Chapter 12: Don't Lose at the Starting Line
"Young lady, you didn't expect it to be worth so much, did you? Half a year ago, this kind of leaf would indeed cost no more than 60 silver coins, and it had to be this fresh and tender."
However, the latest research shows that if pregnant women eat these tender, low-radiation leaves, their children are at least 30% more likely to have supernatural abilities.
Originally, only wealthy people within District 10 could afford to use low-radiation food as their staple diet. Now, even wealthy households outside District 10 are willing to spend a lot of money to feed their pregnant women, all in the hope of giving birth to a genetically engineered warrior.
It is said that these innate genetic warriors have no bottlenecks in their cultivation, and the hope of revitalizing their families in the future can be placed on them.
Therefore, the price of this thing doubled, and it was often impossible to find it even when it was available, since the probability of a scavenger encountering such a thing in the wild was extremely low.
"It's a bit of a shame that this is just ordinary wild vegetables. If it were a better-tasting fruit or something, the price could at least double!" the woman enthusiastically explained to her.
With just this one leaf, she can earn at least 5 silver coins as commission today. How could she not be happy?
Upon hearing that this stuff was good for the fetus, Zuo Shan hesitated, as she might already be carrying a baby.
This little one seems quite resilient. She ran so far and took a big fall, but she showed no signs of slipping or falling.
If she ultimately has to give birth to this child, shouldn't she, as the mother, make sure it doesn't lose at the starting line?
With that in mind, she decided to sell half of it first, and decide on the rest after her pregnancy check-up. If her belly was empty, then as an adult, she didn't need to be so fussy about eating such expensive things; she might as well just cash it in.
Thinking of this, she smiled and asked the clerk at the window, "Ma'am, if we take out more of these blades at once, will the price be lower?"
Isn't it said that scarcity increases value? If she sells too much at once, will people be reluctant to pay her such a high price?
"The more the merrier! Don't worry, if it's a bulk supply, it will sell well, and the price will only be higher!"
The wealthy people in District 10 have refrigerated cabinets; these leaves can keep for at least half a month without spoiling. The woman's eyes lit up, as if a hungry person had discovered a plate of braised pork.
“I have…9 pieces.” Zuo Shan said, suppressing her heartache. She wasn’t sure if she felt sorry for the baby in her belly or for all the silver coins that she might have to eat.
Upon hearing this, the woman quickly said, "Great! I'll make the decision. I'll raise the price by 10%, and buy it at 110 silver coins per 100 grams. Hurry up and let me put it through the testing machine."
Zuo Shan carefully counted nine pieces, choosing the largest ones as much as possible, and handed them in through the window. This was the official redemption point, with surveillance cameras all around, so there was no need to worry about the people inside taking the items and then denying their rights.
The woman took a tray, carefully placed all nine leaves into it, and then put the tray into a machine behind her that resembled a photocopier.
Soon, the machine's voice came from inside: "Weight: 1056 grams, low-radiation mutant alfalfa leaf, radiation value: 15 points, growth period: no more than 5 hours, freshness: 8, overall rating: excellent!"
"Young lady, I'll buy your batch of alfalfa leaves at the agreed price of 110 silver coins per 100 grams, which is a total of 1161.6 silver coins. I'll round it up to 1162 silver coins for you. How about that? Are you satisfied?" the woman said with a smile.
"Satisfied." Zuo Shan nodded.
“Please show me your watch, and I will deposit this money into your account right now,” the woman said again.
Although District 50 was poor, small shops still accepted bank transfers. In this era, aside from the black market, almost no one used cash for transactions.
The woman deftly operated the control panel, then took something resembling a supermarket checkout barcode scanner and scanned her wristwatch.
On the left, an image appears near the wristwatch, displaying a page of information:
Account Name: Left Fan
Age: 25 years and two months
Original account balance: 846 silver coins
Today's income: 1162 silver coins
Current balance: 1968 silver coins
The page only stayed for about five seconds before disappearing automatically.
Zuo Shan's eyes suddenly stung with tears. These were the emotions of the original owner of the body. She remembered the original 46 silver coins, more than half of which were transferred to her by her childhood sweetheart, Qi Yang.
That was half a year ago, when they were preparing to get married. Qi Yang insisted on buying her a new outfit, saying that when they went to the marriage registration office to get their marriage certificate, they would need to take photos, and he couldn't let their only photo together look too shabby.
Therefore, whenever Qi Yang obtained a few more moderately irradiated leaves, he would take them to the shop to exchange for silver coins. He would collect them one or two at a time, and once he had five, he would transfer them to her.
Of the 846 silver coins in her account, 400 were transferred to her by Qi Yang, and the rest were saved by herself.
When Qi Yang visited the original owner last time, she wanted to give him the 400 silver coins, but he refused to accept them. Helpless, the original owner thought she would give them to him next time, or the time after that.
If they had her luck earlier, they might already be married and living their own little life.
Qi Yang isn't a bad person by nature. If he had married the original owner of this body, he would probably have treated her very well.
As Zuo Shan walked out of the exchange hall, she touched her lower abdomen and silently made a wish to the original owner of the body: "Don't worry, if this child can really survive, I will help you raise it well."
The hospital isn't far from the exchange hall, and Zuo Shan isn't worried about being robbed along the way, as there are alarms on the wristwatches. If someone illegally forces you to transfer money to them, you can manually or by voice trigger the alarm.
This alarm doesn't call the police. Instead, when you press the alarm, any money transferred from your account to the other party's account will be immediately locked and frozen.
The frozen account can only be unlocked if both parties involved in the transfer go to the public security bureau at the same time and declare on the spot that it was a mistake.
Therefore, in the wasteland, the account in the wristwatch is the safest, and you never have to worry about being robbed.
Of course, nothing is absolutely safe. If the other party points a gun at your head beforehand and threatens you not to trigger the alarm, and you are afraid of dying, then the other party can successfully rob you.
However, most wasteland residents are struggling to make ends meet, and if someone tries to rob them of their money, they are usually willing to risk their lives.
Therefore, those who intend to rob would rather go to wealthy households than come to slums like the 50th district.
Zuo Shan successfully completed her pregnancy test, but this time, her good luck ran out; the results showed that she was already 14 weeks pregnant.
"Miss, your personal information shows that you are unmarried, therefore you are fully responsible for the fetus in your womb."
If you are found to have secretly visited an unlicensed clinic, taken medication, or undergone surgery to abort an abortion, you will be sentenced to 6 months in prison upon being reported.
"The newborn is the hope of the entire Green Algae Planet. Please treat this child well and come here for prenatal checkups at least once a month," the female doctor said solemnly.
Left Fan: You can go to jail for having an abortion without permission? No wonder the residents of District 50 live such a hard life, struggling to give birth even after getting pregnant.
She resigned herself to her fate: Well, if her daily long runs couldn't prevent the baby from slipping and falling, then she would have no choice but to give birth.
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