Chapter 106
A man and a woman appeared at the door of Store No. 1.
Both of them were dressed similarly to Jin Guang, in neat hunter outfits, but the fabric was so tattered that the original color was completely unrecognizable, a typical wasteland style.
The man was a little sturdy, but he didn't seem to be very brave. The moment he saw the two giant mutant dogs, he turned around and ran away.
"Wait!" Tang Yu'an said subconsciously.
Wangcai, who was guarding him, immediately chased after the man.
Watching the man and the dog running away, Tang Yu'an paused and had to look at the female hunter.
Her thin face was covered with dark green liquid, making it difficult to see her facial features, but her large black eyes stood out.
When Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi looked at her, she clenched the machete in her hand and swallowed unconsciously.
"Hello."
Tang Yu'an showed a friendly smile, "Welcome to the Deserted City Grocery Store, we are the owners here."
While Tang Yu'an was speaking, Cai Yu had already started to back away, her attention mainly focused on the silver coin.
This is actually not her main activity area. Today, she just came here on a whim and was attracted by this building when she got closer.
Who would have thought that after turning the corner I would see such a horrifying scene!
If she had known this, she would never have come here on a whim.
Luckily, another unlucky guy helped her lure away a giant mutant dog, so now she could deal with it much easier, but...
"Do you need salt?" she heard the boy ask with a smile.
Caiyu suddenly couldn't walk anymore.
"Salt?" She licked her dry lips. Her voice sounded very hoarse because she hadn't spoken for a long time.
Tang Yu'an nodded, "Yes, salt."
He pulled out two glass jars containing two qualities of salt, one coarse salt and one coarse sea salt.
"The salt in this jar can be exchanged for 10 spoonfuls for one pound of meat, and one spoonful for three wild vegetables or 10 mushrooms."
Meat is very precious in the wasteland. In addition to providing high-energy protein and fat, blood also contains certain inorganic salts. If you can't find table salt, it can be used as a temporary substitute.
Even ordinary animals in the wasteland have stronger camouflage and survival abilities. They are smarter and more cunning, and only old hunters like Old Li can catch their prey with one move.
For those with less experience, even if they have special abilities and there are more animals in the deserted city, it is difficult to eat meat every day.
Most hunters can barely have a full meal every few days, and most of the time they have to dig wild vegetables to fill their stomachs.
This has led to high meat prices, and few people are willing to trade meat.
Wild vegetables and mushrooms are different. You can find them as long as you are patient. They do not require reaction, hunting experience and judgment, so the price is relatively low.
So Caiyu wasn't surprised to hear such a huge price difference.
Tang Yu'an raised another can of coarse sea salt and said, "This one is cheaper."
He briefly explained the exchange rate between the two, and finally said, "But currently, we only accept salt tickets for exchange."
Caiyu listened to his explanation and always felt like she was listening to a foreign language.
She could understand every word, but why did the combination of them sound so weird?
So what this means is...
"Are you salt merchants?" she asked with wide eyes, gripping the machete tightly in her hand.
"You may think so." Tang Yu'an nodded.
Although the grocery store will definitely sell other things in the future, it is just starting out now, so it is better to use salt to make a name for itself.
"Sister, could you please tell me your name?" he asked with a smile.
The boy was really polite and spoke softly. There was always a smile on his fair and cute face, and he exuded a grace that could not be nurtured in this wasteland.
Hearing him call her sister, Caiyu couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, but when she saw the two guarding him...
The giant four-eyed dog, which had already scared away the uninvited guests, slowly walked out of the house.
A drop of cold sweat slid down Caiyu's forehead.
Okay, it’s three heads!
These two teenagers have three giant mutant dogs! And one of them is a monster dog with four eyes.
Caiyu woke up instantly. Don't be fooled by the boy's pretty and thin appearance, but he is definitely terrifyingly strong!
There is also the tall companion guarding beside him. She can also feel a sense of deterrence from him. Both of them should not be underestimated.
Perhaps noticing her nervousness, the young man reached out and stroked the fur of the four-eyed giant dog, still smiling: "Don't be nervous, sister. As long as you don't do anything out of line, they won't hurt you."
Caiyu swallowed and asked, "What do you mean by out-of-the-ordinary things?"
Zhou Qi, who had been silent all this time, answered the question aloud.
"Robbery, theft, entering our store without an invitation, and showing hostility towards us..."
After saying this, his eyes fell on the weapon that Cai Yu was holding tightly in her hands.
Caiyu subconsciously hid the machete behind her, then shook her head and said, "I, I mean no harm, I'm just passing by... and my name is Caiyu."
"Colorful rain? The kind of rain?" Tang Yu'an asked.
Caiyu nodded.
"Then my sister is a water-type ability user?" Tang Yu'an guessed.
Caiyu smiled but didn't answer.
Only a fool would reveal his abilities in his name.
Tang Yu'an didn't care, but continued to ask: "So, do you need salt?"
Cai Yu looked at the two bottles of salt in the boy's hand and swallowed again. Of course she needed it. Who in the wasteland didn't need salt?
"Can three wild vegetables really be exchanged for one spoon?" she hesitated.
"right."
Tang Yu'an nodded, his childish face looking sincere and harmless.
Looking at the boy's sincere eyes, Caiyu finally gritted her teeth and agreed to the deal.
The temptation of salt is still too great.
Moreover, wealth and honor are achieved through risk. With three mutant dogs here, the other party won't have to waste time talking to her if they really want to harm her, so why not give it a try?
You completed a profitable transaction with a new customer, earning +29 points and +3 experience points.
A prompt appeared in front of Tang Yu'an's eyes.
As expected, purchasing vegetables is more profitable. I traded a pound of meat with Jin Guang, but the points I got were only in the single digits.
Caiyu looked at the white coarse salt wrapped in large leaves in her hand and couldn't help but pick up a little to taste it.
As soon as she took a sip, her eyes lit up.
A very pure salty taste, not as bitter as what she had eaten before.
She couldn't help but look at the two jars of salt in the boy's hands. "So, three wild vegetables can be exchanged for two spoonfuls of the yellower salt?"
"You can understand it that way, but this kind of salt can only be exchanged for salt tickets at present." Tang Yu'an took out a black gold salt ticket and handed it to her.
"Sister, you just exchanged a spoonful of salt. As a discount for opening the store, I'll give you this black salt ticket."
Caiyu took the salt ticket in a daze.
"The gifted salt tickets can only be exchanged the next day. Ten tickets can be exchanged for one spoon, and the minimum exchange is two."
Caiyu listened to Tang Yu'an's explanation, digested it for a while, and then asked, "What about the salt tickets I exchanged for wild vegetables? Can I exchange them for salt today?"
Tang Yu'an was stunned, then nodded.
Caiyu understood his stunned expression as she had successfully found a loophole in the rules. She couldn't help but get excited, but under the stare of the four-eyed giant dog, she quickly restrained her expression.
Now she was able to confirm that the two young men were indeed planning to open a shop in the deserted city to sell salt, and the price was very affordable.
In this case, we must not offend him.
Her tone was respectful, "I don't know what to call you?"
"My name is An."
"Boss An, I'll exchange these three wild vegetables for salt tickets." As she spoke, Cai Yu took out three more wild vegetables from her backpack and handed them to Tang Yu'an.
Tang Yu'an counted out 20 black gold salt tickets to her and earned 10 points and 2 experience points.
"I want to exchange my salt ticket for this salt," Caiyu said, pointing to the jar of coarse sea salt.
So, Caiyu used these 20 salt tickets to exchange for two spoonfuls of coarse sea salt from Tang Yu'an, which brought him 19 points and 1 experience point.
This back-and-forth transaction seems a bit silly, but both parties accept it well.
This was the first time a customer cooperated with him to gain experience points, and Tang Yu'an felt it was quite novel.
It's good that he doesn't have to waste his breath.
Finally, Tang Yu'an gave Caiyu two more black gold salt tickets and was about to let her go when Wangcai ran back with the man who had just escaped.
The man was tied up in spider silk, unable to move, with his eyes closed and unconscious.
Seeing his miserable state, Caiyu's heart pounded. She couldn't help but feel lucky that she didn't choose to run away, otherwise she would have ended up like this.
Tang Yu'an didn't expect Wangcai to treat this potential customer like this.
Wait, spider silk?
So the spider corpse outside the grocery store was related to Wangcai? Did it become Spider-Man... no, Spider-Dog?
Of course, now is not the time to talk about this.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi quickly rescued the man. Fortunately, he was just frightened and fainted. He soon woke up after rescue - although he almost fainted again when he saw the silver coins and ingots.
After some explanation and with Caiyu's testimony, the man named Liehuo finally believed that this was indeed a legitimate grocery store.
Also, they sell salt.
Unfortunately, the man hadn't opened his shop yet today and didn't have anything he could use to exchange for salt.
After seeing Tang Yu'an's lost expression, the three mutant giant dogs looked at him with oppressive eyes. Liehuo said with a pale face: "I, I'll go find it and exchange it with you!"
"Okay, we'll wait for you then."
Tang Yu'an smiled and nodded, marking his name. "The business hours last until the evening, so you can come anytime."
Liehuo responded hurriedly, as to whether he would come back...that depended on the situation.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi didn't force it.
They have witnessed the cruelty of the wasteland, so deterring them is necessary.
Anyway, there will be more customers who will be attracted by the traffic cards. Once the reputation of No. 1 Store spreads, there will be customers who need salt coming to buy it without them having to deliberately attract them.
Soon, Caiyu and Rehuo were released.
Watching their figures disappear in the ruins, Tang Yu'an fell into deep thought.
The actual transaction just now proved that their adjusted exchange rate for salt tickets was correct, but...
"Brother Xiaoqi, I think we should print some salt tickets of different values, such as 5-gram salt tickets and 10-gram salt tickets."
Otherwise, one spoonful of salt would require 10 salt tickets, which still seems too much.
Zhou Qi also thought, "Let's make some adjustments."
According to the current ratio, if calculated based on the black gold salt ticket, the gray gold salt ticket is a 2-gram coin, and the platinum salt ticket is a 20-gram coin.
It is indeed necessary to increase the value by 5 grams and 10 grams. In their world, banknotes are basically issued according to this value.
"In addition to the color, we should also write numbers on the salt tickets." Tang Yu'an said again.
"Although people in the wasteland don't know how to count, you'll naturally learn it after seeing it more often. Everyone is naturally sensitive to money."
Like Tang Yu'an, he knew from a very young age that one hundred yuan was a huge number and the most valuable money was one hundred yuan.
Zhou Qi nodded, "You are right."
They don't issue many salt tickets now, and basically only give out black gold salt tickets representing 1 gram of coins, so it is very simple to adjust.
At this time, Tang Yu'an discovered that the potential customer who was scared away by Yuanbao had come back again.
He didn't know if he was lost, and when he reached the wall he started running back, but ended up running back in circles.
Tang Yu'an felt tired for him, so he asked Wangcai to bring him over.
This was a middle-aged man. When he was brought to the main gate, his reaction was similar to Liehuo's. After waking up, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed for mercy.
Soon, Tang Yu'an found out that his name was Shugen and that he had a seven or eight-year-old son waiting for him at home.
Although he didn't know whether what he said was true or not, Tang Yu'an didn't make things difficult for him. After explaining to him, making a deal and giving him the salt ticket, he let him go.
"I have to explain everything to everyone. It's so tiring!" Tang Yu'an sat down on the purple-red carpet, took out his iced black tea and took a big gulp.
As the temperature rose, he couldn't stand it anymore and just wanted to stay on the purple carpet all the time.
Zhou Qi wiped the sweat off his face and said, "Go back to the ninth floor. I'll be all right here."
Tang Yu'an shook his head and said, "I have to mark these guests."
"Then hide under the umbrella."
"But then you won't be able to see me."
Zhou Qi looked at him helplessly and could only put his hand on his shoulder to absorb the heat around him.
Tang Yu'an squinted his eyes comfortably, looking at the crumbling buildings and ruins outside Building 1. He held his chin with both hands and couldn't help saying, "Opening a store is good, but I feel like I'm tied down."
There needs to be someone in the store at all times in case customers come through the door.
Tang Yu'an also knew that this was the way business was, there was nothing he could do about it, but...
"How can we open a branch in Jufeng Town if this is the case?"
It wasn't so urgent originally, but Grandma Guo said that a flood was coming and would last for at least a month.
If the flood blocks the road, they won’t be able to go to Jufeng Mountain, so it’s best to build the teleportation point before the flood comes.
Zhou Qi sat down next to him, took the iced tea from his hand and took a sip, then said, "So I was thinking, should we hire an employee to look after the store for us?"
Tang Yu'an needs to go in person to open a branch, and Zhou Qi can't let him go alone.
If you don't want to close the store, the best way is to hire a trustworthy employee.
"Who do you want to recruit?" Tang Yu'an asked curiously.
"How is Grandpa Li?" Zhou Qi said.
"I thought you would want to recruit Granny Guo." Tang Yu'an blurted out.
He could actually see that Xiaoqi had a better relationship with Grandma Guo, maybe because Grandma Guo reminded him of his grandmother.
Zhou Qi smiled and said, "My mother-in-law... is a bit socially anxious."
Hearing this, Tang Yu'an nodded in agreement.
Tiejin has invited her many times, but they have never met.
In comparison, Grandpa Li is much better.
He is an old hunter and many people usually trade meat with him. He is also good at carpentry and Granny Guo’s fruits are also consigned to him.
According to Granny Guo's previous introduction, Grandpa Li would also help others carry things when he went to the market town to buy groceries every month.
Old Li is knowledgeable and experienced, and is familiar with most of the residents of the deserted city. With him in charge, half of the people dare to cause trouble.
Maybe he doesn't even need ingots or anything like that, he can run the branch by himself.
After this analysis, Grandpa Li is really a very suitable candidate!
Without further ado, Tang Yu'an immediately said, "Then should I send him a recruitment notice now?"
Taking advantage of the effect of the traffic card, many customers will come today. They will first let Grandpa Li scan their faces, and then let Yuanbao and Wangcai support him to set the tone.
This will make future work easier.
Zhou Qi thought about it and nodded.
"Then let's give it a try. However, given Grandpa Li's cautious nature, he might not agree to it just like that."
"Well, if he doesn't agree, then we'll talk to him in person."
Tang Yu'an thought about it carefully and felt that he could really win over Grandpa Li. He had always been very good to them, especially after the trip to Jufeng Mountain.
Although Grandpa Li knew that they had a secret, he never took the initiative to explore it.
Although their trading method is strange, the goods are prepared for them in advance every day so that they can complete three valid transactions.
It was thanks to him that they were able to find a suitable place for the No. 1 store so quickly.
He is capable and has such a good relationship with them, so why can't we give him a little more trust?
Of course, Tang Yu'an was not blinded by his emotions.
"If he asks next time, we'll just repeat what we told Brother Chi Hao, and then..." he said, "We can't tell him the secrets of the teleportation array and the main store either."
Zhou Qi nodded, thought for a moment, and then took out the umbrella. The two hid under the umbrella and discussed the details of how to treat Old Li if the recruitment was successful.
"You can let him stay on the ninth floor, but not in the same room with us."
In addition to the largest room 901, there are four other rooms on the ninth floor that can be used as staff dormitories. As long as you don't enter the master bedroom of Room 901, you won't find the teleportation array.
"Except for your identity and main store, which need to be kept confidential...everything else should be kept confidential if possible. If not, it doesn't matter." Zhou Qi said.
As long as they live in Store No. 1, the protective barrier will definitely not be hidden, and the same will not be true when they renovate and upgrade the building in the future.
Fortunately, they already have certain means of self-protection and no longer have to be as nervous as they were at the beginning.
After reaching a consensus, Tang Yu'an sent the recruitment information.
Just as Zhou Qi said, they waited for a long time but he didn't accept the job offer.
"I'll go find Lin Zhen to make a deal first." Zhou Qi said.
An An's performance in the face of Jin Guang in the morning made Zhou Qi feel at ease to keep him in the shop to do business, and he... should also improve his own strength.
Tang Yu'an looked at Zhou Qi.
Although Xiaoqige didn't say it explicitly, he vaguely guessed what he was thinking.
He was a little worried, but after thinking it over, he didn't say anything to persuade her to stay. He just said, "Now that you've finished the transaction, ask Grandpa Li to take you with him."
"I'll remind you remotely how to find him, okay?"
Looking at the boy's pitiful eyes, Zhou Qi smiled, reached out and pressed his hand on the top of his head and rubbed it hard a few times.
"Well, thank you for your help."
If you want to improve your strength as quickly as possible, finding a teacher is certainly a good idea, and Zhou Qi naturally would not refuse.
Tang Yu'an then laughed.
Zhou Qi left Store No. 1 alone, and before leaving, he specifically instructed Yuanbao and Wangcai to protect Tang Yu'an.
Yuanbao didn't really want to pay attention to him, but nodded his head anyway. Wangcai barked twice, while Yinbi looked at him innocently.
Finally, with Tang Yu'an and the pets watching, Zhou Qi's figure disappeared into the ruins.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
But he knew that Xiaoqige's path was different from his, and if he wanted to improve his strength, he would have to face danger.
Bringing him along would only distract Xiaoqi.
Before, Brother Xiaoqi had always wholeheartedly helped him improve his level and strength, and now he should also support Brother Xiaoqi.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Tang Yu'an has completely let go.
He put the shadow umbrella into his personal storage, then opened the map and kept an eye on Zhou Qi's movements so that he could remind him at any time.
However, this kind of paper-pen communication is still too inconvenient, and you may encounter situations where you can't view it...
Tang Yu'an suddenly thought of something and quickly checked the system messages.
[Added employee forum, unlocked message board function, can be viewed in the "HR" section]
Wow! Staff Forum!
Tang Yu'an quickly opened the human resources page and saw a new forum button on the interface.
He clicked to enter and saw the system prompt pop up.
【Please select the forum section to manage】
1. Message Board
【2. Posting area (unlocked)】
3. Trading Area (Unlocked)
It seems that only the message board function has been unlocked at present, so Tang Yu'an clicked on the message board to check it.
Message board, as the name suggests, employees can leave messages and communicate in this section.
As an administrator, Tang Yu'an can set three modes: anonymous, real name, and nickname display. Of course, no matter which form, as an administrator, he can check who left the message.
Then, he can create up to three channels and set different topics and employee access permissions.
Tang Yu'an looked at the employee restrictions again.
The message board function will be unlocked only when the employee level is lv1 or above.
Moreover, employees can only use the message board to speak if the store level they work for is above lv1 and the employee level meets lv5. Otherwise, they can only view, except for branch managers.
In other words, since No.1 Store is only at level 0, its employees cannot post on the message board and can only view messages left by others. However, Xiao Qi, the branch manager, does not have this restriction.
Tang Yu'an's eyes lit up. Whatever he wanted came true!
He directly created an "Administrator" channel and set it so that only branch managers could view and leave messages.
In this way, he and Xiaoqige can communicate without any obstacles!
Zhou Qi hadn't walked far when he received a system prompt.
[Mysterious Merchant has opened the message board function to all outstanding employees. A new forum panel has been added and can be viewed on the homepage.]
[Because of your outstanding work performance, you have been granted access to the Message Board-Administrator Channel]
Zhou Qi raised his eyebrows slightly, while Chi Hao and Xiao Cao on the other side also received the message.
The author has something to say:
Chi Hao: So I’m the only one who was banned?
Red Carp: I can't bear to look at it.gif
Chi Hao: qaq
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