"What on earth does Su Mali's family do? My god, did none of you notice she tossed a Cartier in there like it was nothing?"
"I saw several luxury watches strung together like a bracelet. Her family clearly isn't short on water. Why won't she trade us some water?"
"That's a joke. Have you ever seen the rich short of money? Does anyone ever think they have too much money? With water this scarce, who would think they have too much water?"
Zhang Lingling led a few people into the empty mall. It had been stripped clean. Not a single piece of clothing or even a needle remained, only garbage on the floor and large machines that could not be moved.
Unlike in many apocalypse movies, there were no piles of brand-new clothes, no heaps of jewelry, no rows of designer bags waiting for a protagonist to sweep into their arms to try on and admire. None of that existed.
Either everything had already been hauled home, or it had been traded off cheap for food.
Even whatever the suddenly dead had not managed to collect had been reclaimed by the government down to the last feather. Thieves had even removed the doors to trade for work points. The mall had been combed through several times already.
"Alright, hurry in. See what can be swapped."
It was like wandering a ghost market. Everyone held a flashlight, shining it over the piles of unwanted items tied to rear bicycle racks. Some compared lists on their phones. Others had already agreed in advance on what to trade.
Jing Shu and Yao Zixin had also made plans beforehand. Yao Zixin brought planning blueprints for Jing Shu to confirm and revise. Jing Shu brought ten liters of water as a deposit. They agreed to discuss the details after the swap meet ended.
Compared to the sunny campus heartthrob he had been, Yao Zixin had changed a lot. After more than half a year of poor nutrition, Yao Zixin's face was sallow and thin, though his features were still there. Compared to their other classmates, Yao Zixin still looked much better.
A little over twenty people had come in total. Most arrived on bicycles, a few on e-bikes, and the flashy Xie Zihao showed up in a BMW energy car.
But the air reeked, a sour stench of foot odor, bad breath, body odor. Jing Shu could not wait to leave. Jing Shu put on a mask and covered herself tightly.
Jing Shu watched the small swap meet from behind. There was everything from towels and cloth to pots and pans.
She saw someone trade a bag of chips for three packs of pads. Someone else swapped milk powder for He Shouwu's floral cologne. Xie Zihao traded a tin of luncheon meat for cold medicine.
Speaking of milk powder, Jing Shu felt it was time to make more at home. It was indispensable for travel. Dried into milk tablets, Jing Shu could pop one in the mouth at any time, or stir it in hot water for milk, then add some oats. Though that would have to wait until after Jing Shu made another batch of ice cream.
Zhang Lingling's family used to make medical auxiliary equipment, not pure medical devices. As Jing Shu understood it, they sold medical components. Screws and the like might be small, but they were crucial. Before the apocalypse, it was fairly profitable.
After the apocalypse, medical equipment was still precious, but with medicine gone, even precious equipment could only sit there. Auxiliary parts, even more so.
Yet recently, Zhang Lingling's family had made a small fortune.
When most people had finished swapping, Zhang Lingling finally stepped forward with a mysterious air. Zhang Lingling brought out a box the size of a basketball. "Everyone be quiet and listen. Holding this swap meet today is also to bring you all a benefit."
"You all know water is scarce. How scarce? You can tell from what's being traded today. No one is offering water."
The classmates nodded in agreement. Everyone's lips were cracked. They kept swallowing, and only when they could not stand it anymore did they take a tiny sip from their bottles.
Zhang Lingling's smile deepened. "This is one of our hottest-selling medical devices: a solar distiller. It was originally used in desert environments. Just bury it in the soil and install it according to the manual. It will continuously extract moisture from the air, and the water it produces is directly drinkable."
"Then you won't need to spend work points on water. With your daily ration plus the distiller, won't that be enough to drink?"
The classmates' eyes brightened. Right, they had learned about this before. How had they forgotten such a method?
Seeing their reaction, Zhang Lingling nodded with satisfaction. "Our current batch is almost sold out. We are telling you because we're old classmates, a little benefit for you.
The price for classmates is twenty work points per distiller. Not only that, if you introduce someone else to buy, you get two work points back. Also, the person you introduce can introduce others, and they also get two points back, while you receive one point."
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes. She had forgotten why, in the previous life, she left the group. Watching this scene replay, Jing Shu remembered some unpleasant events. It had to do with Zhang Lingling.
Seeing confusion on some faces, Zhang Lingling took out paper and pen and did the math for everyone:
"For example, Wang Chao buys a distiller for twenty work points. Wang Chao introduces Mu Xiaoxuan to buy one, and Wang Chao gets two points back. Anyone you personally introduce earns you two points. Anyone they introduce earns you one point.
If Mu Xiaoxuan introduces Jing Shu, then Mu Xiaoxuan gets two points back, and Wang Chao gets one point. Anyone Mu Xiaoxuan introduces personally will give Mu Xiaoxuan two points, and Wang Chao one point.
Anyone Jing Shu introduces will give Wang Chao half a point, and Mu Xiaoxuan one point.
And so on. Do you understand? In the end, you not only get a distiller for free, you can keep earning work points."
Mu Xiaoxuan suddenly understood. "Isn't that a pyramid scheme? You have to buy a distiller yourself first, then introduce everyone else to buy, and then pull in more people to buy distillers?"
Zhang Lingling shot Mu Xiaoxuan a glare. "How is that a pyramid scheme? Do you even listen to yourself? A real pyramid scheme has no actual product. We're running a promotion with a high-end device, a distiller that actually extracts water. Look, this jar will fill up before long. With something this good, people will be fighting to get one. Water is so scarce now. Tell me, who wouldn't want a distiller?"
The classmates stirred, clearly tempted. A free device just for introducing buyers, plus actual water output. Who would not want that?
Mu Xiaoxuan asked again, "But I saw the news. Lots of people dug wells dozens of meters deep and found nothing. It is all dried up. If you bury this distiller underground, will it really produce water?"