Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 345 Eastern Island Specialties, Extravagant Spending of Money

After eating their dry rations, Lu Xi'an carried the rattan box he had just harvested the day before, put the dog, a pack of cigarettes, and a bottle of liquor inside, and then, carrying the diesel generator, followed Hu Xiaodong with Yao Wei to the morning market.

This rattan box is indeed sturdy and useful. Putting the dog inside not only frees up my hands but also reduces its conspicuousness.

After communicating with Hu Xiaodong yesterday, Lu Xi'an confirmed that the purchasing power for cigarettes and alcohol on this East Island is astonishing.

Especially cigarettes, which are probably hard to find on this island these days. They might not even be able to find alcohol at the morning market. Lu Xi'an kept them just in case.

He even opened a pack of cigarettes and put a pack of loose cigarettes in his pocket, so that he could take out just one cigarette when he reached into his pocket, instead of taking out a whole pack at once, which would be too conspicuous.

Having walked halfway along yesterday's route, Hu Xiaodong greeted everyone many more times—

Early in the morning, people were already out working in the fields. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had heard some noises when they were exercising on the boat. Now, seeing them working with their faces to the soil and their backs to the sky, even when they were greeting Hu Xiaodong, they didn't stop for a moment.

"It's really hard work."

Lu Xi'an said something.

Yao Wei said, "At least we live better than people in other places."

"Too."

Lu Xi'an nodded. At least the people here are self-sufficient and work for themselves, while most people in other places are busy in the fields, producing things that they can't even enjoy themselves; they are all new humans.

The type 1 gene mutation that ordinary people acquired in order to survive in harsh environments has now become one of the basic tools that the new humans use to exploit them.

There's an upward slope at the innermost side. Hu Xiaodong pointed to the slope and said, "Go this way, go up this way. Let's go straight to the third level—the middle level. The morning market is right there."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei followed Hu Xiaodong up the slope, asking as they climbed, "Are you also going to the morning market to sell things?"

Hu Xiaodong smiled with a hint of pride and replied, "We don't need it. Our sweet water is already famous. People who want water come directly to our house to buy it; they don't need to squeeze into the morning market."

"There are many others, such as blacksmiths, potters, and carpenters, who don't need to go to the morning market. However, the potter's family lives right next to the morning market, and the blacksmith's family lives right next to the morning market as well."

"Blacksmith, potter?"

Lu Xi'an became interested in these two families. "What can they do? Are there people on your East Island who can make pottery and blacksmiths?"

"Yes."

Hu Xiaodong replied, "The potter's family is surnamed Tao, so we've always called them the potter's family."

"I heard that a long time ago, our ancestors from Dongdao came to the island and each of them divided up the land to live on. After the potter finished farming, they wanted to do other business. Someone said, 'Your surname is Tao, why don't you try making pottery bowls and pottery pots?'"

"The potter's family really tried it, and after a long time of trial and error, they even went to ask others for advice before they finally succeeded."

"Now every household on our island has ceramic bowls, pots, cups and basins, all made by pottery craftsmen."

"—He's looking for the person I mentioned before, the one who got the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and barley that's currently growing on our East Island."

"That's it."

Lu Xi'an nodded and asked, "What about the blacksmith's family? Could it be that their surname is also Tie?"

Hu Xiaodong said, "That's not it. The blacksmith's family is surnamed Yuan, and the current head of the family is named Yuan Jianshui. All of their family names contain the character for water. They say that they have been dealing with fire for generations, so they must be lacking the element of water in their five elements, hence the water element in their names."

"But we all like to call Yuan Jianshui 'Old Iron Yuan'."

"When his family first built the stove, they also consulted others. At that time, his ancestor was the strongest and most robust, so he started building this."

"However, there isn't much iron on our island, and his family can't get much either. They can only make some farm tools and kitchen utensils."

"Moreover, these days it's basically all custom work. If someone's stuff is no longer usable, we take it to their shop, melt it down, and reforge it."

Lu Xi'an nodded. In that case, the chances of getting anything from the blacksmith would be much smaller. But going to the potter might be a better option.

Get a set of ceramic bowls, pots, cups, and basins; you can use them all in the future.

As they spoke, they had already reached the second floor, and the slope to the third floor was right in front of them. If viewed from outside the island, the slope between the first and second floors would appear as a large zigzag.

The same applies to going further up.

"here."

Hu Xiaodong said something and led Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei across the field ridges. Naturally, he also greeted the people in the fields on both sides and gave a brief introduction to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

There was a clever person in the field who immediately understood: "Big Hu, when you bought grain earlier, was it for someone else?"

Hu Xiaodong said, "Yes. Who knows, we might have to buy a lot more in the future."

The people in the field laughed and said, "Then we'd better work harder and plant more potatoes/sweet potatoes/barley."

Perhaps because they had lived on this island for many years, isolated from the world, they were only curious about Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, two new humans who were clearly different from others, but did not have much fear of them.

Perhaps among the people on this island, only Hu Xiaodong and his son Hu Dong, who would venture out to live outside the island and have some understanding of the power and behavior of the new humans, would be afraid of Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi'an smiled and replied, "It's a deal. You plant well, and I'll prioritize buying your crops."

The three walked across the ridge and up the slope. After walking for a while, they finally reached the third floor.

At this moment, Hu Xiaodong was slightly out of breath, while Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were perfectly fine.

Hu Xiaodong took a couple of deep breaths and pointed east, saying, "Look, that's the morning market. The goods are already set up. We have both a morning market and a night market here. The morning market is open every day, but the night market is only open after the tide recedes, around the time of the full moon."

"Compared to the morning market, the night market has more to offer. If you two would like to take a look, you can stay on the island for a while longer."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both looked east and saw that it had become a market. The houses on both sides had been covered with awnings, and in front of the awnings, stalls of all sizes were scattered and filled with goods.

People came and went in the market, and people continued to gather from above, below, left, and right outside the market, heading into it.

Although the crowds weren't as dense as in the popular spots of my previous life, it was still quite lively.

Lu Xi'an became interested, took Yao Wei's hand, and said, "Come on, let's go shopping."

"Ah."

Yao Wei agreed and let Lu Xi'an pull her along.

Hu Xiaodong followed, his eyes stinging with tears. He rarely saw anyone like this on the island; these two new people suddenly seemed so enviable.

As they walked into the market, they found that there were breakfast stalls, snack stalls, and general merchandise stalls, all kinds of things, just like the markets Lu Xi'an had seen in his previous life.

"We'll keep an eye on things ourselves. If you see anything good, please let us know."

When Lu Xi'an led Yao Wei into the market, he told Hu Xiaodong.

Hu Xiaodong quickly nodded and agreed, "Oh, okay."

The two quickly found a stall that interested them.

The stall was connected to the house in the back row, with a awning set up in the window and two tables and chairs placed outside.

Someone was sitting at a table and chair, eating a bowl of meat soup. The soup was milky white and looked very appetizing.

None of the shops here have signs, but Hu Xiaodong explained: "This is Hao Family Pig Soup."

"His family and Old Zhu's family—the ones who sell pigs on the island—have a partnership, so they can get pork and offal cheaply."

"This pork soup is expensive; we usually can't afford to drink it. The person drinking the soup is also a member of the committee."

The committee member had just finished his soup, stood up, wiped his sweat, turned around and saw Lu Xi'an and the other two, and said, "These two... I've never seen them before."

Hu Xiaodong quickly explained, "Committee Member Yang, this person came from the west side of Caiyang Mountain to buy things here."

Committee Member Yang frowned and asked again, "Did you bring this up? Did you report it to the authorities?"

Hu Xiaodong hurriedly replied, "No, but they are good people and there is no danger. I can guarantee that. I will go and complete the filing later."

"Ah."

Committee Member Yang agreed and left.

After he left, Hu Xiaodong curled his lip in disdain and whispered to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, "Listen to what he said! He's in charge of the reporting department. If you report to him, he definitely won't agree!"
"If he agrees, and someone comes to the island and something happens, he'll definitely be held responsible."

“It’s absolutely impossible for him. Everyone on the committee would refuse. In all these years, apart from the two of you, no outsider has been able to come to our island. Firstly, no one can find this place, and secondly, they won’t approve it.”

Lu Xi'an said, "That's really troubling you, putting us in this responsibility and taking the risk."

Hu Xiaodong said, "It's alright. You two are good people. Who knows more about this than me? Besides, my reporting it later is just a matter of giving him a little more water."

“Anyway, I have to send him off every month when I leave the island.”

Goodness, there are no new humans on this island, yet this still happens.

Lu Xi'an took out two cigarettes and handed them to Hu Xiaodong, saying, "Here you go. I didn't know you were in charge of this beforehand, but now that I do, I can't let you take it for nothing."

Hu Xiaodong repeatedly said, "How can I be embarrassed?" But he couldn't bear to part with the two cigarettes, so he reluctantly accepted them in the end.

Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei and Hu Xiaodong to sit down on the benches outside the pork soup stall. He took the rattan box off his back, put it on the table, and called out, "Boss, three bowls of pork soup, please."

Hu Xiaodong quickly declined, saying it wasn't necessary, but Lu Xi'an told him not to worry about it.

He only asked Hu Xiaodongxi one question: was it more appropriate to exchange the pork soup for cigarettes or to buy it with small coins?

Hu Xiaodong said that a cigarette could buy at least ten bowls of pork soup, since it was a fine cigarette and not cheap.

So Lu Xi'an paid for the pork soup with coins.

The owner of the pork soup shop was also acquainted with Hu Xiaodong. When he took the money and brought out the pork soup, he greeted Hu Xiaodong and exchanged a few pleasantries.

After exchanging pleasantries, Hu Xiaodong asked the owner of the pork soup shop, "Old Hao, could you give me a bowl? I'll keep half of it and take it back for my son, Hu Xiaodong, to try. I'll bring the bowl back to you afterwards."

It seems that this pork soup is indeed a luxury for him; he usually can't bear to eat it. Now that he has something to eat, he's still thinking about his grandson at home.

Seeing this, Lu Xi'an took out a few more small coins and said, "You go ahead and eat. Boss, prepare another bowl of pork soup. We'll come back for it when we leave."

Hu Xiaodong was immediately moved and said, "You two... are truly kind people!"

Lu Xi'an suddenly felt a thrill of being a nouveau riche throwing money around.

(End of this chapter)