Chapter 61

Yaya entered the mutated leech den with an expression that Chuguang didn't pay much attention to.

However, when she appeared at the warehouse door with a large bag of mushrooms, her face was clearly filled with a dusty but joyful smile.

Seeing the bag stuffed with blue mushrooms, Chuguang's tone couldn't help but carry a hint of surprise.

"So many?"

Yaya, panting heavily, nodded vigorously and said with a grin.

"I went in three times! Almost got bitten, hehe."

Chuguang: "……"

Three times?!

That's too brave.

He wouldn't dare to do it.

After weighing, the bag of mushrooms totaled 70 kilograms.

This number far exceeded Chuguang's expectations.

According to his original estimate, he thought she could pick at most 40 to 50 kilograms, but she managed to get 70 kilograms.

"A total of 560 copper coins, equivalent to 56 silver coins. In addition, there are 700 contribution points..."

Am I giving too much?

Forget it.

After all, she risked her life to earn it.

Hearing the numbers from the manager, Yaya jumped up excitedly, waving her fists.

"Nice!"

"We're rich, hahaha!"

Chuguang: "……"

Although I'm an NPC, can you find a place where no one is to get excited?

A silver coin is less than 2 millimeters thick, and 50 coins bundled together are about 9 to 10 centimeters, which is just a drop in the ocean compared to the shelter's small treasury.

After receiving the reward, Yaya happily hummed a song and left, while Chuguang, standing at the warehouse door, stroked his chin and pondered.

Currently, the richest players are probably Lao Bai and Fang Chang, whose strength and understanding of the game are among the top tier of players.

They have been hunting for a while, almost figuring out the areas with the highest activity of nearby prey, and their daily income has increased from 52 silver coins to a maximum of 100 silver coins. Even though hunting income is unstable, they should have saved a considerable amount of money over the past few days.

For safety reasons, Chuguang checks the players' storage cabinets every day.

As expected, the Niu Ma team should be able to save up 200 silver coins today and pool their funds to buy the land closest to the respawn point.

Besides them, other players' savings are steadily increasing. Even with the expenses for purchasing wooden weapons, iron weapons, leather armor, winter coats, tools, and food, the player with the least savings still holds more than 10 silver coins.

"Perhaps I should update the 'bank' function."

This way, it will not only save players' storage space but also allow them to withdraw the silver coins they have saved.

The more Chuguang thought about it, the more he felt it made sense, and he immediately took out his little notebook and wrote it down.

When there's a chance, this function must be implemented!

……

While storing the mushrooms in the warehouse, Chuguang also took the opportunity to check the inventory.

Excluding the part used for trading with the merchants from Red River Town, the remaining smoked meat is close to 700 kilograms. After deducting daily consumption, about 100 to 200 kilograms can be stored daily, and most of it is contributed by the Niu Ma team.

Today is already the 20th.

If luck isn't too bad, by the end of the month, the inventory should be increased to 2000 kilograms. Taking out half of it to exchange for grains and potatoes, at least 5 tons can be obtained.

According to the daily consumption of 4 liang (160 grams) of meat and 7 liang (280 grams) of rice per person, 1000 kilograms of dried meat is enough for 100 people for 50 days, and 5 tons of grains is enough for 100 people for 142 days.

Of course, these are ideal conditions. A 20% deviation from the theoretical estimate is not uncommon, as food consumption is related to physical activity. More work means more hunger, and no work means one meal a day is fine.

"……If the closed beta test is to be expanded to 100 people, the theoretical estimated food storage must be doubled. Especially meat… it would be great if we could hunt in winter, but if we can't, it will be troublesome."

However, from another perspective, maybe we don't need so much food?

When it's too cold, not everyone needs to be online, and not even every day.

In hibernation mode, the clone body's consumption of resources is significantly reduced, and it can go up to 7 days without eating.

However, players might not be willing to stay offline for so long, and they will definitely complain on the official website.

But Chuguang has already thought of a solution: just say it's server maintenance.

Which server doesn't need maintenance?

This is reasonable.

Looking at the ledger in his hand, Chuguang was thinking about the future of the shelter when a player ran in from outside.

"Manager, there are natives here!"

Natives?

Chuguang, who had just moved his gaze from the ledger, was slightly stunned.

Sun Shiqi just left; he couldn't have come back, right?

Could it be someone else?

Handing the ledger back to the player serving as the warehouse manager, Chuguang asked the player who had reported to him.

"How many of them, and from which direction did they come?"

"From the south! Two men and a girl!"

South?

Hearing this direction, Chuguang had a pretty good idea who they were…

……

The south gate of the forward base.

The old man, with wrinkles on his face and wearing a fur coat, looked up at the concrete wall that was over a hundred meters wide, his cloudy eyes filled with shock and surprise.

The last time he came to Linghu Wetland Park was probably two years ago.

The scavengers from Bet Street mainly explored southward, and rarely went north along the elevated road out of the city, as they might encounter raiders who plundered passing merchant convoys.

As for Linghu Wetland Park, it was probably a blind spot that both scavengers and hunters would miss.

There were not many prey to hunt and not much trash to scavenge, so almost no survivors would deliberately visit this place.

He never expected that someone had built a survivor base in this forest!

Although the three-meter-high concrete wall looked a bit short, it was new and sturdy, providing a sense of security far beyond the patched-up wall in Bet Street.

Near the gate, some residents of the shelter, wearing blue coats, were standing.

The old man mustered his courage and called out.

"I am here to see your manager."

No one responded to him.

They just looked at him, whispering to each other in a somewhat impolite manner, and it was hard to tell whether their gazes were friendly or hostile.

It seemed…

More like simple curiosity?

"…Are you sure this is the place?"

The old man looked at his second son, his eyes filled with doubt.

Carrying a large bag on his back, Yu Hu nodded vigorously and said firmly.

"Yes, this is it!"

The old man's expression became even more doubtful.

"They don't seem to welcome us."

Yu Hu's expression was somewhat awkward as he leaned in and whispered to his father.

"Maybe they don't welcome us, but… they don't understand what we're saying."

The old man was taken aback.

Don't understand?

That can't be… the outsider in the blue coat understood us before.

Yu Xiaoyu looked at her father and brother, then at the wall in front of her, her big, black eyes filled with curiosity.

This was her first time leaving Bet Street, and she had come so far.

Chuguang…

Is he really here?

At that moment, a familiar figure appeared at the gate. When she saw his face, Xiaoyu's eyes lit up.

However, there were too many strangers around.

Hiding behind her brother, she only showed half of her face, looking around timidly and curiously.

Surrounded by the residents in blue coats, Chuguang walked up to the three of them and stopped.

Looking at the old man leading the group, Chuguang hadn't even opened his mouth to greet him when the old man suddenly knelt down, stunning everyone around.

Chuguang was also stunned.

What is he doing??

"Dad?!"

Yu Hu was surprised, but before he could ask, his father pulled him down to kneel as well.

Xiaoyu was confused.

She didn't understand what her father and brother were doing and didn't know what to do, so she tried to imitate their actions.

"What are you doing… get up quickly!" Chuguang, looking exasperated, stepped forward to help the old man up.

But the old man refused to get up, just lowered his head, and after a long pause, managed to say a few words.

"Thank you."

"You saved our family!"

He was old, and he could only work for another two or three years at most. In fact, this year was already a bit of a stretch.

His son, Yu Xiong, as the eldest son and the strongest laborer in the family, was the pillar of the family.

If anything happened to Yu Xiong, the whole family would suffer from hunger and cold.

The old man understood this very well.

This outsider not only saved his son's life but also saved the whole family.

However, Chuguang didn't think that much. He wasn't the type to calculate everything, and saving people was just something he did out of kindness.

"You're making it difficult for me… just get up."

This wasn't the time to be modest; he couldn't let them kneel forever.

Saying this, Chuguang used a bit of strength to help the old man up.

Perhaps because of Chuguang's words, the old man didn't continue to kneel after getting up. Instead, he reached out and took the bag from his second son's back.

It was a bag made of deer skin, containing some animal furs, looking quite heavy.

The old man held it with both hands and handed it to Chuguang, speaking sincerely.

"You are our family's savior, and we cannot let you waste your precious medicine for nothing."

"We have nothing else to give you. These furs are from mutated hyenas and reindeer, a total of seven… after leaving the tribute for the mayor, this is all our property."

"I know these things are not enough to repay your kindness, but if we do nothing, we will feel uneasy."

"Please accept them!"

If I accept the entire property of a destitute person, I would feel uneasy.

Chuguang was at a loss, not knowing whether to accept or not.

However, at that moment, Chuguang suddenly thought that even if the old man took these furs back, he would sell them to the old leech in Bet Street and be severely underpaid, getting very little money.

He remembered clearly that in Old Charlie's general store, a mutated hyena fur was worth 2 points, and a reindeer fur was worth 4 points.

Among the 7 furs, 4 were from mutated hyenas and 3 from reindeer. According to the price in Bet Street, the old man could get a maximum of 20 points.

This unequal trade was already exploitative, and 20 points in Bet Street could hardly buy anything good.

For example, to buy green wheat in Bet Street, it cost 3 points per kilogram, which was almost three times the price in Brown Farm!

This means that 10 furs, when sold and bought, could hardly get 10 kilograms of grain.

And that was before the price of grain went up.

Is this reasonable?

Definitely not!

Of course, these survivors mainly used the points from selling furs to buy salt or other daily necessities, and rarely bought grain directly, as they grew some sweet potatoes, dug tree roots, caught rats, and hunted for food.

But no matter what, the old leech was too much.

Chuguang had long been annoyed by him!

So, Chuguang decisively took all the furs and handed them to the nearest player, instructing him.

"Take them to the warehouse and bring back 1 kilogram of coarse salt. I'll give you 5 copper coins as a reward."

Although 5 copper coins were not a small amount, the plot was more interesting.

The player looked unwilling.

Although he couldn't understand what the manager and the natives were saying, who hasn't seen a few movies without subtitles?

But the manager had already pushed the furs into his hands, leaving no room for refusal.

Seeing that the plot wouldn't move if he didn't act, the player, despite his reluctance, ran back to the base.

It didn't take long.

The player who had run back to the base soon returned, carrying a black plastic bag.

Chuguang took the coarse salt from him and handed it to the old man.

"I'll take the furs. This bag of coarse salt is about 1 kilogram, consider it a return gift!"

The old man was stunned, saw the salt in the bag, and immediately pushed it back, refusing to accept it.

"That won't do!"

"You are our family's savior, how can I accept a gift from you!"

One kilogram of coarse salt!

In Bet Street, 100 grams cost 2 points, so 1 kilogram was 20 points, not to mention the short weight and the higher price for better quality.

The salt Chuguang brought, although coarse, was much better in quality than what was sold in the mayor's general store.

At least it looked clear, with a brighter luster and a lighter color!

"Just take it, consider it a favor this time."

Without giving the old man a chance to refuse, Chuguang pushed the plastic bag back and smiled.

"Next time, if you have more furs, bring them to me."

"One hyena fur for 150 grams, one reindeer fur for 300 grams."

"Whatever you have, I'll take it!"