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

When Gu Tongwan's car was heading towards Liao Yunyun's community, he found that the snow in front was so heavy that it completely blocked the alley that could have been used as a shortcut. As a result, he could no longer go to the east. He only had two choices. One was to take a long detour, which was equivalent to a long detour and would require at least seven or eight kilometers more. The second was to go west and go to other places first, and then go to Liao Yunyun's community when returning home.

After thinking about it, Gu Tongwan decided to change the order. This place was closest to Xu Hang's dormitory, only about four kilometers in a straight line, and it also passed by a farmer's market on the way. Maybe he could try his luck there to see if there were any supplies he needed.

Of course, the base wasn't in complete chaos yet, so it was impossible for her to get it for free. She just wanted to take a look since she was there. In fact, she wanted something else.

What she wanted was actually crystal cores. Since she had been to a "black shop" with Yan Fan last time, she had briefly discussed the situation with the shop owner. In this shop, not only can crystal cores be exchanged for "nutrients" that can be used for upgrades, but points can also be used to pay for crystal cores. This means that this shop not only sells crystal cores, but can also exchange crystal cores for other things. In fact, this shop is a secret trading place.

When I was chatting with the boss before, I heard that he lived on the second floor of the store. If I was lucky, the store might still be open. And since it's a business, there's no reason to refuse.

The car skidded several times on the road, and the snow on the road behind was getting deeper and deeper. The car had to slow down again and again. At around seven o'clock, everything around was completely shrouded in darkness. When the headlights shone over, only floating snowflakes could be seen. The snow was at least above the knees, and some paved steps could be seen completely covered by the snow. In just three or four days, so much snow had accumulated in the base. If it continued into the afternoon, the snow would only accumulate thicker and thicker, and the entire base would be completely covered in snow.

Due to the continuous snowstorms, the group of volunteers originally recruited were unable to carry out their work smoothly. In this weather, except for the Self-Defense Forces and Guard members who were on duty, and some people with special abilities, ordinary people did not dare to go out easily.

The heater in Gu Tongwan's car was turned on fully, but even so, a layer of frost had already formed on the windshield, and the cold and warm temperatures caused water to flow through the glass inside.

Gu Tongwan glanced at the road ahead. It seemed that there was no end in sight in the vast expanse of white, so he slightly increased the speed. Just as he turned the corner, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark object running by. The headlights illuminated the object clearly at that moment.

Although it was only a brief second or two, Gu Tongwan couldn't help but gasp when the thing appeared under the light.

It was more like a person than a monster. The only difference was that the skin all over his body seemed to have been torn off by someone, revealing the tender pink muscle texture. A pair of eyes were exposed under the scary skin. The moment he saw the car lights, his eyes were filled with fear, but he quickly ran in the other direction.

The man was only wearing a khaki windbreaker, was about 1.7 meters tall, and was thin, giving people a very depressing and eerie feeling. The strangest thing was that although the temperature outside was nearly minus 40 degrees Celsius, the man was only wearing a thin windbreaker and not even wearing shoes, but he could run freely in the snow as if he was not affected at all. This obviously exceeded the limit that the human body can withstand.

He ran very fast. It only took a short moment for him to run and disappear around the street corner in front of him.

Is this really a human being?

This question suddenly popped up in Gu Tongwang's mind, but seeing that person did not pose any threat to her from the time he appeared to the time he disappeared, otherwise the blood vine branches in her body would have reacted long ago.

Because it was just a matter of a moment, Gu Tongwan did not continue to investigate further. Instead, he stepped on the accelerator and continued driving forward.

It took us fifteen minutes to drive to the farmers' market. Although the thick snow had turned the surrounding buildings all white, if we were not familiar with the road conditions nearby, we would probably not be able to find the alley entrance.

Relying on his memory of previous visits, Gu Tongwan drove in smoothly. There used to be two pot-shaped stone lions standing outside the gate of the farmer's market. Now the stone lions were completely covered with snow and turned into two slightly raised snow piles. If you didn't pay close attention, you wouldn't be able to recognize that this was the gate.

Today's farmers' market has lost its former bustle. It is not only deserted but also seems a bit quiet. All the shops on both sides are closed, but occasionally one or two faint lights can be seen from a distance, which are probably from businesses living nearby.

Gu Tongwan quickly and carefully drove the car to the door of the black shop. The previous time he came, there were too many people and the car could not get in. But now there was not a single car in sight.

The door of the black shop was closed at this time, and the roller shutter outside was covered with snow, but from the little light shining through the curtains on the second floor, it could be inferred that there were people upstairs, which made Gu Tongwan feel happy. At least this special trip was not in vain.

Kong Tengfang was sitting by the stove, warming himself by the fire. The snowstorm had almost cut off his business source during this period. Kong Tengfang was really worried about whether he should go to the black market camp in a couple of days. At least that place was closer to the big forest in the north, and the black market had stockpiled a lot of charcoal before, so there must be sufficient supply there. What's more, his wife's relative was a small leader in the black market camp, and he could easily get thousands of kilograms of charcoal. If he could get a batch of charcoal during this period, he would definitely make a lot of money.

But it was not good to go out in the current weather. Kong Tengfang wrapped himself tightly in the quilt while smoking. He glanced at his wife who was preparing dinner and asked casually, "Don't eat soup made with compressed biscuits tonight. I've eaten it for three or four meals in a row, and every time I burp, I smell that smell."

Kong Tengfang's wife skillfully opened the package of compressed biscuits, put the crushed biscuits into boiling hot water, added some dehydrated vegetables, and then opened a can of meat, added the chopped meat, and added appropriate amount of oil and salt to season. In this way, a biscuit porridge was made.

The preparation of compressed biscuits is still common in the base, and even many similar dishes have been derived, such as compressed biscuit soup, compressed biscuit fried meat balls, biscuit syrup, biscuit pancakes, etc.

This method does taste better than eating compressed biscuits directly, but the wheat currently grown in the base does not taste good and does not have much malt aroma. Therefore, whether it is compressed biscuits or buns made of wheat flour, they will have a smell of their own. The smell is not bad, but it just does not taste sweet enough.

"If not this, what else can we eat? There are only compressed biscuits and rice left at home. You said that rice smells moldy and you don't want to eat it, so it's the compressed biscuits. There's still a little flour left, which is saved for the New Year. The New Year is less than a week away, and who knew the weather would change so quickly. I was thinking of going out to buy some meat." Kong Tengfang's wife complained while glancing at the empty closet. There were only two kilograms of flour and half a kilogram of rice in it, and there was only a small bag of dehydrated vegetables left. The bacon that was placed on the balcony was almost eaten up. Thinking about the pork elbows and dumplings that the family could eat during the New Year last year, I'm afraid that this year there won't even be dumplings to eat.

"How about we take some charcoal and exchange it for some canned meat from Wang Wu's family next door?" When Kong Tengfang heard that there was no vegetable at home, he thought of the fact that Wang Wu had been bragging in the mobile phone chat group a few days ago that he bought a pig before the extreme cold.

"I asked Wang Wu's wife, and she said that she had already distributed her pig to her relatives, so she doesn't have much meat left. Besides, she doesn't need charcoal. His brother-in-law owns a charcoal shop upstairs, so she has more charcoal than us."

Kong Tengfang took several puffs of his cigarette after hearing this. "What should I do? I can't eat these things anymore. I would rather eat white rice than compressed biscuits."

"Then I can't do anything about it. You figure out what to do." Kong Tengfang's wife put the cooked porridge on the coffee table, her face not looking good. In fact, she didn't like to eat these things, but her family was almost unable to make ends meet. Her relatives were all in the black market camp, and her mother's home was in a community at least seven or eight kilometers away from here. The couple usually traveled by motorcycle, but who dared to ride a motorcycle in a snowstorm outside? Isn't that courting death?

"What did your mother say? Didn't she buy dozens of kilograms of meat to have a good New Year? Ask her for some, and we'll send her some charcoal at the same time." Kong Tengfang thought of his mother-in-law who had called and said she wanted to send pork to their house. At that time, Kong Tengfang was too busy with business in the store to get away. The couple wanted to make more money, so they would be afraid of not being able to buy meat when they had money. So they declined the kindness on the phone. But who knew that in just a few days, the extreme cold weather would come, which not only cut off the business in Kong Tengfang's store, but also caused Kong Tengfang's family to be short of food.

Kong Tengfang's wife frowned when she thought about her family's situation. "You are dreaming. How dare you go out in such snow? And I called my mother today and she said that the road has been closed since this morning. Not to mention cars, even people can't get in."

"Close the road? Why are they closing the road for no reason? Did something happen over there?" Kong Tengfang looked up and wondered.

"How would I know? Anyway, the Self-Defense Forces contacted the property management and notified the owners in the group chat that the entire area was surrounded by roadblocks and fences, and there were also several levels of checkpoints. It was said that not only my mother's community, but also the roads outside several nearby communities were blocked."

The more Kong Tengfang listened, the more he felt something was not right. However, seeing his wife's confused look, he knew that he would not get any further information if he continued asking, so he could only suppress his doubts temporarily.

Kong Tengfang's wife didn't have the heart to continue arguing with her husband for the time being. When she picked up the dishes, she glanced out the window. Seeing that the blizzard was still raging, she couldn't help but sigh. She didn't know when the blizzard would stop.

The couple had just sat down to eat when a series of "bang bang bang" sounds made Kong Tengfang's wife look up in confusion, "It seems like someone is knocking on the door downstairs?"

"It's probably the sound of snow hitting the door. How could someone knock on the door at this time?" Kong Tengfang didn't take it seriously. Who would come to see him in such weather?

Originally, Kong Tengfang's wife had planned to ignore it, but the "bang bang" sound downstairs became louder and louder, and it could be felt that it was very urgent.

"No, I really feel like someone is knocking on the door. I'll go down and check." Putting down the chopsticks she had picked up, Kong Tengfang's wife took the flashlight and went downstairs without paying attention to her husband's expression.

The second floor of their house is connected to the shop on the first floor. There are two bedrooms and a living room upstairs, and a shop of more than 40 square meters downstairs. There is also a basement underneath, but the weather has been cold recently, so the basement has been idle.

However, Kong Tengfang's wife was cautious and did not open the door immediately. Instead, she waited until the knock on the door sounded again before asking, "Who is it?"

After about half a minute, no one answered. Just when Kong Tengfang's wife thought she had misheard, she vaguely heard a woman's voice coming from outside.

"I'm here to buy something. Is Mr. Kong here?"

At this time, Kong Tengfang, who was worried about his wife, also came downstairs and saw his wife opening the door. Sure enough, there was a thin person wearing a black coat standing outside the door. If you look closely, you can tell that this is a woman.

The woman came in, took off the hood of her down jacket, and looked at him with a pair of clear eyes, "Boss, I want to make a deal with you."

-----

after an hour

After taking several detours, we finally arrived at the first destination. After contacting Xu Hang in advance on the way, we found that Xu Hang was already waiting outside the community with two other friends.

Xu Hang and two other buddies from the Far-Flying Guild were shivering in the cold wind, and they wrapped themselves up like dumplings.

"Xu, Xu Hang, you asked us to accompany you downstairs, you are really a brother!" One of the brothers jumped and shivered, trying to gain body heat by moving his body.

"Shut up! Boss Gu is kind enough to send us something, you should just be content." Xu Hang glared at the guy who spoke, then jumped twice. The weather was really damn cold, but he endured it as he thought he would have to get the things later.

"By the way, are everything ready?" Xu Hang looked at another buddy who was squinting his eyes and looked like he was about to die of sleep.

The guy nodded and took out two crystal cores from his pocket. "Two B-level crystal cores and two C-level crystal cores. No problem."

After seeing the two crystal cores, another person couldn't help but ask, "Hey, Xu Hang, is it necessary to give the crystal cores to others?"

Xu Hang pursed his lips, frowned and said: "You know nothing. People came from thousands of miles away to send us gifts, we can't just accept them. Now they are giving us timely help, we should at least give something back, we can't always owe them."

"What on earth did the other party send us? Can she really come in such a severe snowstorm?"

"Just wait and see, you'll know. Why are you so anxious?" Xu Hang rolled his eyes at the two of them, looking at their useless appearance.

Just as a few people were talking, they saw two white spots of light shining towards them in the dark distance.