Chapter 56 Sea Salt
Lao Dao and Lu An's journey was not easy.
Their tricycles can't travel on very rugged mountain roads. Some roads are buried by landslides, while others are broken, forcing them to take detours. Provincial highways and village roads are in better condition because they are generally built along the terrain with fewer bridges and tunnels, making them easier to navigate. However, these roads are usually built along the edges of cities and towns, meaning there will be more highway robbers if you travel on them.
Furthermore, major diseases have not disappeared.
Lu An and Zhao Xuan had lived together in the village for over a year. Serious diseases seemed far removed from their lives. As long as strangers didn't come, they would sometimes even forget about them. However, after leaving the village, Lu An discovered that serious diseases were still spreading. Those living in large camps had more conveniences, but their risk of infection also increased.
Along the way, Lao Dao took Lu An to meet his friends. One night, Lao Dao was enthusiastically introducing the camp they would arrive at the next day. He said that the camp's manager was his best friend. However, when they arrived there early the next morning, they found that the camp was abandoned, in a mess, and with corpses lying everywhere.
The body was so badly skeletal that it was clear the person had been dead for a long time.
Lu An and Lao Dao didn't even dare to enter the abandoned camp. Lao Dao lingered outside the camp for a long time, climbed to a high place to look inside, and finally called out to Lu An dejectedly, "Let's go..."
—The cheerful and loyal brother he spoke of was gone just six months after they parted ways.
Serious diseases have unpredictable incubation periods, similar to rabies. Some people develop symptoms and die within a few days, while others can live with the virus for months or even years. When the virus in a carrier breaks out, it also becomes infectious. Therefore, a camp may have been established for a long time, but the virus may suddenly break out from within. Within a few days, everyone in the camp will die, while those who manage to escape will not know whether they are healthy or carriers.
But people need to survive, so most of them will find another camp to live in and wait for the next outbreak of the virus.
Some people realized that living in close quarters was not a good solution, so they left the crowds and went to live alone in desolate places. The Yao family probably thought the same way. They didn't even dare to settle in the same village as Lu An and his group, just to avoid the spread of infection.
Along the way, Lu An saw many dead people: piles of white bones abandoned by the roadside, and people who had recently died, ravaged by serious illnesses, their expressions contorted, their clothes stained with pools of vomited blood. In the later stages of these illnesses, patients would go blind, suffer excruciating pain throughout their bodies, and continuously vomit blood until their organs failed and they died.
Lu An never thought about what the sick people looked like. His relatives had all died from this disease. By not thinking about these things, he was protecting himself.
Among the friends Lao Dao planned to take Lu An to meet, some had camps destroyed and their fates were unknown, some had moved away from their original locations and disappeared without a trace, and others had died from illnesses that were once easily treated medically: appendicitis, pneumonia, wound infections, and childbirth.
But Lao Dao had some friends who, like them, survived tenaciously, like weeds. However, nowadays, established camps have quarantine periods, preventing strangers from entering or leaving at will. So Lao Dao could only climb up the hillside to meet his friends from afar, or exchange a few words through the thick walls. They often communicated through paper. His friends would pass on the latest news they had to Lao Dao, and Lao Dao would introduce Lu An to them.
Old Dao said that Lu An was his younger brother, and if his brother ever came to them with any difficulties in the future, they would have to help him. The people on the other side of the wall laughed heartily and repeatedly agreed.
Of course, some of Lao Dao's friends, like Lu An, lived in seclusion in the mountains. However, they were too far from the main road, so Lao Dao only took Lu An to one of their homes.
They were sisters. The older sister looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a kind-looking round face. The younger sister was only eleven or twelve. The two sisters lived in the mountains not far from the main road. They had built a high mud wall around their house, a wall without even a door, accessible only by climbing a ladder. The sisters had a hunting rifle, which was the only thing that allowed them to survive there.
The older sister's hand was cut off, leaving only a forearm, so she couldn't use a gun; the long, heavy gun was for the younger sister.
The little girl held the gun the whole time, polishing it until it shone. She didn't talk much and always kept her lips pursed. Even when she saw Lao Dao arrive, her eyes lit up for a moment before she silently sat back down on the high spot in the house, watching over everything like a little police dog.
Lu An noticed that the children in the post-apocalyptic world rarely spoke, including this little sister and the dog. Perhaps they had experienced too much at a young age. These children lived like adults, since loud, innocent, and cute children wouldn't have survived to this point.
My sister warmly welcomed them into the house and prepared a sumptuous meal to entertain them.
By this time, they were not far from the sea. The land in the province was not very fertile to begin with, and it was even more barren near the sea. Therefore, their staple food was mostly sweet potato rice, which was a rice dish made with a lot of sweet potatoes and some rice. They also ate a lot of beans, as well as various kinds of fish and shellfish. Any leftovers could be made into dried fish and dried clams.
Winters here aren't as cold as in the mountains, so there's no need to light a fire for warmth; a thin cotton-padded jacket is enough. The only downside is the strong wind, which howls all day long. As a result, most of the houses here are made of stone.
Lao Dao received a lot of information from his sister.
In the previous five years, due to the collapse of society, most of the survivors were in a state of panic, so there were many incidents of looting, arson, and vandalism. However, in the past year, the atmosphere has improved, perhaps because most people have settled down, and trade has also prospered.
My sister said that the salt fields by the sea not only produce salt, but also house the largest market in the area, which is managed by the leader of the salt fields. However, the people from the salt fields do not participate in the buying and selling in the market; they collect taxes: as long as you bring goods into the salt field market, they will take 10% of the goods.
When Lu An mentioned that he came from a mountainous area in the north of the province, his sister suggested that he bring back some kelp and seaweed from the market to supplement his iodine intake.
Besides food, the market also sold all sorts of strange medicines, plastic products, and weapons. The sisters obtained their ammunition from the saltworks market; it was homemade, but still incredibly expensive. They had no choice; even during the years when they were starving, they gritted their teeth and traded for ammunition, otherwise they wouldn't be able to protect themselves.
The older sister talked about many things in great detail, and even recounted how she and her sister met Lao Dao.
In the first year of the apocalypse, some patients, knowing they were doomed, began intentionally spreading the virus. They spat on others, and later smeared their blood on strangers. My sister was bitten on the hand by a patient who suddenly rushed out during that time.
By then, the government was already struggling to survive. The community took a long time to notify the residents of the area to collect a small amount of supplies. Everyone wrapped themselves up tightly and pushed and shoved their way out to collect the supplies.
At that time, the sisters' parents had already passed away. The older sister was worried that someone would break into the house while she was out—there was actually not much left in the house—but she was worried that her younger sister would be hurt, so she took her sister with her.
The patient's first target was actually his younger sister, but his older sister blocked him with quick reflexes, and he took advantage of the situation to bite his sister's hand.
The man's mouth was full of blood; the virus was ravaging his entire body. His teeth were loose, and after biting his sister's hand, several of them fell out. But with his mouth full of blood, he crawled away with a satisfied laugh.
The six-year-old younger sister looked at the shallow wound on her older sister's hand and burst into tears in fear.
Everyone knew this woman was beyond saving, and even though people on the street were all wearing protective suits and masks, they were afraid and kept their distance.
The older sister's heart sank. Looking at her helpless younger sister, she suddenly shouted at her, "Idiot! Stop crying!" Then she shoved the food she had finally managed to get into her sister's arms and yelled, "Get out! Get away from me!"
The younger sister was startled by her older sister, who was usually very gentle with her. She didn't understand why her sister was treating her like this. She stopped crying, clutching the food in her arms, but refused to leave.
"Sister, you're hurt, let me blow on it for you." The child leaned closer again.
The older sister panicked and shoved her younger sister away. The younger sister staggered and fell into the puddle of sewage.
Are they suffering now? But such tragedies are playing out in this world every second, and people are dying tragically every hour. Those who are alive have lost the ability to feel compassion.
But then Lao Dao appeared. He examined his sister's wound and found that the patient's loose teeth hadn't bitten too deeply; they had only broken the skin, leaving a shallow bloodstain.
Old Dao asked, "Who else is in your family?"
The older sister was confused. She looked up at the strong man and, her mouth moving faster than her thoughts, asked, "It's just me and my sister now."
“Oh,” the man’s voice was low, tinged with regret, “then if you die, your sister certainly won’t survive… so do you want to live?”
"I want to live." His sister didn't know why he asked that; he didn't seem like a doctor.
"That's good, although I can't guarantee you'll survive." The man nodded, and the next second he drew a cleaver from his waist and chopped off his sister's hand!
Later, the older sister survived with great difficulty, and that man, Lao Dao, became her savior.
Lao Dao said that when he saw the younger sister with tears in her eyes, she looked just like the daughter he was looking for. He felt compassion and wanted to help the two sisters. In fact, he was not sure if he could help them. If the wound was not treated properly, the older sister would die from blood loss and infection before the disease could develop.
Fortunately, we made it through.
Lu An finally understood why her sister had welcomed them so warmly. She had invited them in without any hesitation, just like when Zhao Xuan met Lao Dao. After seeing their savior, they didn't think twice and brought him into their house. At that time, they forgot that Lao Dao might be carrying a deadly virus.
—Oh well, Lu An comforted herself with this thought: at least this proves that they are all kind people.
When we were about to leave, my younger sister was still guarding the high place.
Her hair was shaved very short. Many women shaved their hair short after the apocalypse, as it was easier to manage. Zhao Xuan's hair was also very short, but her younger sister was still a child, so she looked more like a little boy.
Old Dao reached out and waved to her: "Little Bear, we're leaving!"
My younger sister's nickname is Little Bear.
There is a tradition in the province of giving children animal nicknames: Little Bear, Dog, Pig, all of which are cute and easy-to-care-for animals.
Little Bear turned her head to look at Old Knife. She said goodbye to them like an adult, her voice calm: "Take care."
After they had gone far away, Lao Dao looked back at the small house with high walls in the mountains and sighed, "This child is only a few years old. I would believe she was an armed soldier who trafficked heroin. When I first met her, she was a crybaby, just like my pig."
Lu An smiled but did not reply.
In this world, where are there any children left?
After saying goodbye to the sisters, we were one step closer to the salt flats by the sea.
Thanks to Zhao Xuan, they ate quite well on the road. They ate about one can of chicken every two days. The further south they went, the higher the nighttime temperature became, and they could pick some wild vegetables to eat. Sometimes Lao Dao would also hunt some wild game. There were many lakes and rivers in the province, so fishing was not difficult.
Lu An and Zhao Xuan had wandered together for a long time, not to mention Lao Dao, so living under the open sky and on the ground was nothing to the two men.
They traveled slowly. Besides visiting friends, they also encountered bandits and robbers. Fortunately, there weren't many of them, and the sensible ones let them pass, while the ungrateful ones learned to be sensible after being chopped down by Old Dao.
After a series of close calls, they finally arrived at the salt flats by the sea.
There are many campsites along the beach, and most of them are off-limits to visitors. Entry and exit require a long period of quarantine. If campsites are adjacent, they will divide up their own territory, and visitors are expected to stay within their own territory unless absolutely necessary.
Each camp was fortified with high walls. The once famous round earthen buildings, a tourist attraction in the province, have been transformed into a large camp. The wisdom left by the ancients is truly remarkable. I heard that this camp is doing very well. The earthen buildings, which defended against bandits a hundred years ago, are more than capable of defending against a group of modern-day bandits.
The seaside salt field is a camp built around the salt field. In fact, the people in the camp live on a huge passenger ship right next to the salt field.
The camp was not large, but it had abundant supplies. It was a camp established by an armed force of unknown origin, and they had guns that were rare in the modern world—not the old-fashioned firearms and shotguns from fifty years ago, but real, modern firearms.
However, the person in charge of this camp was probably not a bad person. At the very beginning of the social collapse, they occupied this salt field. Because there were wind power generation facilities nearby, their engineers also solved the problem of electricity supply for the salt field and the cruise ship. Therefore, this camp has been producing salt, and the salt is not expensive.
Salt is essential for human survival. Five years after the apocalypse, even if the survivors are short of salt, they will not make their own sea salt to eat. Self-made salt can be eaten for a short time, but it contains too many impurities, and eating it for a long time will still make them sick. Therefore, this cheap salt attracted many survivors.
Over time, a market was built around the saltworks.
The market was built on an abandoned corner of a seaside city. It covered a large area and was surrounded by walls. The buildings inside were still usable, and some had been converted into shops and hotels.
Although the market was a property of the saltworks camp, the saltworks did not participate in the buying and selling. They would send people to manage the entry and exit and security of the market. Their people stood on the walls of the market, carrying guns, wearing bulletproof vests and protective suits.
Old Dao took it all in stride: "Who knows if those guns still have any bullets left?"
With industry shut down, bullet production naturally ceased. Therefore, for ordinary people, homemade guns that could be used to make their own ammunition were more appealing.
Before entering the market, there is a three-day quarantine period, so the goods exchanged at the market are generally not fresh. Sea fish and fruits and vegetables with a short shelf life are not brought into the market for trading, but there are many dried goods.
Here, all the goods they bring undergo a very thorough inspection, and their clothes must be removed for inspection, in case they try to smuggle goods inside their bodies. After that, the managers will remove one-tenth of the goods based on their weight, and only then can they officially enter the market.
During this time, the armed forces at the saltworks watched from a distance. No one knew if a major disease would break out there, so the managers of the saltworks camp never appeared at the market. Their team and the manager in charge of market affairs rotated shifts every nine months—that's right, nine months. After nine months, they would be quarantined for another three months before returning to the large cruise ship that served as the camp. This camp used an extra-long shift system lasting a year to ensure the safety of the people on the ship.
A very large piece of land was designated as the salt field camp, with the salt field as the center point. Ordinary people could not enter it. Most of the salt field camp's harvest came from the commissions from market sales, so it can be said that this camp was very wealthy.
The market was bustling, but the food wasn't very good—the conditions for entering were very strict, so many people chose to stay there for many days, eating and drinking there. Overall, the market's hygiene was worrying, which deterred some of the clean-loving survivors.
It is said that the engineers at the salt field camp are working on the toilet problem here. In fact, the market's living system is already very well-developed: there are places in the market where you can get clean water, and each person has a limited daily free quota. If you exceed the quota, you have to exchange it for something. There are also places to stay, but you have to exchange things for those as well.
There are also some long-term rented shops inside, which also need to pay goods to the saltworks camp.
The salt from the saltworks camp was piled up in the most prominent high place in the market. The quality of the salt was similar to that before the apocalypse, and the price was not expensive, even affordable. Camp members sold it by weight, with no weight limit; you could buy as much as you wanted, as long as you could take it with you.
Lu An thought the camp leader was very clever. He first used salt to attract a large number of survivors. Not to mention the profit from collecting 10% tax, the income from selling shops and providing food and lodging here would be considerable.
And this camp did indeed maintain the stability of the market very well—during the three days that Lu An and his group were quarantined, everything they carried was recorded. As long as you entered the market, someone would guarantee your safety. Forced buying and selling could be arbitrated here, and murder and robbery were even less likely to happen. In addition, a large area outside the market was patrolled by armed squads to prevent anyone from guarding the vicinity of the market and engaging in robbery.
It can be said that this largest trading market in the province is a law-abiding place with strict management.
Therefore, more and more survivors come here to exchange for supplies, especially groups of three or five survivors or pairs of survivors. They are few in number, and some may be the elderly, weak, women and children. Although they give up 10% when they come here to trade, at least they can guarantee that they can get what they want.
When Lao Dao and Lu An entered, they brought all their supplies. Their tricycles, as vehicles, wouldn't be subject to a deduction, nor would the pots and pans they used for daily life. However, if they brought a large quantity of clothes, one-tenth of the supplies would be taken. The food Zhao Xuan prepared for them was enough for a round trip, so some of the canned chicken and other food items were also taken. Next came the actual goods—the dried goods they brought would be meticulously recorded. If they were forcibly sold or stolen, this would serve as proof, and one-tenth of the good quality goods would still be taken.
Old Dao was very familiar with this market. Over the years, in his search for Zhu Zhu, he had gone to great lengths to go to crowded places, and he had spent a long time in this market to gather information.
He also knew people here: a shop owner who owned a regular shop, and several retailers who frequented the market.
Old Dao didn't take Lu An to buy salt; instead, he led him around the market first.
The market was quite large, after all, it encompassed a corner of a coastal city. The roar of machinery could be heard from outside the nearby wall, apparently because they were building a wall to expand the market area.
"Wow, that's amazing," Lu An thought to himself. While he and Zhao Xuan were still struggling to find gasoline, they were already using heavy machinery for construction.
The market still has many tall buildings, and the routes are complicated. So when you enter the market, you can get a map that marks the sections for goods. The largest part is the food section, which has various grains, dried meat, dried fish, dried vegetables, and some fresh fruit. Of course, there will be less fresh fruit in winter, but there are plenty of dried fruit and homemade canned goods. In addition, there are industrial goods such as pre-apocalyptic compressed biscuits, military canned food, milk powder, and candy. There are also many homemade pastries, such as cloud cake. Although they are homemade, they can be stored for a long time, and these things are relatively expensive.
Next to the food area is the condiment area, where many of the condiments are homemade, including soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili sauce. This area is very clean, and you can smell the spices as you walk in.
Many people set up stalls in open spaces. They usually bring a wooden board with what they want to exchange for written on it in charcoal. There are also large shops that rent here long-term. The customers of these shops are usually camp purchasers who buy large quantities of supplies for the entire camp.
Old Dao's boss friend took them to the market. The boss knew the prices there well and was also good at bargaining.
There were many vendors selling mountain produce in the market, as well as various dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots, but red mushrooms were valuable and sold well. They wandered around the food section for a long time. They weren't short of food, and Lu An traded dried bamboo shoots with others for a lot of dried kelp and dried seaweed. These readily available foods from the seaside were very cheap here, about the same price as salt. He also traded some dried scallops and dried razor clams, which could be used as MSG to enhance flavor.
When passing through the dried meat area, Lu An saw many sausages, salted ducks, dried rats, and a wide variety of dried fish. The owner's friend said that there was a shortage of wild game here. If they hunted wild game such as muntjac or bamboo rats in the mountains, they could dry them and sell them here. If they were lucky, some camp purchasers might take a liking to them and they might be able to exchange them for more valuable supplies.
Besides the food section, there's also a large area dedicated to household goods. It offers a wide variety of bedding, clothing, shoes, and socks, as well as handmade products like bamboo and ceramic items. Many pre-apocalyptic industrial products are also available, including a vast selection of plastic goods, small appliances, furniture, and even bicycles and electric bikes. Hand-cranked and solar-powered flashlights are particularly popular and expensive. Jewelry is also sold, though the prices are comparable to clothing.
Seeds of various crops were also arranged in this area, but not many people came here to exchange seeds. Nowadays, people keep their own seeds to grow crops. Buying seeds here is not only because they don't know the quality of the seeds, but also because the seeds are expensive here.
This area didn't hold much appeal for Lu An, but Lao Dao deliberately slowed down when he reached the weapons and armor section—the selection here was more complete than Lu An had imagined, with guns, ammunition, all kinds of weapons, even riot shields and bulletproof vests. Lu An even saw a guy selling... electric scooter helmets?
Is this considered protective gear now?
Old Dao adopted a strolling attitude, touching this and looking at that. Later, he stopped in front of a stall selling small weapons, picked up a knuckle duster, examined it for a long time, and seemed to like it very much. When he asked about the price, it was breathtaking. Old Dao put down the knuckle duster and left.
The remaining area is the medicine section. This place is small, mostly occupied by long-term shops, and some people set up stalls here, selling herbs and homemade ointments and powders. Medicines are extremely expensive and are not traded for ordinary goods. Even the herbs sold by the small vendors are very pricey. They all have a clear goal: to exchange them for other medicines or ammunition.
It seems that the things Lu An brought can't be sold here. He wanted to take some antipyretics and antibiotics back with him, but unfortunately, the local merchants wouldn't agree to trade with him.
There was no currency in the market, and forced buying and selling was not allowed, so Lu An and Lao Dao had no choice but to leave after being persuaded by the shopkeeper's friend.
With the help of acquaintances, they purchased a lot of supplies. The things Lu An brought were quite popular. Their prices were not high, and shrewd merchants who had been doing business at the market for a long time quickly bought their goods, seemingly intending to resell them. They weren't in a hurry to sell the remaining dried goods. Lao Dao's merchant friend said that he could sell the rest to him in exchange for some dried mangoes, which was a way of showing hospitality.
Finally, Lu An and Lao Dao bought two hundred catties of sea salt. This "public" salt was even packaged in plastic bags, ten catties per bag. Lao Dao and Lu An took twenty bags in total.
This sea salt is like a "shopping discount" offered to everyone at this market; it's not expensive, and you can exchange it for anything.
It took them several days to exchange all their goods. Old Dao's merchant friend was very generous; he let Lu An leave his goods at his shop to sell on consignment, while Lu An and Old Dao went out to shop, negotiating with people whenever they saw something they wanted, and then coming to the shop to exchange it once they reached an agreement.
Water is free in the market, and food can be bought, but most people bring their own. You can sleep in the "hostels" specially prepared by the market, where someone will help look after the goods, but there is a fee. So most people sleep on their own stalls. The temperature at the beach is not low at night, but it is windy. If you wear thick clothes and cover your head and face, you can barely sleep.
On his last night before leaving, Lu An tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He missed Zhao Xuan a little. He wondered what she was doing now. She was probably asleep. She had to do all the housework; she must be exhausted every day. Could it be that 460 had really broken his promise, leaving Zhao Xuan alone and going off to some remote mountain village to not return for days?
Lu An missed Zhao Xuan very much, but didn't want to go home at this time.
He wanted to exchange some medicine for it, but he had no goods left. He couldn't exchange medicine before, and he couldn't now. But he thought of a way, though he didn't know if it would work.
He turned over again, now facing the direction of Lao Dao. At that moment, the two of them were sleeping in a tent.
Lu An turned around and happened to see a pair of big, ox-like eyes.
He was startled: "You're Zhang Fei!"
Old Dao curled his lip, looking utterly disdainful: "You said we're leaving tomorrow, and you're still keeping that nagging on your mind? Tell your older brother what's wrong, and we'll sort it out together..."
...
The next day, Lu An and Lao Dao did not leave.
Lu An carried a wooden sign to the medicine section, found a place to stand, and then held up the sign, which read two big characters: Car Repair.
In this world, those who can sell medicine are either rich or powerful. Among them, there must be someone who can get gasoline. With gasoline, they can drive cars. And if they have cars, it means there will be malfunctions.
When a market patrolman passed by, the two of them quickly put away their signs and pretended to be just passersby.
Finally, the owner of a pharmacy came over and asked, "Can you repair electric bikes?"
Lu An thought for a moment and said, "Bring it here, let me take a look first."
The man then asked, "How much does it cost?"
"We'll use medicine to replace it, and how much depends on the extent of the damage to your car."
The man chuckled and said, "How badly the car is damaged depends on your words."
Lu An smiled and said, "Then you can find a mechanic who will let you name your price."
The pharmacy owner was surprised that this handsome and simple-minded young man was actually a troublemaker. His face darkened with anger, and he was about to lose his temper when he saw the burly man next to the silly boy grin at him, his scar on his face and his white teeth shining brightly.
The pharmacy owner was taken aback.
Lu An pressed the burly man down, then said to the shopkeeper with a simple and honest look, "Don't worry, brother, I won't ask for too much. There are other cars for sale in this market, right? Even if I ask for more, it won't be more than a car, right? I'll just charge a labor fee; you can exchange it for a few antibiotics. We're all in this market, so nobody can cheat anyone else. If you think the price is too high, we can talk about it... I see you're a big boss, and I believe you earned this business with your integrity..."
In the end, the owner brought in the broken electric scooter. He said that when he was young, he loved to ride this little electric scooter, with his wife on the back and his son standing in front, the three of them happily going for a drive to the beach... Now his home is gone, and all that's left is this broken-down scooter. He said that for the past two days, the alarm has been going off non-stop whenever the scooter has power, making it impossible to drive. But these kinds of electric scooters, which were already of poor quality before the apocalypse, can't be left idle for long. If they're not charged, the battery inside will fail, and once the battery is dead, the scooter will be completely unusable.
Lu An spent the whole afternoon banging and clanging away, and finally fixed the car.
The boss was quite grateful and gave Lu An two ibuprofen tablets.
After getting the medicine, Lao Dao quietly leaned close to Lu An's ear and praised him: "You're a good kid, you didn't learn anything from Lao Jiang from our old camp!"
Lu An smiled sheepishly and said in a low voice, "It's just that the sensor is leaking water. It's just a matter of wiping the water out. It only takes two minutes. The trouble is that we have to pretend to fix it for an entire afternoon."
His expression and movements remained unchanged, revealing an honest and simple demeanor.
After things improved, Lu An repaired an electric scooter and a bicycle, both relics, more commemorative than practical. Later, their affair was discovered by the guards on the city wall, and the two were dragged out of the market and taken to the saltworks camp—to repair vehicles for the camp.
The salt field camp used to have a mechanic, but he died in an accident a month ago. The camp couldn't find a mechanic for a while, so Lu An's appearance was a godsend.
This camp handles a huge volume of goods every day, so it would be impossible to operate without vehicles; they even have a convoy.
Lu An couldn't fix the major problems with the cars because he didn't have the replacement parts, but he found quite a few minor issues, similar to the work he used to do at the camp. He was smart and had an engineering degree; he had learned some skills while playing in his uncle's repair shop as a child, and after the apocalypse, he learned the full range of skills from Old Jiang, a car mechanic who had spent his life on the job. Lu An was a smart man; he learned quickly and could apply what he learned to other situations. He not only fixed several cars but also helped repair some minor household appliances.
Over the course of more than ten days, Lu An obtained many of the precious medicines he wanted.
He declined the camp's offer to let him stay, and with two truckloads full of supplies he had obtained in exchange, he and Lao Dao finally set off for home.
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