NOVPUBChapter 104: Chapter 104 Fang Lanlan’s Change
Chapter 104 -104 Fang Lanlan’s Change
Squad Leader Fang looked at Cheng Yang and Fang Lanlan interacting and said happily, “This child is doing well, now even if I die, I could die with my eyes closed.”
Gu Pan quickly responded, “Squad Leader Fang, let’s not speak of such inauspicious things, we all need to survive until the apocalypse ends.”
Squad Leader Fang shook his head, “I’m not expecting that anymore. By the way, I caught a rabbit yesterday and I’ll give you two rabbit legs.”
Lu Ruisheng quickly declined, “No need, we have many people and can get anything, you should keep these dried ones to eat slowly.”
Squad Leader Fang insisted on taking them out, saying, “You’ve given us enough already, this little bit isn’t even enough for you all to share, just use it for flavor when making soup.”
He was aware that they had helped his family a lot, and even though his daughter voluntarily helped them today, they actually didn’t need it. Overall, they had helped his family more.
He had thought about joining Gu Pan and the others, but after seeing the clear organization of their team, he gave up the idea. They had resources, channels, weapons, and his joining with his daughter to simply reap the benefits wasn’t feasible, not to mention whether they would agree or not; he himself wouldn’t have the face to ask.
So, what he could give them now was just this little thing, and he had to give it.
Gu Pan couldn’t keep refusing either, or they might feel embarrassed to accept anything from her.
After chatting for a while, Gu Pan put down the things they brought for them, including some feminine products for Fang Lanlan and a small bag of brown sugar, and then took her leave.
Tonight they would rest and each do their own activities, so Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng went to the city to exchange for gold.
Recently, there was a lot of gold on the market. Gold used to be valuable because everyone thought the apocalypse would end soon, and once it did, normalcy would return and gold as the standard for currency would regain its value.
But now, that illusion had faded, and with everyone struggling to find food, many families eventually brought out their gold and silver jewelry to exchange for food. 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
They went to Shi Liang’s place first. Shi Liang’s business had been doing well recently. Although he had a boss above him, these second-hand dealers didn’t lack food or drink and had a relatively good life.
Upon seeing Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng, Shi Liang came up to tell them about the scarce items recently, “Sister, brother-in-law, can you get freeze-dried vegetables or vitamins?”
Gu Pan asked, “How do we exchange these for gold?”
Shi Liang said, “If you can get them, just name your price.”
Gu Pan smiled and took out a pack of half-pound freeze-dried vegetables from her bag, “Let’s start with these; just give me the market price.”
Freeze-dried items didn’t weigh much; half a pound was already a large pack.
Shi Liang’s eyes gleamed, “Sister, you always know the market best, what’s valuable. I’ll get you the gold.”
He took out five pounds of gold and handed it to Gu Pan. With the abundance of gold recently, Shi Liang then whispered to Gu Pan, “If you have more, exchange it here, our boss has gone to the neighboring city these few days, no one will notice if you exchange more.”
Gu Pan was very happy to hear this, “Alright, then we’ll exchange some more, you go ahead with your work, we’ll be coming here often.”
Shi Liang responded, “Alright, sister.”
Gu Pan gave Shi Liang their current address in case he needed to find them urgently. Previously, they hadn’t disclosed their specific address to these friends due to unclear relations with the Inner Circle, but now with their relationship with the Inner Circle out in the open, they didn’t need to be as cautious.
When they had time, they would also give their specific address to other people so they could be found if needed.
And when the base started recruiting, she planned to gather all these friends to go to the base together. With vehicles and fuel available, along with resources, they would all be secure at the base.
After saying goodbye to Shi Liang, they visited a few more stalls, exchanging a total of twenty pounds of gold at this location before leaving the trading post.
Once they were in a deserted area, they entered Space. The twenty pounds of gold had expanded the space by 400 square meters. The previously cramped space had now become more spacious, allowing them to look for larger items to put inside.
Of course, they also visited three other exchange points.
On their way, they didn’t ride motorcycles but switched to a modified off-road vehicle because there could be roadblocks, and it was very dangerous if a motorcycle crashed into a block. A vehicle with four wheels was somewhat safer, and it also helped prevent cold shots.
The city was vast, and relying solely on walking would take too long.
With the increased space, anytime Gu Pan and the others saw a car that wasn’t water-damaged, they could immediately take it into the Space.
Driving on the road, people occasionally tried to stop them, especially the elderly and children, but they couldn’t afford to stop because it was uncertain whether these were genuine beggars or traps.
Many people exploited the wealthy’s sympathy. As soon as one stopped, they would be attacked, robbed of supplies and vehicles, and possibly even killed.
Thus, Gu Pan and her group couldn’t play the Holy Mother; at this time, one had to avoid trouble. In the apocalypse, everyone had to survive by their own means. Everyone had their method, and if someone couldn’t make it, temporary help was futile, and no one could sustain another indefinitely.
Gu Pan looked out the window at the people on the roadside, dressed in tattered clothes, using sticks for support, frail and leading one another in waves, searching for supplies and food. Each person’s face bore fatigue.
Within less than a year, cannibalism would begin in another year. And three years later, Gu Pan didn’t want to think about it anymore; it was too cruel.
Lu Ruisheng, knowing that his wife was reminiscing about their past life again, found a topic to distract her, “What do you think about Yuan Jiang and Lin Mengmeng?”
Gu Pan didn’t interact much with them, so she couldn’t comment on their character, but she acknowledged their ability and attitude in the apocalypse: “They’ll survive.”
“I think so too, but Lin Feifei and her family of three are in trouble, now being driven out, I always feel they’ll start starving.”
“That’s true, those driven out of the Inner Circle do find it tough to survive.”
As they talked, they arrived at the next black market trading point.
This place exchanged another five pounds of gold, expanding by 100 square meters.
The following two points exchanged twelve pounds, expanding by 240 square meters, totaling 340 square meters.
Today, they had expanded by 740 square meters in total, which surprised and delighted Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng, allowing them to freely take in any large items they found, especially vehicles which they had a high demand for.
Recently, Lu Ruisheng planned to build a wooden house in Space. Although there was already a bed and furniture, it lacked a sense of home. Since there was wood available in Space, it made sense to build a two-story wooden house. In case anything happened, they could really make it feel more like home there.
Because of the foundation, it wasn’t possible to just put an entire building in, but building a wooden house was feasible.
Anyway, as Space grew larger, future expansions wouldn’t lack for room.
