Chapter 64: Spending Money
Chapter 64: Spending Money
Everyone agreed with Yao Ran's suggestion and continued to discuss the news found in the past few days. After dinner, Long Yu and Yao Ran went home.
The next day, they gathered in the corridor before six o'clock.
Yao Ran locked the metal door and saw that Long Yu didn't bring anything with him, so she asked, "Aren't you going to the department store with us?"
Long Yu shook his head, "I will stay here to guard the 20th floor."
Today, except for Long Yu, everyone decided to go to the department store. They carried their backpack, hid their weapons, and left the building at six o'clock.
Although it was already six o'clock in the morning, it was still dark outside. However, many people have already come out and are heading to the nearest department store.
It took Yao Ran and others an hour to arrive at the nearest department store in their area.
Entering directly from the fourth floor, she found that it was damp and smelly inside, with many people crowded together. Looking at the crowd in front of her, Yao Ran suddenly felt like she had turned into a sardine in a can.
She looked at the crowd and noticed that most of them looked sickly, thin, and pale. Because the difference in appearance was too big, Yao Ran and her companions stood out like sore thumbs amongst the crowd. She frowned slightly and fell into thought.
The department store is located on the sixth floor, but the queue has extended to the fourth floor. Some people have been queuing since last night, hoping to enter earlier. Seeing this, Yao Ran and others quickly joined the long queue.
While lining up, Yao Ran looked around and saw fully armed soldiers patrolling nearby. After yesterday's iron-blooded tactics, no one dared act rashly despite being unsatisfied and angry with the government's arrangement.
As time went by, more and more people came to the department store.
At eight o'clock sharp, the soldiers opened the door. The soldiers let fifty people in at a time, gave them only five minutes to shop, and signaled them to pay once their time was up.
Purchase restrictions are extremely strict. Each person is limited to buying only two kilograms of grain or flour, and payment must be made in cash after showing the identification card.
They waited in line for three hours but only had five minutes to go shopping. In such a large department store, they not only had to be quick but also had to be wary of other people stealing their things.
While waiting, Yao Ran and others discussed it and concluded that rice and flour are the most filling foods and miscellaneous grains should be avoided. As someone who grew up in Haicheng City, Yao Ran chose rice, while others chose one kilogram of rice and one kilogram of flour.
When it was their turn, Yao Ran and others did not waste time. They picked up their shopping baskets and walked directly to the rice area. Yao Ran took a look at the price tag and was not surprised by the astronomical price.
Most people may find the price of one hundred yuan per kilogram of rice expensive. However, Yao Ran knew that in a few weeks, even if people had money, they might not be able to buy rice.
The quality of the rice is average, but it's good enough to have something to eat.
In the future, prices will continue to soar, and everything will become very expensive. Later, when paper money becomes invalid, it can't even buy a grain of salt.
Juncheng City has a large population, so the rice and flour were quickly sold out. The government will release more later, but they will all be salvaged from the water and dried before being sold to the public.
Don't mention that the soaked rice tastes terrible or is bad for your health. When people are hungry, they don't care about health. By then, even if someone wants this soaked rice, they may not be able to get it.
Seeing that others shared the same idea, Yao Ran quickly took two kilograms of rice from the shelf and walked to the snack area. Most people focus on staple foods and forget that chocolate, energy bars, and other snacks can also restore energy.
There is a lot of rice and flour in Yao Ran's space, and food can be grown on the farmland, so she prefers supplies that cannot be produced, such as chocolate, snacks, frozen food, or canned food.
She still has more than two hundred thousand yuan in cash, which she plans to spend today. While the purchase of grains and flour is restricted, there are still no restrictions on the purchase of other supplies. As long as you have money, you can buy as much as you want.
Arriving at the snack area, Yao Ran found no one around. She glanced at the price tags, quickly swept all types of high-calorie snacks that could replenish energy in an emergency, and headed to the canned foods section. There were only a few cans left on the shelves, so she took them all.
As soon as she left the canned food area, she met Shi Xuan and the others. They looked at each other for a second and then walked towards the dried foods area together.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
When they walked through the outdoor supplies area, Yao Ran stopped them and asked, "Shi Xuan, do you want to buy a boat?"
Shi Xuan thought for a while and nodded. While he and Huang Qian were checking the inflatable boat, Yao Ran and others quickly went to buy daily necessities.
When passing the women's monthly supplies area, they stopped and quickly picked up a few packs while the two men were away.
The prices of dried vegetables, sauces, and condiments have also increased more than twentyfold. The costs and risks of coming out today are really too high. Fortunately, they managed to spend all their money before the time was up.