Chapter 024.2: Opportunities [2]
Author: He Feng Yan
Translator: HeXie
Editor: TheDerpNite
“Then I’ll take all the packs apart and sell them.” A pack of 20 cigarettes would net him 300 crystals. So that meant, 1 cigarette would be sold for 15 crystals, which means it was 5 times higher than his original estimate of 3 crystals a piece. It had far exceeded his expectations.
“This is also a way,” Qian Xin said. “But once you unpack the packs, the cigarettes will become moist at a rapid pace. So we should only unpack one pack for people to see, while for sales, it’s better to sell it by packages.”
Wu Ye seemed to see countless crystal nuclei patiently waving their small wings to fly over him. “Wuhua, you quickly take a few cigarettes and go to the black market to try the water there.”
Cigarettes were a real luxury item in the apocalypse. How much could the people afford, unless they were rich?
“I’m afraid the black market has been flattened by zombies by now.” Qin Wuhua said coldly.
Wu Ye was dumbfounded. “Then, what should we do?”
“Don’t worry about it. Lan Cheng’s base will be in chaos, so the upper management will be busy with finding a solution to the crisis. They won’t be bothered to manage our small transactions for the time being.”
Wu Ye was relieved. His mind immediately adapted to the new information. “ We haven't been in Lan Chang’s base for a long time, and we don't know many people. Why don't we let Yang Qi help us contact the buyers?”
“I want to participate.” After that, Qin Wuhua called Yang Qi and told him and his cousin that he wanted to talk about a business opportunity.
There were too many zombies outside these past two days. Yang Qi and Yang Li Na were both people who cherished their lives. So, in the morning, they would go out and hunt and kill some zombies in the safe area and earn just enough money to support their families before they returned to the safety of the base. After receiving the call from Qin Wuhua, the two people soon came over.
Wu Ye didn't beat around the bush with them. He told them directly that he had a batch of cigarettes and that he wanted help to sell them quietly. After each transaction was done, they would receive a 10% share as their introduction fee.
Yang Qi and Yang Li Na didn't expect Wu Ye to have such scarce goods. Right now, Lan Cheng’s base still appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, the tide was already surging beneath. Anyone with a little skill and background was looking to escape. After the black market ceased to exist, the elite didn't dare to offend the upper management of the Lan Cheng base during such a critical period. As such, they had to secretly made a deal in the base.
The high price in the capital was common knowledge. People who made their mind up to leave couldn't do it without exchanging all their valuables and taking them away in the form of materials. Although the upper management of the Lan Cheng base didn't believe that their lofty walls could be breached by the zombies, no one could really say for sure when the incoming zombie siege would end. Thus, how could they allow a large outflow of foods? They didn't stop people who wanted to leave. But the carry on luggage they brought wasn't allowed to exceed 30 jin.
But how much could a pack of cigarettes weigh? How much could a stick of cigarettes weigh?
There were more than 40 million survivors in the capital, which could be said to include the most advanced talent in HuaXia, and had gathered most of the wealth of HuaXia. Ordinary people would be deterred from spending hundreds of thousands of transparent crystals just to buy cigarettes. However, for some people in the capital, such a price was nothing.
People with a salary of two thousand yuan a month would need to save and scrimp for food in order to survive, while others could casually buy a pack that cost hundreds of thousands. From the beginning, the gap had always existed between the two.
With such a huge market in the capital, Wu Ye’s hundreds of cigarettes packs would be able to be easily sold and wouldn't cause any ripples.
Over the past two days, the price of food had risen in Lan Cheng’s base. Not to mention, the indispensable salt prices had also risen by an astronomical amount. Regardless of how high the prices in HuaXia were, they couldn't be more expensive than it currently was in Lan Cheng. Therefore, for those who were about to leave the Lan Chang base, there was almost no value in purchasing there.
Yang Qi and Yang Li Na could almost predict the amount of people who would flock to them once the word was out that there were precious cigarettes being sold at a low price.
Wu Ye generously let Yand Qi and Yang Li Na take five bags to test the water. Over an hour later, Yang Qi called to say that everything had been sold out, and he’d come by later to drop off a big customer.
Meanwhile, Ji Yun and Professor Li were invited by the Scientific Research Institute in Lan Cheng to see if they could brainstorm a way to deal with the zombies surrounding them, especially the new one. Everyone who was originally part of the institute had suggested many unreliable methods, but none of them were practical for dealing with the situation. Everyone who was present there seemed to be unsure of how to proceed.
All of them had set their hearts to ask the capital to send a special plane to pick up their ‘highly skilled talents’ from the Lan Cheng base. The expressions of Lan Cheng's higher echelons were as dark as coal by the end of the meeting. However they didn't persuade these people to remain in the base to be killed alongside them, so they all ended up parting on bad terms.
Ji Yun and Professor Li were able to clearly see the situation. Thus, they resolved to stick close to Qin Wuhua, and follow him wherever he went.
When he got home and saw Wu Ye, who had left without saying goodbye, Ji Yun was immediately happy. “Boss, when did you get back?” Of course, compared with the cold and silent Qin Wuhua, Ji Yun preferred the open and easy going Wu Ye. When Wu Ye was absent, he and Professor Li both felt like there was a part of the family missing.
“I came back in the afternoon.”
Wu Ye looked at Professor Li’s black and yellow teeth, and knew that he was a heavy smoker. He generously gave him a pack of cigarettes. Stunned, Professor Li couldn't help but take a cigarette from the box, look at it closely and then touch it all over. He was only willing to light it and smoke it after half a day had passed. He then took a deep inhale before releasing the smoke into the air, the rim of his eyes red. He patted Wu Ye on the shoulder, “Little guy, you're very kind. It seems like if I didn't use the full extent of my skill to reward you with well made food and drinks, i'd be asking for a beating to the point of death.”
Wu ye’s peach blossom eyes blinked before he thoughtfully said, “Uncle Li, surely you're tired after all of the driving you've done today. You can just make some easy food in the evening, and save the delicious food for tomorrow.”
Professor Li was deeply moved. He didn't know that the second young master Wu had already eaten a pot of spare rib soup at home, so even if there was a delicious feast in front of him and he had a mind to eat it, he would lack the strength to actually do it.
HeXie: ...my apologies, I almost forgot the other 2 chapters...*dogeza*