Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

His gaze lingered for a moment on the two backpacks, their zippers practically bursting open.

He glanced again at the sack in Xu Xiaoyan's hand and the "sausage bundle" tied with a sleeve in Lan Yue's arms.

And the two men's shoulders, reddened by the backpack straps, their collars soaked with sweat, and a genuine look of astonishment gradually rising in their eyes.

"You're carrying all this stuff to exchange?" He walked around the counter, took two steps forward, and asked cautiously, "May I ask what's inside?"

As soon as he asked the question, the people who had followed him in fell silent, and a dozen pairs of eyes all turned to the two girls.

Even the staff who were organizing the documents stopped what they were doing and quietly pricked up their ears, making the entire trading point quiet for a moment.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't beat around the bush. She put the heavy bag in her arms on the counter, unzipped it slightly, and a fresh and rich scent of pine resin immediately filled the air.

She raised her head, her gaze calmly meeting the staff member's, and said in a soft but clear voice, "pine resin."

Before the other party could ask further questions, she added, speaking slowly, as if reciting a pre-prepared explanation:

"It has the effects of promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and promoting wound healing."

After she finished speaking, the entire trading area fell silent for a moment.

The unique aroma of pine resin spread quickly in the damp evening air, and someone among the onlookers couldn't help but take a deep breath and mutter, "It smells so good."

Several staff members behind the counter peeked out, their eyes falling on the half-open bag.

The brownish-yellow pine resin chunks gleamed warmly under the light; some were crystal clear, while others were as deep as honey, clearly freshly scraped from the tree.

The middle-aged male staff member who asked the question suddenly lit up. He subconsciously reached out his hand, but before his fingertips even touched the resin, he withdrew it, as if afraid of damaging it.

He glanced quickly at Xu Xiaoyan, then at the bulging bags in Lan Yue's arms, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Please wait a moment, both of you." His voice was a little tighter than before, with barely suppressed urgency. "I can't make that decision myself; I have to ask my superiors."

Before he finished speaking, he had already turned around, pulled out a communicator from under the counter, strode to a corner, turned his back, and dialed a number.

His voice was very low, but the hall was empty, and the fragmented words still drifted over:

"Yes, resin... lots... I'm sure, yes, that kind... Okay, okay, I understand..."

The group of people who had been following them all the way began to stir.

Someone whispered to the person next to them, "What is pine resin? Is it valuable?"

The man didn't know much either, and vaguely said, "Judging from its effects, it seems to be a medicinal herb?"

Another person chimed in, "How much can we get in exchange? Wouldn't it be more profitable than logging?"

Less than two minutes later, the staff member hung up the phone and quickly walked back to the counter.

He cleared his throat, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two faces before he spoke, his voice carrying a decisive, succinct quality:

"With special approval, the higher-ups agreed to price it on a one-to-one weight basis. To put it simply," he paused for a moment, "one pound of pine resin for one pound of compressed biscuits."

Someone in the crowd gasped.

Ignoring the surrounding noise, the staff member fixed their gaze on Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue, asking earnestly and solemnly, "What do you two think?"

Xu Xiaoyan didn't nod immediately, but turned her head to look at Lan Yue, who was pursing her lips and frowning slightly, clearly also calculating quickly.

Their eyes met briefly in mid-air, and Lan Yue nodded vigorously without hesitation.

So Xu Xiaoyan turned around and said to the staff, "Okay, but taking so many compressed biscuits at once is really too conspicuous."

She paused, glanced at the crowd of onlookers craning their necks behind her, and lowered her voice, but it was still clear, "I wonder if there are any other ways to calculate the bill?"

The staff member, clearly not encountering this concern for the first time, gave a "you've come to the right person" look, nodded, and said in a light tone:

"Yes, we are now launching a personal points system. One point is awarded for each compressed biscuit. The individual can check and use the points at any trading point. The points are valid indefinitely and can be redeemed at any time."

After listening, Xu Xiaoyan understood.

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Then I only need to collect ten compressed biscuits, and exchange the rest for points."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lan Yue chimed in, "I'm the same as her, I'll take ten yuan and exchange the rest for points."

The staff member responded and turned to call over a colleague to help with the counting.

Two female clerks put on gloves and carefully took out the pieces of pine resin from the bag one by one, placing them on the platform scale to weigh them one by one.

The crowd unconsciously surged forward a few steps, craning their necks to look inside, some even muttering and counting to themselves.

"The first bag weighs thirty-six jin."

"The second bag weighs 28 jin."

"The third bag..."

The numbers on the scale jumped higher and higher, each time a number was announced, it drew a low gasp of surprise.

The sweet scent of pine resin grew stronger and stronger in the air, mingling with the sultry humidity of the evening, making one feel dizzy, yet unwilling to move away.

The final result is in.

The female clerk in charge of weighing the items read the numbers aloud with a hint of disbelief in her voice:

"Comrade Xu Xiaoyan, the total weight of the pine resin you brought is 102 jin, which is equivalent to 1021 points."

After deducting the ten compressed biscuits I just received, which is ten points, I have one thousand and eleven points left... Oh no, wait a minute."

She paused for a moment, recalculated, and blushed slightly.

"Sorry, I miscalculated. 102 jin equals 10020 points. Subtract 10 points, and you're left with 10012 points? No, no..."

The middle-aged male staff member next to him couldn't stand it anymore, so he came over, grabbed the calculator, and frantically pressed a few keys. He looked up and said:

"One hundred and two catties of pine resin, converted at a 1:1 ratio, can yield one hundred and two catties of compressed biscuits."

Each pound of compressed biscuits contains about eight pieces, which is equivalent to 816 points. If you take ten pieces, minus ten points, you're left with 806 points. How could you get this wrong?

The female clerk lowered her head in embarrassment.

Xu Xiaoyan frowned as she stood in front of the counter. It wasn't that she was particularly good at math, but the calculations weren't that difficult.

After a chaotic recalculation, the numbers were finally clarified:

Xu Xiaoyan's pine resin is worth a total of 816 points. She takes away 10 cookies, which deducts 10 points, leaving her with a final score of 806 points.

Blue Moon has 98 catties of pine resin, which is worth 784 points. After receiving ten biscuits, she has 774 points left.