Chapter 197
The next morning, as soon as everyone got on the bus, they saw the woman from the seventh floor coming down with a large hiking backpack.
She walked to the front vehicle, Chen Hao's car door, and asked, "Are you going back to the base? Can you take me with you?" She then pointed to her own van.
Chen Hao frowned. "The base isn't a place you can just walk into; you have to hand over supplies."
Recalling the woman's crabs and shrimp, Chen Hao suddenly felt that his previous statement was somewhat superfluous, "Follow behind."
"Thanks." Fu Le handed Chen Hao a cigarette, and before he could even raise his hand, it landed on his pants.
Chen Hao: ...
"Brother Hao, this woman is really generous." Qian Da's eyes widened when he saw the cigarette. He envied that one cigarette was equivalent to ten pounds of addiction, but it was a best-selling product and there was no market for it.
Boom...
Buzzing...
The convoy started, five cars, following behind in the original order.
"Hey, what do you think is in that woman's backpack?" someone asked enviously.
"It's a tent, but it's a shame she doesn't want that water bucket anymore."
“The buckets must have been in the truck; she has cargo.”
"Oh, right, I forgot."
"What's in her backpack? It's not all food supplies, is it? This lone wolf is really bold, carrying a pack of cigarettes with her, isn't she afraid of being robbed?"
"She dared to come out alone, with a gun and so many supplies. Do you think she's stupid?"
...
As the car traveled north, we encountered many dilapidated buildings along the way, many of which were collapsed or tilted. My first impression was one of desolation, and my second was one of bleakness.
What happened in the early days of the apocalypse?
Who knows how many human bones are buried beneath that collapsed high-rise building?
Fu Le's heart felt like it had been squeezed several times by a hand, and discomfort spread throughout his body.
One hour, two hours passed, and as far as the eye could see, the gray sky only amplified the deathly stillness.
This world is sick...
Three hours later, they finally arrived outside the base. Unlike the bases Fu Le had seen before, the city wall was only a little over three meters high, with a decent thickness, and the surface was covered with steel nails that were more than a meter long.
The gate, which is more than four meters wide, had a flow of people and vehicles, but there were no refugees queuing to enter.
They've all joined the base in just five years?
The procedure for adding it is very simple: one hundred catties of grain, whatever it may be, or ten colorless crystal cores.
Fu Le dragged a giant sweet potato out of the car. It was more than two meters long and estimated to be more than one meter in diameter.
The convoy members: !!!
Mutant plant?
The staff were stunned by what they saw. “Mutant plants are all poisonous; this can’t be considered food.”
“It’s non-toxic, just large in size. It’s not a mutated plant. We can test it before making a conclusion,” Fu Le said.
"Okay, that works too." The staff member was also curious about whether the sweet potato was poisonous.
The testing personnel arrived quickly, and everyone gathered around, waiting for the results.
"Ding-a-ling, no poison, no poison." The measuring device reported the result, and the crowd erupted in an uproar. Everyone's eyes lit up with excitement. Such a big sweet potato! How much food could be made from it?
"Weigh it." The staff member looked pleased, guessing that the sweet potato was about to be sent to the research institute.
"563.2 jin. The remaining weight will be converted into points for you. One point for every five jin, and less than five jin will not be counted."
How much aged rice can one point be exchanged for?
"Ten catties."
Fu Le roughly understood the value of points.
The points are recorded on a blue magnetic card, about the size of a bank card.
After exchanging his points, Fu Le drove in.
Stepping into the base, Fu Le felt like he was in an ordinary village or town. There were low houses all around, some made of wood and some of stone. Everyone was dressed in old clothes, and some were ragged and emaciated.
"Your name is Fu Le? My name is Chen Hao." Chen Hao appeared before me without my noticing. "Parking your car in this area costs one point per month for a parking fee. It's deducted first and settled later, and you can accumulate points."
"Thank you." Fu Le drove along the route Chen Hao pointed out. Sure enough, there was an area where cars were parked. The ground was still a cement road, and the cars were all scratched, dirty, and broken. Her car, on the other hand, was relatively new.
"Swiping your card here will deduct points first." Chen Hao walked closer and pointed to the keypad sensor at the parking lot entrance.
After thanking her again, Fu Le said, "I'm new here and don't know anything. If you're my guide, I'll give you ten catties of old rice as payment." Chen Hao made a good impression on her. Although he was the team leader, he was calm and unhurried, which made her feel at ease.
Even in the apocalypse, after experiencing so many disasters, he still has the same personality, which shows how strong his will is.
Chen Hao glanced at her in surprise. "Okay. I'll go tell my teammates. Please wait a moment."
Chen Hao returned quickly. "Let's go, I'll take you to see the apartments. The rental area here is divided into sections. There are low-rise apartments, single rooms, one-bedroom apartments, and two-bedroom apartments. The prices are all different."
"The best one, how much to rent?"
Chen Hao wasn't surprised at all that she would ask that question. "Villa area, one point per day."
Fu Le: It seems alright, but it also seems a bit expensive. Living in a villa by myself is a bit extravagant.
"What about a one-bedroom apartment?"
"Fifteen points a month." That's enough for a poor person to eat for a year.
"Do you usually only trade at the base's exchange?"
"The base has designated a trading area for everyone, just like the old market. Everyone can trade there. You can barter or exchange for points."
"Okay, let's go, let's get the house sorted out first."
It's a two-story row house with one bedroom and one living room, all made of wood.
The one-bedroom apartment is located in its own private community, with the service hall right at the entrance. The staff deducted 20 points from her account, 5 of which were for a deposit.
Fu Le received the magnetic card. "Shall we go take a look together?"
Chen Hao nodded, "Sure, if you need any furniture, you can go to the southeast corner of the community, there's a second-hand furniture market there."
"Okay, thank you."
The room had one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. It was covered in dust, which was completely different from the clean and bright room. The only furniture was a single bed, and the kitchen walls were blackened with soot.
Fu Le turned around with a hint of disgust, then regretted it. The little prince on his shoulder also covered his mouth in disgust, making a gesture of covering his eyes as if he couldn't bear to watch.
Fu Le, who was almost amused by the Little Prince, quickly turned around and said, "Let's go to the market. I want to trade some things."
"What?" Chen Hao asked, unusually taking the initiative.
"Oh, beast milk, exotic beast milk. It's been tested, and I've cooked it thoroughly. I've personally tested it and it's fine."
Upon hearing that it was animal milk, Chen Hao's expression changed. "How much?"
"You want it?"
"Yes, Ah Ling in our team has a daughter who is over two years old. Right now, resources are scarce, she's very thin, and her immune system is extremely weak."
Fu Le's eyes flickered. "One colorless crystal core per bag, shelf life three days."
He took a bag of milk out of his bag and handed it to Chen Hao, whose serious face finally showed a hint of a smile. It was clear that he liked the little girl very much.
"I'll exchange for two days' worth with you. How long can your animal milk last? Do you have any formula?"
"We don't have milk powder, but I can figure out how to get milk."
"You have a folding box from another dimension?" Chen Hao's eyes were full of envy. Folding boxes from another dimension are very expensive. A two-cubic-meter box requires the crystal core of a fifth-order mutated plant. Only strong teams have a chance to successfully hunt them down. The ones they have are ordinary folding boxes that can't keep food fresh.
Fu Le: ? ? ?
"Yes." It must be related to stored goods, like preservation?
"Then give me three days, two bags a day. The expiration date should be the most recent, right? Can I ask you to exchange it every three days?"
"Yes, I just finished making it last night. You can come find me."
With the six colorless crystal cores in his possession, Fu Le smiled happily.
The so-called market is a space of about one acre paved with stones, where vendors set up their own rows of stalls, leaving a one-meter-wide gap for buyers to pass through.
"Alright, our transaction ends here. By the way, where do you live? How can we contact you?"
"In the single-room apartment complex, there are only five people in our team. Ah Ling and her daughter share a single room, and the three of us share a single room. Rooms 403 and 404. We won't be going on any missions for the next week. If you need anything, feel free to contact us anytime."
Fu Le nodded, "Okay, here." Since they all had storage containers, she didn't need to hide them anymore. She took out ten catties of rice and handed it over.
Chen Hao took it. "Thank you. Be careful, it's not safe around here." After thinking for a moment, he still gave him a word of advice.
After Chen Hao left, Fu Le started wandering around. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people buying things. Oh, there were even shops selling diamonds and gemstones, and watches that looked to be of very good quality.
"Young lady, this watch is a Vantiero, worth over ten million on the market. I only got it by chance... If you really want it, twenty colorless crystal cores will do." The old lady selling watches was talking animatedly, trying to seduce a young girl.
The other vendors around couldn't bear to watch and turned away. These days, who's crazy enough to trade crystal cores for a watch? Even a luxury watch isn't worth much.
After strolling around for a while, Fu Le used three points to exchange for all the gems and diamonds the stall owner had. Then a jade seller approached him, and Fu Le used three points to exchange for all the jade the stall owner had. The quality of the jade was quite good, and it was obvious at a glance that it came from a shopping mall, with tags still attached.
Other envious vendors started loudly hawking their wares, trying to get Fu Le to choose their items. Unfortunately, they were all household goods, which she wasn't interested in.
"Young lady, I have many more pieces of jewelry of this quality. Would you like some?" the old man selling gemstones asked with a fawning smile.
“Sure.” Fu Le accepted all offers.
"Okay, okay, I'll go get it now."
"Young lady, I also have a lot of jadeite, as well as raw stones, cut to size. Do you want some?" The uncle selling jadeite jewelry also came over, secretly glad that he hadn't left.
"Sure, I'll take them all as long as they're genuine."
Upon hearing this, many people packed up their stalls and went home to collect their own treasures.
Fu Le found an empty seat, put down his backpack, pulled out a gray cloth, and began pouring milk out.
Fu Le, who had become the center of attention for buying useless luxury goods, was immediately surrounded. "How much is your milk? Can I try some?"
“I just finished making it last night. You can try it, but only children are allowed, and only one child is allowed. Of course, I can also try it on your behalf.”
"Mine, mine, boss, can my son try it?" A woman with a withered face and a buzz cut, dressed in a drab gray tracksuit, crawled over carrying a baby who was as thin as skin and bones.
Others who were initially interested were all taken aback upon seeing this. Some had brought their children, but even those who had several years old remained surprisingly silent.
This child is too thin, can he survive? If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would look almost exactly like a mummified corpse.
Fu Le frowned and handed a bag of milk to the woman. "Here, this baby bottle is for you."
"Thank you, thank you." The woman took the 120ml baby bottle, then the milk, and knelt down directly in front of Fu Le.
The latter didn't dodge, so it stopped dodging.
I feel an indescribable sadness in my heart.
Sure enough, her heart wasn't hard enough, at least not in front of her child.
The little rascal was very clever. As soon as the milk outlet of the bag was torn open and a drop of fresh milk seeped out, the little guy immediately grabbed the bag tightly with his little hands and started drinking it with great slurping and smacking sounds.
Everyone gathered around to watch, not saying a word, occasionally swallowing their saliva.
The little guy drank less than half of it before letting go of his hand, and then let out a satisfied burp.
The woman happily wiped the little one's mouth, then thanked her profusely, "Thank you, boss. How much is this milk? What's the shelf life?"
"One colorless crystal core per bag, shelf life is three days, can be stored at room temperature, the temperature is now over 20 degrees Celsius, which is fine."
When the price was announced, no one thought it was expensive, and the mother was not surprised at all. In fact, it was quite cheap. Even a poor person could get some colorless crystal cores every month.
"Boss, give me four bags, please." The woman handed over four crystal cores.
Fu Le accepted the milk and handed over four bags of milk. The woman hugged them to her arms and left satisfied. A thin man also left with her. Judging from his equally joyful expression, he was probably the child's father.
"Boss, I want six bags." Another middle-aged man stepped forward, with a little girl of about five or six years old standing next to him, sucking her fingers.
"Boss, I want five bags."
Soon, a group of people surrounded her, each taking several bags. Fu Le quickly collected over a hundred colorless crystal cores, and the milk sold out quickly as well. However, she had packed a lot the night before, enough to sell.
The milk was sold very quickly, and a lot of it would be sold in no time. Fu Le didn't hide it and released it directly from the warehouse, which attracted a lot of attention, but no one found it strange.
"Boss, your milk tastes great, it's very pure. Are you from a dairy farm?" Someone drank it on the spot. They couldn't resist the temptation, especially since resources were so scarce.
"Don't ask too many questions." Fu Le glanced at him sideways.
The latter also realized that he was about to be taken away from his job.
He probably knew how strictly the breeding farms at the base were managed.
After finishing one bag in a few bites, the man bought ten more bags and left.
Fu Le spent the entire afternoon selling milk.
Of course, they also got several hundred kilograms of jewelry and jade. The guy selling the jade was carrying a large, uncut, raw stone weighing several tens of kilograms. It was an old mine glass-type jadeite, which made the surrounding crowd gasp in amazement. They liked it but didn't want to buy it, and they couldn't exchange it for food.
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