A man about Cheng Shaofeng's age was sitting in the shed... eating beans.
Cheng Shaofeng's beans.
"Gaga~Gaga~It tastes so bad...Gaga~"
The beans are earthy yellow with a bit of burnt black color, and it’s obvious that they have been stir-fried.
Seeing this, Cheng Shaofeng... breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ajie, I'm back."
The young man in the shed took a look at the person who came in, put down the knife in his right hand, and looked excited.
He ran over and slapped Cheng Shaofeng on the face.
"You're still alive?"
"Damn it! If you hadn't saved so many beans before, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep your little property. I've eaten so many beans these days that I'm almost sick! Come on, how was your harvest this time? Let's go exchange some leaves and cakes!"
The young man stopped talking and frowned slightly.
"Where's your bag?"
Cheng Shaofeng: "I encountered a predator..."
The man took a look at the disheveled marks on Cheng Shaofeng's body and the slight radiation marks on his hands.
"Fuck! You're so lucky to have managed to escape from those green-skinned muscular bastards... No wonder it's two days later than expected, what a pity... I have to go to the mayor's shady store to buy a bag again, and the money will come from your supplies."
"OK."
The man in front of me is called Wu Jie, a scavenger.
Not only do hunters travel in groups, scavengers also look out for each other.
In the wasteland, helping each other is the key to human survival.
There is an unspoken rule among scavengers: they never form a team when going out to scavenger, but they stay together in town.
Scavengers carry all their supplies with them when they go out.
But Cheng Shaofeng and Wu Jie are special, because Wu Jie... is lucky.
After the death of his parents and before he became a partner with Wu Jie, Cheng Shaofeng actually lived a very difficult life. If it weren't for the help from his parents' former friends, he might have starved to death.
But once he partnered with Wu Jie... he found that his luck improved!
Every time you go out you gain something.
Maybe it was a stroke of luck or maybe it was just a coincidence, the two of them have been working together ever since.
Gradually, the two of them saved more and more belongings... and one person's scavenging was almost enough for the two of them to eat, so they took turns to go out scavenging, while the other stayed in the town.
This is safer.
This time, Cheng Shaofeng went out to scavenge, so Wu Jie moved all his supplies into his own home to guard them.
Cheng Shaofeng counted his supplies and picked up several relatively well-preserved circuit boards.
These were the goods he had stockpiled, ready to be exchanged for some goodies when the caravan from Colossus City arrived.
The Colossus City needs this kind of good stuff that can only be produced before the war, and it is of no use in Salt Well Town.
If you sell it directly to the town, the price will be reduced.
Anyway, the resources they have are enough to make a living, so they just keep them and wait for the Colossus City caravan to come, so they can sell them for a good price.
For other scavengers... they have to sell whatever they pick up, otherwise they will starve to death.
"Zero, can you see if the thing in my hand is useful?" Cheng Shaofeng asked in his mind.
Zero: "Scanning..."
In front of Cheng Shaofeng's eyes, a deep blue AR screen was superimposed on the shed, showing the scanning progress, which was increasing rapidly.
A few seconds later.
Zero: "Scanning completed! A total of 4 electronic components can be extracted from the circuit board you have."
"Okay! That's safe then..."
Now that we have the electronic components, we can create clones by purchasing some prey from the base as biological raw materials.
"It's better for players not to die in the future... Otherwise, it will be troublesome for me to collect resources."
The value of the materials needed to make a clone, converted into beans, would be enough for him to eat for more than a month.
In addition to these circuit boards, his collection also includes 28 pounds of beans, 343 yuan, and various miscellaneous groceries.
The money is issued by the Colossus City, a kind of shiny iron coin that can be used in a large area around the Colossus City.
Based on Cheng Shaofeng's experience over the years... he has never heard of a place that does not recognize Colossus City's money.
It could also be because he had never traveled far.
"This money should be enough to buy three larger prey..."
Seeing Cheng Shaofeng carefully counting the supplies, Wu Jie showed a surprised expression: "Brother Feng... You have changed, you have become a stranger."
Cheng Shaofeng was suddenly startled.
Some of my little habits are different from my previous life and have been discovered
Yes!
Wu Jie and Cheng Shaofeng have been scavenging together for two years, so they must know each other very well. So if a new person were to appear in this body, the first person to know... would definitely be Wu Jie!
Cheng Shaofeng said vigilantly: "No... I didn't feel that way. Maybe I'm too tired these days."
Wu Jie raised his head and looked outside the shed: "When you came back before... you never counted the supplies in front of me."
Cheng Shaofeng: “…”
Wu Jie: "You've become distrustful of me... You don't even go to your own house to order."
"That's it? Don't get me wrong... I just want to count my assets and buy some things."
"Huh? I bought a bag last year... and you lost it. Remember to buy the bag first."
"Uh... OK."
"Oh, right! Draw me your route this time. I'm going out to scavenge this afternoon. I've been bored in the town for the past few days. Please take good care of my supplies, especially the silicone doll that can make sounds. It's my lifeblood. I'm relying on it until I find a woman!"
"... ..."
Cheng Shaofeng looked at Wu Jie who was already packing his things and felt a little embarrassed.
If it weren't for his arrival, perhaps the two of them would still be happily scavenging.
But... he is not the previous Cheng Shaofeng.
"Ajie, I'm leaving..."
Wu Jie: "Leave? Where to go? You look so terrible, just wash up and take a rest. I'll go buy two pancakes and some vegetables. I'll leave after we finish eating. You came back empty-handed... Then according to the law of conservation of luck, I will definitely explode this time. I may even pick up a gun. After all, this is Red City."
Red City, a pre-war urban ruin that has largely remained unexplored by scavengers.
If you have the courage to go, you may be able to gain a lot of supplies.
Of course... most of the scavengers who took a chance never came back.
If it weren't for his good luck after partnering with Wu Jie, Cheng Shaofeng would not dare to go there.
"Ajie, I'm going to leave Yanjing Town for a while. I met some friends outside and we want to do something together..."
Wu Jie's hands trembled slightly.
"You want to break up?"
"Um."
"Scavengers, together we live, apart we die... Have you forgotten?"
"This is the tomb-robbing story we heard from the old folks in town..."
"Oh... Are you really leaving? There is no place safer than Yanjing Town in the Four Mountains. Your future partner may not be as lucky as me. The old man said... The one who lives to a ripe old age is not the strongest hunter, the most capable tailor, or the most shrewd businessman, but the one with the best luck."
"When the time is right, I'll call you over."
"I hope you live to see that time..."
Wu Jie pursed his lips and walked out of the shed, going to the grocery store in the town to buy cakes.
From Cheng Shaofeng's memory, Wu Jie was a very reliable partner, but he now had too many secrets and was too weak, so the matter of summoning players could not be exposed. When he became stronger and could explain everything reasonably, he could then help Wu Jie.
"Good luck... Can you really buff others? It's a bit mysterious."
He felt that Wu Jie's so-called good luck could not last forever, it was just that the two of them happened to have better luck before... If it was really regarded as a gain state, it was indeed a bit disrespectful to science.
The hunters haven't come back yet, so Cheng Shaofeng is walking around with his supplies, getting rid of the groceries on hand.
He couldn't wait here for the caravan from Colossus City to arrive.
Most of the people who stay in the town during the day are women and a few old people who are very lucky in this life.
Those who have work to do will do some work, and those who don’t... just get together and chat.
"It feels like it's getting colder here lately... I feel uncomfortable all the time and always want to bask in the sun."
"It's always like this in places that are shaded from the sun all year round. You're lucky to be alive. Why don't you go outside and find a predator camp? They're open-air, so you can get plenty of sun."
"Did you hear any strange noises in the mayor's house last night? I seemed to hear a woman screaming..."
"Haven't you heard the old saying? What's on your shoulders isn't necessarily responsibility, what's stabbed in the back isn't necessarily a knife, what's kneeling on the ground isn't necessarily begging for mercy, and what's screaming out loud isn't necessarily grievance..."
"Eh~ So that's how it is... I thought it was... Damn! The mayor is in a really good mood."
Cheng Shaofeng passed by, smiled knowingly, and went to the store.
There was only one store in the town, which sold everything and took anything of value.
The shopkeeper is called Zheng Juan, the fifth wife of the mayor. She is in her early 30s and still has charm. She wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses produced in Colossus City. Her hair is tied into a ball at the back. Two big bulging pineapples are propped up on the table, looking very beautiful.
More beautiful than most women in Yanjing Town.
Second only to the mayor's sixth and seventh wives.
"Shaofeng, are you here to sell again?"
"Well, show me how much these things cost."
After all the groceries were put on, Zheng Juan took a quick look and gave a number.
"20 yuan, packed and collected."
"Deal, just give me 20 kilograms of beans in exchange."
"Oh~ I can't exchange for 20 catties. The price of beans has increased by 0.2 cents per catty. The most I can give you is 16 and a half catties, but..."
Zheng Juan put her face close to Cheng Shaofeng, sniffed him, and said with a sweet smile: "But if you can sell something else, I can give you the same price as before..."
Cheng Shaofeng looked at the table shaking with Zheng Juan's big pineapple without changing his expression.
"My brother... bought a bag last year. Please give me another one of the same model. Thank you."
Zheng Juan: “?”
After putting the bag in Wu Jie's shed, Cheng Shaofeng boiled some beans in water and ate them while waiting for the hunters to come back.
"This taste... is really average. I'll have to ask players to hunt more prey for me in the future..."
Cheng Shaofeng didn't notice during the time when both of them left the shed.
Under his bed... there is a new pink flower.
A faint gas is being released.