novelraw Chapter 689: Buying a Helicopter
Chapter 689: Buying a Helicopter
"Ah, yes, there is, of course." Jun Bao pointed to another area and said, "Everything in that area is worth 3 million Contribution Value."
"Great! Then I’ll choose those items."
Jing Shu snickered.
Jun Bao continued, "Ah, right, you have made contributions, and the Township Government rewards you for them. But now times are tough—no need for other taxes and sundry levies. Just pay the material cost."
"May I know about this material cost... How much would that be?"
"Just throw in food equivalent to a third of the items’ value," Jun Bao said with a smile. Thinking you can get something for nothing, without spending a penny? Wishful thinking.
The people puckered their lips, truly feeling the sting in their flesh, their hearts, and even their guts.
So, no matter how much Contribution Value you had, even if you bought items worth 3 million Contribution Value, you still had to fork out an additional 1 million worth of food. But then again, the items here were all top-notch.
It’s like your points. You’ve previously gone through a lot, spending a considerable amount of money and making significant contributions, just to rack up 10,000 points. Now, with these points, you can exchange for items of equal value, needing only to shell out an extra 3,300 coins. It hurts to spend, but it feels like a loss if you don’t.
"Oh, right, today is the last day. A new year is about to start, and all your Contribution Value will be reset to zero," Jun Bao’s words were as tempting as a devil’s lure.
Eventually, even Young Master Lan couldn’t escape. He scraped together and chose items worth 1 million Contribution Value and added another 300,000 worth of food supplies—word was it was the year-end bonus for all the power grid staff, and he’d put it all in.
Jing Shu looked at her own Contribution Value hesitantly... This was way off the mark!
"Otherwise, you could just choose the ordinary helicopter, which is only 14 million Contribution Value. Why insist on Blackie? Indeed, Blackie is the most advanced armed helicopter with extraordinary military power, but... given our relationship, I could pull some strings for you," Jun Bao said with a sly grin.
What’s the point of an ordinary helicopter? If there’s a better one practically waving in front of me, then in the apocalypse, military might is paramount. In the future, there might be aerial combat, or if I go over to the United States—I could just pull out an armed helicopter and bomb them first. What couldn’t I get? Regardless, if I’m going to exchange, it has to be for the best! This is a life-saving trump card, a military deterrent!
"Your backdoor doesn’t seem easy to navigate," Jing Shu said, her words carrying a double meaning as she eyed Jun Bao, who had slimmed down even more. The newly appointed leader must have encountered a heap of trouble.
In the blink of an eye, everyone had gone. Jun Bao had said something like: "You don’t need Contribution Value; you can exchange with food—it’s just a bit more expensive than using Contribution Value..." People clutched the few supplies they had left and fled, terrified that if they stayed any longer, they’d lose their pants too.
Only a middle-aged man and Jing Shu remained.
"Old Wei, see anything you like? Don’t be shy," Jun Bao’s demeanor warmed considerably.
"Hey, miss, how about I sell you my Contribution Value? Then you would be able to buy the helicopter," Old Wei said with a naive chuckle, though in truth, he was anything but naïve.
"What?" Jing Shu was still worried. Turning to the stranger, she asked, "May I know what you do? How much Contribution Value do you have?" A few million Contribution Value still wouldn’t be enough.
"I work at the Heavenly Mountain Salt Lake. We’ve been providing salt to Wu City for years. A lot of the credit the Township Government owed us has been converted into Contribution Value over time. It’s not much, just 15 million," Old Wei said with his naive smile.
To spend 15 million Contribution Value, he would inevitably have to dish out materials worth 5 million in Virtual Coin. He might as well sell the Contribution Value to me and save that expense.
So he worked in salt production; no wonder he was so... loaded. Salt, an essential commodity, might not have the same high demand as food. However, due to the lack of pre-apocalypse conveniences, aspects like transportation, materials, and labor have all become difficult. Importantly, the more resources the Township Government allocates to salt production, the fewer resources are available for other needs.
Such a salt lake has to meet the needs of several million people in Wu City.
With only 100 resource points, how could one survive? That’s why the salt they produced was Jiang Jiang—just barely enough—and any excess was stored.
The luxury of sprinkling salt to clear the roads after a snowfall, as was common before the apocalypse, was no longer possible.
"Jun Bao, we can take this backdoor, right?" Jing Shu turned to ask.
Jun Bao was surprisingly agreeable. "Of course. And I hope later you can give me a backdoor as well."
It turned out he had a favor to ask of her.
Jing Shu didn’t waste words. "What do you want, Virtual Coins or something else? I can give you 14 million Virtual Coins, or Insect Cake worth 11 million, but that’ll have to be in installments."
Since it was a purchase for personal items, Jing Shu didn’t want to use a large amount of Insect Cake from the public accounts. It was better to use the Insect Meat Mixed Cake from the insect woman Xiao Wei—those were her personal assets.
"Of course, I want the Insect Meat Mixed Cake. If you want to buy salt, I can also offer a 30% discount. I still have some high-grade refined salt from before the apocalypse," Old Wei said eagerly.
"Leave your contact information, and we’ll talk later."
The salt produced nowadays was often contaminated by Dark Elements, leaving a bitter taste. Liu handled her salt procurement channel. Getting a 30% discount on salt would save a bit. Even exchanging Insect Cake for it would be cheaper and would save the Virtual Coin transaction fee.
High-quality salt was worth buying in larger quantities, as they needed to pickle many things during this period, and pickling consumed a great deal of salt. It would be impossible to replenish supplies on the road during the migration.
Old Wei left happily. Jing Shu bought the Contribution Value and, in the end, had to add over seven million Virtual Coins before she joyfully acquired Blackie—the nickname for the armed helicopter.
Although Jing Shu would’ve preferred to seize one without spending money... she never had the chance. Being able to buy one now was just as good.
She thought about how, from now on, she would be someone with a helicopter, able to fly anywhere with a whoosh to search for supplies, and could even relocate by air. It was incredibly exciting.
Unfortunately, her storage space wasn’t big enough to fit a helicopter, which was a bit of a shame.
Jing Shu sat in her own helicopter excitedly—touching this, looking at that—when Jun Bao poured cold water on her enthusiasm. "You don’t know how to fly a helicopter, do you?"
...She had forgotten that.
"Our instructors can teach you for free. Later, if you have any problems, you can also hire them," Jun Bao sincerely offered.
Jing Shu looked at Jun Bao with suspicion. He was being a bit too nice, wasn’t he?
"These are snacks sent from the Imperial Capital. I remember you like them." Jun Bao shared some sachima, osmanthus cake, and a type of chrysanthemum cookie that Jing Shu used to enjoy.
"What’s the matter? Just say it." I’m really not used to you being like this.
"Do you know how many refugees have surged into Wu City this time?"
"Tens of thousands?" Jing Shu asked softly. Was it food they needed? No, no, that wasn’t it. If it were food, Qian Duoduo would definitely be present. Was this something Qian Duoduo couldn’t handle?
After eating the snacks, Jing Shu felt hungry and started nibbling on a milk curd. Finally, she offered one to Jun Bao. He hesitated, licked it tentatively, and... Mhm, it tasted like something from the Jing Family—he could eat it without feeling sick.
"Just a few tens of thousands for now, but there’s an even larger group coming."