Chapter 243 - Trade
Just as the group of four was about to leave the western area to go deeper into the center of the base and finally reach the east, several bells began to clang noisily all over the place. The noise was conspicuous enough to be heard from a fairly cosiderable distance.
"What is that?" Bai Zemin frowned slightly. He realized that those bells were cleverly placed so that every certain amount of distance there was one to amplify the sound.
"That... The sound of that bell means that the government is starting to distribute the relief rations for today..." Yi Fang replied in a complicated tone of voice.
"Oh?" Bai Zemin secretly glanced at Xiang Feng to see what the girl's reaction was.
The girl's big pure eyes glittered with hunger and desire as the sound of the bell spread everywhere. In addition, Bai Zemin also noticed how she unconsciously swallowed the saliva accumulated inside her mouth as if she was imagining the taste of the food.
How hungry did this girl have to be to even desire some gruel to such a degree? Bai Zemin couldn't help but feel bad. Only now was he beginning to really understand a little of the hardships this mother and daughter pair had gone through, and he finally began to sympathize with Yi Fang's actions.
"Come on. Let's go see what these rations are like." A thought flashed in his mind and without hesitation he began to walk in the direction of the nearest bell.
With Shangguan Bing Xue at his side, Yi Fang and Xiang Feng walked a step or two back from both of them. As they walked through the streets, a large number of survivors were rushing from everywhere with this place as the central gathering point.
Bai Zemin also saw many other survivors farther away hurrying to other bells. The look in the eyes of those survivors was similar to that of a wild tiger or a hyena that had not eaten for several weeks and finally found a wounded and lonely gazelle in the savannah.
After two or three minutes, the group of four finally arrived at a large open square in the open air with a few stands set up along various points. Behind each wooden table were two people who were delivering the relief food.
The survivors were in complete disarray. There wasn't even a single line and the situation was a mess; it looked like it would only be a short time before they would start beating each other to death to get through first and get their portion.
Seeing this, Bai Zemin frowned slightly but remembering that this was not his place he said nothing. If this was his base, a situation like this would definitely not happen. In the past, some survivors would try to cut the line; but since some of them received two or three lashes as a reprimand, no one else dared to break the line or cause a disturbance. This measure also served to avoid unnecessary injuries and even deaths since being trampled by a stampede of desperate humans was nothing to scoff at.
Bai Zemin pulled little Xiang Feng closer while Shangguan Bing Xue pulled Yi Fang closer. With the efforts of two powerful high-level First Order soul evolvers, the group of four people advanced slowly amidst the survivors until they finally arrived at the front after a bit of effort.
A fat man of around 26 or 27 was holding a large spoon as he stood next to a pot. When a survivor approached with their bowl or any other recipient, the fat man would take the contents inside the pot and casually throw it into the recipient in the hands of the survivors before moving on to the next one.
Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue moved a little closer and saw the contents inside the pot.
To say that what was inside the pot was gruel would be disrespectful to the gruel. Basically, there was nothing but white water in there. It would be more correct to say that instead of gruel, the contents inside the pots were actually a heap of rice soup where water dominated 99%.
"This is what people eat here? Isn't that just water?" Shangguan Bing Xue could not stop her melodious voice from escaping her lips.
She had supervised the relief food distribution in Beginning Village several times so she knew very well what kind of food the survivors ate. Even those slackers and vivid ones could eat three bowls containing 60% water and 40% rice.
But the people in the North Camp had to survive by eating a daily bowl of rice soup? Shangguan Bing Xue really did not understand how this base had not yet suffered a mutiny.
Hearing someone complain, the fat man raised his head and looked at her as he sneered, "If you don't want to eat then just go away, woman. Wait until you're hungry for several days and then I assure you that you'll come crawling on your hands and knees begging for some food. A dirty woman like you probably can't even sell her body to get a piece of bread hahaha!"
Although Shangguan Bing Xue was a great beauty, her face was completely covered and her body was covered with a large cloak that had some dirt stains so her seductive curves were also not visible.
When she heard the fat man's sneering tone and offensive words, Shangguan Bing Xue's body trembled slightly and a chill flashed through her pupils for an instant. This was the first time in her life that anyone had dared to say such words to her, let alone after she had become the second leader of a survivor camp only below Bai Zemin in terms of power and authority.
If it wasn't for her self-control, this fat wretch would have turned into an ice statue by now and wouldn't even know how he died.
Bai Zemin's group stepped back and watched as the other survivors were given bowls of gruel that were actually practically water, and they all licked their bowls clean. Then they turned to look at the large pot of gruel with greedy eyes.
"Although it's not much... This daily bowl of food is all we have." Yi Fang said bitterly as her eyes glittered with pain. "This bowl may not mean much to you two, but to people like us who are at the bottom of the bottom it represents our only hope of living another day."
"... Let's go." Bai Zemin shook his head and took Xiang Feng with him.
Shangguan Bing Xue gave the fat man one last look as if hesitating about something but in the end shook her head and took Yi Fang away to leave the crowd.
Seconds later, the group of four disappeared into the large mass of people and none of them noticed and probably would never know that among them were people with so much power while someone managed to keep his little life after offending someone he really shouldn't have.
...
Thirty minutes later, the group finally reached another part of the camp.
As they moved on and away from the west, the survivors' complexions gradually improved. However, they all still looked hungry and some were so weak that they could not even move properly. There were also several other gathering points where relief food was being distributed.
"This is #4 Street." Yi Fang indicated as she pointed ahead. "This is where survivors gather to sell their belongings, things that are of no use to them, or simply out of necessity."
Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue looked around curiously. There were many stores of all kinds with a variety of items for sale. The better stores had a few tables set up while in other cases it was just a large sheet lying on the floor with the items for sale lying onto it.
As they slowly walked through the busy streets, Bai Zemin suddenly saw a store of interest to him and approached the salesman.
Seeing someone approaching his stall, the vendor immediately brightened up: "This little brother, in my store you can find everything; from clothes for hot days to woolen clothes for cold days! With the temperatures getting stranger and stranger even after the weather stabilized a bit, it's best to always be prepared!"
Bai Zemin gave him a sidelong glance. The salesman was small and thin. His eyes sunk inward and his eyebrows were barely visible while his nose was similar to that of an eagle but at the same time that of a pig. He looked quite strange and the greedy light that constantly flashed in his eyes made people not have a good first impression of him.
"Boss, how much for these two wool sweaters and these short-sleeved children's t-shirts? Besides, if the price satisfies me, I'll also take some little girl's underwear and pants." Bai Zemin didn't want to linger too long so he cut to the chase as he squatted down next to the stands.
The seller rubbed his hands when he saw the big backpack on Bai Zemin's back: "Each woolen sweater for 2 packs of instant noodles or half a kilo of white rice. Each short-sleeved T-shirt for 1 package of instant noodles or 300 grams of white rice. Underwear for 150 grams of white rice. As for pants, 3 packets of instant noodles or 1 kilogram of white rice."
Bai Zemin stood up and looked at the street seller coldly, "I will give you four packets of instant noodles for the girl's clothes and four more for the same number for adult women's clothes. If you accept we can make the deal now, if not then you can keep your clothes."
How could the small acts of a peddler go unnoticed from Bai Zemin's eyes? This man's prices were basically daylight robbery. Too bad for the peddler, Bai Zemin already had his fair share of poverty to know what was good and what was bad so it wasn't easy to fool him.
The seller gritted his teeth and hesitated. He was sure that the young man in front of him had plenty of supplies, but if he really left without buying anything then it would be a big loss for him. So far he hadn't managed to sell anything and if he couldn't sell off the annoying clothes then he would have to starve.
Seeing that the customer was about to leave, the salesman quickly yelled, "Little brother, wait! I'll sell it to you! 8 packs of instant noodles for everything!"
Bai Zemin gave him one last glance before looking at Yi Fang behind him and pointed, "Pick out the clothes for you and Xiang Feng."
Yi Fang hesitated for a moment and wanted to say that there was no need to waste precious food like that on a woman like her. However, she swallowed her words when she saw Bai Zemin's serious expression. After giving him a look filled with gratitude, the woman began to look at the clothes carefully as she took some clothes for her daughter first.
Four pants, four woolen sweaters, four short-sleeved T-shirts, four sets of underwear.
"1 pack of instant noodles for 2 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of socks... One for woman and one for child." Bai Zemin said as he looked at the man.
The man smiled bitterly and realized that the young man in front of him was even more cunning than the foxes. In the end, he didn't want to haggle over the price for fear of losing such a big customer and nodded.
Soon, Yi Fang had finished choosing clothes for her daughter and herself.
Her eyes filled with tears that threatened to fall at any moment as she looked at the two young people beside her. She had not known them long, but she could tell they were not bad people. The only thing she wanted most was for her little daughter to be able to live a little better, she never expected such a great gift from the heavens.
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