Chapter 85 Exchange Market
The burly man was rubbing his aching forehead when the pig farmer behind him coughed.
"This...this looks a bit like a wolf..."
The male homeowner hesitated before saying this.
The big man stared intently. With that head, body, and tail, what else could it be but a dog if not a wolf?
"Holy crap! Girl, why are you raising wolves?!"
The big man's voice became even more agitated, even taking on a slightly high-pitched quality.
The shrill voice made Sang Biao, who was very close to him, feel uncomfortable, and Sang Biao bared his teeth.
Upon seeing the wolf baring its teeth, the burly man immediately shut his mouth and took two large steps back.
If it weren't for the fact that several families were raising piglets together, he would have just abandoned them here and run away.
After the wolf and dog got out of the back seat, I finally managed to get the chicken out.
I secretly tidied up the back seat, took out a box containing one rooster and two hens, and put the remaining one rooster and two hens back in the back seat.
When the big man and the male owner saw me take the chicken out, they looked at me as if I had seen a savior.
After taking the chicken, he immediately handed the piglet forward.
They were about to leave as soon as I took the piglets.
"Oh dear, I haven't brought the salt yet, and I haven't brought the eggs either!"
I quickly told them to stop.
They then took out two boxes of eggs and 10 bags of salt.
The male host accepted the things somewhat awkwardly and exchanged pleasantries with me.
"It's fate that we can meet again. Hope you'll have dinner at our house sometime."
"It's fate that I was able to buy your pigs. I'll contact you again if I want to buy piglets in the future."
I told him what was on my mind.
"Sure, I live right here in the Baizhen base. If you want to find me, just ask where those pig-farming families are."
The farmers readily agreed.
"Can you raise pigs at the Baizhen base? Won't the base manage them uniformly?"
I'm rather curious that the base allows private individuals to raise pigs.
"Sure! It's called a base, but it's really just a place where villagers live together. Everyone helps each other out, and even security is handled by individuals on a rotating shift."
"I see," I nodded in understanding. "This base is really good, much better than the ones in novels that exploit people."
"Hey girl, if you're having a hard time living alone, you can come and live with us."
The male homeowner looked at me with some concern and gave me a suggestion.
"No need, thank you, brother. I'm doing alright for now."
I smiled and declined my brother's offer.
"By the way, brother, isn't your own brother a chicken farmer? Why do you need to change your chickens?"
I suddenly remembered this and asked it directly.
"Hey, we didn't think much of it when it first started snowing. The whole family slept soundly at night. But then the snow collapsed the chicken coop and crushed all the chickens to death."
The eldest brother said with a look of regret and deep sorrow.
"That's a real shame. Where can we buy some pig feed?"
While agreeing with my older brother, I also asked other questions.
It seems the residents in this area are short of salt; I didn't see anyone making soybean paste or soy sauce.
Let's exchange the remaining supplies for some pig feed. Pigs can eat that anyway, and I'm really worried that we won't have enough grain to feed them.
"You want to buy pig feed? There's no pig feed available now. Everyone feeds them bran and grain."
I nodded knowingly, "It's also clear that the pig feed has been eaten up by the pigs by now."
“We planted a lot of corn this year and harvested a lot of bran. If you want some, we can share some with you.”
When I heard my older brother say that, my eyes lit up. This solved my big problem.
"I have three more chickens left, please give them to me as you see fit!"
"There are still three chickens left, you can't be left out! Come on, let's go back and discuss it."
We placed a cage of piglets where the chickens were kept, and the wolf and dog barked back into the car and hid in the back seat. I then followed my older brother and the others.
When we arrived at the stall selling piglets, the men chatted and discussed for a while before finally deciding to give me ten bags of corn and ten bags of bran.
I could tell at a glance that the male owner who sold me the pig had intervened on my behalf, which is why it was such a good deal. I guess he wasn't trying to take advantage of me.
Then they drove into the base with them to haul away the grain.
In a few quick movements, several men loaded ten bags of corn and ten bags of chaff onto the truck bed.
I have to admire men's stamina; I don't know how long it will take me to get home.
There are still some vegetables and clothes left in the car, and I plan to take them out to change.
So I asked the women in my family to look after the car and park it in their yard.
The vegetables and fruits sold at the stalls are very common, and there aren't many varieties; I have most of those at home.
Ultimately, I was drawn to the planter. With this, planting corn would be much faster, and I would no longer have to dig holes back and forth, bury the seeds, and fill the soil.
This item was probably found in another unoccupied farmer's house, so his demands in exchange weren't high.
The exchange was eventually successful, involving a box of eggs and a large cotton quilt, which was done by bringing the person directly into the yard.
Looking at the potatoes and sweet potatoes I brought, they seemed worried, as everyone had a good harvest in the fall and didn't really need these kinds of things.
"Are these potatoes and sweet potatoes hard to exchange? You can go directly to the base headquarters; they'll take them and keep them for the security personnel on duty."
The woman who sold the pigs seemed to have read my mind and gave me advice directly.
"What can we exchange them for?"
"The base has a lot of supplies, including furniture and tools, that were scavenged from various places. You can take a look and see what you need."
After hearing what the lady of the house said, it seems that going to the base to exchange for things is quite a reliable option.
They headed straight for the base headquarters that the hostess had indicated.
"Hello, I have some supplies here and would like to exchange them for something else."
I greeted the staff on duty politely.
The old man on duty yawned and looked up at me.
The two were stunned the moment their eyes met.
Isn't this just a matter of "a pack of cigarettes" for this old man?
"Ah, sir, you..."
I really admire this old man; he really has an easy time finding work, always picking the lucrative jobs.
"Mmm, what do you want?"
The old man didn't exchange many pleasantries with me, as if our interactions were solely about conflicting interests, with no regard for any friendship or affection whatsoever.
I pulled a big bag of candy from my pocket and stuffed it into his hand.
"I want some bricks and cement."
I grinned and stated my request.
What do you have?
"50 jin of potatoes, 50 jin of sweet potatoes, 10 Chinese cabbages, two bags of salt, three pairs of cotton shoes, and two cotton coats."
Aside from not telling the truth about salt and sugar, I just said whatever came to mind about everything else.
"What? Two packs of cigarettes?"
The old man's eyes were bright as he stared at me.
"No, no, no, two packets of salt."
I tried my best to pronounce the words clearly, especially emphasizing the word "salty," for fear that the old man might misunderstand.
"Salt is fine too, give me all of it, I'll take you to find bricks."
The old man was immediately disappointed when he heard it was salt.
I took all my things off the car and piled them into the duty room.
The old man locked the door to the main hall and we walked towards the backyard.
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