Chapter 598: Chapter 598
Right off the bat, Jing Shu felt a stirring of excitement. Beside her, Fan Jianqiang yawned and muttered softly, "Just wait, be patient." These items were beyond his wildest dreams. The Imperial Capital truly was a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons lurked.
Lao Gong first invited a middle-aged man dressed in a Zhongshan suit and a felt hat to speak. "Let’s have Mr. Liu come forward," Lao Gong announced.
Mr. Liu then pointed to the display area’s shelves and said, "Here we have 3,000 rolls of perfectly preserved pure wood pulp toilet paper. I’m not interested in Virtual Coins, only in food with a long shelf life. As per the old rules, the quality and rarity of the food will determine its value. Those interested can come forward with their goods to get a quote from the exchange staff."
Mr. Liu used to be a paper manufacturer.
Indeed, it was a grand gesture. The towering piles of paper were astonishing.
Fan Jianqiang felt a bit disappointed. It would be nice if he would exchange for Virtual Coins, but it’s not an essential item. Use water to dab, cloth to wipe, or even a stone to scrape if need be. Who needs paper...However, it would be nice to have some. He envied those who could use paper.
Jing Shu was somewhat tempted. I wonder how the exchange works. How expensive is it? Our family has a good amount of paper, but we use extra during those few days each month. With so many people in the house, and as time passes, such items become more precious. Perhaps it would be wise to stock up on more?
Song Bin was rather troubled. He was clueless about the matter.
Fan Jianqiang snorted, showing some disdain. Even someone of his status wouldn’t bear to trade food for paper.
Initially, he thought that few would trade for paper, a non-essential item in these times of food scarcity, but in just a short while, many had already exchanged various food items for it.
Even the one who had just been selling roasted meat exchanged a thin and long sausage for a roll of paper.
After the stacks of toilet paper were reduced by a third, interest waned, and the market reached a saturation point. Jing Shu gained a rough understanding of the bartering standards here.
Mr. Liu felt disappointed. Food was indeed becoming scarcer.
Calculations whirred rapidly in Jing Shu’s mind. Even if her family used each roll of paper frugally for three days, that meant 121 rolls a year, not counting those special few days. She remembered buying a lot back then, but now only half was left. It was just the fourth year of the apocalypse; who knew how much longer it would last?
At that moment, a woman in a black uniform and glasses from the Diamond Area came forward, bowed politely, and said, "Our boss would like to buy the remaining paper in bulk, offering non-expired canned fruit in exchange, at a rate of one bottle for eight rolls of paper. What do you think of this offer?"
This family used to produce canned fruit.
Mr. Liu was in a dilemma. Canned fruit was nice, but it could only satisfy a craving. He couldn’t consume so much himself. If it were meat cans, he would have taken them all without hesitation. He then took up the loudspeaker and announced, "Is there anyone else who needs paper? If not, I’ll exchange all the remaining paper with this lady."
From a distance, Jing Shu hurriedly called out, "Over here, over here! We want paper!" Saying this, she beckoned to Song Bin, who was carrying two black boxes, and they quickly rushed over.
"Damn, damn! What’s all this about? You guys plan to trade food for paper? Don’t make me lose points!" Fan Jianqiang clung tightly to Song Bin, fearing he would lose them if they left, so he had no choice but to follow.
I told him not to ask randomly.
Murmurs arose. "Someone from the Silver Area? Doesn’t look like they’ve brought anything valuable."
Mr. Liu was again disappointed. She’s probably just a small-time client, he thought. After reluctantly calling out a few more times and finding no other takers, he finally turned to Jing Shu, smiled, and said, "What do you want to trade for the paper? Bring it out so we can assess its value."
He did not have the slightest air of looking down on people.
The woman in black adjusted her falling black stockings and sized up the girl. Wrapped in a large cotton coat, the girl’s appearance was plain and unadorned, as if deliberately concealed.
Indeed, very plain and unadorned, except for the box she carried. What could be in that box? How much food could there possibly be?
Yes, Jing Shu had initially attracted little attention. Even Mr. Liu was beginning to regret the prospect of all the remaining paper being traded for canned fruit.
It wasn’t until a BOOM! resounded, so loud that the entire area fell silent for a moment—especially in the cemetery, where the echo amplified the impact.
All eyes were drawn to the source.
"What the hell is in that box? Is it that heavy?" someone exclaimed.
Nobody had thought the box was heavy until Jing Shu slammed it to the ground with a THUD. Even Song Bin’s mouth fell agape, cursing "Damn, damn, damn!" inwardly without pause, and Fan Jianqiang was stunned.
Jing Shu opened the box, revealing the middle layer.
It was two huge smoked hams that could make anyone’s mouth water just by looking at them! And they were from black pigs!
The perfect curves and the compact yet enormous volume of meat... those close enough could even catch the faint, salty scent of the meat! ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
The crowd around collectively swallowed their saliva.
The scene grew noisy as everyone was deeply shocked. In the fourth year of the apocalypse, frozen meat was still available, but fresh pork was an extreme luxury, and cured meat was almost a top-notch rarity.
Goods were available, but they were rare, and the good stuff was controlled by the very few.
But such top-notch ham, to be honest, was truly unseen, or rather, very few would bring it out to trade for other items.
Mr. Liu had lost his initial composure and was now closely inspecting the ham. Even Chairman Lao Gong had come over, along with the bosses who were with the woman in the black uniform—several big shots from the Diamond Area were now present.
Lao Gong swallowed hard. "For the tax on this," he declared, "I’ll have to take two slices later."
Mr. Liu, no longer calm, asked, "How do you want to trade this ham?" He was practically drooling, desperately wanting more canned meat—this ham was worth more than a hundred cans of it.
Jing Shu casually took out one ham and said, "A 30-catty, top-notch ham, well-preserved. It can last several more years without issue. How many rolls of paper can I get for it?"
"I want both of your hams! I’ll give you all the remaining paper for them, how about that?" Mr. Liu negotiated.
Jing Shu closed the box. At this moment, she was no longer an ordinary girl. Her aura had become much more formidable, putting so much pressure on Mr. Liu that he struggled to breathe. "It seems, Mr. Liu," she said, her voice cold, "that you don’t want to make this deal. With so many people here, I’m sure I can trade for what I want."
"That’s right, one shouldn’t be too greedy. Lao Liu, I’m not trying to criticize you, but can you even consume two hams all by yourself? You should let us have a share."
"We also have many things we could trade with people."
Mr. Liu then grit his teeth. "I’ll trade you 1,500 rolls for one ham! This is already dozens of times more than I’d offer for other food. The rest of the paper, I’ll trade for canned fruit."
That was a rate of 50 rolls of paper per catty of meat.
Jing Shu pondered for a moment. The black pigs at home and in her space were already overrunning the place. Mr. Jing had to slaughter several pigs every year, and their house was already full of cured meats and hams hanging everywhere, with almost no room left to store them.
Trading for so much paper in the Imperial Capital was actually a pretty good deal.
Mr. Liu grew very nervous. Seeing Jing Shu hesitate, he started to regret not offering more. If only I had added a bit more just now, he thought.