Chapter 166
For the sake of a pack of cigarettes, Rob had onest piece of advice for the couple. "Don''t buy
your supplies from the local bazaars. A lot of the sea salt they sell is mixed with sand, and the
seafood isn''t fresh."
There were a few business people living in the vi district. Many of them had been taken for a ride
when they first moved in, but they had since learned their lesson.
After a bit of chit-chat, and with no objections from Jasper, Ste decided to rent the vi. They
chose the one on top of the hill, far away from the other residents. The istion would make their
activities less noticeable.
Upon learning that they nned to live on top of the hill, Rob was surprised, but he didn''tment.
"Alright, just follow us down to handle the paperwork.”
While Jasper was checking Rosie''s forehead wound, Ste unloaded several bags of potatoes from
her truck. When Rosie got into the car, she looked a little surprised at the sight of the potatoes, but
she didn''t ask any questions.
Back at the security booth, they not only had to register their IDs but also have their photos taken.
This was so all the security personnel could recognize them, preventing any unwanted disturbances
from strangers. They were also given badges, which was surprisingly professional.
Being ustomed to the wealthy residents, the security officers were not surprised by Ste''s bags
of normal potatoes. They weighed them out to be around 450 pounds.
Rob was very helpful, informing them where they could buy furniture, and offering to have the
security officers assist if needed.
Once all the procedures were finished, Ste drove back up to the vi.
The first thing she did was not to clean the rooms, but to turn on the air conditioning. It was
unbearably hot. To her dismay, the air conditioning was broken.
Damn!
She didn''t want the furniture in the vi, so Ste closed the room door and began to unload things
from Arcadia. She might not have much, but she had plenty of furniture and appliances.
Due to safety considerations and wanting a better view, they chose to live on the second floor and
nned to clean up three rooms.
Finally, they could use the sr power generator openly.
Air conditioning, refrigerator, humidifier, washing machine, dishwasher, bed, sofa, table, clothes,
quilts...
Living near the wealthy was great. Everyone had everything, and there was no need to hide
anything.
They filled a whole room, then started to move things out.
The air conditioning needed to be reinstalled, so Ste used some ice and a fan to cool down.
Rosie wasn''t idle either. After putting ice on her forehead, she started to sweep and mop the floor.
The little girl was having a st. Cooper wanted to help too, but Ste thought he was in the way.
"Cooper, your job is to guard the house. You can''t let any bad people in. If bad people get in, that
means you''re not doing your job, and we''ll have to deduct your dog food."
Cooper understood his mission and immediately went to the balcony to keep watch.
Jasper was the main worker, with Ste assisting. It took them two hours to install three air
conditioners.
As for the old ones, they were all thrown into another room for now.
They used the power storage box for now, and the new air conditioner blew out cool air, finally
saving them from the heat.
They had lunch under the cool air conditioning and continued to work. It took another two hours to
set up the three rooms, clean the living room, kitchen, and bathroom.
In the evening, Ste took out the electric they had gotten from Monkey and, with Jasper''s help,
surrounded the vi.
Although the security measures were already good, in an apocalyptic world, they could not afford to
be careless.
They surrounded the vi with the electric and reminded Rosie and Cooper not to touch it if they
didn''t want to be barbecued.
In order to teach Cooper and Rosie a lesson, Ste threw a cockroach she caught during cleaning
onto the. Soon, a burnt smell filled the air. "Want some barbecue?"
Both Rosie and Cooper were so scared they backed away.
As the sun was setting, the survivors began to emerge. The beach was full of people, all of them
tanned like charcoal. After being roasted in the heat all day, they jumped into the sea like pasta
being dropped into boiling water.
Standing on the rooftop, Ste used a telescope to observe the people on the beach and in the
fishing vige. There were people everywhere, densely packed. It was a terrifying sight.
Ste suggested, "Let''s go take a walk."
Now that they were here, they could not forget their main purpose. They needed to check out the
market first.
So the three of them and Cooper got into the car and drove off. Before they left, they turned up the
electric current in the and left a warning: High voltage, do not touch,. You are responsible for
your own life!
The drive was quick, and in just over ten minutes they arrived at the seafood market in the fishing
vige.
In the past, the market was bustling, but now it was eerily quiet. Everywhere they looked, there
were dried seafood products - shrimp, fish, squid, ms, and even silverfish.
Their eyes were dazzled by the variety of goods. However, there was no fresh seafood. There was
no choice. Fresh seafood, if not processed immediately after being caught, would start to smell bad
after a few hours in the hot weather.
As they were close to the sea, the wholesale market''s dried goods were not expensive. Two kilos of
grains could be exchanged for one kilo of dried goods. Sea salt was even cheaper, with a one-to-
one exchange rate.
Salt and dried goods were the only thing they could produce in this area. They wanted to eat rice,
pasta, or vegetables. But the weather was too hot, the seawater could not be purified, and rice
could not be grown. As for vegetables, they were plucked as soon as they sprouted.
Unlike other cities, this area by the sea did not have a severe water shortage. They could get water
by digging wells a few dozen meters deep. However, due to the depletion of surface water,
seawater had invaded and seeped in. Even after being filtered through the soil, it still had a salty
taste.
Drinking it made them thirstier, but not drinking it was even worse. So, even freshwater trading had
appeared. One kilo of salt could be exchanged for ten liters of freshwater; or one kilo of dried goods
could be exchanged for twenty liters of freshwater.
Ste, with her life experience, shopped around, and when she found a reasonable price at arge
shop, she would trade potatoes or sweet potatoes.
She didn''t buy much, just one or two kilos.
The seafood market in the fishing vige was a mix of good and bad. Jasper stayed in the car with
Rosie and Cooper, while Ste was in charge of checking things out.
From the seafood market, they went to the government-led seafood trading center. That was right,
in order to gain survival resources, the municipal government and the military jointly established
departments with professional fishing boats and salt fields.
The seafood they caught could be sold, but there were strict quotas.
Private individuals could buy ten pounds of fresh seafood and five pounds of dried seafood within
seven days with their badges.
One pound of fresh seafood could be exchanged for one pound of grains, while dried seafood
required two pounds of grains. They could get half a pound of coarse sea salt for free.
After seven days, each person was limited to one pound per day, and the price would double.
Jasper exined, "The main purpose of establishing the Seafood Department was to supply
resources to the municipal government and the base, while also providing limited relief to ordinary
survivors who came to the seaside."
They didn’t restrict private groups from fishing or making salt, to leave a way out for the people and
allow them to have more ways to get survival resources.
Ste queued up and bought a pound of dried squid with her frost-resistant potatoes.
Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.
There was no fresh seafood. If they wanted some, they had to queue before eight in the morning,
because the fishing boats would dock at around two or three in the morning. Anyter than eight,
and the seafood would no longer be fresh.
Having collected her supplies, Ste retreated back to her car to makeparisons. It was
undeniable; you get what you pay for. The seafood provided by the government was not onlyrger
in size but also superior in terms of its luster and aroma. The sea salt was different as well, looking
clean and free from impurities.
Ideally, buying from the government was the best option, but their prices were steep and they
imposed purchasing restrictions. Not only were there limits set for individual purchases, but groups
were simrly restricted.