Chapter 115
The man was a member of the Wreath Society, and before the apocalypse, many people came to
him requesting his works. Even for a simple wreath, he never charged less than five thousand
dors.
Who would have thought that when disaster struck, what he was good at and proud of wouldn''t
even trade for a single grain of rice.
His family was on the brink of ruin, without any food to bring back, they wouldn''t even make it
through the night.
There was plenty of flour in Arcadia, but none of it was renewable. They had nted a small field of
wheat, but who knew if it would bear any crop. Ste was reluctant to part with it, "A pound of
potatoes?"
Renewable resources were no issue, and the next harvest of potatoes was nearly ready.
The middle-aged man paused, then nodded eagerly.
The man had ounted for some bargaining when he proposed half a pound of flour. Yesterday, a
customer had wanted to buy, and he had dropped the price to a few ounces of flour, but the deal
had ultimately fallen through.
Ste pulled out four ck-skinned potatoes from her bag. They weighed over a pound, and she
handed them to the man, hidden behind an unrolled scroll of cloth.
These had been set aside to freeze a few days ago; she wouldn''t dare show off the fresh ones
unless she had a death wish.
The man peeled the potatoes with his fingernails, and seeing the fresh meat inside, quickly stashed
them in his pocket. Here, making money was one thing, and bring back food was another.
With the wreaths in hand, Ste continued her walk.
Coincidentally, she ran into the guy who owned the pet clinic.
The deworming medicine wouldst for three or four years, but Ste still felt it wasn''t enough. After
all, her dog, Cooper, would be with her for the rest of her life.
Cooper was getting smarter and was finding his toys too childish. He preferred to keep his rabbit toy
pinned to the ground and rub it. However, she did want a backpack, and a few incredibly stylish pet
clothes. Adding it all up, it was a significant haul, traded for three pounds of frozen potatoes.
As she walked, she was suddenly bumped into. Ste swiftly turned and grabbed the man''s hand,
pressing a sharp dagger against his waist, and coldly said, "Got a death wish?"
The man was a pickpocket, with a sharp de in his hand. Assuming a girl would be an easy target
and could be scared off easily, he didn''t expect to meet such a tough opponent.
The man struggled to escape. For such habitual offenders, Ste didn''t hold back, delivering a
punch to his temple. The temple was a weak spot, a punch wouldn''t be lethal, but it would certainly
knock him out.
The man copsed, unconscious. Ste didn''t look back and continued her stroll.
The other people turned a blind eye, their expressions numb. They didn''t even know where their
next meal wasing from, let alone concern themselves with the fate of others.
The security patrol arrived upon hearing the news. Seeing the man was still breathing, they quickly
began to resuscitate him, and were surprised to find various des, daggers, and kitchen knives on
him. No need to say it, he was a criminal. They handed him over to the police station to send him to
the western mountains to mine coal.
Having nearly finished her shopping, Ste was about to return home when a man wrapped up tight
came over, "Miss, do you want some meat?"
Ste felt the voice sounded familiar. After sizing him up for a moment, she said, "Monkey?"
Monkey was taken aback, "Do you know me?"
That was him. He had monkey-like cheeks, hence the nickname.
Ste pulled down her scarf and face mask, "It''s me."
"You?" The Monkey nearly screamed, blood rushing to his head in excitement.
Five hundred thousand dors!
When he had made that deal back then, his boss had personally praised and rewarded him. But
who knew, the flood didn''t recede, and the extreme cold came.
Civilization vanished, and the glory of the past turned into crap. His boss publicly chewed him out.
Five hundred thousand pieces of waste paper, he didn''t know how to deal with it. However, they
were an organization that honored theirmitments, and they had to ept the oues of their
deals.
Suppressing his raging emotions, The Monkey put on a professional smile, "Miss, do you want
meat?"
"What kind of meat?"
"Pork and beef."
Ste had gotten 68 pigs, so she wasn''t worried about pork for the rest of her life, but she only had
200 pounds of beef.
Beef was heavy and shrank a lot when cooked, and 200 pounds wasn''t much. They could only cut a
few ounces each time to satisfy their cravings, and it felt rather stingy. So Ste was tempted.
"How much do you have?"
"How much do you want?"
"I need as much as you have."
Monkey immediately became alert, "Can you eat that much?"
It couldn''t be that she was trying topete with them, could it? Those guys had sold fish to them
before.
"You don''t need to worry about how much I eat. Just tell me if you''re selling."
It was stupid not to do business when there was an opportunity. Monkey led her to a secluded
corner and spoke frankly, "We don''t ept paper money anymore."
Ste understood. He was traumatized. "That''s obvious; the government doesn''t ept it either."
Monkey felt like he had been punched in the gut. Taking a deep breath, he said calmly, "The cow
was just ughtered, and the beef was very fresh. But what will you use to exchange for it?"
"What do you ept?"
"Gold, silver, jade, flour, cooking oil, grains, anything valuable." Monkey had been thinking about the
fish fromst time, "Do you have fish? Five pounds of fish for one pound of beef."
Both Ste and Cooper loved fish. Despite the fact that Ste had hoarded a lot of it, the weight
decreased significantly after gutting, and what if she identally lived to be 99?
It was all meat, and trading five pounds for one pound was not a good deal for her.
As for the other things in Arcadia, everything she hoarded had its uses, and the items she
scavenged would have more bargaining value in the future.
She had plenty of vegetables, but it would be too conspicuous to bring them out.
After some thought, she decided to choose something that she wouldn''t use now or in the future but
would be highly valuable to others. Ste quickly came up with an idea and whispered, "Do you
want protections?"
Protections? He was confused at first.
N?velDrama.Org content rights.
Monkey quickly got it and his eyes lit up with excitement, "Yes!"
Ste pondered, "How do we trade?"
With almost three thousand of them, it was a waste to keep them in Arcadia. It would be better to
trade them for something practical.
"Twenty for a pound of beef."
Ste was speechless and turned to leave without another word.
"Miss, let''s negotiate." Monkey quickly held her back, "Fifteen for a pound of beef."
"Let go."
"Ten."
"Let go."
Monkey was about to cry, "Eight, I really can''t go any lower."
Ste calcted, "One."
Monkey nearly vomited blood, "Are you joking!"
"The market rate is five pounds of grain for one, and those are counterfeit or even second-hand,
and the price is still rising. What I have are original imports. Ordinary people can''t afford it, but your
clients are the wealthy. The wealthy eat meat and drink wine every day. They mayck anything, but
they will neverck meat, and ordinary survivors can''t afford to trade grain for meat, so your trading
partners are the wealthy. You guys flip a deal and at least double your profits. If you hoard, you''ll
only gain more in the future."
This drove Monkey up the wall. He''d dealt with a lot of hard-nosed people, but he''d never met one
as shrewd as her. "Sure, we aim to profit from every deal, but you''re bleeding us dry here."
"If you think it''s unfair, then let''s call it off."
There was no such thing as a forced deal in business, Ste was ready to walk away.
"Hold on." The Monkey gritted his teeth, "How much do you have?"
"However much beef you''ve got, that''s how much I can trade."