Chapter 84
Hearing Hongli's question, Chi Hao subconsciously shook his head.
"Oh?" Hongli became even more interested. "Could it be that they came out of the fortress on their own?"
They weren't from the fortress at all.
Chi Hao was about to answer, but after thinking about it, he stopped in time.
If Xiao An and the others didn't come from the fortress, how could we explain their appearance and aura? Should we just say they were employees of the mysterious merchant? Wouldn't that expose the grocery store system?
Chi Hao didn't really want to tell Hong Li that he had become an employee of the mysterious businessman.
Hongli has secrets, and naturally he does too. Although they are siblings, they are all adults. In such a doomsday, who doesn't have a secret that only they know?
How do you explain that?
"Don't worry about their affairs. I can't tell you this." Chi Hao simply stopped explaining and said directly.
Hongli frowned, "Is this related to your mission in the deserted city?"
Chi Hao neither admitted nor denied it. "Anyway, you should treat them well and build good relationships with them. That's for sure!"
The red carp seemed to be lost in thought.
"Besides..." Chi Hao thought for a moment and said, "It would be a good idea for you to stay in Jufeng Mountain and develop. After I report the situation back to the headquarters, the fortress will probably start to pay attention to the deserted city."
He spoke with great confidence and was very sure about this matter.
"Jufeng Town is the closest market town to the deserted city, and it has a natural geographical advantage." Chi Hao continued, "If you manage your business well here, Qi Yao's grandson will probably have to rely on you in the future."
When he heard the name, Hongli looked disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly.
If it is really as Chi Hao said, it is not certain whether she can continue to be the administrator of Jufeng Town. However... as long as she can deal with those local tyrants, it might be possible.
Hongli pondered while looking at Chihao with a frown, "Why? What secrets does the deserted city hide?"
Chi Hao looked at his sister, hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to speak: "Sister, don't you find that the number of mutant creatures in the deserted city is a bit unusual?"
"Especially the center of the deserted city, have you ever explored it yourself?"
Hongli shook his head.
"If you haven't been there, don't go! You absolutely must not go, okay?"
Chi Hao was worried that she would take risks, so he hurriedly said, "I just escaped death, and luckily Xiao An and the others saved me. You must not go and die."
"Is it so dangerous?"
"Old Xie died there."
Upon hearing this, Hongli was stunned.
Although she had guessed it when she saw Chi Hao coming to see her alone, she still couldn't hide the sadness in her heart when she heard the exact news.
Old Xie’s name is Xie Chaori, he is ten years older than them. He has been with them since he joined the team of capable people in Qingmu Castle.
She offended someone and was ostracized, and it was he who secured for her the position of manager of Jufeng Town. Otherwise, she would definitely have been sent to do more dangerous tasks and might have died long ago.
"Did you see it with your own eyes?" she asked with red eyes.
"That's not the case." Chi Hao shook his head. "At that time, we encountered a herd of beasts and were scattered by the attack. But I saw him heading towards the center of the deserted city with my own eyes."
Recalling the scene of that day, Chi Hao's face turned pale.
He was lucky enough to go in the opposite direction, which happened to be away from the city center, although it didn't end up much better.
"I encountered a seventh-level mutant tiger on my way to escape." Chi Hao's face still looked grim when he recalled the mutant tiger.
"That's still in the outer areas, let alone inside," he said. "I'm sure there are monsters higher in level than that mutant tiger in the center of the deserted city."
"And if I hadn't been lucky enough to meet Xiao An and Xiao Qi, I might have died. Old Xie definitely wouldn't have survived if he had gone in there."
During the days when he was recuperating in the grocery store, although Yuanbao did not allow him to leave, Chi Hao still often climbed onto the roof and used the sunlight to practice and release his aura during the day.
However, he did not receive any response for several days.
If Lao Xie was really still alive and had escaped from the center of the deserted city, it would be impossible for him not to feel the signal he released and it would be impossible for him not to take any action.
"Even if he really encountered a miracle in the center of the deserted city and still had a glimmer of hope, we alone would never be able to rescue him from the beasts."
Chi Hao wiped his face, suppressed his sadness and said, "So I have to go back to the fortress and report this to the headquarters, and ask them to send more people over!"
The red carp nodded.
We have to see the person alive or the body dead. We really can't do it in such an unclear way.
"You and Lao Xie... who sent you out this time?" Hongli suddenly narrowed his eyes and spoke in a cold voice.
Chi Hao quickly waved his hand and said, "We chose this mission ourselves. No one knew the deserted city was so dangerous beforehand. We weren't framed."
Hongli nodded without commenting.
"So when are you leaving?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Tomorrow," Chi Hao said, "By the way, there's one more thing I need to do before I leave."
"What's up?"
"Sister, please build a house for me in Jufeng Town." Chi Hao said.
Hongli looked at him strangely, "What do you want a house for?"
When Chi Hao came to Jufeng Town, he naturally lived in the garrison. There was no place in Jufeng Town safer than the garrison, right?
"It's for Xiao An." Chi Hao said truthfully, "It should be registered under his name. I have already promised him."
Hongli couldn't help but sneer, "You are quite good at borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha."
"Oh, are we talking about this, brother and sister?" Chi Hao said with a shameless face, "I'll bring you more goodies next time I come!"
Hongli chuckled, "I want high-quality grain seeds. Did you bring them for me?"
Hearing this, Chi Hao couldn't help but choke.
"The seeds sold in the fortress are basically sterile, and they're all controlled items. I can't take them out..."
The fortress does not prohibit residents from planting, and due to gradual expansion, a lot of arable land has been added on the periphery, but the seeds distributed can basically only be cultivated for one or two generations.
Therefore, the food grown by residents can rarely be saved for seeds, and they have to buy new crops when they want to sow.
Even seeds like this are not allowed to be taken out of the fortress - there is a cooperative relationship between the major fortresses, but the competition is also quite fierce.
Qingmu Fort, just by hearing the name, you can tell about its advantage in plants. It can earn a lot of revenue every year by selling seeds, so naturally it has very strict control over the seeds.
The kind of seeds that Hongli wants that can be cultivated for a long time are difficult to obtain from Qingmu Fort.
Therefore, Chi Hao was particularly surprised when he heard Black Bear report the data on soybeans.
"By the way, where did you get those soybean seeds?" He couldn't help but ask, "This crop is excellent, and I don't think I've ever eaten beans like this in Qingmu Fort..."
I have seen quite a few of them in Ping An Grocery Store, with all kinds of varieties.
Chi Hao blinked. Could it be...
"Don't worry about that."
Hongli nodded and said, "I can give them a house. Go find Black Bear tomorrow and he will arrange it for you."
Seeing that she agreed, Chi Hao couldn't help but feel happy.
"Haha, sister, you are so nice!"
Chi Hao quickly pinched her shoulders, and after being pushed away, he told her about his "new idea for refrigeration".
After hearing this, Hongli looked at him in surprise.
"I can't believe you could think of this kind of application."
What are you talking about? What are you talking about!
Chi Hao looked unconvinced, "Although this was indeed Xiao An's inspiration, the practical method was something I figured out on my own, okay?"
Hongli hummed perfunctorily.
"Well, forget it, I won't argue with you."
Chi Hao waved his hand and said, "Anyway, you listen to me. You must get along well with Xiao An and the others. Even if you can't, don't offend them."
He looked mysterious and said, "You will know later what a great opportunity I have brought you!"
Hongli looked at him calmly, "I see. When did you become so nagging?"
Chi Hao was furious and decided not to pay any more attention to her. "I'm leaving."
But when he turned and walked to the door, he couldn't help but stop and looked back at his sister: "I'm really leaving!"
"I understand. Go to the warehouse and get yourself a decent set of clothes." Hongli said without raising his head.
Chi Hao was satisfied.
He nodded and left the room cheerfully.
Hongli looked at his back, frowning in thought. In the center of the deserted city... a high-level mutant creature...
It seems that the deserted city will be lively in the future.
-
The night passed peacefully.
The next day, under the influence of his biological clock, Tang Yu'an got up early.
He was used to this kind of schedule, and it was indeed cooler to go out early in the morning, so he just got up.
As soon as he got up, he ran to open the small window of the drift bottle and used the number of fishing trips for today.
Zhou Qi made the bed and watched him open the message in the bottle.
A ball of light flew out of the bottle and slowly floated into the air. However, the sound that came out was not the strange sound from last night, but...
"I want the mysterious businessman to show up again!"
A familiar voice sounded, it was the little girl who appeared when Tang Yu'an first caught the drift bottle.
I didn't expect that this time she actually made a wish to see him. I wonder what happened again?
"I'm here." Tang Yu'an asked the ball of light.
"What do you want?"
-
It was less than six o'clock in the morning and the sky at the seaside was still gray. The moist sea breeze blowing on people's faces could freeze the skin.
On a high cliff not far from the seaside, there is a small forest with a dozen dilapidated houses scattered in the forest.
In the house closest to the cliff, a little girl curled up on the bed with her eyes closed. Her father covered her with a thin and worn blanket, then got up from the bed, picked up the fishing net and prepared to go fishing.
"Hai Lan, Dad has gone out."
Before leaving, the man said something softly to the inside of the house, then closed the door and left.
Xiao Hailan closed her eyes tightly, her eyelashes trembling slightly, but she did not wake up.
In her dream, she heard the mysterious voice again.
"I am here."
Xiao Hailan smiled happily. She dreamed of the mysterious businessman again!
After my father took the medicine given by the mysterious businessman, his illness was cured immediately. He was able to get out of bed that morning and go out to catch fish for dinner.
Although he was very surprised to see that half of the salt in the salt tank was gone, salt was not valuable in Linhai Town, so he did not care too much. However, he did not believe in the mysterious businessman who could communicate with her in dreams.
He felt that someone had taken away the half tank of salt while he was sick.
Although salt is not valuable in Linhai Town, it is very precious in other places. However, the trading routes are controlled by a few wealthy people, and ordinary townspeople have no way to trade sea salt.
So Xiao Hailan's father was convinced that the half tank of salt was stolen by someone sent by a wealthy family, and that this kind of thing had happened before.
No matter what Xiao Hailan said, her father didn't believe her, so she wanted to prove it to her father.
But she hadn't dreamed of the mysterious businessman for two days.
Little Hailan couldn't help but waver, but when she saw her father recover, she became determined.
She did trade medicine with the mysterious businessman, and her father got better after taking that white pill. She was not mistaken!
And now, she finally heard that mysterious voice again in her dream.
"What do you want?"
Xiao Hailan was delighted to get a response from the mysterious businessman, but after hearing the mysterious businessman's question clearly, she became conflicted again.
What does she want?
She wanted so much. She wanted to have enough to eat, to wear warm clothes, and for her father to stay at home with her every day instead of going fishing in the scary sea...
There are many uncles and aunts in the village who disappeared because they went out to sea to fish.
Little Hailan doesn't want her father to disappear into the sea...
But if she talks too much, will the mysterious businessman ignore her?
Xiao Hailan frowned tightly in her sleep.
-
"Cold... I'm cold..."
Hearing the little girl's voice again in the ball of light, Tang Yu'an breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, I didn’t wake up from the dream all of a sudden.
Maybe because she had had this experience before, the little girl did not act like before. This time, she only said one or two words and her dream became unstable.
If you're cold, it's easy to fix...
Finding that the system did not prevent them from communicating, Tang Yu'an tentatively asked, "What's your name?"
"Hai...Hai Lan...My name is Hai Lan."
A name that is very characteristic of Linhai Town! Tang Yu'an became more and more certain that this little girl was from Linhai Town.
"I can give you charcoal or a wool blanket. Which one would you like?"
Tang Yu'an opened the wholesale mall and spent 50 points to unlock woolen cloth.
【Unlocked successfully! 】
[Wool cloth: 30 points/meter]
[Available colors: black, white, gray, cream yellow]
【Unlockable colors: ……】
[Warm Tips: The width of the fabric is uniformly 1.2 meters]
Wow! Wool cloth actually comes in one more color than cotton and linen. It’s finally not just black, white, or gray.
Creamy yellow...he likes it!
Woolen cloth is 30 points per meter, while hardwood charcoal is 5 points per 100 grams, which means that 30 points can be exchanged for more than one kilogram.
In comparison, wool cloth is of course more durable.
At this time, Tang Yu'an heard Xiao Hailan say: "Can... can I have both?"
Little Hailan didn't know what charcoal and wool blankets were, but she wanted to exchange for as many things as possible because her family had too few.
Tang Yu'an was a little surprised to hear her words, but still said with a smile: "Of course, what do you want to exchange for it?"
"Can I still use salt?"
Tang Yu'an thought for a moment and asked, "Where does your family get the salt from?"
Would an average family stockpile more than 150 kilograms of salt at a time? That's more than the coarse salt stored in his shop.
"Dad's sun-dried..."
In other words, these salts can be obtained through repeated labor? Thinking about the fact that the sea is all salt water and the high temperature makes it easy to dry it, Tang Yuan had an idea in his mind.
"Yes," he said, "I'll trade you salt."
Perhaps because she was too excited, the little girl's dream began to become unstable again, and the system prompts appeared.
[There are 60 seconds left before the wisher wakes up, please complete the transaction as soon as possible]
Tang Yu'an quickly exchanged 2 meters of woolen cloth from the wholesale market.
The wool cloth produced by the system is naturally made of pure wool. It feels delicate and soft, and is also quite thick.
He exchanged for gray cloth, which is more resistant to dirt and less conspicuous.
Then Tang Yu'an used another 25 points to exchange for a pound of hardwood charcoal. Although he regretted giving this option, since Xiao Hailan wanted it, he would give it to her.
The total of these two points is 85 points, and the little girl has at least 70 kilograms of coarse salt at home, so...
"Give me 10 kilograms of salt."
"good……"
One pound of coarse salt is worth 25 points, so...
You completed a profitable trade with a Dream Wisher, earning +165 points, +6 experience points, and +1 dream fragment.
[You received 10 catties of coarse salt, please select the delivery address]
[1. Ping An Grocery Store Warehouse]
【……】
After deducting the 50 points for unlocking woolen cloth, the total earned was 115 points.
"Hehe, I made a lot of money just after getting up!" Tang Yu'an said happily.
Although he also knew that even if he asked for all the salt, Xiao Hailan would probably agree, he still disdained to do such unscrupulous business behavior.
Anyway, Xiao Hailan’s needs have definitely not been met yet, and there will be plenty of opportunities for them to trade in the future.
Only by maintaining a steady flow of customers can we develop a stable customer base.
Conducting transactions through dreams like this made Tang Yu'an feel particularly comfortable. He didn't need to worry about safety issues. It was simple and straightforward, and it was so relaxing!
As 10 kilograms of coarse salt entered the grocery store warehouse, the woolen cloth and hardwood charcoal that Tang Yu'an had just exchanged disappeared, and the ball of light floating in the air slowly dissipated.
Before the message in the bottle disappeared, Tang Yu'an quickly opened the small window on the wall and threw the bottle back into the sea of dreams.
[If the release is successful, the chance of catching the same message in a bottle next time is 20%]
"Brother Xiaoqi, do you think we should recruit Hailan as an employee in the future?" Tang Yu'an said.
The successful experience of recruiting Xiaocao made Tang Yu'an eager to try.
"Can you recruit someone without even meeting him in person?" Zhou Qi asked in surprise.
Tang Yu'an tried it, then nodded: "Well, as long as it is a light spot that appears on the map, I can choose to recruit."
This means that even if a customer contacts the person who unlocks the door, he can conduct employee recruitment.
Zhou Qi thought about it and shook his head: "Let's not consider it for now."
They also didn't know what was going on with Hai Lan, nor did they understand the girl's personality. If she rashly used points to exchange for things and was discovered, would it bring her disaster?
Those who are chosen to be recruited as employees must be those they want to develop in the long term, so you still have to be cautious.
After all, the number of employees to be recruited is limited and every position is precious.
"And through the Dream Bottle trade, we can also get some seaside specialties from her."
In addition to coarse salt, there are also seafood, kelp, etc. If they are hired as employees, they will lose this way to trade goods from Linhai Town over a long distance.
"That's true."
Tang Yu'an nodded, "Besides, coarse salt sells much better than refined salt."
Refined salt is fine for personal use and safe to eat, but if used for trading in the wasteland, it seems too refined.
In comparison, the coarse salt of relatively poor quality from Linhai Town is obviously not so abrupt, and there is a ready-made excuse for obtaining it.
Even the 87 kilograms of coarse salt they have on hand, they don’t know when they can sell it...
"Brother Xiaoqi, should we filter this salt again?" Tang Yu'an said, "There's a lot of sand and impurities."
These coarse salts are not only mixed with sand, but also look yellow and taste bitter.
Zhou Qi nodded.
Because they are made directly from seawater without any other processing, these salts are mixed with impurities such as magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride. Long-term consumption is definitely harmful to the human body.
As for the purification method... Zhou Qi learned it in class.
Depending on the conditions of the waste soil, the sun-drying method can be used.
Because the solubility of magnesium chloride is greater than that of sodium chloride, and it will increase with rising temperature, and as the solution is exposed to the sun, the water content in the solution will continue to decrease, and sodium chloride will reach saturation first.
If the water is heated further, sodium chloride crystals will precipitate. When the seawater is evaporated to only 1/10 of the liquid left, the crystals can be filtered out to obtain cleaner coarse salt.
If you want to filter further, you can continue to add pure water to dissolve it and repeat the above steps.
However, it is difficult to find pure water in the wasteland, so it is enough to proceed to the first step.
"If I remember this method correctly, we can teach it to Xiao Hailan."
This way they don't need to process it again, and even if the method gets spread out, there will be no loss for them. On the contrary, it will appear less out of place when they take out the refined salt to sell.
Thinking of something, Zhou Qi said, "And the brine we make can have other uses."
"Any other use?"
"Yes." Zhou Qi said with a smile, "Have you heard of brine-based tofu?"
Tang Yu'an's eyes lit up slightly, "Brother Xiaoqi, are you saying that I can make tofu?"
"Yeah." Zhou Qi nodded, then explained, "Adding soy milk to brine is actually a way to purify salt."
But this method is not suitable for wasteland - perhaps after Hongli grows a large amount of soybeans, he can sell this method to her.
If a small amount of brine is added to soy milk, the protein in the soy milk will react with magnesium chloride and eventually precipitate out to become tofu.
"Wow! So that's how it is!"
Tang Yu'an looked at him with sparkling eyes, "Brother Xiaoqi, you are so amazing! It seems like there is nothing you don't know."
Zhou Qi shook his head, "This is what we learned in school."
"Then let's try it when we come back today!" Tang Yu'an said happily.
"Um."
Tang Yu'an was excited at the thought of being able to eat tofu pudding in the future. "Since we can make tofu, can we also make dried tofu?"
"OK."
By pressing the tofu, it becomes dried tofu, which can be cooked deliciously whether it is stir-fried, deep-fried, or boiled.
Tang Yu'an's mouth was watering when he heard this.
He loves fried tofu very much. It is golden and crispy on the outside, and very tender and smooth on the inside. It looks like tofu, but is a little more solid than tofu.
It's crispy and tender when you take a bite, and it's so delicious when you dip it in some onion, garlic and salt water! It's a snack he always orders when he goes out to eat with his parents.
"Brother Xiaoqi, let's do this today!"
"good."
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