Chapter 45.3: Temporary Stay at Qingmin (Middle) [3]
Author: He Feng Yan
Translator: HeXie
Editor: HeXie
Chapter 45.3: Temporary Stay at Qingmin (Middle) [3]
Qingmin County’s main industry was a farming one, and honestly, its economy couldn’t be compared to the other counties in the country. Therefore, even in the town itself, the elderly would make their own pickles, salted eggs and chilli sauce. Because these things were made with plenty of salt, they could last for a very long time.
For example, the pickles. Even after one or two years, the preserved vegetables kept in those clay pots still gave out a very rich sour fragrance when unsealed, clearly still edible. And though the salted egg yolks kept in the salt water were starting to smell, to the zombie hunters and survivors alike, they were still edible after being cooked.
And of those three things, only the chilli sauce was completely unsalvageable by the time the group found it. Not only did it contain a lot of water, but it had also long since begun growing mould and maggots after two years. It simply couldn’t be eaten anymore as there was no way to salvage it.
Other than those regular essentials, the group could also more or less find some snacks such as biscuits, chips and fries, sweets, dried fruits and dates, ham, instant noodles, etc from each household. Moreover, in some households, they had even found powdered milk and all sorts of health products.
And because of the geographical situation, Qingmin County’s people could be considered as mountainous people. As such, they loved their alcohol. So, of course, they could find all sorts of alcohols here - beer, red wine, white wine, all sorts of medicinal wine in almost every household unit in this condominium. All of which could sell for an unbelievably high price back in Lan Cheng Base.
Each family also kept plenty of medications as well. And though some of the house owners had taken some of it with them when they fled, there were still some of them left to be plundered. Therefore, the group only needed a little careful combing for them to gather a pile of medications.
Combined, there were remedies to clear internal heat, anti-inflammatory medicine, flu medication, antipyretic, stomach medicine, anti-hypertensive drugs, BaoXin pills[1] and all sorts of vitamins in the pile. And the worth of these little pills combined was much more valuable than anything in Lan Cheng Base.
Meanwhile, though cleaning products, skin-care products, and makeup could also be found in every household, most of them were already opened. And these opened goods were mostly spoilt already as indicated from the way it had begun to smell. Thus they couldn’t be used anymore.
However, some of them were still usable. So, if they took the remaining usable portion and repackaged it, everyone was sure that there would still be plenty of people willing to buy it.
Not only that, there were also plenty of clean clothing and beddings to be looted in every unit. In the base, these weren’t worth too much, but if they sold it cheap, there would still be plenty of buyers. After all, these things were much better than those taken off from the zombies.
Following everything else, the group finally set their eyes on the various household electronics left behind. Ever since Lan Cheng Base got its own, very much good and working, solar energy generator, the cost of the electricity had never been more stable. As such, all sorts of household appliances were always welcome to the survivors.
Additionally, since the goods around Lan Cheng Base were basically wiped out clean at this point, there were fewer circulating household appliances on the market. Thus, the price of such goods was increasing at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. Whether it was refrigerators, microwaves, rice cookers, electronic pans and stoves, air conditioning, televisions, heaters, tablets, laptops, and so on so forth did not matter to the group.
Peng Zijun and his group were practically similar to the locusts descending on crops, nothing was spared from their grasp. They wanted to take everything back with them, even the -wooden flooring.
It was not surprising that they were so… fierce, though. After all, no one knew how many times the villages outside of Lan Cheng Base were cleaned out by the scavengers, with nothing left for them. So, they had to be fierce. They had no option but to be so.
Especially since those scavengers were ruthless enough that even many houses’ door frames were taken down to be used to exchange for money. As such, at the sight of so many unclaimed goods before their eyes, how could they not be excited?
Hence, the locusts descend. It was all normal. Honest.
And while their group was busy with their ransacking efforts, Wu Ye and his group had reached the fourth floor. And without further ado, they split into two groups and each group took their positions in different apartment units that were facing Cao Nan Street.
Not long after they stood on the balcony outside the living room, the zombies on the street became agitated. And soon, they began to swarm towards the condominium the group was in, whether it was through running or stumbling.