grass, while straw rope is made from weeds.

There are two floors in total, with a total area that is quite large, with each floor being approximately 1,200 square meters.

Mingzhu thought for a moment and built two vegetable markets.

One place helps sell grain, vegetables, and fruits; another place sells meat, poultry, eggs, and fresh river food.

It is built just 500 meters away from Taoyuan Inn, on the edge of the square.

Construction time 2 and a half hours.

After the Maomao Construction Team built the two vegetable markets in two and a half hours, Mingzhu notified Jin Suanpan to take Tonghua and place half of the stored grain, vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry, eggs, and fresh river food in the vegetable markets.

There are also food purchase limits, with each person being able to buy a maximum of 10 kilograms of food. There are no limits on vegetables and fruits...

Oh, and by the way, there's also salt mined and sun-dried in salt wells, which is also available in limited quantities. These daily condiments are sold at both markets.

The current condiments include pepper, Sichuan pepper, dried chili peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, salt, homemade soy sauce, and vinegar.

As for oil, there is no such thing.

Mingzhu never saw rapeseed or soybeans planted. Even peanuts were planted, but Mingzhu still didn't see any.

If you don’t get the seeds, you naturally can’t plant them, and the related oil press can’t be built either.

The two markets need a total of 10 managers. These are managers, not vendors.

After the vegetable market was completed, Mingzhu received a notice that the vegetable market built this time was similar to the unmanned convenience store that was open for 12 hours before the end of the world.

If you don't follow the rules, you won't be able to buy anything after entering the market. And if you do it too many times, you will be blacklisted and not allowed to enter the market.

Mingzhu felt that this regulation was appropriate, so he did not make any changes and planned to position the recruited managers as security guards and cashiers.

There are two cashiers, eight security guards, and five employees in each vegetable market.

The distribution is very reasonable.

What's more, the employees recruited happened to be Qin Mingyue, Yu Xiaowan and Liu Yan, and the other 7 security personnel were also acquaintances.

It was Ji Mingzhu who got to know Jiang Lijun's family, and met Song Heng, Nanlan, Zhao Xiaoming and others.

In addition to maintaining daily security in the vegetable market, the security personnel's job also includes helping to load and unload goods and place them.

Salary pricing: Cashiers earn 100 Starlight Coins per month, including food and accommodation. Security guards earn 150 Starlight Coins per month, including food and accommodation.

By the time they finished dealing with all this, it was already late. Qin Mingyue and Yu Xiaowan were very excited and kept talking to Liu Yan.

"I didn't expect to be so lucky. I feel like the boss is... Pah, the boss definitely didn't do anything behind the scenes. It's just pure luck."

"Yeah. I'm more concerned about the included food and lodging," Sanshui interjected. "If I stay at Taoyuan Inn with included food and lodging, then I don't have to spend an extra 22 Starlight Coins every month, right?"

"The standard for providing food and lodging is deducted from the monthly rent of the apartment." Liu Yan replied, "My father-in-law is a manager at an orchard. If food and lodging are provided, he gets a monthly allowance of 15 Starlight Coins, 20 kilograms of grain, and can purchase 20 kilograms of vegetables and 10 kilograms of fruit for free. He can also purchase 20 kilograms of meat and poultry for free."

"This benefit feels great," Sanshui sighed. "Speaking of which, the boss is really kind. Then... we should just not charge the accommodation fee!"

Yu Xiaowan: "It should be like this."