Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 29 Trading
"Brother, there are so many people here."

"It's normal. Humans are social animals after all. For many people, this may be one of the few times they can relax."

Xiao Xuemei covered her mouth and chuckled: "Ziwen is right. Every day, as soon as we open our eyes, we have to run around for food. This is the only time we can relax for a while."

Qin Ziwen noticed that Deng Guang hadn't come downstairs. "Sister-in-law, where's Brother Deng?"

Xiao Xuemei said, "He's sleepy and taking a nap. Wenwen will go upstairs to wake him up later."

"Kitchen knife, kitchen knife, stainless steel kitchen knife."

"Chopping board, cutting board, a big wooden cutting board!"

The shouts from not far away were particularly noticeable; the two families were not far apart, one selling kitchen knives and the other selling cutting boards.

This unique scene attracted many people to stop and watch.

Someone laughed and said, "What's the use of your cutting board? At least other people's kitchen knives can be used to chop things. There's such a big forest outside, aren't you just selling sand in the desert?"

The seller was an old scholar wearing round-framed glasses and a Zhongshan suit. He wasn't angry when questioned; he just chuckled and confidently said, "I'm not selling sand in the desert, but pure water in the sea."

"What's the difference?"

"Can you drink seawater directly from the ocean? Similarly, there are indeed many trees outside, but without tools, a tree will always just be a tree and can never become a tool. You're not Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree, are you?"

"Look at this big round cutting board of mine. It's one foot eleven and three-tenths inches in diameter and one and a half 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 referring to the Tang ruler."

Someone else said, "Where's the handle? There's no handle on this. If you're going to try to fool people, you should put some effort into it. Isn't this just a 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 a 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 began to argue.

Such statements include: "My cutting board has become spiritual after being used for a long time"; "This was passed down from my great-grandfather"; "The value of a cutting board lies in its age"; and so on.

This caused the onlookers, who were there to have some fun, to burst into laughter.

How much does your cutting board cost?

The old scholar in the Zhongshan suit said nonchalantly, "Just give me some food, I have a small appetite, a little bit will fill me up."

"Forget it, it's not easy for someone your age to still be out here scamming people. Here are some grasshoppers I caught yesterday, want them?" 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 butt. "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 in the shop, and he can probably make tools for other wood materials. Consider this information a free gift."

After walking a long way, the old scholar circled around and eventually returned to Building 7.

Inside the stairwell, the old scholar took off his glasses, breathed on them, and wiped away the fog.

I walked up to the 7th floor.

Knocking on the door, the bespectacled old scholar chuckled and said, "The matter has been accomplished; the publicity effect you desired has been achieved."

Huang Tao, who had been eavesdropping upstairs, hesitated: "I feel like this advertising approach is a bit crude, and I guess some people will be able to spot it."

The old scholar didn't take it seriously and said with a grin, "So what if you can see it? You're the only one who has these tools right now. Things are valued for their scarcity, right? Mr. Huang, I've taken care of things."

"You wait here, I'll go get you some meat." Huang Tao turned and walked into the kitchen.

Soon, he came out carrying a bag and handed it to the old scholar.

The old scholar accepted it, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, and uttered a congratulatory blessing: "Then I wish Mr. Huang a prosperous business and a thriving opening!"

Watching the old scholar's retreating figure, Huang Tao frowned. The old man had approached him last night, saying he could help him attract customers and do business, and even introduced him to a neighbor who used to be a carpenter.

He was offered three catties of crocodile meat as payment, and after much deliberation, he decided to agree.

It wasn't for attracting customers; I was mainly going there because of my neighbor who used to be a carpenter.

After all, without a carpenter, the woodworking shed would be useless, and all the meat he had spent would have been wasted.

The shop owner, who was weaving straw ropes, noticed Qin Ziwen stop in front of his stall. He put down his work and began to promote his business: "Handsome, would you like to buy a rabbit? This is a fresh rabbit that we just caught today."

"Are there only dead rabbits? Are there any alive ones?"

"Alive?" The shopkeeper shook his head upon hearing this, finding it amusing. "This rabbit is as agile as an eel. It will slip away if you're not careful. It's much easier to kill it than to catch it alive. I want salt. Do you have any? One ounce of salt, and this rabbit is yours."

Qin Ziwen left without saying a word.

Salt?
Until a stable salt-producing area is found, the salt in the community is used up little by little. "Hey, you can bargain! Vegetables are fine too. Five pounds of vegetables and fruits, four pounds, four pounds is fine too."

Qin Ziwen had already gone far away. He didn't need the rabbit meat. If the rabbit was alive, it would have some value to him, but a dead one was only worth a few ounces of meat.

At most, he'll add this fur coat.

But the house also time-traveled, and there are still so many clothes in the wardrobe.

After walking around for a while, he stopped.

On the stall in front of me were cut-up bandages and plasters.

Several people were gathered around the stall, and they all seemed interested in the band-aids.

"Is your band-aid expired?"

"These bandages are all brand new, bought from the pharmacy just a month ago. This is the packaging box, and the production date is on it."

How much does it cost?

The stall owner, a woman in her twenties wearing a black top and jeans, was also perplexed upon hearing this, unsure of what price to sell at.

According to her own thoughts, the more expensive it was, the better, since no one would complain about having too much food.

But she knew it was impossible.

Moreover, if the price exceeds what people expect, it will only drive the customer away; she has been hungry all day.

The woman thought for a moment and said, "I want high-calorie food that can fill me up. Name your price, as long as it's reasonable."

A man with slanted eyes and short, fine hair spoke up at the stall: "A bag of instant noodles."

The woman's face lit up with joy; the price far exceeded her expectations.

But the second half of the other person's sentence made her face stiffen: "In exchange, I'll give you this box of band-aids."

The woman shook her head, biting her lip: "No, I have fifteen pieces here, so I need at least five bags."

The woman spread out her five fingers.

Qin Ziwen said, "Five packets of instant noodles should only last you two days at most. How about I trade all your band-aids for those three pounds of crocodile meat? Are you in or not?"

The woman was taken aback, but quickly agreed.

Qin Ziwen instructed, "Wait here for me, I'll go back and get the meat."

He doesn't lack meat now, so exchanging three pounds of meat for bandages, a strategic resource that's becoming increasingly scarce, is still worthwhile.

In this primeval forest environment, sometimes a seemingly insignificant small wound can become infected and even be fatal.

"Hey, didn't you see I asked first?" The woman with the slanted eyes who had spoken earlier turned around angrily, pointed at the woman in black, and said, "Don't you have any manners? You have no respect for people at all. I was the one who offered the price first, so you should have answered me first."

The woman in black remained silent for a while, then nodded and said, "I'm sorry, your price is too low, I won't sell."

Upon hearing this, the man with slanted eyes felt his blood pressure rise, but he didn't know who to vent his anger on.

The man's price was indeed higher than his, which made him a little tempted.

Qin Ziwen smiled and said to him, "You have a lot of instant noodles, right? I'll trade you five bags of instant noodles for a pound of crocodile meat. Want to trade?"

The man with the slanted eyes was taken aback at first, then got angry. Who do you think you are?

"At least two pounds!"

"Two pounds of meat." Qin Ziwen's voice trailed off for a long time, and in the expectant look in his slanted eyes, "you'll have to trade at least eight bags of instant noodles for it."

After hesitating for a long time, the man with the slanted eyes gritted his teeth and said, "Seven bags!"

"Row."

Seeing the other party agree so readily, the man with the slanted eyes didn't know whether he had gained or lost.

But he really wanted to eat meat! He ate instant noodles every day for the past seven days, which wasn't filling at all.

On the way home to get the meat, Qin Ziwu asked his question in a low voice: "Brother, isn't it a waste to exchange two pounds of meat for seven packets of instant noodles? Instant noodles are just carbohydrates, they don't have protein or vitamins, and they won't fill you up."

Qin Ziwen shook his head: "You can't count it that way. Instant noodles have salt in them, and the seasoning packet tastes pretty good. In this kind of environment, it's considered delicious."

"Delicious?" Qin Ziwu disagreed. "I'm sick of this stuff."

Qin Ziwen laughed and said, "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."

　[Let's discuss] In this environment, what do you think is a suitable and stable ratio for exchanging meat and vegetables?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)