So Utterly Shameless

Chen Ye frowned slightly. The man in front of him was asking a bit too much.

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

That was especially true of unpackaged staples like rice. Many people had been living on instant noodles and packaged food for ages.

Among those who had escaped from Apricot Blossom Town earlier,

very few had brought rice with them. Most had foolishly rushed to grab chips, cookies, and instant noodles, leaving flour and rice largely untouched.

Seeing Chen Ye frown,

the man said cautiously, "If you really want it, Mr. Chen, five jin. Five jin of rice will do!"

"Or if you can repair the bus twice for free, Mr. Chen, you can have these repair tools at no charge!"

As he spoke, he kept watching Chen Ye's expression.

There were fewer than a hundred people in the entire convoy, so word that Chen Ye was a Mechanic Sequence Transcendent had quickly spread to everyone.

Chen Ye hesitated briefly. "Deal!"

Delighted, the man hurried to help Chen Ye carry the set of repair tools over to his motorized tricycle.

Next, Chen Ye traded for some seasonings, salt, oil, and the like.

Those things only cost him a few packets of instant noodles.

There was still half an hour left of the two-hour trading session.

Chen Ye still hadn't managed to get any gasoline.

That left him rather worried.

Only Chu Che, Nana, and Iron Lion, who had yet to show up, had gasoline.

But all three were asking roughly the same steep price.

Did he really have to trade rice for it?

He hadn't eaten rice in days himself.

He really couldn't bear to part with it.

Perhaps he could trade that secret for gasoline and Nana's blade.

He wanted the gasoline.

He wanted Nana's blade, too!

Someone had been watching Chen Ye the whole time.

It was Zhou Lan, a celebrity before the apocalypse and now the owner of a car.

Compared with the others, the woman didn't have many supplies, just a handful of items.

Yet quite a few people lingered in front of her stall.

Seeing Chen Ye hesitate, she gritted her teeth, abruptly stood up, and opened the rear door of her car. She took a square metal can out of the back seat.

"Sis, what are you doing?"

Just then, a teenage boy suddenly rushed over and grabbed Zhou Lan's hand.

The boy was very handsome and bore a strong resemblance to Zhou Lan. Had he been a girl, he would probably have been a stunning beauty as well.

"Xiao Xiao, let go."

"No! Sis, are you planning to give away this can of gasoline?"

The boy spoke stubbornly.

"Silly boy, we sisters-brother and sister-went through so much trouble to get this gasoline. Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

The boy asked doubtfully, "Really?"

Zhou Lan stroked his head and smiled. "Of course."

Once the boy released her, Zhou Lan carried the gasoline can over to Chen Ye.

"Mr. Chen, I have a can of gasoline here. If you're interested, I can trade it to you!"

Zhou Lan appeared just as Chen Ye was debating whether he really should trade rice for gasoline.

"What's your price?"

"Ten jin of rice. If that's difficult for you, Mr. Chen, eight jin will do!"

Chen Ye frowned.

Chu Che and Nana also had gasoline, but both wanted twenty jin of rice.

Yet this former celebrity only wanted eight jin?

That was far too cheap.

As though she had seen through his hesitation, Zhou Lan explained softly, "I have another can of gasoline. That's enough to get us to the next supply stop."

"The only reason I'm offering it to you so cheaply, Mr. Chen, is that I hope you'll look out for me if I run into trouble in the future!"

At that, Chen Ye looked up and studied the former celebrity in front of him.

He immediately understood what she was thinking.

As a former celebrity, she stood out in their current circumstances like a firefly in the night.

The crowd of lechers lingering in front of her stall made that plain enough.

She was a celebrity, after all.

If this convoy hadn't retained some semblance of order, if she had been in another convoy, Zhou Lan would probably already have...

As the apocalypse dragged on, the old social order and civilization were slowly crumbling.

They might revert completely to barbarism any day.

When that happened, her celebrity status wouldn't protect her. Instead, it would become the very source of her troubles.

Chu Che and Nana already had established circles around them.

Zhou Lan alone remained outside those circles.

She was probably doing this to seek his protection.

After all, he was a newly awakened Sequence Transcendent.

Chen Ye hesitated briefly, then said, "Not enough!"

Zhou Lan's face paled slightly.

"Mr. Chen... what else do you want?"

Zhou Lan hadn't had many supplies to begin with. Her little group consisted of just her and her younger brother.

Back in Apricot Blossom Town, the siblings hadn't managed to gather much either.

They were only a little better off than the other ordinary survivors.

Offering this can of gasoline was already the greatest show of sincerity she could make.

If she gave this can to Chen Ye and they couldn't find another suitable supply stop within the coming week, they probably wouldn't be able to keep their car running.

"Give me that can of gasoline, and I'll agree to your request. If you run into trouble in the future, I'll help you!"

"Huh...?"

Zhou Lan hadn't expected this seemingly handsome, sunny young man to be so shameless.

He actually wanted her can of gasoline for free.

Food and gasoline were both desperately scarce supplies.

She had even nearly died at the hands of an eldritch horror to obtain that gasoline.

Yet he had simply opened his mouth and demanded a free handout.

Zhou Lan's face flushed with anger.

Her normally gentle eyes sharpened as she stared fixedly at the man before her.

She wanted to know how he could be so shameless, how he could say something like that.

"You... Mr. Chen, don't you think that's an outrageous thing to say?"

Zhou Lan practically forced the words through clenched teeth.

There wasn't a trace of guilt on Chen Ye's face. "Perhaps you could pick out some clothes you like from my stock."

"Besides, Miss Zhou, if you really had any other choice, you wouldn't be standing here!"

"Before the apocalypse, I might not even have been worthy of knowing you."

"But this is the apocalypse."

"I'm a Sequence Transcendent, and you're merely an ordinary person."

"You decide!"

"You..."

Zhou Lan's chest heaved with anger.

Before the apocalypse, she wouldn't have spared someone like Chen Ye an extra word, handsome though he was. Their lives wouldn't even have crossed in the most basic way.

But now...

Zhou Lan's face turned crimson with rage.

A sense of humiliation washed over the famous star.

Her beautiful eyes grew damp. She had never experienced anything like this before.

She remained silent for a full half minute.

Only then did Zhou Lan, the once-famous celebrity, grit her teeth and say, "Fine! Deal!"