Chapter 29 The Transaction
"Brother, there are so many people here."
"That's normal. Humans are social animals after all. For many, this is probably one of the few times they can relax."
Xiao Xuemei chuckled, covering her mouth. "Ziwen is right. Every day, from the moment we open our eyes, we have to struggle for food. This is the only time we can relax briefly."
Qin Ziwen noticed that Deng Guang hadn't come downstairs. "Sister-in-law, where's Brother Deng?"
Xiao Xuemei said, "He's sleepy, taking a nap. Wenwen will go up and call him later."
"Kitchen knife, kitchen knife, stainless steel kitchen knife!"
"Chopping board, cutting board, large wooden cutting board!"
The shouts from not far away were particularly eye-catching. The two families weren't far apart; one sold kitchen knives, and the other sold cutting boards.
This unique scene attracted many people to stop and watch.
Someone laughed, "What's the use of your cutting board? At least a kitchen knife can chop things. There's such a vast forest outside; aren't you selling sand in the desert?"
The seller, an old scholar wearing round-framed glasses and a Zhongshan suit, wasn't angry at being questioned. He just chuckled and confidently said, "I'm not selling sand in the desert; I'm selling pure water from the sea."
"What's the difference?"
"Can you drink seawater directly? It's the same principle. There are indeed many trees outside, but without tools, trees will always just be trees, never tools. You're not Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree, are
you? Look at my large round cutting board, one foot and one inch and three-tenths inches in diameter and one inch and five-tenths inches thick. Just add a handle to the back, and it becomes a shield. You know how durable this thing is when you use a kitchen knife to cut wooden boards."
"One foot and one inch? Your cutting board isn't that big!"
The old scholar remained unfazed. "I'm talking about a Tang ruler."
Someone else said, "What about the handle? There's no handle on it. If you're going to try to fool us, put some effort into it. Isn't this just a plain cutting board? What's the use without a handle?"
The old scholar smiled faintly. "Didn't someone acquire a carpentry workshop yesterday? With the tools from the workshop, what's so difficult about adding a handle to the cutting board?"
"Then why don't I just go to that person and buy a pre-made shield?"
The old scholar seemed stumped. He stammered, his face flushed, and then launched into a defense. He said
things like, "My cutting board has developed a spirit over time"; "It was passed down from my great-grandfather"; "The value of a cutting board lies in its age," and so on.
This drew laughter from the onlookers who had come to enjoy the spectacle.
"How much for your cutting board?"
the old scholar in the Zhongshan suit said casually. "Just give me some food, I have a small appetite, a little will fill me up."
"Never mind, it's not easy for someone your age to still be out here scamming people. Here are some grasshoppers I caught yesterday, want some?" The man took out a bag.
"Let me see." The old scholar took the bag, glanced at it, and immediately chuckled, "Sure, of course, I haven't had this stuff in years."
After taking the bag, he stood up and patted his backside. "I heard that carpentry shop is in Building 7. If you want to add a handle, you can go to him. He has all the tools, and I guess he can make tools for other woods. Consider it free information."
After walking away, the old scholar circled around and finally returned to Building 7.
In the stairwell, the old scholar took off his glasses, breathed on them to wipe away the fog.
He walked up to the 7th floor.
Knocking on the door, the bespectacled old scholar chuckled and said, "It's done. You've achieved the publicity you wanted."
Huang Tao, who had been eavesdropping upstairs, hesitated, "I feel this advertising approach is a bit crude. I doubt anyone will notice."
The old scholar didn't seem to care, grinning, "So what if they do? You're the only one with these tools right now. Scarcity makes things valuable, right? Mr. Huang, I've got it all done."
"Wait here, I'll get you some meat." Huang Tao turned and went into the kitchen.
Soon, he came out carrying a bag and handed it to the old scholar.
The old scholar took it, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, and said, "Then I wish Mr. Huang a prosperous business and a thriving opening!"
Watching the old scholar's retreating figure, Huang Tao frowned. This old man had approached him last night, saying he could help him attract customers and even introduced him to a neighbor who used to be a carpenter.
The reward was three catties of crocodile meat. After much deliberation, Huang Tao decided to agree.
It wasn't really about attracting customers; he was mainly going to see his neighbor who used to be a carpenter.
After all, without the carpenter, the woodworking shed would be useless, and all the meat he'd spent would have been wasted.
The shopkeeper, who was weaving straw rope, noticed Qin Ziwen stopping in front of his stall and put down his work to start promoting: "Handsome, want to buy a rabbit? This is a freshly caught rabbit from today."
"Only dead rabbits? Do
you have any live ones?" "Live?" The shopkeeper shook his head, amused. "These rabbits are as agile as eels; they slip away in the blink of an eye. It's much easier to kill them than catch them alive. I need salt; do you have any? One ounce of salt, and this rabbit is yours."
Qin Ziwen didn't say a word and left.
Salt?
Before finding a stable salt-producing area, the salt in the neighborhood was dwindling. "Hey, you can haggle! Vegetables are fine too, five pounds of vegetables and fruits, four pounds, four pounds is fine too."
Qin Ziwen had already walked away. He didn't need the rabbit meat. A live rabbit would have some value to him, but a dead one was only worth a few ounces of meat.
At most, he'd get a fur coat.
But his house had also been transported to another world, and he still had so many clothes in his wardrobe.
After browsing for a while, he stopped.
On the stall in front of him were cut-up bandages and plasters.
Several people were gathered around the stall, all seemingly interested in the bandages.
"Are these bandages expired?"
"These bandages are brand new, bought from the pharmacy just a month ago. Here's the packaging box, the production date is on it."
"How much are they?"
The stall owner was a woman in her twenties, wearing a black top and jeans. Hearing this, she was also at a loss, unsure of what price to sell them at.
In her heart, she naturally wanted to sell them for as much as possible; no one would complain about having too much food.
But she knew that was impossible.
Moreover, if the price exceeds someone's expectations, it will only drive the customer away; she had been hungry all day.
The woman thought for a moment and said, "I want high-calorie food that can fill my stomach. Name your price, as long as it's reasonable."
At the stall, a man with slanted eyes and short, fine hair spoke up: "A bag of instant noodles."
The woman's face lit up; this price far exceeded her expectations.
But the second half of his sentence made her face stiffen: "In exchange for this box of bandages."
The woman shook her head, biting her lip: "No, I have fifteen here, at least five bags."
The woman spread out five fingers.
Qin Ziwen said, "Five bags of instant noodles will only last you two days at most. How about three pounds of crocodile meat for all your bandages? Want to trade?"
The woman was stunned, then quickly agreed.
Qin Ziwen instructed, "Wait here for me, I'll go back and get the meat."
He wasn't short of meat now; exchanging three pounds of meat for bandages, a strategic resource that was dwindling with each use, was worthwhile.
In this primeval forest environment, sometimes a seemingly insignificant small wound, if infected, could be fatal.
"Hey, didn't you see I asked first?" The man with the slanted eyes turned around, annoyed, and pointed at the woman in black. "Don't you have any manners? You have no respect for people at all. I was the one who offered the price first; you should have answered me first."
The woman in black was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Sorry, your price is too low. I won't sell." The man
with the slanted eyes felt his blood pressure rise, but he didn't know who to vent his anger on.
This man's price was indeed higher than his, making him somewhat tempted.
Qin Ziwen smiled and said to him, "You have a lot of instant noodles, right? One pound of crocodile meat for five bags of your instant noodles, are you in?" The man
with the slanted eyes was stunned at first, then furious. Who do you think you are!
"At least two jin!"
"Two jin of meat." Qin Ziwen's voice trailed off for a long time, and under the expectant gaze of the slanted-eyed man, "You'll have to trade at least eight bags of instant noodles for it."
The slanted-eyed man hesitated for a long time, then gritted his teeth, "Seven bags!"
"Okay."
Seeing the other party agree so readily, the slanted-eyed man didn't know whether he had gained or lost.
But he really wanted to eat meat! He had been eating instant noodles every day for the past seven days, and they weren't filling at all.
On the way home to get the meat, Qin Ziwu asked in a low voice, "Brother, isn't it a bad deal to trade two pounds of meat for seven packets of instant noodles? Instant noodles are just carbohydrates, no protein or vitamins, and they won't fill you up."
Qin Ziwen shook his head: "You can't calculate it like that. Instant noodles have salt, and the seasoning packet tastes pretty good. In this environment, it's practically delicious."
"Delicious?" Qin Ziwu disagreed. "I'm sick of this stuff."
Qin Ziwen laughed: "Let's talk about it after you've eaten this bland food for two months. Besides, fresh crocodile meat can't be stored for long. If we don't trade it soon, it might all go bad."
[Discussion] In this environment, what do you think is a suitable stable exchange ratio between meat and vegetables?
(End of Chapter)