Chapter 321: Maybe Persistence Helps?!

Chen Ye’s presence didn’t mean he expected the two stall owners to accept his low offers and sell their goods cheaply. The earlier seeming tomfoolery was actually just meant to knock down the sellers’ psychological expectations. There’s a term for this: the broken-window effect. Only two people executed the plan this time. Of course, if someone used this method to haggle before the apocalypse, they’d probably get beaten and thrown out. After all, this trick only works for newly released items like meatworms and heart engines.

The final deal was two kilograms of potato seed stock and two kilograms of lettuce seed stock. As for meatworms, they ended up with three: one male and two females. All three were capable of breeding. There was no need to worry about being cheated, since Ding Dong would still teach the others how to plant the ideal grain seeds. In return, the other side would teach Chu Che’s group how to raise the three meatworms. The time they would spend in the Oasis would be enough for the three meatworms to at least breed once. Without Chen Ye’s earlier maneuvering, trying to get three meatworms at that price would have been a pipe dream.

Chu Che wasn’t stupid enough to try to trade just two potatoes for these things. No matter how much Chen Ye used the broken-window effect to crush the sellers’ expectations, the Knife Sharpener Sequence young man wouldn’t have sold his goods that cheaply. Even so, the young man—dressed all in black and holding a toy knife—looked ashen. That selling price was far below what he’d expected. After a coordinated round of operations by the Pink-haired Girl, Chu Che, and Chen Ye—the three of them acting like parasites—the deal went through. It had to be said, these people had been through life-and-death situations so often that their tacit understanding had reached a high level. Sometimes one look was enough to convey meaning. Of course, that kind of tacit understanding excluded Iron Lion.

Actually, the convoy didn’t have a lot of qualified potato and lettuce seed stock. Trading away four kilograms of qualified ideal grain seeds would earn Ding Dong endless nagging. The two of them also saw the tire worm. Chu Che and Sun Xixi wanted one, but when they heard the price, they backed off. That thing wasn’t a necessity, unlike meatworms. They did end up trading for two heart engines. The final price was twenty kilograms of rice, ten kilograms of flour, five kilograms of dried noodles, plus other foodstuff to make a total of fifty kilograms. The man selling the heart engine was so pained he kept grinding his teeth. It wasn’t easy for them to make that heart engine; it was the product of cooperation between a Mechanic Sequence practitioner and a physician-sequence practitioner. At first they only paid five kilograms of dried noodles. The stall owner would install it and, after testing, the remainder would be paid.

Chu Che felt a little bad. After all, fifty kilograms of food is a lot. Even with a large price cut, it still cost fifty kilograms. The convoy didn’t have many supplies left. But the next day, when they learned someone had traded sixty kilograms of rice for a heart engine, their minds were eased. As for the meatworms, there was no news of them being traded away. It was estimated the Knife Sharpener young man didn’t have many more.

“Wait, four kilograms of seed stock for these three fat-headed worms?” Sure enough, when Ding Dong heard that four kilograms of ideal grain seeds had been traded for three fat worms, she couldn’t help frowning. She was in charge of planting for the convoy. After so much effort, the improvement in the high-quality seed rate of the ideal grain seeds wasn’t much. So there wasn’t much left that could actually be planted. Even if she planted with all her might, around the clock, she still couldn’t hide the convoy’s entire food supply.

But after Chu Che explained what these three large meatworms could do, Ding Dong, though reluctant, respected the convoy’s decision. The work of breeding the meatworms was handed to Iron Lion. Of course, Iron Lion certainly wouldn’t do it personally. In the end, the job fell to Bald Old Li. He decided to install several iron cages at the rear of the school bus, which would later serve as the meatworm breeding base.

When Chen Ye returned to A13, he saw Xu Lina curled up, asleep by the door with her arms wrapped around her legs. Seeing the woman’s graceful curves didn’t faze Chen Ye; he pushed open the courtyard gate and closed it behind him, acting as if Xu Lina didn’t exist. He couldn’t let Xu Lina live in the courtyard—his secrets were simply too many. After changing roles, he had acquired yet another secret. Xu Lina was too scheming; he couldn’t trust her. When the gate clicked shut, Xu Lina blinked, bewildered.

“Chen Ye’s back?” Through the crack of the door she saw movement inside the courtyard, and her heart slowly sank. She had sat alone for a long time in the doorway’s shadow before standing up. Because she had been in that posture for so long, both her legs were a little numb. After moving them a bit she felt better. She glanced at the closed gate and left A13 alone. Chen Ye’s mouth twitched slightly when he detected Xu Lina’s departure, but he didn’t say anything. Good, she left. That avoided the danger of his secrets being exposed.

Chen Ye’s coldness stemmed mainly from his hunger to survive. Xu Lina had been nice to him; back in Yanzhou she had courted him in every way. Chen Ye knew her motives. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think she had fallen for him. Given how he looked now, he could pass as okay if people didn’t look at his eyes. But if he took off his sunglasses, most girls would probably run screaming. Xu Lina had done a lot afterward, but after Chen Ye made his resistance clear, her actions decreased. Still, she never gave up. He admired that. A person who locks onto a goal and never loosens their grip—whoever she is—deserves respect. No wonder she had clawed her way from a poor mountain village to that level before the apocalypse. Chen Ye knew what she wanted and he had never taken the bait.

If Xu Lina lingered outside the gate, it would affect Chen Ye. Either kill her or let her into the courtyard... Xu Lina returned to the Outer City; she had left some things behind. “Sister Lina, you’re back?” Li Juan immediately came over, delighted to see Xu Lina. The convoy people shot looks of envy and curiosity her way. Of course, this place didn’t just have their convoy members, there were people from other convoys too. They didn’t know Xu Lina’s exact situation, they simply looked at her with greedy, green eyes. They couldn’t help it—Xu Lina was too outstanding. Standing among the crowd, she shone like a pearl on a dirt heap, like a firefly glowing in the black night. If someone had a camera and took a few snapshots of Xu Lina, every photo would be beautiful. Her charm and beauty showed from every angle.

Xu Lina gave an awkward nod. “Mm.” Actually, when she left earlier, many people already knew what she’d gone to do. Many envied her for connecting with Chen Ye. “Sister Lina, did Mr. Chen accept you?” Xu Lina’s face stiffened a little, but she kept up the authority befitting the manager of Bus Number Seven. “Is there food?” Xu Lina didn’t answer that. “Food? Mr. Chen didn’t let you eat?” “No, Mr. Chen went out, so I came back to see you all!” Xu Lina tried hard to preserve her last shred of dignity. Li Juan didn’t think much and handed Xu Lina’s things back to her. Xu Lina fished out a piece of flatbread from among them and returned the rest to Li Juan. Li Juan blinked, not understanding what Xu Lina meant. Xu Lina smiled without explaining.

“Li Juan, about the information I asked you to dig up before……” “Sister Lina, don’t worry, I’ve found out something, listen to me……” The two moved to a more secluded spot and whispered. After a while, Xu Lina prepared to leave. Li Juan pulled out a down jacket and said, “Sister Lina, they say it gets very cold here at night. Do you want a jacket?” Xu Lina turned back and smiled sweetly, “No, Mr. Chen has clothes.”

Tonight Xu Lina decided to go all in. Even if she couldn’t achieve her goal, she wanted to pull her relationship with Chen Ye a little closer. If she didn’t seize this opportunity now, she might never get another. Just as Xu Lina stepped out of the Outer City residential area, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her. “It’s you, what are you doing here?”