Courtyard House: Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) Traded for an Aircraft Carrier, the Whole Count

The next morning, Jiang Chen did not go to the technical team, but went directly to the deputy director's office in the administration building.

"Director Li, are you busy?"

Jiang Chen pushed the door open and entered, closing it behind him.

Deputy Factory Director Li was frowning at a report when he saw Jiang Chen, and immediately put on a smiling face: "Oh, Brother Jiang! What a rare guest! What's wrong, is the technical team short of something?"

"The technical team isn't short-staffed, it's the militia company under the security section that's lacking." Jiang Chen pulled up a chair and sat down, not beating around the bush. "The situation is tense lately, and I'm thinking of organizing the militia for a few night patrol drills. But in this freezing weather, the soldiers are cold and hungry late at night, so I'm thinking of getting them some midnight snacks. But I don't have that many coupons on hand."

Upon hearing this, Deputy Factory Director Li's eyes lit up: "Brother, it's good that you care about your subordinates. But as you know, the factory is short of supplies..."

"I heard there's a batch of dried noodles and canned goods that got damp last year in the logistics warehouse?" Jiang Chen lowered his voice, looking at him with a half-smile. "Those things are just sitting there, what if the higher-ups come to inspect one day and find moldy supplies in the warehouse? The responsibility..."

Deputy Factory Director Li's heart skipped a beat, then he was overjoyed. That batch of supplies was exactly what had been troubling him!

"Oh dear, brother, you're really well-informed." Deputy Factory Director Li rubbed his hands together, looking distressed. "There is indeed a batch that got a little damp and doesn't taste as good, but it's still edible! Since it's for the militia brothers' welfare, how about... we dispose of it as scrap? How about you give us a price based on cost?"

"Two hundred yuan, I'll take it all." Jiang Chen held up two fingers. "It won't go through the official accounts; consider it a private donation from Director Li to the militia. I'll remember this favor."

"Deal!" Deputy Factory Manager Li agreed faster than a rabbit. Getting rid of a pile of garbage for two hundred yuan, and gaining a favor in return—this deal was too good to pass up.

Half an hour later.

Jiang Chen drove the security department's jeep and hauled away a full 500 jin of damp noodles and 20 boxes of slightly bulging canned luncheon meat from the logistics warehouse.

Instead of driving back to the security office, he drove straight to an abandoned air-raid shelter in the most remote part of the factory area. This was a "transaction point" that no one usually came to, which he had chosen long ago.

After confirming that no one was around, Jiang Chen drove the car deeper into the cave and turned off the engine.

"System, connect to the scavenging team outside Vault 7 in the Wasteland Dimension."

[Connection in progress... Holographic projection activated.]

The air in front of the jeep distorted, and then a bizarre and fantastical scene appeared out of nowhere.

It was a grayish-yellow desert, with an eerie dark red sky. In the center of the scene stood a person completely wrapped in a tattered protective suit, wearing a gas mask and holding an exaggeratedly designed laser rifle.

When the man saw the mountain of noodles and canned goods piled up on Jiang Chen's side, even through the mask, Jiang Chen could feel the man's breathing become heavy in an instant.

"Food...pure food..."

The voice on the other end, translated by the system, had a metallic, hoarse quality and an incredulous tremor: "No radiation spots... My God, this is refined starch! And meat! Real meat!"

The scavenger leader lunged at the holographic screen like a madman, his eyes fixed on the crates of canned goods, the green light in his eyes more terrifying than that of a hungry wolf. In the wasteland, they ate synthetic protein paste and mutated cockroach meat—pure, natural carbohydrates reserved only for the highest-ranking rulers of the vault.

"I want all of these! All of them!" the leader roared. "What do you want? Energy batteries? Fragments of power armor? Or women?"

Jiang Chen leaned against the car door, lit a cigarette, and said indifferently, "I don't collect trash. I want gold, and your unique enhancement potions."

"Gold? That useless soft metal?" The leader was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. In the wasteland, gold's value had plummeted because it had poor electrical conductivity and couldn't be eaten; it was only used for making decorations or specific circuits.

"Yes! I have it!"

The leader turned and roared a few words at his men. A moment later, several scavengers carried over a heavy iron box. The box was opened, revealing it filled with glittering jewelry, gold bars, and even gold teeth. In this world, these were relics of a former civilization, now merely a burden.

"There's about fifty kilograms of gold here," the leader said urgently. "In addition, I have two vials of [Type II Gene Enhancement Fluid], which I took from a dead shelter guard. It can greatly improve physical fitness and self-healing abilities. Is that enough for your food?"

Jiang Chen looked at the full box of gold and the two vials of potions emitting a faint blue light, suppressed the wild beating of his heart, and maintained the shrewdness of a businessman on his face.

"Barely enough." He flicked his cigarette ash. "Deal."

[Transaction confirmed. Transaction fees (partial gold) deducted.]

A flash of light.

The noodles and canned food in the back seat of the jeep vanished instantly, replaced by a heavy iron box and two cold vials of medicine.

[Transaction complete.]

[A huge dimensional price difference has been detected. System rating: Perfect.]

[Reward trading points: 2000 points.]

[Gold buyback fee calculation: 500 trading points awarded.]

Current balance: 3180 points.

The light curtain dissipated, and the air-raid shelter returned to its deathly silence.

Jiang Chen opened the iron box, and the golden light shone brightly in the dim cave. He picked up a heavy gold brick and felt its captivating weight.

Fifty kilograms of gold—in this era, that was the hardest currency of all. And those two vials of Type II enhancement fluid would give him absolute self-defense capabilities in the coming chaos.

With the trading points surging to over 3,000, expanding space, unlocking processing plants, and even purchasing higher-level blueprints are no longer problems.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, closed the box, and put it into the system space that had just expanded to 10 cubic meters.

He looked into the void and seemed to see the colossal entity called "Lou Bancheng" beckoning to him.

Everything is ready.

Jiang Chen sat back in the driver's seat, started the car, and his eyes gleamed with a hunter's light. "Lou Bancheng, I want your family fortune."