Chapter 17: Are These Pork Cracklings? They’re Insanely Delicious!
Ten years had passed since the apocalypse began.
To find something to eat, one had to venture outside the walls, braving mortal danger to scour for crystals and salvage anything of value from the ruins of the Old Human Era.
Over the years, the areas closest to the high walls had long since been picked clean. Survivors were forced to probe deeper and deeper into the wild, desperate to bring back anything worthwhile to trade for rations inside the perimeter.
Crystals spawned randomly each day, but the large gangs had the manpower; ordinary scavengers couldn’t dream of snatching scraps from under their noses.
If you wanted to live, you had to rummage through forgotten crannies and brave treacherous dead zones.
For an unaffiliated survivor, starving for days on end just to trade for a single ration was simply part of daily life.
Yet now, this miraculous boss was telling them that the poisonous flora and tainted vegetables rotting everywhere could actually be traded to her for money?!
Being able to buy unimaginable roasted potatoes at such a low price was already enough to drive them wild.
Now they could trade corroded crops for cold, hard coins?!!!
To everyone present, this news was nothing short of an absolute bombshell.
Only now did they understand why Long Qian’s crew hadn’t bought a thing earlier, rushing off somewhere else in such a frantic hurry.
They had run off to harvest poison crops!
“Here, take a look at mine!”
The companions trailing behind Long Ya had arrived as well.
Long Qian, having procured a small burlap sack from who-knew-where, marched back with it hoisted over her shoulder.
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
Five coins!
“Hup!” Working together, Lina and Lilin dumped the toxic sweet potatoes they had bundled inside a cloak straight into the box.
Clatter, clatter—
Three coins.
“Heh, I got more than you—I traded for three!” After completing his exchange, Long Shi gloated at Long Ya.
“Get lost!”
Clink, clatter—
Clink, clatter—
The onlookers stood dumbfounded, watching Long Qian’s crew trade in their hauls.
Every single one of them had reaped a harvest. In just that short span of time, everyone held a handful of City Coins.
“Boss.” Someone swallowed hard and asked, “How does the exchange rate work?”
Ling Jing brought up her system panel. “The payout varies depending on the ingredient. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are one City Coin for every two catties; cabbage is one coin for four catties; string beans are… rounded off to the nearest whole coin.”
She read out the recycling rates set by the system.
Ling Jing personally thought the system’s buyback rates were a bit on the low side.
Beyond the intrinsic value of the produce, labor ought to be factored in.
The locals risked their lives out there harvesting these crops.
Hazardous labor should have been reflected in higher rates, but unfortunately, she had no authority to tweak the system’s baseline prices.
To her surprise, the moment she finished speaking, a middle-aged man in the crowd let out a shocked cheer: “What a steal!”
“It trades for that many coins?!”
“This is an absolute goldmine!”
Ling Jing: “?”
Fair enough.
This was the apocalypse.
Avenues for earning money were practically nonexistent.
Both sides genuinely believed they were the ones ripping the other off.
Shaking her head with a faint, amused smile, she used her slotted spoon to scoop out the final batch of pork cracklings.
All right, all the fatty cuts prepped this morning were thoroughly fried.
Salt, then portion.
She packed the drained pork cracklings into small paper cartons.
Because she had sliced the fat into generous chunks, the rendered cracklings were hearty and thick.
A palm-sized carton could fit four pieces at most.
The moment the first carton was filled, the system prompt popped up.
[Small Carton of Pork Cracklings (Immediately triggers a one-minute boost to the consumer’s physical and stamina recovery rates). Recommended Retail Price: 8 City Coins.]
“Boss Sister! Can you sell these yet?!”
Lina’s sharp eyes caught Ling Jing’s movements, and she immediately bounded over.
“Yes, they’re ready.”
Ling Jing nodded, nudging the remaining roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes on the platform aside to free up half the counter.
Then, she arranged the filled cartons in neat rows.
“How much?!” Lilin asked.
“Eight City Coins a carton.”
“Aww! We don’t have enough!” Lina wailed.
“The two of us will pool with you!” Long Ya stepped up, dragging Long Shi along by the collar.
The coins between the two adults and the two girls totaled exactly eight!
“Four pieces a carton—one piece for each of us!”
“Wait, I didn’t say I agreed to this!” Long Shi objected instinctively.
“You don’t want to eat meat?” Long Ya demanded.
“…”
“Then shut up! Hand over the money!”
“Yay!”
Ling Jing hadn’t even finished writing out the new placard before Lina and the others dropped their coins into the cash box.
Two adults and two young girls stood there, looking up at her with wide, pleading eyes.
“You’re buying before I’ve even finished writing the sign?” Ling Jing found it quite amusing.
“Doesn’t matter! Just let us have a taste first!”
She had no choice but to pick up a carton and hand it over.
The four of them split the cracklings, one piece each.
Fresh out of the wok, the golden, crispy pork cracklings were at their absolute peak.
Taking a bite, an explosion of savory flavor detonated across the palate. Coarse salt clung to the meat, leaving a lingering fragrance between lips and teeth.
The more you chewed, the more addictive it became.
The rich essence of meat seemed to course through every limb and vessel, flooding their bodies with renewed vigor.
“It smells so good!!! Are these pork cracklings? They’re insanely delicious!” Lilin gasped in awe.
“Are these pork cracklings? They’re insanely delicious!” Lina parroted right after her.
“Sob, sob, sob… A human being really has to eat meat to survive!”
Chewing on his crackling, Long Shi was moved to the verge of tears, making Old Hu drool beside him.
“Is it really that good?”
Long Shi turned to him. “I have never tasted anything this amazing in my entire life. Seriously, do you have any idea what it feels like when it’s piping hot and shatteringly crisp, richly savory without being greasy, packed with a satisfying chew, and bursting with pure meat aroma in every single bite?”
“Let me have a bite?” Old Hu swallowed hard.
“No way, buy your own!” Long Shi protectively pulled the crackling back against his chest, shielding it with his hand.
“…” Bastard! Just torturing people, aren’t you!
Long Ya didn’t even have time to talk.
She had completely lost herself in the sublime flavor of the crackling, oblivious to the rest of the world.
“Boss Sister, why do I feel like I’m bursting with energy after eating this?!”
Chewing away, Lina felt so blissfully euphoric she could ascend, drool practically overflowing from her lips.
“Because it restores your stamina.”
Ling Jing finished writing the sign, clearly detailing the effects and price of the pork cracklings before setting it onto the platform.
“Boosts physical and stamina recovery rates?!” Someone spotted the words on the sign and cried out in shock.
What kind of divine buff was this?!!!
“Heavens! That’s unbelievable!” Old Hu was utterly stunned.
An unheard-of enhancement, yet coming from this miraculous boss… it seemed entirely natural.
No one harbored even a shred of doubt anymore.
“Whoa! Lina, once we finish this, let’s run back to grab some sacks and keep hauling!” Lilin was brimming with drive.
“Okay!”
The sisters’ exchange acted like a sudden wake-up call to the crowd.
The survivors, who had barely processed the shock of toxic produce being worth money, snapped to attention: That’s right!
They could run back to grab sacks and basins to harvest crops and cash them in!
And then feast on this… stuff called pork cracklings!
Not to mention even more roasted sweet potatoes and roasted potatoes!
Aaargh, they wanted to eat meat too!!!
That was meat—meat they hadn’t tasted in years upon years!!!
“Let’s move!!”
“Charge!!”
The onlookers suddenly jolted into action, thundering toward the high walls in a mad dash.
Go back for gear! Round up more people!
Young as Jia Wen was, he ran like the wind among the crowd.
Ever since he exchanged those crystals for City Coins, his mind had been fixed on bringing his little brother here to eat.
Hearing that these pork cracklings could accelerate physical recovery, his resolve hardened into iron.
He had to bring his brother over!
Jia Si had been burning with fever for days without relief. If he could bring him inside this miraculous white light to eat…
He would definitely recover!!!
“Huh? Why did they all run off?” Lina blinked in surprise.
“Aah! They’re trying to beat us to the punch! They ran back to fetch tools!” Long Shi bellowed. “Even Auntie Qian and the others headed back, aaargh!”
“Damn it, I haven’t even finished eating mine!”
Before the stall, only the four nursing their pork cracklings and a handful of stragglers still munching on roasted potatoes remained.
Everyone who hadn’t eaten—and those who had polished off their shares—was already sprinting down the path to riches!
“No, this smells way too good! I have to finish eating before I head back!”
Those left behind glanced at the food in their hands, then at the retreating crowd.
They desperately wanted to make money, but they couldn’t bear to abandon this divine feast.
This was roasted potato! Pork cracklings!!!
Panic! Pure panic!
So all they could do was… wolf it down with frantic reverence.
Hurry up and chew, you stupid mouth!
But don’t miss a single drop of flavor!
