The value of a rice-grain crystal core: Renting a place, how she missed those lavish fish...

She had thought it would at least be the size of a fingernail, but this was all she got.

This crystal core was too small. She did not toss it into her space for now. She wanted to move, desperately, so she put this crystal core into the cloth pouch in her basket instead. Once she saved up a few more, she could rent a place in the safe zone first.

She tested the bat.

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 102. High radiation. Consumption not recommended!"

With a wave, she put it into her space's Stasis Zone. She would throw it away the next time she went out into the wilderness.

The first batch of potatoes was ready. Sang Luoluo put them into her space's Stasis Zone while they were still hot to preserve them, then tossed the remaining half into the fire to roast.

Since she had time now, she would roast some extra and store them for emergencies.

She had just put the potatoes in when thunder rumbled outside. Bean-sized raindrops followed right after. Sang Luoluo shut the door and bolted it firmly from inside.

Her wristwatch beeped again.

[Alert! Base 71-High wind warning!]

Outside, the heavy raindrops battered the shack with a crackling patter. Listening, she felt as though the shack was bearing pressure it should never have had to bear. Before long, water actually began leaking through the gaps.

???!!!

She hurriedly climbed onto the table to check. What she saw was alarming: almost all the waterproofing material on top was gone, with only a few scraps left. That thief had even stolen the roof's waterproof layer. Damn it.

Sang Luoluo could not help letting loose another stream of curses: "#￥...*#**&%..."

After thinking it over, she dug some soil out of the one-mu potato field in her space, mixed it into mud, and smeared it onto the roof.

That alone would not work. Given time, the rain would wash the mud away.

She simply used her mental power to manipulate her space, found a few wooden boards inside, and laid them on the roof. They barely managed to keep some of the rain out.

But a little while later, other spots started leaking again.

She was tired and could not keep struggling with it. She would sleep in the potato field in her space tonight.

She jumped down, checked the fire, and added more wood. After putting the freshly roasted potatoes into the Stasis Zone, she took out the potatoes she had just dug up and continued roasting them.

She kept going until midnight, only stopping after roasting over eighty potatoes. Looking at the incessant leaks inside the shack, she climbed onto the wooden bed, put her only pair of battered shoes into her space's Stasis Zone, found a dry spot on the bed, and slipped into the potato field in her space.

She cleared a spot and, after some effort, barely managed to make somewhere she could lie down. She ate a hot potato, her first proper bite of food since coming here. Never had potatoes tasted so good. Only after eating and drinking her fill did she close her eyes and fall asleep.

It was frighteningly quiet inside the space. She had stayed in her space before, but never for too long. Although the things it produced were good, its magnetic field differed from the outside world's. Staying alone in there for too long felt oppressive.

But now, in this wasteland world, she thought this quiet world was quite nice. At least the temperature always stayed around twenty degrees, warm and comfortable, like heaven.

Because of the downpour, the shack was damp, and when the wind blew, it was cold too. Other than what she had on, she had no clothes left.

Perhaps she had been too exhausted during the day, because she slept very deeply. When she woke, she felt her energy and strength had both recovered. Thinking she should still go out and take a look, she left her space and found herself still on the wooden bed. The shack was leaking, a pool of water had already formed on the ground, and half the bed was dry.

There was nowhere to put her feet. She pulled open a gap in the shack by the head of the bed and looked outside. Several neighboring families' shacks had already collapsed.

She could faintly hear their shouts as they tried to prop their collapsed shacks back up while wearing raincoats.

After falling for a whole day, the rain finally stopped for a while.

Unfortunately, someone came knocking on her wooden door just then.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Luoluo, I know you're home. It's Auntie Wang from next door."

"Open the door. I have something to tell you."

Sang Luoluo sat on the bed and narrowed her eyes. What could she possibly have to say at a time like this? Surely she was up to no good.

Glancing at the shack roof still leaking overhead, she put on her shoes and, ignoring the acid rain's corrosion, went to open the door. She put on a slightly surprised look. "Auntie Wang, what brings you here? You came at just the right time. Auntie Wang, my house was robbed. Yesterday, I went gathering with the base's convoy. Not only did I fail to find anything to eat, but when I came back, everything at home had been stolen. That thief even stole the waterproofing material off my shack."

"My place has been leaking all night. Auntie Wang, do you have any food left? Could you give me a little first? Once I find food, I'll pay you back."

Hearing this, Auntie Wang immediately refused, looking troubled. "Luoluo, we're out of food too. With so many mouths to feed in my family, we don't even know if we can make it through the next couple of days."

As she spoke, she glanced inside. The leaking water had practically turned the shack into a river. The girl's feet were soaking in water, and the roof was still leaking. Looking at it now, it was worse than her own family's shack. At least theirs could still be used once they propped it back up.

Not only that, but her home was completely empty. Even the cooking pot on the stove was gone. It looked as though she really had been robbed.

"Well, Luoluo, you'd better think of something else. My family's shack collapsed. I need to hurry home and fix it."

Sang Luoluo dropped her aggrieved expression and breathed a sigh of relief. In such harsh conditions, without food, people might even eat one another. Her home had only been robbed for now. No one knew what things would be like after the downpour.

According to her wristwatch's notice, the rain would pause for two hours.

The shantytown's trading spot was not too far away. She decided to go out and have a look, shouldering her basket. She would also ask how much it cost to rent a place in the safe zone.

Pulling the door shut, she jogged toward the trading spot.

She found the shop where she had bought nearly expired nutrient solution last time. The owner was an elderly man whose family ran a secondhand shop in the shantytown. They bought and sold everything. Even some black-market goods could be found here, though the prices were a little higher. While his shop did not have as much stock as the shops inside the safe zone, it had all the essentials.

Having met Sang Luoluo once, he remembered her. The white-haired old man looked over through old-fashioned glasses and greeted her first. "Back again, little girl? What are you buying this time?"

Sang Luoluo asked, "Do you still have any nearly expired nutrient solution?"

Without even lifting his eyelids, the white-haired old man said, "Yes, but the price has gone up because of the downpour. Four points a vial for the nearly expired ones, five for the regular ones."

Sang Luoluo hesitated for a moment. The old man took it to mean she could not afford them and did not hurry her. He had seen plenty of people like that. If they could not afford anything, they would leave on their own.

Sang Luoluo went on to ask, "Then how much do you pay for medium-radiation plants? And what about low-radiation plants?"

The old man did not grow impatient with her questions. What if she had some? In business, harmony brought wealth. You must never offend anyone beyond repair. Who knew whether someone might suddenly strike it rich? Especially in the wasteland, anything was possible.

Clearing his throat, the old man explained, "For medium-radiation plants, those with radiation levels above 45 and below 60 go for five points per jin. Above 30 and below 45, ten points per jin. For low-radiation ones, anything above 10 goes for twenty per jin. Below 10, fifty per jin. Below 5, a hundred points per jin."

Sang Luoluo's eyes lit up, and she continued, "I have some edible plants here."

There had always been plenty of people coming to sell mutated plants.

The old man was used to it.

Sang Luoluo took a large morning glory flower and two large flower buds out of her basket full of weeds and placed them on the counter.

Then she pulled out two gigantic potatoes, which she had just taken from her space. She wanted to earn more points. Even going to the safe zone now to lie low for a while would be good.

Chapter 7: The value of a rice-grain crystal core: Renting a place, how she missed those lavish fish...

The old man took out a testing device and began testing the items.

First was the morning glory flower, which was the size of two palms. It looked big, but weighed only about two liang, with a radiation level of 48.

The flower buds were heavier. The first actually had a radiation level of only 27 and weighed two jin. The second weighed two and a half jin and had a medium radiation level of 57.

Then he moved on to the two large potatoes. They were the biggest and heaviest of all these foods, with a single one weighing three jin, yet their radiation level was actually zero.

The old man thought he had made a mistake and switched to another detector to test them again. Their radiation level was still zero.

"Where did you..." Realizing his voice was a little loud, the old man checked that no one was outside and lowered his voice. "Girl, I've never seen food with zero radiation before. I pay a hundred points per jin for anything below a radiation level of five. I'll add ten to that price for you. If you get any more food like this, can you bring it all to me?"

He had heard that only the higher-ups in the safe zone got to eat food with zero radiation. They had possessed private growing bases since the wasteland first began, and the seeds they had kept were free of radiation and pollution. Production was extremely low, and only the wealthy could afford it. Though he did not know where this girl had gotten it, he would have no trouble selling it. He might even make a hefty profit.

Sang Luoluo nodded. She could accept that price.

The two potatoes weighed six jin and seven liang in total.

The old man showed Sang Luoluo his test results and pushed up his glasses. "You've seen everything. Let me calculate the points for you."

The morning glory flower and two flower buds came to just 53.5 points. With the potatoes, the total was 790.5 points.

This was the first time the shopkeeper had bought food with zero radiation, so he simply rounded off the small change and transferred 791 points to Sang Luoluo.

Sang Luoluo immediately felt more confident now that she had points.

The old man hurriedly put the goods away and said happily, "Girl, you're quite lucky. The food most people gather doesn't have radiation levels this low."

Sang Luoluo gave a couple of dry chuckles, then asked, "Sir, actually, I have something else here. Would you buy it?"

The old man tapped the sign overhead, "Complete Secondhand Recycling," and said, "Whatever you want to sell, just take it out. I've been running this shop for over twenty years. You can rest assured about my reputation. I won't disclose my customers' private information."

Sang Luoluo took a little cloth pouch out of her basket and fished around in its corner until she finally pulled out that "grain of rice."