r18novel Chapter 181 Joint Sale
Chapter 181 Joint Sale
She paused, the trailer wheels got stuck in a snowdrift, and she pulled hard to get them out. "I have an idea, listen to it and see if it's feasible."
She cast her gaze towards the faint outline of the Fourth City in the distance. "Let's go straight to the second floor of the base's trading center, to the 'Bulk Commodities and Resource Recycling Trading Area.' Let's combine the sea buckthorn we have for the four of us and sell it as a single 'bulk order.' Whether we end up selling it to the official recycling points or to those powerful private buyers with connections, the larger the quantity, the higher our bargaining power will be. They'll have more room to maneuver with this batch, whether they resell it, process it, or use it as reserve supplies. Finally, we'll distribute the total points earned among ourselves based on the approximate weight of the sea buckthorn on each of our trucks. What do you think of this plan?"
Upon hearing this, the other three almost simultaneously stopped pushing the cart! The sound of wheels scraping against the snow ceased abruptly. Lu Hu whirled around, his face filled with undisguised astonishment, and a sudden, enlightened light, as if he had been awakened. He asked incredulously, "You can... do it like that?! Four people combined, sold as one order? Will the trading center... accept it? Do they accept this kind of 'group buying'?"
Xu Xiaoyan nodded. "Theoretically, it should be possible. The second floor of the trading center was originally set up to facilitate bulk transactions. As long as there is a clear ownership of the goods, they should recognize it. I've heard people mention similar cooperative sales before." She slightly exaggerated the certainty of the information to increase her persuasiveness.
"If everyone agrees, we can push the cart directly to the trading center right now and try it out. It's just a matter of walking a little further from the city gate to the central area. Going to ask won't hurt us. At most, we'll make a wasted trip, but if it works out," she looked at the three of them. "Wouldn't that be much easier and less stressful than us each wandering around like headless flies, braving the cold wind to sell in small quantities, having to protect ourselves from freezing temperatures and price gouging, and wasting a lot of time? Plus, getting the points all at once is much cleaner and more efficient."
"I think it's a good idea!" Xie Yingtang was the first to speak up. "Centralized sales are more efficient, and distribution by weight is fair."
"Agreed! That's a great idea!" Wang Xiao immediately chimed in excitedly. "With so much stock, selling it all at once is much better than haggling over prices little by little!"
Land Rover slammed his hand on the tow truck handle. "That's it! Let's give it a try! Let's go!"
Having reached a consensus, the four of them pushed the heavy cart and sped towards the Fourth City. However, when they finally saw the city gate of the Fourth City in the distance, the sight before them made them all stop in their tracks.
Compared to when they left the city a few hours earlier, the crowd at the city gate was not smaller at all; on the contrary, it was more crowded and noisy! Many figures could be vaguely seen gathering and moving around inside and outside the city gate. The lights were much denser than usual, and some seemingly temporary lighting equipment emitted blinding beams of light. What was going on?
As they drew closer, the scene at the city gate became clearer, with two distinct lines of troops lined up on either side of the gate entrance, creating a striking contrast.
The left column consists of residents who have had their identity chips implanted and are officially registered at the Linchuan base. Their entry into the city is relatively quick. They only need to walk through the familiar alloy gate security checkpoint with its flashing blue indicator light, bring the inside of their left arm with the implanted chip close to the sensing area, and with a soft "beep," a brief passage information will appear on the gate screen.
The guards would sometimes glance up, and sometimes they simply didn't bother to look. The whole process was smooth and quick. Although there was a large flow of people, the speed of the procession was not restricted, and the overall order was relatively good. People moved forward silently, most of them with the fatigue of a day's journey and the eagerness to go home.
The line on the right, however, presented a completely different picture. The line was long and twisted, moving slowly. Most of the people in the line were wearing tattered winter clothing. They were survivors who had come to the Linchuan base from all over the country.
These people need to have their identity chips implanted and their information registered here. This process is obviously much more complicated. It requires verifying basic information, explaining the base rules, and handling possible objections or panic. In addition, there are various situations such as injuries, physical exhaustion, etc. that may exist among the newcomers.
Everyone wore expressions of deep anxiety about their future and bewilderment and unease about this unfamiliar "shelter." In the cold wind, the children's cries sounded particularly sharp and helpless, while the adults huddled in silence or whispered among themselves, their eyes warily scanning everything around them.
The two lines moved at vastly different speeds, but since they were all waiting in the same snowstorm, the cold air and the long hours were wearing down everyone's patience. Inevitably, there were some tentative exchanges between them, separated by the two or three-meter "buffer zone" between the lines.
The older residents in the left-hand queue, with a subtle sense of superiority and scrutinizing gaze, looked at the dusty-faced, bewildered newcomers on the right, whispering about their origins and the "burden" they might bring.
The newcomers on the right cast glances at the relatively smoothly moving group, their gazes a mixture of envy, curiosity, and a barely perceptible hint of jealousy. One of them mustered the courage to whisper through the gap to a seemingly kind-looking older resident, "Brother/Sister, what's it like inside... inside? Is there a place to stay? Is the food expensive?"
Xu Xiaoyan and her group, pushing their four conspicuous trailers, naturally attracted countless stares. In the nearby refugee column, a middle-aged man, wrapped in a tattered, army-green cotton coat with patches of cotton showing through, his face blue and purple from the cold, and icicles clinging to his stubble, probably to ward off the cold and boredom, curiously craned his neck and, through the gaps in the column, raised his voice to ask, "Hey! Girl, what good stuff are you pushing in those trailers? They look so heavy! Is it grain?"
His voice was dry and hoarse, weak from the long journey, but it was clear in the relatively quiet crowd. Many people around him turned their attention to Xu Xiaoyan and the trailer next to her as he asked his question.
Xu Xiaoyan turned her head at the sound and met the man's probing yet eager gaze. She replied, "It's sea buckthorn." As she spoke, she deftly untied the rope at the top of a burlap sack, pulled back the edge of the sack covering it, and revealed that it was full of plump, round sea buckthorn berries, a mix of golden and red.
"Here it is," she said, slightly opening the sack towards the man and the other people nearby who were looking at her, her tone flat, as if she were showing off an ordinary item.