Engineer Lin slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, my memory is so bad! I'll contact the manufacturer right away."
Mou Xuan frowned, "Have you contacted them? The situation is special now, I'm afraid..."
Engineer Lin looked embarrassed. "I have contacted them, but the price of steel has skyrocketed and many manufacturers have stopped accepting orders..."
Mou Xuan's heart sank. The construction of the safe house could not be delayed, and steel was an indispensable material.
He made a prompt decision, "Let's go to the building materials market!"
The building materials market was bustling with people, as if a pot of boiling water was boiling.
People were rushing to buy cement, steel bars and wood everywhere, and the prices had increased several times.
Mou Xuan looked at the chaotic scene, his heart filled with worry.
He found the largest building materials supplier in the market - Su Building Materials Supplier.
Su, the building materials merchant, had a beer belly, a thick gold chain around his neck, and the face of a profiteer.
Seeing Mou Xuan coming, he narrowed his eyes and asked with a fake smile: "Little brother, what do you want to buy?"
"I need a lot of high-strength alloy steel plates." Mou Xuan went straight to the point.
When Su the building materials merchant heard this, his eyes rolled around and his expression immediately changed, "Oh, this thing is in short supply now, and the price..." He stretched out five fingers and pointed a number.
Mou Xuan cursed in his heart as a "scoundrel". The price was more than ten times higher than before the apocalypse!
But he remained calm and asked calmly, "Boss Su, isn't your price a bit outrageous?"
Su, the building materials merchant, shrugged indifferently and said, "In today's world, prices are soaring. There's nothing I can do about it. You can buy it or not. There are people queuing behind you!" He pointed to the huge crowd behind him.
The buyers around also looked helpless, obviously they were also ripped off by Su building materials merchants.
There was a tense atmosphere in the air, like a taut string that could break at any time.
Mou Xuan took a deep breath, a barely perceptible sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Boss Su, this is not how you do business..."
Mou Xuan did not argue with Su the building materials merchant like other buyers, but looked around, scanning the building materials market with sharp eyes, as if looking for something.
He noticed that the direction of Su's building materials warehouse was a little strange. Several trucks were going in and out stealthily, covering up their movements as if they were hiding some secret.
Seeing Mou Xuan so calm and collected, Su, the building materials merchant, couldn't help but feel a little nervous. A look of doubt flashed across his greasy face, like a lump of lard falling into a hot pot, sizzling.
The buyers around also cast curious glances, and a subtle taste permeated the originally tense atmosphere.
"Boss Su, your business is really booming," Mou Xuan raised his lips slightly, with a hint of amusement in his tone, "I just wonder if the sources of your goods are so 'clean'?"
Su the building materials merchant's face changed, his eyes flickered, and his thick lips trembled slightly, "You...what do you mean?"
Mou Xuan did not answer directly, but looked towards the warehouse meaningfully, "I heard that the inspections have been strict recently. Tax evasion is not a trivial matter, not to mention..." He paused deliberately, observing the reaction of Su Building Materials Merchant, "not to mention some building materials of unknown origin."
Su the building materials merchant's face turned pale in an instant, and beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead.
He didn't expect that this young man would discover his secret.
He did have a batch of building materials of unknown origin stored in his warehouse. If they were discovered, the consequences would be disastrous.
The buyers around also began to whisper, looking at Su the building materials merchant with contempt and anger.
They had been severely ripped off by Su's building materials merchants before, and now that they knew the truth, they were even more indignant.
"You... stop talking nonsense!" Su, the building materials merchant, shouted in a timid tone, but his voice was obviously lacking in confidence.
Mou Xuan sneered, "Boss Su, you know whether I am talking nonsense or not. How about this, I won't make it difficult for you. You sell me the high-strength alloy steel plate at the market price, and let this matter go. Otherwise..."
Su, the building materials merchant, knew that he was in a difficult situation, so he had to grit his teeth and agree to Mou Xuan's request.
Seeing this, the surrounding buyers cheered and the depressing atmosphere was swept away.
Mou Xuan looked at the mountains of building materials and felt secretly proud.
He paid workers to transport building materials to the safe house construction site.
At this moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the construction site...
"Hey, isn't this Boss Mou? You bought so many building materials, what kind of castle in the air are you going to build?" The sarcastic voice of Luo the foreman came from a distance...
Luo the foreman, swaying his fat body and with a beer belly, walked in front of Mou Xuan with three staggers in one step, just like a waddling penguin.
"Hey, isn't this Boss Mou? You're buying so many building materials, are you planning to build some kind of castle in the air?" He said in a sarcastic tone, his eyes greedily staring at the mountains of building materials, like a hungry wolf eyeing a fat sheep.
"Foreman Luo, this seems to have nothing to do with you?" Mou Xuan glanced at him coldly, with a hint of disdain in his tone.
Foreman Luo chuckled and rubbed his greasy hands, "Boss Mou, look at you, what you said. I'm just concerned about you! These building materials, wow, they're too high-end, aren't they? How much money will it cost? I tell you, this is totally unnecessary! Just use some ordinary building materials, it will save money and trouble, why waste this money?" His eyes rolled around, and he was calculating in his mind, thinking about replacing Mou Xuan's high-end goods with cheap building materials and making a profit from the difference.
"Foreman Luo, it's clearly written in the contract. I've already decided what building materials to use. Just do as instructed." Mou Xuan's tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
When Luo, the contractor, heard this, his face suddenly changed, and his originally playful expression collapsed in an instant, "Boss Mou, you are a little ungrateful, aren't you? I'm doing this for your own good, what do you know? You are just an amateur! You have to listen to me about this building materials matter!"
Contractor Luo picked up the contract, took a closer look, and his face turned pale. The terms were clearly written and he could not deny them.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end nothing came out and he walked away dejectedly.
Looking at the fleeing back of Luo the foreman, Mou Xuan showed a sneer.
He turned to the workers and said loudly: "Everyone work harder and finish the project as soon as possible!" The workers responded in unison, full of energy.
However, when the building materials were transported to the construction site, Mou Xuan discovered that some of the steel had obvious scratches on the surface and some were even deformed.
He squatted down and carefully examined the damaged steel, his eyes gradually becoming colder...
"Engineer Lin, come here..."
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