Chapter 60: Money is coming

Northern gate of the outpost base.

Two men dressed in avant-garde attire sandwiched the two-headed cattle between them and stopped in front of the north gate.

The man in the front held the specialty of Redstream, a 7mm revolving rifle, in his hand. Although the muzzle was pointed downward, his eyes kept scanning the surrounding walls and the area, anticipating any potential danger.

This person is strong!

This was Light Chu's first impression.

As for the man standing behind him, he was the merchant Sun whom Light Chu had encountered before.

"Haha, my old friend, we meet again!"

Seeing Light Chu appear at the door, Sun Shiqi's nervousness instantly disappeared. He joyfully opened his arms and approached him.

Smelling the scent emanating from him from a distance, Light Chu couldn't bear it and didn't hug him. Instead, he extended his right hand.

Sun Shiqi chuckled and, without feeling awkward, changed his posture and shook Light Chu's right hand vigorously.

Then he let go.

"Sorry, I've been on the road for nearly five days and didn't have time to take a bath. I apologize for my appearance!"

"It's fine," Light Chu glanced at the man standing next to the two-headed cow and turned his inquiring gaze to Sun Shiqi, "Who is this?"

"He's the gunman I hired from the Gunners' Guild in Redstrean. He's responsible for my safety along the way. The gunners' guild in the rown is quite trustworthy and reliable. Most importantly, they know how to avoid conflicts with raiders in the vicinity... For safety's sake, you can just pretend he doesn't exist!"

The Gunners' Guild?

They are probably former raiders who have given up their criminal ways.

Light Chu nodded and briefly paused his gaze on the large two-headed cattle. His eyebrows lifted slightly, showing a hint of interest.

It seems that the jerky they made is selling well in Redstream. The last deal should have earned this guy a lot. Not only did he have money to buy a new batch of goods, but he also hired a bodyguard.

That's a good thing.

A mutually beneficial business can last long.

"How is the road to Boulder City? Is it easy to travel?" Light Chu casually asked.

"I haven't been to Boulder City before, so I'm not familiar with the situation there," Sun Shiqi shook his head, "After I left here last time, I went to a nearby farm. They happened to be very interested in the remaining goods I had, so I exchanged them for some food and immediately headed back."

"The road in the city is too complicated, with ruins like a maze. I would rather walk 10 kilometers in the wilderness than walk a mile in the city."

"As you might have felt, this winter is probably harder to survive than previous years. The price of grain in Redstream has skyrocketed. Those big shots like mine owners and slave owners can't stomach those black nutrition blocks. I had just delivered the goods to the trading post, and their servants immediately bought them all."

"I thought since they sold so well, I would make another trip before the road gets blocked by heavy snow. So, I hired a bodyguard and set off, hehe."

"They sell that well? It seems I sold them cheap last time," Light Chu joked.

Realizing that he was getting a bit carried away, Sun Shiqi quickly coughed and said with a smile.

"Mighty one, you're just joking. We traveling merchants have to make do with what we have. We say we can make a little profit, but in reality, it's just enough to cover travel expenses and make a living."

"Alright, stop trying to make me feel sorry for you. It's your ability to make money. When you have enough, remember to buy a couple more cattle and bring more things next spring," Light Chu interrupted his nonsense and got straight to the point, "What about the things I requested? Did you bring them?"

Sun Shiqi quickly replied, "I brought everything! Rest assured, I won't forget your instructions!"

The mutated two-headed cattle often weigh over a ton and have a carrying capacity of about 700 to 900 kilograms. They have decent mobility in both ruined and wilderness terrains, slightly inferior to mutated yaks.

In addition to 500 kilograms of coins, Sun Shiqi also used the money he earned to purchase less than 100 kilograms of supplies.

Among the valuable items were a bag of coarse yellow salt, weighing about 10 kilograms, and 10 7mm caliber revolving rifles, along with two large bags of heavy bullets.

Although he still had some carrying capacity left, he didn't have any extra money to buy more goods.

Usually, in this situation, these less affluent traveling merchants would take the risk of scavenging and detouring. But at this time, it was obviously not appropriate to do so.

While inspecting the bullets packed in a sack, Light Chu noticed that all the bullets in the two large bags were made of copper?

It seems that Redstream doesn't seem to lack copper.

However, compared to the stamped casings produced in Boulder City, many of the bullets produced in Redstream were made with rolled copper sheets, with visible indentations and protrusions on the casings.

No wonder they make these simple structure semi-automatic revolving rifles.

With a slightly more sophisticated mechanism, these ammunition would probably jam after firing a few rounds.

So, this is the difference between an industrial survivor settlement and a resource-based survivor settlement?

As he threw the few bullets back into the bag, Light Chu silently made a mental note of this information.

"...So, my lord, are you satisfied with these goods?" Sun Shiqi asked with a pleasing smile.

If possible, he hoped that Light Chu would buy all these things.

That way, he could bring back more dried meat as well.

"I'll take the weapons, coarse salt, and those coins," Light Chu's gaze fell on the last bag, and he glanced at it, asking, "What is this bag filled with?"

Sun Shiqi chuckled and said, "Arthropod powder! It's made from sun-dried mutated yellow-striped long-legged spiders. It's rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and mainly used as fertilizer!"

Light Chu nodded in understanding and pointed his head. This was probably what Brown's farm wanted. He didn't need this stuff since he hadn't started farming here.

However, this gave him a clue.

Listening to the gamers mentioning the large amount of guano stones by the lake, he thought he could try making some fertilizer and sell it to Brown's farm.

At this moment, Sun Shiqi suddenly remembered something. He walked to the side of the two-headed cattle and opened the leather package hanging from it. He took out a glass bottle.

The bottle had a cork stopper with small holes for ventilation. Inside the bottle were fist-sized ironback ants, their visible limbs and antennae trembling. It looked quite intimidating.

Staring at the bottle with interest for a while, Light Chu asked, "Is this the ironback ant?"

Sun Shiqi smiled and said, "That's right! We usually use them as fodder or for other purposes. There happened to be someone selling them at the trading post, so I bought a bottle."

After playing with the bottle for a while, Light Chu looked at Sun Shiqi and asked, "How much does it cost?"

Sun Shiqi waved his hand repeatedly and said, "No, my friend, you misunderstand. This is a gift from me to you, no charge."

"Oh? Well, thank you."

Light Chu wouldn't refuse such a good offer, so he promptly accepted the gift.

As for returning the favor?

Nonexistent.

Allowing this guy to do business with him was already the greatest favor Light Chu could give.

Seeing Light Chu accept the gift, Sun Shiqi's face lit up with a smile.

"You're welcome. It's my honor to gain your friendship... Well, it's getting late. Shall we discuss the details of the trade?"

Light Chu nodded and simply said, "Sure."

...

Unlike the merchants from Boulder City, most of these traveling merchants from other regions either had their own currency or didn't use any currency at all. Therefore, in cross-regional trading, it was usually a barter system, and there was no fixed "price."

Although Light Chu eceived the gift symbolizing friendship from Sun Shiqi, friendship couldn't feed him. When bargaining, Light Chu didn't make any concessions based on goodwill.

Who can be more shameless than a salesperson?

The 500 kilograms of coins were still exchanged at the agreed price of 4 kilograms of dried meat for every 100 kilograms of coins, totaling 20 kilograms of dried meat.

Light Chu always kept his word, and there was no need for him to go back on his agreement.

Both parties happily reached a consensus.

However, the happiness ended there.

A few minutes ago, Sun Shiqi naively thought that the man in front of him was easy to deal with, until the man uttered the crazy statement of "3 kilograms of dried meat for 1 kilogram of salt."

"Sorry, did I mishear... maybe you meant 1 pound?" Sun Shiqi reacted exactly as expected, exclaiming in disbelief, his respectful demeanor disappearing as he argued with frustration.

"You didn't mishear. I meant 1 kilogram, 1 kilogram of coarse salt," Light Chu calmly responded without any change in expression.

"That's impossible!" Sun Shiqi almost reflexively exclaimed, his earlier subservience completely gone as he argued vehemently.

"You must be joking! The smoked meat here is dried by baking, but not cured. It's not worth that price!"

"Oh?"

Seeing that Light Chu remained unmoved, Sun Shiqi took a deep breath and continued in a softer tone.

"Alright, you're not a merchant after all, maybe you don't understand the market... Let's do the math. If I take these 10 kilograms of coarse salt to Boulder City, I can exchange it for at least 1 chip per 100 grams!"

Light Chu remained silent.

He had never been to Boulder City. He only knew that the coarse salt with its yellowish appearance, bitter taste, and consumed only by the poor, could be exchanged for 2 chips per 100 grams at Old Leech's shop on Bette Street, doubling the price if nothing unexpected happened.

But what did that matter?

The price of grains had tripled there!

Discussing prices in the wasteland was meaningless.

Moistening his dry throat, Sun Shiqi continued, "100 chips! If I exchange these chips for electronics, industrial goods, and daily necessities at Brown's farm, I can get at least 300 kilograms of green wheat. And if I exchange these grains for smoked meat, I would get at least 60 to 75 kilograms, which is reasonable."

"So, the lowest price I can accept is 60 kilograms, meaning 6 kilograms of smoked meat for 1 kilogram of salt! Considering our friendship... 59 kilograms, that's the lowest offer I can accept!"

"And it's my biggest concession!" Sun Shiqi felt that he had explained the reasoning quite clearly.

Although these blue hamsters living in the sanctuary might not have engaged in business in the wasteland, they should at least understand his "hardships."

However, after listening to his nonsense, Light Chu just smiled.

There was one thing he said right.

He was indeed not a merchant.

But to think that he didn't understand trading?

Heh.

"You're all right."

Sun Shiqi's face brightened with joy.

However, before a second passed, Light Chu's next words froze the happy expression on his face.

"...So, my friend, why don't you? What I mean is, if you want to exchange 300 kilograms of green wheat for 59 kilograms of smoked meat, I think I can probably accept it."