"What did you see?" The doorman at the ration store noticed the visitor was a pretty girl and immediately became excited: "There are purchase limits on synthetic grain and purified water now!"
"Can you exchange terminals here?"
"Yes, it requires 300 points!"
"Didn't you say it's free for the first time?"
"Is this your first time? No, you haven't exchanged it yet? Also, the provisional government is not issuing money for the time being, but pre-war currency and precious metals can be exchanged for some points in limited quantities." The man found that the girl in front of him didn't seem to understand the current situation very well, and at first he thought she was some otherworldly young lady.
Jiang Ling shook her head, took out her pass from her pocket and placed it on the counter. The gatekeeper saw the "A" on it and was immediately in awe.
"You can change it!" he said excitedly.
“???”
"Oh, sorry. We need to authenticate here, and you don't need points for the first exchange." He realized that he was a little out of control, but it was indeed difficult to meet people with A-level authority. Most of them had tasks, and usually they would go through internal channels to exchange something.
"Go ahead!"
Jiang Ling watched as the man solemnly took out a machine from under the counter, then inserted her pass into the card slot above. Following a crisp "beep", Jiang Ling's holographic portrait and a few lines of basic information appeared on the machine's screen.
Seeing that the authentication was normal, the gatekeeper respectfully opened the safe behind him with his key and took out a brown paper box. "Here, take it carefully!"
Jiang Ling retrieved her ID and terminal, but didn't leave immediately. She hesitated for a moment, then pulled a bullet from her pocket and placed it on the counter. "Is this thing worth anything?"
The janitor glanced at the object on the glass case and casually replied, "It might fetch some points at the flea market. If it comes with a matching gun, the price might even go up a bit."
"What are those bullets mentioned online?"
"Twenty rounds of 10x82mm Gauss rifle ammunition, along with a rechargeable magazine. That's worth about twenty-five points."
"So that's how it is!"
"It would be better to exchange it with compressed synthetic food. This stuff is everywhere on the ground." The gatekeeper added, and it seemed that he had made several transactions.
Come to think of it, ration stores are just a means for the government to stabilize prices, but in reality, exchanges have never stopped.
"Are you afraid that the government will ban this kind of stuff from being circulated among the public?"
Jiang Ling nodded. After all, these were deadly weapons, and it was normal to strengthen some controls in the end times.
"It's okay! Besides drugs, weapons for self-defense are now legal. Things have changed. There are more dangers in remote areas than just radiation." The man shrugged, seeming reluctant to discuss this. But he finally gave a kind reminder: "Weapons must be handed over to them for safekeeping in the core area. Remember this!"
Jiang Ling said she would pay attention and then asked about the prices. The gatekeeper knew more about this, so Jiang Ling gave him five bullets as a reward.
According to the gatekeeper, the closer one gets to the central station, the Magic City, the lower the prices for bulk goods, while the prices for hobbies, weapons, and the like increase. However, the danger level also decreases. Meanwhile, at the outlying smaller stations, settlements, or mobile trading points on the surface, even the transactions themselves are filled with social conventions.
After a casual conversation, the gatekeeper walked her to the door with a hint of envy in his eyes. Jiang Ling noticed that the man's legs were not very convenient, as if he was missing one.
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