On the way back, Chu Guodong explained Li Sheng's identity to Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao.
It turns out that Li Sheng was also a member of the special forces. More than ten years ago, Li Sheng was Chu Guodong's instructor when he first joined the army.
Back then, Chu Guodong was young and impetuous, acting like he feared nothing, and he often got beaten up by Li Sheng. Despite this, he and Li Sheng had a very good relationship and got along very well in private.
Later, Chu Guodong was selected through special operations and joined the special forces. Not long after, Li Sheng was injured in an internal organ during a mission and could no longer stay in the army, so he chose to retire and transfer to civilian work.
Over the years, Chu Guodong was extremely busy with work, rising from a lowly soldier to the captain of a special forces brigade. His work kept him incredibly busy, and the two never met again, though they maintained contact by phone until the apocalypse struck, communication was cut off, and they lost touch.
From past phone conversations, Chu Guodong could tell that Li Sheng had been doing well these past few years, with a happy and harmonious family. Seeing Li Sheng's appearance today truly surprised him.
Two years into the apocalypse, what's terrifying isn't just natural disasters, but also man-made catastrophes.
"How about we go browse the trading market again?" Chu Guodong suggested, revealing Li Sheng's identity.
Chu Guodong's proposal was unanimously agreed upon by the two men.
Don't waste the entrance fee; the half-pound of grain they paid is equivalent to a pound of grain paid by an average person. We can't let it go to waste.
After confirming they were on their side, Gu Yanzhi specifically asked the guards at the trading market why they were looking at them so strangely before leaving. He then learned that it was because the grain they had given them, calculated using the current system, was considered top-grade high-quality grain.
The most common type of rice circulating in the market now is broken rice mixed with mud, sand, and stones, which is also the most common type of rice that can be collected after the apocalypse.
The grains they give out, which are only slightly moldy, with intact grains and no stones, can be exchanged for at least two pounds of broken rice for one pound of refined rice on the official market, and even more in private transactions.
These clueless "suckers" are the ones you should remember: they're either stupid or rich. You can swindle more from the former, but you absolutely must not offend the latter.
However, considering that Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao didn't seem like they were really stupid, they could only be so generous because they were new to the area and didn't know the situation.
After understanding the situation, Gu Yanzhi gave the remaining rice in his bag to Zhang Qi and asked him to help exchange it for broken rice. He didn't need to exchange too much, just two pounds for one pound, as per the official rate. He would consider the extra amount as a tip for Zhang Qi's hard work.
As soon as Chu Guodong entered the market, he saw a group of people running in the same direction, urging his friend, "Hurry up, hurry up, it'll be gone in a minute."
Some vendors even abandoned their stalls and plunged directly into the crowd.
Seeing everyone scrambling for it, Chu Guodong knew it must be something good. He quickly turned to Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao and told them to stay there and not go far while he went to check it out.
The tall and strong man from the east of Chu easily squeezed into the crowd, clearing a path for himself.
The person next to him was initially angry at being pushed away and wanted to curse, but when he looked up and saw the imposing Chu Guodong, he immediately swallowed back the words he was about to say.
I squeezed in and saw that what I bought was indeed a good product.
It was the frozen chicken and frozen meat that Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao brought back yesterday, and today they added more eggs as well.
The stall owner was somewhat conscientious, limiting each person to one chicken, one pound of meat, and ten eggs. This was to prevent a monopoly and allow more people to buy.
Most people wouldn't be willing to buy everything, and would probably only choose one item, but Chu Guodong waved his hand and bought them all. When he came out, he also remembered that he had the traded items on him.
After successfully buying his goods and squeezing out of the stall, Chu Guodong walked back and met up with Gu Yanzhi. On the way, he also bought two bundles of wood to carry on his back.
The three of them bypassed the crowded area and continued strolling forward. Before long, Chu Guodong overheard two bored stall owners gossiping.
"Hey, have you heard?"
"What?"
"It's that new family that moved into the villa area; I heard there's a pervert in their family."
"What?! Quickly, tell me more!"
"I heard that their leader is a complete pervert; not only is he impotent, but he's also gay."
"And it's the one on the bottom."
"What? Is this melon authentic?"
"Of course it's authentic. You know, my brother-in-law's brother's uncle's son is in the Tenglong Gathering Team. The Tenglong Team is completely different from our small, scattered teams."
...
"He told us this himself last night; his Tenglong search team was absolutely shocked."
...
How did he know?
"The new residents of the villa complex said it themselves; two of them joined the Tenglong search team yesterday. They both said it in the car yesterday while they were out."
"My brother-in-law's brother's uncle's son was sitting right next to them, listening very attentively."
"I never expected this, you pervert!"
"It's disgusting. Ugh~" Another stall owner said, making a vomiting gesture.
Chu Guodong never expected that gossip would involve him, and upon hearing the contents, he turned green with anger.
His hands were clenched so tightly that his bones creaked.
Well done, you two little brats, Gu Yanlin and Zhao Rui, well done, just you wait.
Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao overheard the conversation between the two stall owners and naturally guessed who they were talking about. They bit their lower lips hard, struggling to suppress their laughter.
Upon seeing the green face of Chu Guodong, he wanted to laugh even more, his face contorted with embarrassment from trying so hard to hold it in.
Chu Guodong strode forward, and Song Zhao quickly pushed Gu Yanzhi to follow.
After wandering around for a while, the rumors that Chu Guodong heard became even more outrageous.
"Have you heard? A new cross-dressing man has moved to the villa area."
"That guy in the villa area is bisexual; I heard everyone there has an affair with the leader."
"And they all really enjoyed it."
...
"It's a mess in here, and that group of people are even offering services to outsiders..."
As people spread misinformation, each adding their own artistic embellishments, the rumor gradually veered in an increasingly absurd direction.
All I can say is that after listening to everyone, all nine of them were killed, with no survivors. Even Gu Yanlin and Zhao Rui, who started the rumors, were portrayed as having done so willingly, and that they could be either male or female.
When they left the trading market, Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao didn't look too good either.
According to rumors, one of them was the bottom, and the other broke his leg because he was playing too intensely.
"That brat definitely deserves a beating; he won't learn his lesson if he isn't punished."
This was the shared thought in the minds of Gu Yanzhi, Song Zhao, and Chu Guodong at this very moment.
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