Apocalypse Rebirth: 3000 million won at the beginning

Chapter 2103 Rumored News (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!)

The lanterns are on.

Zhang Ye and the others seemed to have stepped from the apocalypse into a completely new world.

In this world, it seems as if we have returned to a city before the apocalypse.

The dazzling neon lights, the towering entertainment complex, the bustling crowds—they could see the passersby, most of whom wore smiles.

Everything before my eyes was filled with the rich atmosphere of everyday life in the city.

"The night market here is really nice," Chen Shanzhi remarked, standing next to Zhang Ye.

Although they had just arrived, their points number cards had already been replaced that afternoon.

He Chao also helped them apply for points-based loans, giving each person five points.

"Grandpa, shall we go in and get something to eat?" Chen Shanzhi's grandnephew asked excitedly.

He was only in his twenties, and had the vigor of a young man.

Chen Shanzhi nodded and looked at Zhang Ye, saying:
"Xiao Zhang, shall we go in and take a look?"

"Okay."

They entered the rather large entertainment building.

The shops on the first floor are almost all restaurants, and it's a little past 5 p.m. now, with a large flow of people.

Braised noodles, stir-fries, steamed bun shops, barbecue shops, and chicken hot pot.
Looking at the dozen or so restaurants, Zhang Ye and his friends were a little overwhelmed by the choices.

They never imagined that there would be so many choices in the apocalypse.

Finally, they chose a noodle shop and sat down.

After walking around, they found this shop to be slightly cheaper; the others were all too expensive. They only had five points each, which they couldn't afford.
"Hello, what would you like to eat?" A little girl wearing an apron walked over and asked them.

Chen Shanzhi looked at the menu on the wall.

Oil-splashed noodles: 1.5 points per bowl.

Noodles with minced meat sauce: 5 points per bowl.

Dry noodles: 1 point per bowl.

Chicken leg: 3 points each.

Duck leg: 5 points each.

Braised pork offal: 8 points per bowl.

After looking at the price list, Chen Shanzhi couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

The five points they just borrowed are only enough to buy one duck leg; it's really expensive.

But thinking about it, it makes sense, after all, we're in the apocalypse now.

"Four bowls of dry noodles, thank you," Chen Shanzhi nodded.

The waitress glanced at them and said with a smile:

"Okay, but we require payment first here. Please show me your loyalty card, thank you."

Chen Shanzhi quickly rummaged through his clothes and pulled out a blue points number card, unique to Level 4 personnel.

The waiter looked somewhat surprised when he took out a blue points number card.

She had been working at this store for a while and met all sorts of people every day. She could tell at a glance that Zhang Ye and his three companions had just arrived at the headquarters in Dazhangshu.

Moreover, this was basically their first time joining the camphor tree faction.

Because as long as you're within the Great Camphor Tree's territory, the shops in each branch base are pretty much the same: you pay first, then you get the service or products.

It's to prevent buyers from skipping out on their orders.

These people look like they just joined.

However, as soon as they joined the camphor tree faction, they received a level 4 personnel points number card.

That's quite unusual.

Generally, those who have just joined the camphor tree faction are at level six and are issued light gray points number cards.

The waiter's expression instantly became much warmer, and he took the blue number card from Chen Shanzhi's hand.

"Okay, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon."

Holding her points card, she glanced back at the four of them every now and then as she walked toward the cashier.

She suspected that Chen Shanzhi might have picked up someone else's points card.

However, this thing can be found out with a simple investigation.

She walked to the cashier, swiped her card, and Chen Shanzhi's image and name, along with her remaining points, instantly appeared on the screen.

After a card is swiped on their computer, these merchants can only display limited personal information, including the photo, name, and points.

However, other official departments may provide more detailed information, including the person's profession, evaluation, and so on.

The waiter compared the photos on the computer and was surprised to find that the loyalty card really did belong to that person.

Moreover, she was very familiar with the five points balance inside.

These are basically standard equipment for those who have just entered the camphor tree base, obtained through loans from official banks.

She swiped her points card, deducted four points, printed out a receipt, and returned it to them.

"Hello, four bowls of dry noodles, a total of four points. This is the receipt, please keep it safe."

Chen Shanzhi took it and glanced at the numbers on the receipt, which showed that he had one point left on his number card.

"Ok."

After the waiter left, Zhang Ye said with great interest:
"The points card on this big camphor tree is quite useful. It's used to enter and exit the fourth outer city, and it's also used to make purchases in the commercial area. It's truly a one-card system."

Chen Shanzhi nodded and said:

"It is indeed very convenient. I don't know who created this system, but it must not be easy to promote this points system in the early stages. It requires strong trust backing."

“Mhm.” Zhang Ye agreed, “Yes, only by trusting this base will people be willing to take these virtual points, without worrying about not being able to exchange them for food and other supplies.”

Just as they were talking, another group of people walked in from outside.

"Hey sis, give us five bowls of noodles with minced meat sauce, five chicken legs, and a bottle of sweet potato liquor," the one-eyed man in the lead said familiarly.

Upon seeing them, the waiter quickly went over and took the white points number card from the one-eyed man's hand.

"Did Brother Sun make a fortune again on this trip?"

The one-eyed man, known as Brother Sun, looked smug. "Not bad, I took on a new mission, dug up a lot of rail parts, and made a fortune, hahaha."

The young waitress gave a thumbs-up and said:

"Brother Sun is amazing. You guys wait here, I'll bring it over right away."

The one-eyed man looked rather thuggish, sitting in his seat with a sword drawn, his right hand half-leaning against the back of the chair, smoking a cigarette.

A thin young man sitting at the same table asked:
"Brother, when exactly will the Dashi Line open?"

"If this railway line opens, we'll be able to go to the oil city, right?"

The one-eyed man flicked his cigarette ash and said:

"It seems like it will take a few more months. I heard from a friend who works on a construction team that they are making pretty good progress."

The thin young man asked in confusion:

"Brother, I saw a convoy of trucks delivering lots of steel rails. Why do we have to go out to a more distant place to dig up steel rails from abandoned trains?"

"Probably not enough," the one-eyed man said impatiently. "Why ask so many questions? We'll earn points anyway. As long as they want this stuff, we'll dig up more."

"Oh, right, next time I go to the hardware store I'll buy a cutting machine, it's fast. And I'll also get a hammer."

"Okay, boss."

Zhang Ye and his three companions, sitting opposite them, remained quietly seated, eavesdropping on their conversation.

They gleaned a lot of information from the group's conversation.

Zhang Ye whispered to Chen Shan beside him:
"Teacher Chen, are they talking about the train tracks? Does the big camphor tree want to repair the train tracks? That seems a bit unwise. Natural disasters are frequent, and the ground is extremely unstable. If a flood occurs, the tracks will definitely be greatly affected. It would be a waste of so much effort to repair the tracks."

After a moment of silence, Chen Shanzhi replied:
"The Dashi Line they mentioned should refer to the line from Dazhangshu to the oil city."

“What you said makes sense, but the higher-ups at Big Camphor Tree are definitely not fools. They have more information, and they must have their reasons for doing this.”

"The noodles are here!" A waiter carried a plate with four bowls of dry noodles on it.

The four men, including Chen Pojun, who were already starving, stopped talking and started eating noodles.

This dry noodle dish tastes really good, and it's sprinkled with chopped green onions, making it very fragrant.

just
They ate so fast that the portion of noodles, which was probably only 3 liang (150 grams), was finished in no time.

Zhang Ye wiped his mouth and said to Chen Shan:

"Teacher Chen, you're treating me this time, I'll treat you next time."

Chen Shanzhi shook his head with a wry smile:

"Forget it, this noodle dish is too expensive. It's not as good as the corn tortilla, which costs only 0.3 points and can fill you up. This noodle dish won't even fill you up."

"Uncle," Chen Pojun corrected from the side.

"The corn tortillas here at the headquarters are 0.25 points each, which is cheaper than at Oriental Paradise."

"Oh, right," Chen Shanzhi said with a smile.

"If we get four tortillas, all four of us can be full, and it only costs one point."

"But things should get better later. I'll treat you to another meal here when I get paid next time."

He looked at Chen Pojun and asked:

"Po Jun, this afternoon, someone took you away. What did they talk about? Have you been assigned any work?"

Chen Pojun nodded and said:

"That person's name seems to be Bi Tianxing. He is in charge of the entire Big Camphor Tree Flight Squadron. He asked me to join the flight squadron."

Chen Shanzhi's eyes widened in surprise:

"This is great news! Have you said yes?"

"Of course I agreed, but I may have to separate from you later, Uncle, as they have their own dormitories."

"It's alright, as long as we're both at headquarters, we'll have plenty of opportunities to meet." Chen Shanzhi then looked at Chen Kaishan and asked:
"Kaishan, what about you? Have you got any work assignments yet?"

"Mmm," Chen Kaishan replied after taking a sip of water.

"They put me in the reserve militia brigade, and I heard the treatment they gave me was pretty good."

Zhang Ye listened from the side with great envy, "Congratulations, Teacher Chen, now you both have arrangements."

"I've heard that the best-paying department in the entire camphor tree faction is the military department, followed by the research department. Now everyone is joining these two departments."

"very nice!"

Just as they were about to leave, another group of people entered the shop.

The man in the lead, wearing sunglasses and exuding an air of arrogance, spotted the one-eyed man as soon as he entered.
"Wow! Old Sun, you've really made a fortune this time."

"Tsk tsk tsk, one chicken leg for each person, how extravagant!"

"Wow! They even brought out baijiu (Chinese liquor). This meal isn't cheap."

"Brother Sun, if you find any good places, why don't you take me along to make a fortune!"

The man in sunglasses walked up to the one-eyed old man without any ceremony, put his arm around his shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Brother Sun, we're all brothers, can you take me with you?"

One-eyed Old Sun glanced at the man in sunglasses with his left eye, about to refuse him.

But then he realized that the task had only been issued yesterday, and some scavenging teams probably didn't know about it.

Finding the railway tracks isn't particularly difficult; once more scavenger teams learn about the task, they'll definitely flock to it.

It would be good to make a profit by taking advantage of this information gap.

So Old Sun laughed and said:

"Old Zuo, that's great, but if I tell you this, you have to give me 30% of the profits, how about it?"

The man in sunglasses took them off, revealing his heavy dark circles under his eyes; one look was enough to tell that he had poor kidney function.

He frowned and said:

"Tell me roughly how much profit you'll make. If I give you 30%, I'm afraid I'll have to cover my fuel costs and end up losing money."

Old Sun raised his hand and showed a number.

The man in sunglasses' eyes lit up, but he still hesitated.

"How about this, I'll tell you some big news for free, and give you 10% of the profits in return?"

"That won't do." Old Sun pouted, looking displeased.

The man surnamed Zuo plopped down and whispered in Old Sun's ear:
"I guarantee this information is absolutely worth the price! The source of this information is very special."

"Moreover, this news could very well save your life!"

When it comes to matters of life and death, Old Sun immediately perks up.

He leaned back, half-believing, half-doubting, and said, "You're not trying to fool me, are you?"

“Absolutely not.” The man in sunglasses leaned close to Old Sun’s ear and whispered a few words.

Old Sun stared at the man in sunglasses in shock. "Are you serious? Are you sure?"

"How could this be false? I heard it from my cousin himself," the man in sunglasses said in a low voice.
"Let's see what your plans are. I'm a little worried. After all, with such a terrifying situation, I don't think the walls will hold up. Besides, with so many people here, it's bound to attract zombies."

"How much longer?" Old Sun asked.

The man in sunglasses looked up and thought for a moment before saying:

"I heard it's still a few months away, but I forget the exact number. Anyway, I've been stocking up on tortillas lately. What if there's not enough food for so many people? You know what I mean?"

After a moment of silence, Old Sun nodded and said:

“You’re right. When that time comes, we’ll probably have to control food supplies again. It’s good to prepare in advance.”

"Are you going to stay, or are you planning to go out and find somewhere else to stay?"

The man in sunglasses didn't answer him immediately, but instead asked:

Is this information worthwhile? How about I give you 10%?

Without hesitation, Lao Sun immediately replied:

"Okay, I'll just tell you directly, it's about steel rails. This task was just released yesterday. How about it? Do you want to come with me tomorrow? The railway I found is relatively intact and the distance is also relatively short."

"Damn!" The man in sunglasses naturally knew how easy this task was.

Even if he doesn't ask Old Sun, he'll find out in a couple of days.

And there's no need for Lao Sun to take him to that railway; there are so many railways, it's actually quite easy to find one.

but
Since Lao Sun already knows the way, it's fine to go with him.

"You're really something, Lao Sun. You're taking 10% of my profits with just this one piece of news. You're such a scoundrel!" the man in sunglasses complained.

Old Sun chuckled and said:
"If only I had known sooner, I could have started accumulating points sooner!"

Chen Shanzhi and the others, who were sitting in their seats, got up and walked outside.

Among them, Chen Pojun frowned after leaving the store, as if he had something to worry about.

Seeing Chen Pojun's expression, Chen Shanzhi calmly said to Zhang Ye:

"Xiao Zhang, I'm a little tired. Shall we leave the business district first?"

Zhang Ye was somewhat surprised, but she could understand Chen Shanzhi, after all, he was getting on in years and lacked energy.

"Row."

(More will be available later, at 12 o'clock.)
(End of this chapter)