Chapter 148
"Human nature is greedy, and coupled with herd mentality, it's not surprising that this kind of thing would happen if someone took the lead."
Zhou Qi took Tang Yu'an's hand and took him back to Ping'an Grocery Store. Only here did they feel like they were back home and could they truly relax physically and mentally.
He continued, "I've seen news on TV before about a melon farmer whose car broke down, spilling watermelons all over the ground, and then being snatched away by others."
One year, a flood occurred in a certain place and the wine in the warehouse was washed away. After the owner retrieved the wine, it was also looted.
Of course, they have never seen things like smashing, looting and burning in other people's stores, but abroad, news of "zero-yuan shopping" is not uncommon.
This is the case even in peacetime, let alone this end times of poverty, hardship, and the collapse of moral order.
"There are too few good people and too many bad people."
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi walked down from the attic, watched him go into the kitchen, and started making sausages for him.
The aroma of the delicious food finally soothed his sadness. He stood by and watched eagerly, like a puppy waiting to be fed.
Zhou Qi smiled slightly.
While preparing the grilled sausage, he said, "Let's wait until tomorrow to look for Hongli. She should be the most anxious person right now."
Tang Yu'an nodded.
Then he couldn't help but sigh: "It would be nice if the overnight stay rules weren't so restrictive."
First, you need 2,000 points and 200 store popularity to unlock the function of inviting customers to stay overnight. Then, if there are more than 10 customers staying overnight, you can unlock the overnight rules.
Finally, the overnight stay list can currently only invite 100 people, and customers who are not on the list are not subject to the rules.
The last point alone is not enough to meet the needs of Kyoho Grocery Store.
After all, their goal is to develop all the five to six thousand people in Jufeng Town into customers, and 100 places are far from enough.
"How about we hire a few powerful psychics to guard the store?" Tang Yu'an said.
Xiaocao and Shitou are qualified and excellent employees, but they are too young. Like them, they are only in their teens and do not have special powers.
If he and Brother Xiaoqi hadn't been here today, they probably wouldn't have been able to protect themselves when the riot broke out.
Although the basement was safe, given the situation just now, they probably wouldn't even be able to run into the back room.
"That's a good idea." Zhou Qi thought about it and nodded, "Let's ask Hongli tomorrow."
Most of the powerful psychics are in the guards, and the guards are trained and more trustworthy.
Of course, before opening the business, they had to clean up the Kyoho Grocery Store and rebuild it.
"This time we are going to build a stone house, just like the Jade House," said Tang Yu'an.
That way you don't have to worry about it getting burned again.
"Well, do we need to hire an earth-type psychic to build it?"
Tang Yu'an nodded, "Let's hire him. Using the system would be too conspicuous."
Jufeng Town has a large population, and although it is fast to earn points and experience points, it is really restrictive.
Especially after this experience, they dared not sell any good things. For a long time to come, they would probably only dare to continue selling salt.
Soon, Tang Yu'an got to eat the grilled sausage he had been longing for.
As he ate the delicious food, he instantly forgot his unhappiness and became cheerful and optimistic. After all, their current losses were not big, and the best thing was that no one was injured.
"Do you think this riot has something to do with that Jin Fu?" Tang Yu'an asked, "The one Sister Hongli mentioned?"
"There's an eighty percent chance it's him." Zhou Qi also took a skewer of grilled sausages and said while eating.
Although people are evil in the end times, to be honest, the public security in Jufeng Town is still good, and their store has been open for a few days without any problems.
I use the drainage card during the day and there is no problem when the flow of people is the highest. Why is it that there is a problem after the business hours are over?
If there was no one to guide him, Zhou Qi would never believe it.
"Not only did we steal his business from Hongli, we also sold salt to all the residents of Jufeng Town. He must hate us to death," said Zhou Qi.
"Well, I can't go to Linhai Town with him anymore."
There is nothing they can do now that the flood is raging, but after the water recedes, they will definitely visit the surrounding towns and try to build more branches.
After all, with Tang Yu'an reaching level 15 today, the task of attracting new customers in the daily tasks will probably become 16.
Although Jufeng Town has a large population, with the management of Xiaocao and her colleagues, nearly half of the people have now been developed into regular customers.
Sooner or later, the remaining people will all be converted into regular customers.
By that time, it will be difficult to complete daily tasks. Even before that time, tomorrow will be a hurdle.
After all, the Kyoho grocery store was destroyed, so they probably had no choice but to go to the market to sell salt, but it was not certain whether they could attract new customers at the market.
Tang Yu'an shook his head and decided to think about tomorrow's troubles tomorrow.
While chewing on a sausage, he opened the lucky wheel and clicked on the lottery, not knowing what he would win this time...
The sewing machine we had yesterday was actually pretty good. It didn’t require electricity and could be used by manpower.
There are more residents in No. 1 Store now, and one sewing machine is not enough. It would be nice to have another one.
Under his gaze, the pointer of the lucky wheel just stopped.
Congratulations! You've obtained the special item "Unlucky Marbles"
Tang Yuan: 0.0
Another marble! And this one is a little special.
He took out the newly drawn marble and found that it was a black marble, which was quite consistent with its properties.
【Unlucky Marbles】
Description: A wonderful series of marbles, this is a marble that can bring bad luck!
Status: Bound.
Same description as the other two marbles.
Zhou Qi, who put dinner on the table, saw that he was holding a black marble in his hand. For some reason, he subconsciously took a step back.
"What is this?" Zhou Qi asked.
"This is the special item I just drew." Tang Yu'an said with a smile.
"Is it also one of the wonderful series of marbles?"
"Uh-huh."
"What is the purpose?"
"Maybe... it can bring bad luck to people?"
Hearing this, Zhou Qi couldn't help but gasp. He took two steps back again and then asked, "Will it continue for another 10 minutes?"
"I don't know." Tang Yu'an said, "It's not written in the description."
Special props are all like this. They need to explore their own functions and how to exert their power, but the special props drawn so far are all very useful.
Zhou Qi looked at the marbles, then at Tang Yu'an, his expression conflicted.
Under his gaze, Tang Yu'an put away the unlucky marbles. He smiled and said, "Let's find someone to test it tomorrow."
Of course, this marble cannot be used on Brother Xiaoqi. Ever since the first time he accidentally used the happy marbles to make him laugh for a full 10 minutes, Tang Yu'an has been very careful about the safekeeping of the magic marbles.
Zhou Qi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Well, let's see tomorrow."
If Hongli can help them find the culprit behind today's riot, perhaps they can test the power of the unlucky marbles.
Otherwise, if you just find someone...
In such an apocalypse, if you are unlucky, you can really die.
After dinner and washing up, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi did not go to bed immediately, but instead worked hard on the sewing machine to make quilts.
With the addition of 25 new people, at least 25 quilts are needed, and the number produced before is far from enough.
However, for the new residents, the current environment is unimaginable.
“Clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter—”
After a few violent thunderclaps, the first rain after the flood finally arrived after dinner.
"Boom—"
Hearing the lightning and thunder outside, Ye Lan huddled up and hid in the torn quilt.
After her fever subsided last night, she recovered today. As she possesses wood-related abilities, her physical fitness is far superior to that of ordinary people.
So after Lin Zhen told her about the rules of No. 1 Store and took her to undergo the "baptism" ceremony of the owner of the home, she quickly made the decision to stay.
She had originally thought she was going to die, but she didn't expect to be rescued by two teenagers, although their method was rather brutal.
Not only did they knock her unconscious and carry her back, but they also didn't bring her anything except a dagger and a torn quilt.
However, after witnessing the power of the protective barrier, Ye Lan no longer had any complaints.
This should be the thinking of all new residents.
Moreover, the owner here is so generous, and his subordinates, Old Li and Lin Zhen, are also very easy to talk to. As long as the residents are willing to work hard, they can exchange almost everything they need for survival in Room 501.
In the afternoon, at Lin Zhen's suggestion, Ye Lan used her quilt as collateral to rent seeds and a piece of land from Old Li.
Soon, she used her wood-related ability to produce a large pile of potatoes.
After paying the rent and settling the debt from yesterday's medical treatment, there were still two potatoes left for her to eat in the evening.
This plant called potato is really productive and has strong vitality, and the key is that it can fill your stomach.
Ye Lan was very glad that she followed Lin Zhen's advice.
She knew that among the new residents there were actually some wood-type mutants like her, all of whom had escaped from the market town. They were wary of the strong and were deeply afraid that they would be kidnapped and forced to work day and night in unscrupulous factories.
Ye Lan was naturally worried, but she was really at her wit's end.
Moreover, she received unexpected treatment when she was waiting to die in despair, which greatly lowered her guard.
No matter what, she owed those two young men a life and she had to pay it back.
With such determination, she chose to expose her special abilities, but she did not expect that it would bring her surprising gains in the end.
"Boom—boom—"
Listening to the thunder, wind and rain outside the window, Ye Lan, who had just eaten a bowl of potato soup full of ingredients and felt warm all over, felt an unprecedented sense of security.
If she still stayed in the original house that could collapse at any time, she would probably be unable to withstand such a harsh wind and rain.
Without medical treatment, she is probably dead.
It’s great to be alive.
I just hope that the barrier called "protection" can last a little longer and not be easily destroyed by the wind and rain...
At this moment, the new residents who have already moved into their respective rooms probably have the same idea as Ye Lan.
-
Even when Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi made five new quilts and climbed up to the attic, the sound of rain outside did not stop.
As soon as it started to rain, they ran outside to see.
The heavy rain penetrated the barrier and fell on the door, roof and awning, making a loud noise that made them worried.
Fortunately, when the accumulated water began to flood into the house, the protective barrier came into play.
The rain was kept out of the barrier.
They stood in front of the door and watched the rain for a while. After making sure that the rain would not erode their home, they went back to do their own things with a full sense of security.
After nightfall, the message board became lively.
In a world without any entertainment, chatting with others on message boards without any burden is probably an irresistible pastime for employees.
In particular, there is now "Green as Blue", a knowledgeable and talkative person.
It can be seen that Chi Hao has been holding it in for a long time. After gaining the right to speak, even if everyone is too busy to pay attention to him, he can still flood the screen with comments by himself.
[Green as Blue]: Guess how many people I traded today?
[Cloud Eagle]: How much?
【Green as Blue】: Take a guess.
[Cloud Eagle]: 100?
【Green as Blue】: Tsk, who are you looking down on!
[Green as Blue]: Let me tell you, I traded with more than 500 people today!
Watching him showing off on the message board, Tang Yu was happy. After all, Brother Chi Hao really made a great contribution today.
【东土大糖】: Little Green Brother is so awesome!
【Green as Blue】: Don’t call me Little Green! I’m not Little Green!
【东土大糖】：What is that called?
[Green as Blue]: Call... Wait, you finally showed up! Call someone to check the message!
This "that person" naturally refers to Zhou Qi.
Chi Hao didn't know that Tang Yu'an was the mysterious businessman, so he always thought that only he and Zhou Qi could use warehouse slot No. 1.
It can be seen that Chi Hao has recognized Tang Yu'an by his name, and he is very sure.
Tang Yu'an used this alias to conceal his true identity, so he just agreed to it.
【Dongtu Datang】：Okay.
[Panshi]: Hey, do you two know each other?
Faced with Shi Tou's question, Tang Yu'an did not answer, but let Chi Hao deal with it himself, and then asked Zhou Qi to take out Chi Hao's message book.
Because the system rarely pops up reminders of information other than transaction information, once they get busy, they may forget to check the information sent by Chi Hao through the portable warehouse.
Now it is much more convenient with the message board function.
"Brother Chi Hao is leaving tomorrow..." Tang Yu'an felt a little sorry when he saw Chi Hao's message.
As for what Chi Hao said, that Lanhu Town leader Lan Yunqing wanted to trade healing potions with them again, there was naturally no reason for them to refuse.
What's more, Lan Yunqing took the initiative to raise the price.
After the two discussed it, they put the remaining bottle of primary healing potion with 6 drops left into their portable warehouse and let Chi Hao deal with it himself.
【Green as Blue】: Touched! I will definitely negotiate a good price for you!
【Eastern Earth Candy】：^^
Shitou was unable to get any information out of Chi Hao. He and Xiaocao knew that "Handsome Porridge" was Zhou Qi, but they didn't know Tang Yu'an's name.
Although Chi Hao used the message board to convey information, out of caution, he did not call out Tang Yu'an's name.
As for letting other employees know about their private contact? He didn't think it was a big deal.
Shi Tou was quickly attracted by the emoticons sent by Tang Yu'an.
[Panshi]: Datang, what does that pattern mean? I can't seem to recognize the voice.
[Dongtu Datang]: Don't you think it looks like a pair of smiling eyes? This is a smiling expression.
[Panshi]: It really seems like it!
[Pu Wei]: How did you make this?
So, Tang Yu'an taught them how to use their thoughts to input text.
If we can master voice input, the use cases of message boards will be much larger, but the premise for this is...
To master the correct words.
【Green as Blue】：^^
【Rock】：^^
【Pampas grass】：^^
【Cloud Eagle】：^^
[Panshi]: Wow! I got it!
[Green as Blue]: Why can I recognize symbols but not the words in my mind?
[Liangzai Zhou]: Could it be because... you make a lot of typos?
【Green as Blue】: How is that possible! It's obviously you guys who made so many typos!
[Liangzai Zhou]: Maybe you can try using the text in the compulsory education curriculum.
After seeing Chi Hao's question, Zhou Qi tried it and found that the "typos" written by Chi Hao could indeed not be recognized.
The system should display the text according to their original world and is not compatible with the text of this world.
After all, if they picked up a message in a bottle that came back from other dimensions and wanted to communicate, they still needed to use points to redeem a translation package.
Time passed by unknowingly while we were chatting and chatting.
Overall, the atmosphere was quite friendly. Perhaps because there weren't many people, the vicious competition they had worried about didn't occur.
However, Tang Yu'an will still insist on putting a vest on every employee, which is not only a protection for the employees, but also a protection for himself.
"You can draw another message in a bottle today!"
After saying good night to everyone and closing the message board, Tang Yu'an suddenly remembered the reward for upgrading to lv15, and hurried to the window of the dream bottle.
He opened the window and looked into the sea of dreams.
There are now four bright bottles, representing the four dream wishers who have done the most transactions with him, and one that is slightly brighter but not as strong.
This bottle represents Gan Lin, the young man far away in Yanlong Castle.
Tang Yu'an thought for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the bottle that represented sweet rain.
Although he wanted to know about Lao Xie's situation, the probability of catching him in one go was a bit low. Besides, he had been staying safely in the center of the deserted city for so long, and he felt that he should be able to hold on.
As for the boy named Gan Lin, he only gave him 750ml of water. He didn't know if he could protect him...
The ball of light slowly floated above the attic, and sure enough, Gan Lin's voice soon sounded in the attic.
"Mysterious Merchant, I need more water..."
"So did you drink all the water I gave you yesterday?" Tang Yu'an asked.
"No, there's still half a pot left." Gan Lin stammered.
Although Gan Lin was very careful, the place where he hid the water was still discovered. When he went back during the day, only an empty plastic bottle was left.
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but sigh.
His shop was also robbed today. It seems that robbery and theft are really commonplace in the wasteland.
"Can you tell me more about yourself? I'm very interested in Flame Dragon Castle."
-
In the abandoned house, Gan Lin had his eyes closed and fell into a deep sleep, while Lao Mo stood by his side holding a kettle.
Through the gap in the wall, you can see the bright sky outside, and the fire dragon that had been dormant for a day and a night appeared again.
Gan Lin did not accept Lao Mo's gift. During the day when the fire dragon was resting, he did not take the fire crystal stone to the fortress for refuge.
He knew that if he really just left like that, Lao Mo would definitely die.
As for taking Lao Mo to live around the fortress... Gan Lin thought about it, but quickly gave up the idea.
Because they were driven away in the first place.
During the time when the fire dragon is silent, the people in the Flame Dragon Castle will come out, cultivate fields and wells around the fortress, and build sturdy houses and fortifications.
Those of them outside the fortress can apply for the job. Although the conditions are not very good, they can still make a living.
This is often the time for them to recuperate, especially in recent years when the disaster situation has gradually eased, and the fortress has always adopted this policy.
This gave those around the fortress a chance to survive.
Unfortunately, when the fire dragon is active, these people will hide in the fortress again, and the remaining houses, fortifications and wells will be occupied by the wastelanders.
The water source is limited, and the old and weak people like him and Lao Mo who are of no use will be driven out first.
Faced with those strong thugs, they had no energy to resist.
Even if he had the stone that Lao Mo had picked up with great luck, he might not be able to pass through the defense zone and reach the entrance of the fortress.
The most likely possibility is that it will be taken away by someone else, just like his water.
Therefore, this crystal can only be used when the Fire Dragon is dormant and the people from the Fire Dragon Castle come out.
Lao Mo understands this principle, but...
"This time, the fire dragon's active period is estimated to be more than a month."
This was the conclusion he came to after observing the number and power of the fire dragons. If his guess was correct, then they definitely would not be able to hold on for so long.
So Lao Mo was determined and hoped that Gan Lin would take the crystal and hide in the fortress while he still had water and strength.
Finally, after much thought, Gan Lin decided to tell him about the mysterious businessman.
Of course, Lao Mo didn't believe his nonsense.
So tonight, Gan Lin will prove to him that the gift he received from a mysterious businessman in his dream is true.
If he could really get water in this way, then they would have a good chance of surviving this period of fire dragon activity.
After listening to Gan Lin's story, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi had a general idea of the situation over there.
"I can give you water, but this information alone is not enough. Next time, you need to provide me with something more valuable."
"What do you need?" Gan Lin asked nervously.
"Anything is fine. Are there any special products near Yanlong Fort? Like plants, stones, or something like that?"
"There are quite a lot of stones. If you need them, I'll go pick them up tomorrow!"
"Is there anything special about these stones?" If they were ordinary stones, Tang Yu'an would rather give him the water at a loss.
"It's special..."
Gan Lin racked his brains and finally asked tentatively, "Does it count if it causes fever?"
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