People call it a black market for a reason. It's the place where all the stuff that shouldn't see daylight gets traded. It has its perks and flaws. Most goods are secondhand, everything's done through old-fashioned bartering, and sometimes you'll see someone clearing out their leftover stock.
Still, the black market has plenty of good things. The variety's wild, and you can pretty much find whatever you're looking for.
But the high-end market's a whole different beast. Its biggest advantage is that it has things the black market doesn't. Everything sold here has a traceable code. What does that mean? It means every item's officially logged through big data, recognized by the state, and legally approved for sale. There's even after-sales service.
The biggest difference, though, is this. Most of the goods here were produced after Earth's Dark Days.
Which means everything is pricey. Painfully pricey.
But there's another saying that fits perfectly here, expensive things have no flaws except being expensive. Hopefully today goes well enough to satisfy Jing Shu.
"Why didn't you bring your sister so she could broaden her horizons?" Jing Shu asked Tank.
Tank scratched his head and grinned. "I already told my sister I'd bring her something good to eat later. She won't come stir up trouble. If she did, she'd only get jealous. Besides, we're here to help you."
He puffed out his chest, trying his best to look like her bodyguard. Today's pretty simple for him anyway, he's here as muscle and to carry stuff, even though Jing Shu's strength totally crushes his.
The high-end market's official name is The Eighth-Floor Trading Hall, and it's way classier than that remote corner of nowhere where the black market squats.
For starters, this place stands proud in the heart of the capital. It's even got a bus stop named after it. From far away, you can already see a towering, ancient-styled building rising into view.
"Holy shit."
"Of course. Before the apocalypse, the entire eighth floor used to light up at night. It was gorgeous. Now they don't even dare turn the lights on," Tank said proudly.
Right at the entrance, Jing Shu and Tank were led through a side door into another building.
Jing Shu lowered her voice. "What's going on? Aren't we supposed to enter the Trading Hall?"
It's her first time here, she has zero experience, so she didn't dare speak loudly.
Tank lowered his voice too. "You can't just walk into the Trading Hall. Whether you're new or old, you've gotta register your assets here first and exchange them for trading coins. And new customers like us need to be evaluated as having assets worth more than ten million virtual coins, and be carrying goods worth at least one million. Only then can you enter."
Jing Shu nodded. She had no idea how much her net worth was, but honestly, if she took out any random thing from her stash, wouldn't it easily be worth a million virtual coins?
"You can just wait in line here. Follow the instructions later. I'll go guide the next group," the staff member said. She was wrapped in a big cotton coat, looking very down-to-earth, and walked off right away.
Tank whispered that before the apocalypse, these workers all wore black suits. They were cool as hell. But in the apocalypse, clothes ran out, production stopped, and the weather's freezing, so now everyone wears whatever's practical.
There were quite a lot of people coming to the Trading Hall today. Three windows total. Each window was sealed and private, very high-end and secure. Whether someone's new or a regular, everyone had to exchange their items for trading coins here first.
It's like going to gamble, you've gotta exchange for chips. And if you don't spend anything, you just turn them back in when you leave.
As soon as they stepped into the hall, Jing Shu noticed the massive screen displaying the price list. Tank whispered that the prices were set according to national regulations and floated daily based on market conditions. It determined roughly how much each type of material could be exchanged for.
The people in the hall were orderly and dressed fairly normally. Everyone spoke quietly. Some sat alone, some gathered in small groups. Jing Shu didn't stand out at all.
Before long, it was Jing Shu's turn. She handed over her identity QR code. The woman behind the window yawned and began her routine checks, recording everything into an electronic form. With big data, everyone's information, transactions, and assets were no longer a secret.
[Jing Shu, permanent address Wu City, occupation: confidential, assets: confidential, transaction system: confidential, confidential, confidential.]
The woman suddenly stopped yawning. She rubbed her eyes, leaned forward, then shouted, "Director, we've got a high-level confidential profile here. I don't have the clearance to access it. Can you check?"
Jing Shu frowned. Then she remembered. "Damn it." Her profile had been upgraded to a higher confidentiality level. She'd always felt it was convenient, but right now it felt like a huge hassle.
The director arrived quickly. He entered his work ID calmly. After all, in the capital, you throw a brick and you hit someone ranked Fourth Grade or above. Totally normal.
But a moment later, even the director couldn't stay calm. He hurriedly called out, "Supervisor, we have an extremely high-level confidential profile here..."
Jing Shu: "…"
Tank: "…"
Tank stared at her. "Mirror, what kind of level are you? The director here can check almost everyone in the capital."
Jing Shu was speechless. Her info confidentiality level had been secretly bumped up again by Jin Tianci. She'd only found out recently. It was because of the seed incident. She understood his intentions though. He didn't want anyone finding out about her factories. After all, she's basically a hen that lays golden eggs. She needs protection.
The supervisor soon arrived. He was short, chubby, wore glasses, and strangely enough, he actually had on a black suit. He looked pretty spirited, and his smile was warm. He jogged over saying, "It's fine, it's fine. Let me take a look. You're Jing Shu, right? I'm the Trading Hall's supervisor. Just call me Xiao Wang."
He didn't look surprised at all. He even reassured her. "Don't worry. We only check your credit and transaction history. We won't access anything we shouldn't. Everything we view leaves a record. Your information won't be exposed. I promise."
If he had to personally step in, then whoever stood here must be someone extremely special.
Jing Shu felt a bit awkward. Her security level was high, but she had zero power. It was just an empty title.
The supervisor started typing like crazy. After two minutes, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and hurried out.
Just as Jing Shu wondered what was happening, she heard:
"Everyone in line, please move to Windows No. 1 and No. 2. Window No. 3 will need more time."
That had literally never happened before.
"What kind of case is this? Lao Wang, even you couldn't finish it?" someone teased from the side.
Supervisor Wang pointed at the private booth. "The person inside has a very high status. I don't have the clearance either. Everyone, be polite."