Chapter 56
As the loudspeaker shouted, more and more people came towards Tang Yu'an's stall.
Salt is in short supply in the wasteland. If humans do not eat salt for a long time, they will feel nauseous and have headaches. In severe cases, they will also suffer from weakness in the limbs and edema all over the body.
As a necessity, almost everyone needs it.
However, the wasteland, especially the area around Jufeng Mountain, is not near the sea, so people mainly rely on licking stones and eating wood ash to replenish salt. People like Tang Yu'an who sell pure salt grains have not yet appeared in Jufeng Town.
Old Li naturally noticed the movement here.
When he heard someone selling salt, the first person he thought of was Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi. His face changed slightly and he quickly pushed through the crowd to squeeze over.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the stall owner was a man in his thirties or forties with a rather strong build.
However, he did not leave immediately, but stood there and watched the fun.
Someone actually came to Jufeng Town to sell salt? This was the first time I'd seen him. And looking at the man's clean, well-to-do face, he must have come from the fortress.
Old Li frowned strangely.
Is something going on in the fort? Why do I keep running into people from the fort lately?
Tang Yu'an naturally noticed the appearance of Old Li. He couldn't help feeling a little nervous and could only try to remain calm. When he found that Old Li didn't seem to recognize him, he slowly relaxed.
"Boss, do you really sell salt here?" Someone finally couldn't help but ask, "How much is a spoonful?"
Tang Yu'an had set up a stall in the vegetable market and worked as an instructor in elementary school, so he didn't feel nervous when being stared at by so many pairs of eyes.
He scooped up some salt with a spoon and showed it to the onlookers.
"That's all."
He lowered his voice slightly and maintained a serious expression in order not to be recognized. He looked quite imposing and actually calmed the situation.
And the hawking sound from the loudspeaker did not stop while he was speaking.
The two voices overlapped, and the onlookers believed more and more that he had supernatural powers. Only people like Old Li who had survived the disaster recognized the loudspeaker hanging on his chest.
I haven't seen a speaker that not only functions perfectly but also sounds this smooth in years! This guy must have come from a fortress!
Someone in the crowd has already stepped forward.
“Is this really salt?”
He was an old man with a long beard and a slightly hunched back. He was holding a straw basket in his hand and looking at Tang Yu'an's clay pot with a scrutinizing gaze.
Tang Yu'an didn't waste any words and pinched two grains of salt in his hand.
Because it is coarse salt, the particles are very large. Even in the dim light now, you can still see the crystal clear particles clearly.
“You can try it.”
Tang Yu'an took the initiative to pick up one of them and put it to his mouth, licking it with the tip of his tongue to prove that what he sold was not poisonous.
The old man nodded, pinched the remaining one and tasted it carefully.
After tasting it, his cloudy old eyes lit up.
"Okay, okay, I'll trade you two spoonfuls of these wild vegetables." Without saying a word, the old man took out a handful of wild vegetables from the basket and exchanged them with Tang Yu'an.
Tang Yu'an counted them and found that although some were big and some were small, there were exactly six of them.
"Do you have a container?"
The old man took out a piece of cloth from his pocket, unfolded it and said, "Just put it here."
"good."
When Tang Yu'an poured two spoonfuls of salt on his rag, the system prompt popped up.
You completed a profitable transaction with a new customer, earning +58 points and +3 experience points.
Before Tang Yu'an could say anything else, the bearded old man had already wrapped the rags, put them in his arms, then picked up the basket, turned around and squeezed into the crowd.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
Perhaps because he was worried about being robbed, the old man ran very fast, and his brisk steps did not look like an old man at all.
Tang Yu'an was just about to mark his information when the next person came over.
"I'll trade you five mushrooms for half a spoonful, is that okay?"
"Can."
Tang Yu'an agreed to the man's request, accepted 5 mushrooms from him, and then scooped half a spoonful of salt for him.
You completed a profitable transaction with a new customer, earning +4 points and +3 experience points.
Seeing this, others followed suit.
"I have three fruits, give me a spoonful of salt!"
"I have mushrooms, I want to change too! Don't push, I came here first!"
"How about wild grass? I'll give you three spoonfuls, thank you!"
Soon, Tang Yu'an was surrounded by enthusiastic people.
"Take it one at a time, slowly."
Seeing that more and more people were surrounding him, and some were even trying to steal his things, Tang Yu'an quickly hugged the clay pot in his arms, then raised the loudspeaker and shouted:
"Please line up one by one, or I won't sell it!"
With the loudspeaker amplifying his voice, his voice can be heard clearly even in the noisiest environment.
The guards also noticed the situation here and were rushing over quickly.
Due to the rules of the market, those with dirty hands had to withdraw their hands in disappointment when they saw this.
However, it was obvious that people in the apocalypse had never done anything like queuing, so they still gathered around Tang Yu'an, fearing that they would be slower than others.
The scene is still chaotic.
Seeing this, Tang Yu'an had no choice but to point at the person in front of him and said in a deep voice: "You! Raise your hands!"
He was a thin and dark-skinned young man. He was stunned when he heard the words. At the urging of Tang Yu'an's eyes, he hesitantly raised one hand.
Tang Yu'an gave him an appreciative look, then continued to raise the loudspeaker and said to the people around him: "Anyone who wants to buy salt should stand behind him. I will only sell it to the people behind him!"
Maybe it was because he was wearing the "Dad" vest, he spoke with full energy.
Facing such a chaotic scene for the first time, Tang Yu'an remained calm and composed, and his commands were clear and efficient, making the lower-class townspeople who were used to obeying the orders of the guards subconsciously obey him.
Although it would take a lot of time to restore order, Tang Yu'an felt it was necessary.
No rules, no order.
This chaotic scene made him feel very insecure and he had no way of doing business properly.
And if he can make a good start today, he can continue to sell salt in the same way tomorrow or even in the future, so there is no point in wasting this time.
Under his command, the people around him began to move.
Once someone takes the lead, others will follow suit and line up.
Before long, a long line appeared in the market, and under Tang Yu'an's strong command, no one dared to cut in line, so in the end, a well-organized scene was presented.
This is extremely rare in the post-disaster apocalypse.
Everyone's eyes were unconsciously focused on them. When they learned that someone was selling coarse salt, they didn't care whether the goods they had on them met the requirements or not, and they all went to the back of the team to take over.
Tang Yu'an also accepted everyone who came.
No matter whether it was mushrooms, wild vegetables or other things, no matter what the quality of these things was, as long as there was a queue to buy them, he would agree to the deal.
After all, he doesn't have much time left and really doesn't have the energy to argue with every customer.
This has indeed greatly improved efficiency.
“It’s real salt!”
"So salty! But not bitter!"
The people who traded for coarse salt tasted it skeptically after leaving the team, and then found that they had got the real thing, and ran to tell others.
Some people felt that they had not changed enough and ran back to the back of the line.
The result was that as time went on, the line not only did not shorten, but became longer and longer, with almost half of the people in the market coming to line up.
"Each person is limited to one purchase. If you have already changed, please leave!"
Tang Yu'an had no choice. He didn't expect to attract so many people. What if all the salt was exchanged and these people refused to let him go?
After he said this, other people who had not yet exchanged for salt began to supervise those who came later, and some unrest occurred.
But Tang Yu'an didn't care.
All he needed was order from the people in the front row, and the remaining coarse salt in his clay jar was not enough to supply the people who queued up repeatedly.
By the time the alarm on Zhou Qi's watch rang, the coarse salt in the clay pot was almost gone. He turned off the alarm and traded the last spoonful of coarse salt to the person in front of him.
Then he said to the people behind him: "No more, please come earlier next time!"
"Ah, why is it gone?"
"We've been waiting in line for so long, how can it be gone?"
Although everyone was eager to buy, it was impossible for Tang Yu'an to take out a can of coarse salt out of thin air, after all, everyone was watching him.
There is a huge difference between owning salt and owning unlimited salt that can be taken out at any time. Tang Yu'an was not blinded by the huge profits.
He doesn't want to use the "Dad" vest once and then throw it away.
He deftly packed the things he had traded for on a white cloth. Because there were so many things, he had to exchange them for another piece of cloth. After wrapping them into two packages, there was still some left on the ground.
Seeing that he really couldn't take out any more salt, the originally orderly scene quickly became chaotic again.
Moreover, some people stared at Tang Yu'an's package and the things on the ground, with greed clearly revealed in their eyes - if it weren't for the presence of the guards, they would have definitely started to snatch them.
They waited, ready to pounce.
Tang Yu'an was certain that as soon as he left the market, these people would definitely take action.
Zhou Qi, who had been hiding in the crowd and observing this side, couldn't help showing worry in his eyes.
However, Tang Yu'an had already thought of a countermeasure from the beginning.
"Thank you all for your support. This is my first time doing business in Jufeng Town. I will come here often in the future!"
Tang Yu'an threw the two packages onto his back and walked towards the guards who were watching near the stall while talking on the loud speaker.
He said very proudly: "Dear guards, these are my welcome gifts to you. Thank you for helping me maintain order."
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for anyone to react, Tang Yu'an cast a lightening technique on himself.
Suddenly, he felt the two heavy packages on his back become lighter, and his whole body became lighter.
So when everyone came to their senses, they saw this strong man wearing a black cloak, carrying two large packages on his back, and holding a strange thing in his hand. Suddenly, he bent his knees slightly, then jumped up and flew directly into the sky!
He jumped out of the encirclement lightly, and in the blink of an eye -
It just disappeared in the air!
Everyone was in an uproar and looked around.
However, despite so many eyes staring at him, they couldn't even find where he went?
What a fast speed! What a powerful ability!
The guards were the first to react. They exchanged glances, then looked at the things left on the ground by the man, and then their faces turned stern.
"Alright, alright, everyone, go away, don't get stuck here!"
The guards began to maintain order. Those who hadn't exchanged their salt dared not complain anymore, while those who had exchanged their salt quickly hid it and slipped away when no one was paying attention.
You cannot rob in the market, and the guards won’t care about you if you leave the market!
As for Tang Yu'an...
He had already taken out his umbrella, which opened very cooperatively, automatically following him as he jumped into the air and covering his figure.
As soon as Tang Yu'an landed on the open space outside, he directly put the two packages and the loudspeaker into his portable warehouse - because he had been upgraded twice in just three days, his portable warehouse had two more slots, which was more than enough to put down the two packages.
Then he swaggered out of the market.
His cooperation with the shadow umbrella was seamless. Except for Zhou Qi, no one noticed how he left.
Tang Yu'an walked forward while taking out a mirror from his portable storage.
In the mirror, Tang's father's face was reflected.
Seeing this familiar face again, his eyes instantly turned red, but he quickly grinned and forced a smile.
Maybe it’s because of his dad that things went so smoothly for him today!
Just as he walked out of the market, Tang Yu'an's body suddenly shortened, and the cloak that originally fitted him was dragging on the ground again - the time for the Thousand Faces Cloak to change had come, and he changed back to his original appearance.
He took a deep breath, then put away both the mirror and the cloak.
It doesn’t matter, he will definitely become a top-level dimensional businessman, and then he will be able to see his real father, mother, and sister!
-
With the help of the minimap, Tang Yu'an quickly found a hidden corner and made sure that there was no one around. Then he put away the umbrella and reappeared with his own face.
He went to the meeting place he had agreed with Zhou Qi again, ready to meet up with him.
Tang Yu'an walked briskly and was in a cheerful mood.
He just completed transactions with at least twenty new customers, and roughly estimated that he earned about a thousand points, and at least sixty or seventy experience points, right?
I made so much money in just half an hour!
Suddenly, Tang Yu'an paused.
That's not right. He has gained so much experience points, plus the ones from Xiaoqi, why hasn't he leveled up yet?
Realizing that something was wrong, Tang Yu'an hurriedly opened the panel to check.
Merchant Level: lv5 (87/100)
Tang Yu'an: ...
Ah, after the level is upgraded to lv5, the experience points required for further upgrades have doubled!
No wonder he and Xiaoqi have earned so much experience points, but the system still hasn't responded at all...
Tang Yu'an was speechless, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was quite normal.
After all, the rewards for each level up are very rich. The initial stage may be to take care of newcomers, so the required values are relatively low. The difficulty will definitely increase as time goes by.
He quickly adjusted his mindset and took a look at the points.
4836 points!
Wow, it’s about to break the 5,000 mark!
Tang Yu'an's mood suddenly brightened. She hummed a tune and came to the agreed place. From a distance, she saw Zhou Qi waiting under a big tree.
Zhou Qi, who had been frowning, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the child appear.
He really didn't expect that An An would make such a big fuss. Although the transaction efficiency has improved, Zhou Qi was really worried for him when he saw that he was surrounded by strangers.
Fortunately, An An not only controlled the situation, but also escaped unscathed in the end.
"Brother Xiaoqi!"
Tang Yu'an ran over happily.
Looking at his cute appearance of jumping around, no one would have thought that he was the "big boss" who openly sold coarse salt just now, not only causing a sensation in the market, but also successfully ran away with all the goods in full view of everyone, right?
"Have you been waiting for a long time?" Tang Yu'an asked with a smile.
Looking at his bright and clear eyes, Zhou Qi curled the corners of his mouth slightly, then reached out and pulled down the brim of his hat.
"No, I just arrived too."
"Brother Xiaoqi, did you see that just now?" Tang Yu'an asked, holding his hand, with a proud look on his face.
"Yeah, I saw it." Zhou Qi nodded, "I was almost scared to death by you."
Seeing his serious expression, Tang Yu'an scratched his hair, quickly put away his smug little tail, lowered his head and said: "I'm sorry, I should have discussed this with you first..."
Zhou Qi pulled back his hand and said, "No need to apologize. I know time is tight, so it's too late."
Even though he was really worried to death, but...
"Your idea is great, and you executed it very well." He held Tang Yu'an's hand tightly and said softly, "An'an, you are amazing."
Hearing the compliment, Tang Yu'an laughed foolishly again.
"Haha, this idea just came to me suddenly!"
Then, Tang Yu'an shared with him the experience points and credits he had gained from this trip, and said with a smile, "And we can continue to use this method to set up stalls and trade in the future."
Although the time is short, the speed is really fast!
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and had to admit that what Tang Yu'an said made sense.
As long as personal safety is guaranteed during the transaction, and with the help of the light body technique and the shadow umbrella, it is entirely possible to achieve a successful exit like today under the cover of these two.
but……
"Is the Cloak of a Thousand Faces bound?" he asked.
Tang Yu'an shook his head subconsciously, and then quickly realized why he asked that.
"Brother Xiaoqi, do you want to try it next time?"
"Yeah." Zhou Qi nodded.
Such a dangerous thing should be done by him.
Tang Yu'an looked up at him, and finally nodded: "Okay, I'll give it a try tomorrow."
He'll be there to provide cover anyway.
Anyone who dares to attack Brother Xiaoqi will be punished with marbles!
"Let's go faster, Grandpa Li is waiting anxiously."
After a while, they arrived at the open space where the market was located, and sure enough, they saw Old Li waiting at the entrance.
He looked around, his eyes wandering around the market, probably looking for them.
Tang Yu'an ran over quickly: "Grandpa Li!"
When Old Li heard his voice, he turned around hurriedly and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were safe and sound.
"Where did you go?"
Old Li's face furrowed. If it weren't for the halo of being the little savior, he would have probably scolded him.
Tang Yu'an pointed to the mountain and said, "We saw that there was nothing good to trade, so we went to the lake above to take a look."
Then she showed him the pebble she had picked up by the lake last night, "Grandpa, look, isn't this pebble beautiful?"
Old Li glanced at the pebble, then at the cute and enthusiastic smile on the boy's face. A hint of helplessness appeared in his eyes, but he didn't say any more words of blame in the end.
God knows how anxious he was after searching the entire market twice and not seeing them, but...
"I'm glad you're okay."
He said gently, "Next time you are going, remember to tell me where you are going."
Listening to the old man's advice and feeling his care and worry, Tang Yu'an couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa."
Tang Yu'an suppressed his smile and admitted his mistake, "I won't make you worry so much next time."
Old Li rarely faced such a situation, and had never met a child as well-behaved and sweet-talking as Tang Yu'an. He couldn't help but cough lightly.
"Well, since there's nothing good to trade, let's go back. The weather is getting hot."
Tang Yu'an felt embarrassed.
He was also thinking that he could make a few more trades to gain some experience points while the market was still going on.
But once something was said, it couldn't be taken back. Thinking that they could do it again tomorrow, Tang Yu'an nodded: "Yeah, okay."
"Let's go." Old Li left first.
Tang Yu'an glanced at his backpack and couldn't help but follow him and asked, "Grandpa, did you get anything in exchange?"
"Yeah, about the same."
Old Li said, "Someone was selling coarse salt just now, but unfortunately I couldn't get it."
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but freeze, and secretly glanced at him. Seeing that he didn't seem to be testing him, he smiled and said, "Grandpa, if you want salt, we have it. You can exchange it with us."
Old Li nodded, but his steps slowly stopped.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi also noticed that something seemed to have happened in the market town. As they walked down the road, there were obviously more pedestrians, and they all seemed to be discussing something.
Many residents were standing in front of their houses on both sides of the road, some were chatting with their neighbors, and some were just waiting and watching.
What happened?
Tang Yu'an and the others couldn't help but slow down their pace and pay close attention to the people around them. Finally, they got some information from their conversations.
"Is the Administrator back?"
They heard from Mok yesterday that the mutant snakes that suddenly appeared in Jufeng Mountain were so rampant because the administrator had left Jufeng Town and there was no strong person to suppress them.
Now that the manager has returned, the residents living in the town are talking about it, and most of them have happy expressions on their faces.
"It seems that the manager is quite prestigious."
Most residents call the manager "Mountain Master", which probably reflects their recognition of his leadership position in Jufeng Mountain.
Old Li nodded, "Indeed."
This manager has actually only been in office for a few years, but since he came, the order in Jufeng Town has been obviously much better than before, and many policies that benefit the people have been introduced.
However, this manager is quite mysterious, and Old Li mainly stays in the deserted city, so I haven't seen him yet.
"Let's go back to the Jade Pavilion."
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi nodded, but as they got closer to the Jade Pavilion, they found that there were more and more people and it was gradually becoming crowded.
From last night until just before they set out, the area around Meiyu Pavilion was deserted. Why are there so many people gathered here now?
Old Li also frowned slightly. This was indeed a scene he had never encountered before.
He led the two young men forward and squeezed forward until finally an open space appeared in front of them - it was in front of the Meiyu Pavilion.
The mountain path on the other side was also blocked, and some people even climbed onto the cliff.
So why were these people gathered in front of the Meiyu Pavilion? Did something happen to the proprietress?
Tang Yu'an stood on tiptoe and looked over with some concern.
The door of the Meiyu Pavilion was open. As he watched, several people came out carrying a stretcher. On the stretcher lay a man covered in red.
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