Reborn in the end of the world, I scavenged in the empty city and bought for free

Gu Tongwan brought some braised offal to Aunt Man, including pig stomach, pig intestines, and some other parts of pork, such as pig trotters and pig faces.

In fact, this time she brought it over to discuss cooperation with the lady boss. She thought that her fruit and vegetable store had limited space and staff, and that cooked food products could not and should not be kept in the store all the time. Her ultimate goal was to sell the vegetables stockpiled in the space.

The proprietress's guesthouse already has a restaurant, so she can supply a small amount of cooked food. Of course, the price can be customized to be slightly higher. After all, people who can go to the restaurant to eat are not too poor financially.

There are more than ten pounds of various meats hanging in front of the small turtle cart, and some soup in a bag. The better parts are reserved for them to eat, and the worse parts can be added to the restaurant menu. As for the price, it is up to the proprietress to decide according to the situation in the store. Gu Tongwan plans to negotiate the price of about ten pounds of braised meat with the proprietress at a price 30% higher than the market price.

The current market price of braised meat made from mutated pork is 150 points per catty, and the price of dried meat and bacon is about 180 points per catty. Gu Tongwan plans to sell the braised meat for 200 points per catty, so he can earn a total of 2,000 points for ten catties of meat. However, these meats are all scraps from not-so-good parts, and they are also mutated pork, so this price is profitable.

The weather has gradually turned cooler during this period, with the temperature reaching around 20 degrees Celsius at noon. However, the midday sun is not very strong. Sometimes the whole sky is gloomy, but there is no sign of rain.

The daily updated weather forecast from the Meteorological Bureau only mentions that the temperature may drop sharply to more than ten degrees in the next week. If this temperature continues, it is likely that winter will come within half a month or even a week.

Although Jiangcheng is a southern city, the temperature is relatively cold and humid. It is particularly unbearable in winter every year. The high humidity makes it easy for the south wind to return. There are a lot of middle-aged and elderly people here suffering from rheumatic leg pain, and most homes have dehumidifiers. Many northerners are accustomed to the low temperature of minus 23 degrees Celsius, but when they first come to Jiangcheng, they are discouraged by the damp and cold temperatures of three or four degrees Celsius in winter. The cold here is not like the dry cold in the north. The cold in the north is like a cold knife hitting the skin and causing pain, while the cold in the south is like a bone-melting palm, which penetrates into the body little by little, and finally makes people so cold that they can't keep warm even if they hide in the quilt.

She still remembered that in her previous life, to make matters worse, when the extreme cold came, she was kicked out of the rescue center because she was accused of stealing supplies. It happened to snow in Jiangcheng at that time, and the snow melted by noon. The snow and frost on her body all turned into water, and the only cotton coat she had left on her body also became wet. Not only did it not keep her warm, but it made her even colder.

It was probably the unprecedented extreme cold a few years ago that made humans experience unprecedented fear. In the years when the extreme cold came, the global population decreased by at least one-tenth. Compared with the extreme heat and earthquakes, the extreme cold gave people a more direct and more desperate despair. Therefore, as soon as the temperature dropped a little, some shops in the commercial street and the outer circle were already thinking of ways to do charcoal business.

Most of the charcoal is obtained by burning a certain kind of pine branches produced in the big forests in the north. The characteristic of this kind of charcoal is that it is durable and can burn 1-1.5 times longer than ordinary charcoal. The price is reasonable. It is usually sold for points per catty. Basically, a catty is enough for a family a day. Even so, many families cannot afford it or are reluctant to spend the money. They would rather go to the big forests in the north to cut down trees when the weather is slightly better.

Most of the plants in the north have been alienated. As long as the felled trees are not uprooted, it usually only takes 4-6 cycles to grow into 1-2 year old trees. In three months, you can get a seven or eight meter tall tree. There is basically no worry about the damage to the forest ecology caused by excessive felling. In order to be careful about the large forests in the north spreading to both sides, the base even encourages base residents to form groups to go to the safe areas of the forest for appropriate felling.

The charcoal vendors in the base saw the shortage of charcoal in the market and seized the business opportunity, and even set up a professional felling team to work in the forest.

This kind of charcoal is only sold in the shops slightly closer to the outer circle in the inner circle. After all, most people in the inner circle already use small kitchen appliances, or at least have gas. It is not allowed to make fires for cooking in the community, unless you have your own independent courtyard like Gu Tongwan. In general residential areas, burning things indoors is not allowed due to fire hazards. However, it is possible to burn charcoal secretly at home, but it is easy to cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Gu Tongwan had already told the landlady in advance that he would come over. After lunch, the landlady turned on the TV in the living room to watch an old movie.

After the last terrorist attack, the guesthouse was closed for several weeks and only resumed operations the day before yesterday.

The old couple living upstairs has become unusually noisy recently, especially the old woman who always looks angry when she goes downstairs, and the old man frowns all day and no one knows what he is thinking. Not only that, more and more people have been coming in and out of the guesthouse recently, mostly middle-aged men in their thirties and forties, and they all go straight to the old woman's room, but they come out very quickly every time, going downstairs in about ten minutes, and every time those people say they are relatives of the old lady, such as the old lady's nephew, niece, and some claim to be her little cousin. About three different people came within a week.

Originally, the proprietress thought that the old woman was behaving abnormally, but last time she passed by her door and stayed for several minutes.

There were only intermittent conversations in the room, but there was no way of knowing what was said specifically. Moreover, the landlady took a distant glance at the room when the couple went out, and the room was dark and it seemed as if the lights were never on.

But these were not the things that the landlady found strange. What puzzled her the most was that the old couple said at first that they moved out to avoid causing trouble to their family, but some time ago the old man let slip that his only son had died in the extreme cold in the second year of the apocalypse. Later, the landlady asked the old woman, and she said that her husband was old and had a memory disorder, and that it was not their son who died in the extreme cold but their godson.

In addition, the old couple never let anyone in to clean. The guesthouse usually clears the garbage at 10:30 a.m. every day, but the old couple has never let Xiaoli and Lan Cen in since they moved in. They even vaguely told the landlady that they needed an independent space, and repeatedly emphasized that no one was allowed to enter when they were out.

If the landlady had not firmly opposed them changing the locks, she would not have discovered what happened later. Of course, these are just later stories for now.

When Gu Tongwan rode out on his scooter, he found that the shops on both sides of the streets in the outer circle had already hung out winter coats and supplies, thermal underwear, various heaters, and even hand warmers that could be filled with water.

It is already mid-January. Under normal circumstances, winter would have already arrived and the weather would have been relatively cold. However, the temperature in China is currently constant. Even in the coldest northern part, the temperature is only minus 10 degrees Celsius, which is a huge difference from the minus 40 degrees Celsius in the coldest times of previous years.

Even so, most people are still afraid of extreme cold. Since December, many vendors have been planning to prepare various cold-resistant products to ensure sufficient supply and make a fortune when the cold winter comes.

Gu Tongwan stopped and asked specifically. Ordinary charcoal is still 15 points per pound, but the better lychee and pine charcoal are sold at 25 and 30 points per pound respectively. However, the slightly more expensive charcoal is not only more durable but also produces less smoke, making it more suitable for burning indoors.

Gu Tongwan also saw various insulation products, such as thermos bottles, blankets, insulation lunch boxes and even second-hand electric blankets were on sale, but the prices were relatively expensive. A second-hand electric blanket with a specification of 90*150CM cost nearly points, which was equivalent to one and a half months' salary for residents in the outer circle.

However, these products are currently stored in her own space warehouse. When she was shopping for free in the department store, she went on a shopping spree and also bought a batch of cold-resistant products online. She bought nearly 5,000 disposable hot packs of pads alone. She was completely afraid of the bone-chilling pain during extreme cold.

After driving for nearly forty minutes, the electric car finally arrived at the long-awaited guesthouse. At this time, a new rental advertisement had been hung outside the guesthouse. A single-day stay was 30 points per day, and the monthly rent was 450 points excluding accommodation and board. The monthly rent including accommodation and two meals was 650 points.

The price is about the same as before, without a big price increase. The exterior wall is painted with a new layer of paint. Xiaoli told me that the exterior wall was severely corroded during the acid rain period. The proprietress was worried that it would affect the rental of the guest rooms, so she specially bought new paint and had it repainted. Even the roof, doors and windows were replaced with materials that are resistant to strong acid corrosion at a high price.

"Wanwan, I haven't seen you for a while. Why do I feel that you have become more and more beautiful?" The proprietress praised Gu Tongwan as soon as she saw her, with a smile on her face.

"Aunt Man, you are becoming more and more beautiful." Gu Tongwan pushed the car into the yard and replied with a smile.

The lady boss certainly liked to be praised. Her smile became brighter and brighter. When she saw the bag in her hand, she immediately took it and said, "Is this the braised meat you brought? Let me see it."

The braised meat was still a little warm and felt very warm to the touch. The proprietress only opened the door a little and a strong spicy smell rushed into her nose. The next moment, she immediately raised her voice and said, "Xiao Li, go to the kitchen and get a small chopping board and a plate."

Because it was past dinner time, there was no one else in the restaurant, so a few people simply sat around the table.

Xiaoli quickly brought over a chopping board, a knife and a large plate.

The proprietress carefully opened the bag, and the aroma immediately came out. The aroma of Sichuan pepper, Sichuan pepper and meat was so well combined that it made the greed in my stomach almost come out.

"Auntie Man, hurry up, I'm greedy." Lan Cen, who has always been calm and reserved, couldn't help but urge her, his eyes fixed on the piece of meat in front of him.

"Aunt, don't wait, hurry up." Xiaoli bit her lip, her face full of impatience.

The lady boss was really angry and amused, "You two little greedy cats, when we were stewing meat in the store before, you refused to eat more than one bite, but now you are staring at me eagerly when I bring Wanwan here. If you don't know, you might think I'm mistreating you two and not giving you any food."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li immediately protested, "That's not the same. Can the meat made by Uncle Zhang in the store be called braised pork? The meat is very smelly, and it only tastes salty and a little spicy. It can't suppress the taste of the mutant pork at all. I can't eat it anyway. I want to vomit if I eat it."

Lan Cen beside him also nodded: "The smell is a bit strong. It's okay for stir-frying, but it's really not suitable for braising. People who come to the restaurant to eat don't like to order braised meat. The last time Uncle Zhang braised it, there are still five or six pounds frozen in the refrigerator."

"Alright, alright... Don't let Uncle Zhang hear this, or else no one will make delicious food for you in the future." Then he paused again, and lowered his voice gradually: "But the braised meat last time was really bad, I couldn't eat it, and I wasted a lot of good meat."

The proprietress took out a piece of braised meat weighing about two pounds. This piece of meat was close to the pig's back, which she had specially separated. Before coming, she told the proprietress that the slightly inferior meat in the black plastic bag was specially supplied to the restaurant, and the meat in the yellow plastic bag was specially brought for them to eat, especially because there were a lot of braised pig stomach and pig tongue, which were particularly good parts.

The pork in the black plastic bag is not particularly good meat and is also mutated pork purchased from the meat processing plant, so the taste is stronger, but after being stewed with rich spices, the taste can be reduced by 70% to 80%.

There was a large plate full of meat. Xiaoli and Lan Cen couldn't wait to grab a piece and put it in their mouths. The spicy taste immediately stimulated their taste buds, followed by the aroma of fresh and juicy meat.

"Wonderful, Wanwan, your cooking skills are really amazing. If your house wasn't so far away, I really want to go there to eat every day." Xiaoli shook her head while eating, her face filled with happiness.

The proprietress thought to herself, is it really that exaggerated? So she pinched a piece and tasted it. She couldn't stop eating it. She pinched five or six pieces and put them in her mouth before opening another bag. The meat in the bag looked similar, so she cut a small piece and tasted it carefully. This time, surprise flashed across her eyes.

If the meat just now still had a bit of the strange smell of mutant meat, then the braised meat in the yellow bag was 100% pork aroma. She had also been to many restaurants to try it, and this was the first time she had eaten a restaurant that could completely deal with the special smell of mutant pork. Of course, she didn't know that what she was eating was actually non-mutated pork.

The proprietress immediately decided to cooperate with Gu Tongwan, but Gu Tongwan had said before that the braised meat could not be supplied for a long time, and only about ten kilograms could be supplied per month. As for how to distribute it, it was up to the proprietress to decide.

In fact, the proprietress wanted to eat all the meat herself, but Gu Tongwan smiled and said, "It's not very good meat. If you really want to eat it, I'll give you some spices. You can ask Uncle Zhang to cook it. The stewed meat will definitely be better than mine."

Just after the cooperation was finalized, a middle-aged man walked in hurriedly from outside the door. He seemed to smell the aroma of meat, and followed the smell to turn his gaze towards the restaurant. After seeing Gu Tongwan's appearance, his eyes paused, as if he saw something rare, and his eyes gradually became delighted.