Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 303 Black Market Website

Xu Xiaoyan didn't rush to leave, but instead walked around and looked around.

The girl selling hair clips was still tidying up her stall. The handmade hair clips gleamed softly under the night light, and there were several little rabbits made of twisted velvet with perky ears, looking adorable.

She squatted down, picked one up, and looked at it.

"You can try it if you like," the girl looked up and smiled shyly. "I made them all myself, 0.3 points each."

Xu Xiaoyan turned the little rabbit over and looked at the clip on the back. The workmanship was quite fine, and there was no glue overflowing.

She didn't buy anything, but chatted with the girl for a bit, asking if she lived nearby, how long she'd been setting up her stall, and how business was going. The girl answered all her questions, saying she lived in the building next door and had only been there for a week. She hadn't sold much in the first few days, but people were starting to ask her about her business in the last couple of days.

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, put the hair clip back, stood up, took two steps forward, and then looked back at it again.

There were four or five people in line in front of the egg roll stall. It wasn't a lot, but everyone was waiting there without anyone rushing them.

The sweet, cloying aroma in the air grew stronger, a blend of cream and the caramelized scent of eggs baked at high temperatures, wafting straight into my nose.

Xu Xiaoyan walked over and stood at the end of the line. In front of her was a man wearing glasses who was looking down at his phone. The screen showed some kind of purchase request post. He swiped a few times and then exited.

The line was moving slowly, but no one was in a hurry.

The egg roll lady worked quickly, scooping a spoonful of batter onto a frying pan, flattening it, flipping it over, pressing it again, waiting for about ten seconds, then lifting it up and rolling it into a cylinder shape with a thin stick, placing it on the iron rack next to her to dry. It was golden and crispy, still steaming hot.

When it was Xu Xiaoyan's turn, she asked for a bag. The aunt put seven or eight pieces in a paper bag and handed it to her, reminding her, "Eat it while it's hot. Although it tastes good when it's cold, it has a different flavor when it's hot."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, then scanned the QR code to pay her points, took the paper bag, and casually asked, "Isn't anyone managing these stalls here?"

The aunt was cleaning up the leftovers in the pot when she heard her question. She looked up and smiled. "It's fine after eight o'clock. We close up shop at twelve. During this period, the government is encouraging the economy of ordinary people. When the managers come, they are just reminding us to be careful."

She pointed to the other end of the parking lot, where several cars were parked. "As long as you don't block the road or dirty the ground, no one will come to chase you away."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, took the bag of egg rolls, and took a bite of the freshly baked one. It was indeed crispy and fragrant.

She walked further inside.

Two people were gathered around the book stall: a young man and a middle-aged man in his forties. The young man held a copy of "Ordinary World," flipped through the spine, looked at the price tag, and asked, "How much is this one?"

The man selling books for "2 points" was an elderly man with gray hair. He sat on a small stool, holding a book he was reading, without even looking up.

"Can you make it cheaper? Just 1 point."

The old man then looked up, glanced at him, then at the book in his hand, and thought for a moment before saying, "Alright."

After the young man paid by scanning the QR code, he stuffed the book into his canvas bag and turned to leave.

The middle-aged man next to him picked through the books and eventually took two: one was "Fortress Besieged" and the other was "To Live." He bargained down the price to 3 points and then left.

Several people were lined up in front of the rice cake stall. When the steamer was lifted, white steam rose up, blurring the light of the small night light next to it.

An old lady stood at the front, carrying a bag of rice cakes. She carefully put it into the cloth bag she carried with her. The bag was washed until it was white, but it was clean.

She didn't rush to leave. She stood there, opened the bag, and looked inside. The rice cakes were neatly stacked there. A smile appeared on her face before she turned and left.

The young man giving the lecture had already received WeChat messages from three people. He bent down, held his phone up to one of them, and pointed to the course schedule on the screen, saying something.

The two people waiting next to them weren't in a hurry either. They just stood there, occasionally looking down at their phones and occasionally looking up at their surroundings.

Xu Xiaoyan stood at the edge of the parking lot, took a bite of the egg roll, and slowly chewed it. This spontaneously formed little night market had dozens of people and dozens of lights, each guarding their own little corner of the world, selling things, buying things, passing by, and strolling around.

She suddenly found this place quite interesting.

It wasn't the hustle and bustle of a commercial street, nor the noise of a wet market; it was an indescribable atmosphere where everyone was doing their own thing, yet it seemed as if everyone was tacitly maintaining some kind of order.

No one is bidding or soliciting customers. If you want to buy, you can stop and take a look; if you don't want to buy, you can just walk away. No one feels awkward.

Xu Xiaoyan finished the last bite of the egg roll, patted the crumbs off her hands, and turned to walk back.

As she reached the parking lot entrance, she glanced back. The little nightlights were still on, forming a beautiful line. She started planning in her mind to try it out tomorrow night at eight o'clock.

When she got home, Xu Xiaoyan didn't even change her shoes. She went straight to her desk, found the small note, typed the URL into her browser, and pressed enter.

The page loaded in two seconds; it was a very slow loading process, spinning twice before finally appearing.

The interface is pure white, clean to the point of being somewhat rudimentary, with only one input box in the center and a line of text above it: Please enter the introducer's number.

Xu Xiaoyan looked down at the string of numbers on the note, entered them one by one, paused her finger above the screen for a moment, and then clicked confirm.

This time it was much faster; the page flashed and a registration interface popped up.

username:______

She stared at the flashing cursor, her mind blank for a few seconds.

What name should she choose? She doesn't like using her real name, nor does she like using those fancy online names.

She remembered the small night market she had just visited, and the light created by the rows of tiny streetlights.

Ye Hui—she didn't know why those two words just popped into her head; her fingers had already typed them in before her brain could process them.

The page flashed again, and before she could even see the registration success message, the interface had already switched to the homepage.

Xu Xiaoyan leaned back in her chair, staring at her phone screen, and slowly, her eyes lit up.

The homepage is filled with densely packed posts, arranged in reverse chronological order of publication time. The top post, published just two minutes ago, is in bold, as if it had been pushed to the top of the search results.

[Looking to Buy] Looking to buy ten boxes of ibuprofen. Price negotiable.

She was taken aback. Ten boxes of ibuprofen? Why would this person need so much fever reducer?

Scroll down, and you'll find a variety of posts:

[For Sale] Homemade dried sweet potatoes, 50 jin (25 kg), barter accepted.

[Exchange] Twenty packs of napkins (six packs per pack) for rice and noodles. DM me if interested. Exchange only, not for sale.

[Looking to buy] Looking for an entrenching tool in the south of the city. New is preferred, but used is acceptable depending on condition.

If you enjoy stories about surviving the apocalypse by stockpiling supplies, please bookmark: Apocalypse Stockpiling Survival Story