vstars Chapter 969 The Value Represented by Numbers
Chapter 969 The Value Represented by Numbers
Master Ouyang picked up a piece of braised pork, took a small bite to fill his mouth with the meaty flavor, and only swallowed it after a long while. Then he ate a big mouthful of sweet potato noodles and two pieces of tofu.
This is the most genuine thought of ordinary people; swallowing a large piece of fatty meat whole is definitely the behavior of a spendthrift.
After a while, Master Ouyang put down his chopsticks and sighed, "..."
"Ugh, this isn't satisfying at all. If only I could eat canned meat directly, I could eat three at a time."
His words immediately amused everyone present; he actually dared to dream such a wonderful dream.
The leader of the Knife Gang joined in the teasing, saying, "You really have wild ideas, wanting to eat canned food to your heart's content? That's completely impossible."
"Look at the situation now, it's chaotic everywhere. We're lucky to have this much to eat."
"By the way, I've called you here today because it's important. Master Hua, you're in charge of intelligence matters inside, so you can speak."
Master Hua put down his chopsticks and said with a serious expression:
"According to our scouts, a large-scale incident has occurred near Languan in Goose City. Gunfire has been going on non-stop, and judging from the commotion, it seems that a large number of artillery pieces have been used."
"Just as our men were about to get closer, they were stopped. The other side had guns and were dressed in civilian clothes. It should be the legendary Eighth Route Army Echeng County Brigade."
Upon hearing this, the leader of Yitang said in surprise, "It seems that the Eighth Route Army has returned. Our Goose City will become the base of the Eighth Route Army. If that is the case, it would be the best thing for our Loyalty Gang."
"I've heard that the people in the base area there are treated very well, and even the most ordinary people have no worries about food and clothing."
"As long as you are diligent, you can find something to do and ensure that your family has enough to eat and wear."
Other leaders also spoke up, their words filled with longing and praise for the good life of the people in the base area.
At this moment, the leader of the Knife Hall took out a small, milky-white tag from his pocket and began to introduce it loudly:
"This is something I bought at a high price from the market. I heard it's called a medal, given by the Eighth Route Army to people who helped them. It's very sought after on the market now, and it's something you can only come across by chance."
After he finished speaking, he showed the sign to everyone and asked them to share their thoughts.
Standing to the side, Hall Master Ouyang picked up the plaque, examined it carefully, and then said curiously:
"The texture of this brand is very strange. It looks similar to jade, but it is not as heavy as jade, and it does not have the cool feeling of jade. This is very strange."
"By the way, what does this big 'five' on top mean?"
After the others read it, they were also very shocked. Logically speaking, China has existed for so many years, there should be very little material that no one recognizes.
But this very lightweight thing is made of a material that has never been seen before, and it looks very high-end.
After everyone present had gone through it, the leader of the Knife Gang held it in his hand and carefully examined it before speaking:
"This is a certificate that is issued regularly to anyone who has worked for the Eighth Route Army. Its function is similar to that of silver dollars. Only with this kind of certificate can you exchange various supplies at designated places."
"The number five represents five points, which means that if a person helps with five days' work, they can exchange it for five cans of food and twenty catties of flour."
"There is also a line of small print on the back, indicating the time and place when this tag was issued. It happened to be recently, and the location is in our Goose City."
"This brand is highly sought after on the market; it's absolutely priceless. I barely managed to get my hands on it by paying 50% more for the materials."
"I heard that there are more of them in the old base areas of the Eighth Route Army, but they are basically treasured and kept away, and they never come to the market."
Hearing that this small token could be exchanged for so many supplies, everyone became excited.
Liao, the gang leader in charge of the gang's finances, expressed a different opinion.
"Boss, there's an old saying: 'Seeing a leopard through a tube is like seeing only a part of a leopard.'"
“According to what you just said, this is only the payment for one person for five days. Doesn’t that mean that an ordinary person can get a can of meat and four pounds of grain for a day’s work? That’s an incredible thing.”
"This also means that as long as one person works, a family of six can live a good life."
Upon hearing this, the others realized that they had been so focused on the novelty that they had overlooked the value represented by the number.
You should know that in Goose City now, even the most hardworking laborers can't afford a pound of wheat flour for a day's wages; they usually buy coarse grains or dried sweet potato flour.
Even the high-ranking members of the Loyal and Righteous Gang only choose to eat wheat flour during festivals. They usually eat sweet potato noodles, mainly because they are plentiful, filling, and cheap.
Speaking of sweet potato starch, it is also a masterpiece of the base area, and it is produced by machines on a large scale.
In the past, although many people in the community made sweet potato starch, it was too inefficient and took too long.
Instead of wasting time on this, people would rather go work in a factory and earn far more than selling sweet potato starch. Nobody would do something so strenuous and thankless.
This also resulted in extremely low yields of sweet potato starch produced in the base area. After all, in the past, small-scale production was mainly due to high labor costs, but now machines can produce on a large scale 24 hours a day.
In addition to supplying large quantities to the people in the base areas, the supplies were also transported to various parts of the country and sold to the people at low prices.
After all, dried sweet potato starch is relatively light, and a small handful can be soaked to make a large bowlful, enough for the whole family to have a good meal, and it is very filling.
Even with the added costs and transportation expenses, it's still much more affordable than local grains.
Ordinary people all have their own calculations in mind. In times of chaos, to survive, one must learn to be extremely frugal.
Moreover, with more sweet potato starch on the market, there will be more food available, which will prevent food prices from rising rapidly. This can be considered a very good thing.
This was especially true in cities like Echeng, which were close to the Eighth Route Army's base. Sweet potato starch was only half the price of coarse grains, so every household ate sweet potato starch.
In particular, you can buy a lot of cheap canned goods. Add a few pieces of meat and some broth to sweet potato noodles, and you have a delicious dish.