vstars Chapter 161 River Sand
Chapter 161 River Sand
Not far away, a fight nearly broke out at a stall selling compressed biscuits. A tall, burly man spread his arms, trying to protect the few remaining packets of biscuits on the stall, shouting, "I want them all! Transfer the points now!" A more refined-looking man wearing glasses next to him wasn't to be outdone, trying to squeeze in, his voice shrill, "Give me half! I... I'll give you an extra point! Sell it to me, boss!"
The food and warm clothing stalls were packed with people, three or four deep. People behind were desperately trying to push forward, while those in front were fiercely protecting their "spoils," afraid that someone might steal them.
Xu Xiaoyan carefully bypassed the crowd caught in the collective frenzy, her gaze sweeping over the relatively quiet and deserted stall areas. However, after squeezing from one end of the market to the other, she returned empty-handed.
The stall owners were either completely clueless about the word "cat litter," shaking their heads to indicate that they had never heard of it or that it was out of stock; or they were busy dealing with the sudden influx of customers asking about heating supplies, and were extremely impatient with Xu Xiaoyan, who was asking about something "irrelevant," waving her hands repeatedly to tell her not to delay their business.
Wait! She stopped abruptly, nearly being bumped by someone hurrying past behind her. She sidestepped and leaned against a weathered brick wall, her heart pounding at the sudden realization.
She realized her blind spot! She had been searching using the word "cat litter" but forgot to try searching for "sand"!
She immediately took out her phone, ignoring the noise around her. Her fingers trembled slightly and she deleted "cat litter" from the search bar of the trading forum app and re-entered "sand" before clicking search.
The page refreshed quickly—several messages popped up, not as numerous as food and fuel messages, but they definitely existed!
[Professional supplier of coarse sand for construction, uniform particle size, good load-bearing capacity, discounts for bulk orders, 1 point/10 cubic meters, delivery to designated location outside the city, self-unloading required]
High-quality river sand for sale, fine and clean, with low mud content, suitable for plastering, subbase, and other uses. 1.2 points/10 cubic meters. Small batches available.
[Clearing out a batch of stockpiled yellow sand. It contains some impurities, but the price is affordable: 0.8 points per 10 cubic meters. Buy now while supplies last!]
……
Sure enough! It really exists! And compared to the skyrocketing prices of food and fuel, it's ridiculously cheap!
She quickly clicked on the seller's link for "high-quality river sand" with relatively good reviews and a reasonable price. After carefully reviewing the product description and transaction history to confirm everything was in order, she quickly calculated the remaining space in her second-floor warehouse and her actual needs, and decisively placed the order. In the order notes, she specifically wrote in bold: "[Delivery to the following address is required by 10 AM tomorrow. Urgent!]"
After placing the order, confirming the address, and paying the points, Xu Xiaoyan finally felt relieved when she saw the message "Transaction created, awaiting seller's delivery" pop up on the screen.
She put her phone away and continued to stroll slowly along the relatively quiet edge of the market. She hadn't gone far when a loud, unusually intense argument that was almost turning into a full-blown fight caught her attention.
What time is it now? There are less than thirty hours left before the temperature drops rapidly. Wouldn't anyone be frantically buying up life-saving supplies every minute of every second? How can anyone have the "leisure" to argue so fiercely over such trivial matters? What kind of conflict is this?
Out of curiosity, she cautiously approached the source of the sound to see what was going on.
Seven or eight men, their faces contorted with anxiety and anger, were surrounding a construction worker in dark blue overalls covered in dust and paint splatters. They were desperately pulling at his arms and clothes, and the scene was almost out of control.
The worker was pulled and swayed, his hard hat askew, his face filled with helplessness, exhaustion, and deep anxiety. He tried to break free, but he was no match for the numbers surrounding him. The men around him were all red-faced, veins bulging on their necks, spitting as they yelled at him, each one louder than the last.
"I paid with points first! The order screenshots are right here! You have to come to my house to install it first! Otherwise, I'll report you to the market management office!" A man wearing glasses, who looked like an office worker, waved his phone, the screen almost poking the worker's face.
"You're lying! I paid first! The platform records can prove it! You're full of lies! Master, don't believe him, come to my house first, my address is closer!" A bald middle-aged man retorted, pulling out his phone as well, while his other hand gripped the worker's tool bag strap tightly.
"Shut up! What's all the fuss about! I found the master first, we agreed on the price in person, and I've already paid half the deposit! Master, you have to keep your word. In business, it's first come, first served. Go to my place first!" A burly man in a leather jacket had the loudest voice, trying to intimidate the others with his size.
Xu Xiaoyan was completely bewildered, utterly unable to understand what they were scrambling for. A construction worker? Even if he was skilled, could he be more important than food and fuel at this crucial moment? She couldn't help but lean closer to an older woman carrying a basket, who was watching with great interest and occasionally offering her comments, and asked in a low voice, "Excuse me, ma'am, what are they... fighting over? What's so scarce? More important than food and clothing?"
The older woman turned around, saw that Xu Xiaoyan was a young girl she didn't recognize, scoffed, and gave her a "you don't even understand" look. Speaking in her heavily accented local dialect, she said, "What else could it be? Kidnapping her! Didn't the base call to say that tomorrow night it'll drop to minus ten degrees Celsius? Who knows how cold it'll get after that! These people, they were so careless before, thinking that heating the kang (heated brick bed) and wearing more clothes would be enough. Now they're in a panic, their pants are on fire, and they only just remember to buy fireplaces and install wood-burning or coal-burning stoves! Humph, where were they before! Last-minute cramming!"
She gestured towards the besieged and disheveled workers, her tone tinged with schadenfreude and worldly-wise mockery. "These days, you can still buy stoves in some places, they're expensive, but the key issue is that skilled installers are in high demand! There aren't enough of them! Think about it, can you just buy an iron stove or fireplace and start burning it right away? Don't you need a chimney? Don't you need to drill holes in the wall? Don't you need to do fireproofing and insulation? Can anyone do this job? Without some skill, if you don't install it properly, you'll have carbon monoxide leaks and won't even know how you died!"