"Why would I lie to you? My husband works at the base researching new varieties, and he's the one who distributed this rice," the older woman whispered to Xu Lin.
"Then you should also have the new potato and sweet potato varieties that the base is researching, right?" Xu Lin suddenly had an idea.
"Girl, I'm telling you, you've come to the right person. How many do you want?" the older woman said, grabbing Xu Lin's hand.
"How many do you have? How much do you want?" Xu Lin silently withdrew her hand.
"The official window initially limited purchases to three jin per person, at 10 points per jin. The lady saw that you were an honest person, so she gave you 20 points per jin."
"15 points, that's the most I can give."
"Oh my, this is a one-of-a-kind deal for me, I'll give you 18 points."
"15 points."
"My sister has four elderly parents to support and two children to raise..."
"15 points."
"Okay, okay, how many kilograms do you want?"
"Each weighs 10 jin (5 catties)."
"You'll have to wait for me to go home and get it. I'll come back in half an hour to make the deal."
"OK."
The eldest sister went home to get potatoes and sweet potatoes, while Xu Lin and Zhou Pin continued to browse the market. It felt like browsing a small commodity market before the apocalypse, except that there was no joy on people's faces, only the toil of struggling to survive and despair for life.
Xu Lin's attention was drawn to a stall displaying various antique jade items. She glanced at Zhou Pin, who was also looking at her. The two of them, without saying a word, went to the stall.
Xu Lin pretended to look around casually, then picked up a jade thumb ring from the stall; it felt nice in her hand. The stall owner behind her watched the ring move in Xu Lin's hand closely, as if afraid she might accidentally drop it.
Xu Lin picked up another jade bracelet to look at, and the shopkeeper looked distressed again.
"Girl, take a look and see which one you like, I'll pick it up for you."
"How much does it cost?" Xu Lin asked casually.
"Ten pounds of grain for the large ones, five pounds for the small ones, no bargaining. I would never sell them if I weren't so desperate for rice at home."
The old man selling antiques spoke with a Beijing accent, so his family must have had some antiques in their family for generations.
"I'll take all of these. If there are any more, I'll take them too."
"You want...you want them all?" The old man was excited when he heard this. He had been selling here for more than ten days without anyone even asking the price. He got a big order right away.
"Give me a fair price for buying so many."
In this post-apocalyptic world, where even food is scarce, it's clear that no one cares about these old men's antiques.
"I have 12 small items and 8 large items here. Give me 130 jin of grain, that's the lowest I can go," the old man said with a pained expression.
"Okay, I need to go back and get it. Should we deliver all this grain to your house?"
“Okay, my home is in building number 3 of the multi-story area. I’ll wait for you downstairs in a bit.” After a moment’s thought, the old man agreed to Xu Lin’s suggestion.
130 jin of grain wasn't much before the apocalypse, but it's a lot now. If I were to transport it back myself, I might get robbed on the way. But if they delivered it to my home, even if I got robbed on the way, I wouldn't suffer any loss.
With great excitement, the old man packed his things and went home, ready to hand over the grain and the goods in a moment.
After saying goodbye to the old man, the older woman returned shortly after browsing the nearby stalls. The three of them then transferred their points at the points trading machine, and Xu Lin casually put 20 jin of sweet potatoes and potatoes into her backpack.
Speaking of points transfer machines, one has to admit that the facility is very convenient. Points transfer machines are everywhere in the service hall; simply place two ID cards on the machine to transfer points between them, and there are no transaction fees.
There are also points-based transaction machines similar to POS machines, but they are more expensive and are used by large merchants.
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