Chapter 13: Such Shamelessness

Chen Ye frowned slightly; the price this person quoted was a bit steep.

In the apocalypse, food was the hardest currency—worth more than almost anything else.

Especially unpackaged staples like rice. Many people had been living on instant noodles and packaged foods for a long time.

Among those who had escaped from Xinghua Town, not many had brought rice with them. Most of them had foolishly gone for chips, biscuits, and instant noodles; flour and rice were scarce.

Seeing Chen Ye frown, the person in front of him spoke very cautiously, “If Mr. Chen really wants it, five catties—five catties of rice will do!”

“Or if Mr. Chen can repair the bus twice for free, I can give this set of repair tools to you for free!”

While saying this, the man kept studying Chen Ye’s facial expression.

The convoy had fewer than a hundred people, so news that Chen Ye was a Mechanic Sequence superhuman had quickly spread to everyone in it.

Chen Ye hesitated for a moment. “Deal!”

The man before him was overjoyed and hurriedly helped load the repair tools onto Chen Ye’s motor tricycle.

Chen Ye then traded for some seasonings—salt, oil, things like that.

Those only cost a few packs of instant noodles to exchange.

Two hours of trading time remained with half an hour left.

Chen Ye still hadn’t exchanged for gasoline.

This made him a little worried.

Gasoline was only available with Chu Che, Nana, and the Iron Lion who hadn’t shown up yet.

But all three of them had similar asking prices—very high.

Was he really going to have to trade rice for it?

He hadn’t eaten rice in many days himself.

He genuinely felt some reluctance to give it up.

Maybe he could use that secret to trade for gasoline and Nana’s knife.

He wanted gasoline for himself.

He wanted Nana’s knife too!

A gaze kept watching Chen Ye.

The owner of that gaze was the pre-apocalypse celebrity and current small-car owner, Zhou Lan.

This woman didn’t have many supplies compared to others—only a few items.

Yet many people lingered in front of her stall.

Seeing Chen Ye hesitate, she bit her lip, suddenly stood up, opened the rear door of her car, and took out a square metal can from the backseat.

“Sister, what are you planning to do?”

At that moment, a youth suddenly rushed over and grabbed Zhou Lan’s hand.

He was handsome, bearing a five- or six-point resemblance to Zhou Lan—if he were a girl, he would probably be a great beauty.

“Xiao Xiao, let go.”

“I won’t. Sister, are you planning to give this can of gasoline away?”

The youth said stubbornly.

“Silly kid, this gasoline was hard for our siblings to get. Do you think I’m that stupid?”

The youth said half in doubt, half in hope: “Really?”

Zhou Lan patted the youth’s head and smiled, “Of course it’s true.”

After the youth let go, Zhou Lan carried the oil can toward Chen Ye.

“Mr. Chen, I have a can of gasoline. If you don’t mind, I can trade it to you!”

Just as Chen Ye was hesitating about whether to trade rice for gasoline, Zhou Lan suddenly appeared.

“What’s your price?”

“Ten catties of rice. If Mr. Chen finds that inconvenient, eight catties of rice will do!”

Chen Ye’s brow tightened.

Previously Chu Che and Nana also had gasoline, but both of them asked for twenty catties of rice.

This pre-apocalypse celebrity in front of him only wanted eight?

That price was almost unbelievably cheap.

Perhaps seeing through Chen Ye’s hesitation, Zhou Lan explained quietly, “I still have one can of gasoline, enough to reach the next supply point.”

“The reason I’m offering it so cheaply to Mr. Chen is just hoping that in the future, when I encounter trouble, Mr. Chen might look after me a bit!”

Hearing this, Chen Ye looked up and appraised the pre-apocalypse celebrity before him.

He immediately understood her intentions.

Being a celebrity before the apocalypse, in this environment she was like a firefly in the night.

The lecherous men lingering in front of her stall made that clear.

She was a celebrity. If this convoy didn’t maintain some order, other convoys might have already—

As the apocalypse dragged on, the old social order and civility were slowly collapsing.

Maybe one day it would fully revert to a savage era.

Then her celebrity aura wouldn’t protect her; it would make her a target.

Chu Che and Nana already had fixed circles around them.

Zhou Lan, however, wandered outside those circles.

What she was doing now was likely trying to find protection.

After all, she at least counted as a newly awakened Sequence superhuman.

Chen Ye hesitated a moment and said, “Not enough.”

Zhou Lan’s face blanched slightly.

“Mr. Chen… what else would you want?”

Zhou Lan didn’t have many supplies. In her small group, it was only her and her younger brother.

When they were in Xinghua Town, the siblings had failed to gather many supplies either.

They were only slightly better off than the average survivors.

Giving up this can of gasoline was already her greatest show of sincerity.

She had nearly died facing Anomalies to obtain that gasoline.

But now the other party opened his mouth as if he wanted something for nothing.

Zhou Lan’s face flushed with anger.

Her previously gentle eyes emitted a sharpness as she stared intently at the man before her.

She wanted to know why he could be so shameless and say such things.

“You… Mr. Chen, don’t you think what you’re saying is excessive?”

Zhou Lan grit her teeth to say this.

Chen Ye showed no hint of guilt on his face. “Maybe you can pick some clothes you like from my stuff.”

“Also, Miss Zhou, if you truly had other choices, you wouldn’t be standing here!”

“If this were before the apocalypse, I might not even qualify to know you.”

“But now—this is the apocalypse.”

“I’m a Sequence superhuman, and you’re just an ordinary person.”

“You decide!”

“You…”

Zhou Lan’s chest heaved with anger.

If this had been before the apocalypse, someone like Chen Ye—handsome as he was—wouldn’t have warranted a second glance; the two of them wouldn’t have even had the most basic interaction.

But now…

Zhou Lan’s face flushed deeper.

A sense of humiliation swept over the celebrity’s heart.

Her beautiful eyes grew a little misty—an emotion she had never felt before.

After a full thirty seconds of silence, the pre-apocalypse celebrity finally ground out, “Fine! Deal!”