Chapter 68: Chapter 68: The First Transaction
Ye Fan heard the grumbling of the stout man and was so angry he wanted to turn a blind eye and let him truly understand what terror means.
But what the stout man said next made him abandon that thought.
The stout man performed an ancient gesture of respect to Ye Fan and the others; he cupped his fist in his hand.
"Friends, I am really happy to see you. I, Chen Hao, have not seen such a spirited group of survivors since the apocalypse began. Well, well! The ladies are pretty, and the men are handsome."
Ye Fan nodded slightly, thinking that Chen Hao was quite a talker.
Before he could speak, Chen Hao continued: "May I ask where you all come from? Who is your leader? It’s possible we’ve heard of each other on the broadcast."
Standing in the middle, Ye Fan puffed out his chest: "I am Ye Fan, Commander-in-Chief of the Dawn Army."
Chen Hao was momentarily stunned: "The Dawn Army? Is it that troop in Chengguan Town, the one that trades materials for gold and silver?"
"Exactly."
Chen Hao was delighted and immediately came over to shake Ye Fan’s hand: "Oh my, so you are Commander Ye Fan, indeed, appearances can be deceiving."
Ye Fan glanced at Xiaotian and the female dog next to him, thinking if Xiaotian showed hostility towards Chen Hao, he would definitely have these guys torn to pieces on the spot—what a way to speak!
But Xiaotian was on the side exchanging flirtatious glances with the female military dog, seemingly unaware of the commander’s mood.
This also proved that Chen Hao and his men had no hostility towards him.
Ye Fan still shook hands with Chen Hao; this Chen Hao from Dawangzhuang Village was someone he had heard Gao Dongliang mention before, a leader figure of a base.
According to Gao Dongliang, in these times, those who could become leaders of a base were all evolved humans.
Nowadays, mere logical authority can hardly persuade people; strength comes first, with strength comes the right to reason.
Chen Hao’s hand was strong and forceful, but he did not apply pressure when shaking hands with Ye Fan, as if afraid of crushing Ye Fan.
"Leader Ye, it seems that the conditions on your side of Lingshui are quite good, judging by your clothes. Everyone is in camouflage, but yours look much better?"
Ye Fan chuckled: "You aren’t bad either; it’s not easy to build a base in a village."
"Oh, it wasn’t that simple; our Dazhuang Village has a large population, and that day, at noon, people came from the county to organize militia shooting practice. Many weren’t home, some went shooting, and others were working in the fields, so we spread out. That’s how many avoided disaster, and we used the shooting practice guns, plus some hammers and axes, to gradually take back the village."
"Oh! You were indeed fortunate."
"Weren’t we, though? Our small town was a tragedy; many buildings were reduced to ruins by meteor showers. I hear it was worse at the military district, but I don’t know if that’s true; we haven’t had the chance to check it out."
Ye Fan felt a stir in his heart, realizing that the meteor shower hitting the military district wasn’t exclusive to Lingshui.
But this wasn’t the time to delve into the matter, and Chen Hao seemed to be a farmer leader. The few men behind him looked quite capable; two of them were evidently evolvers, yet still carried an air of simplicity.
The guns they carried were army-issue, and their firepower wasn’t weak, so surviving wasn’t surprising.
"It’s a pleasure to meet Leader Chen today; since you’re here, why don’t we go inside for a chat?"
Chen Hao, who had come to see which survivors were there, was thrilled to encounter Ye Fan and was eager to engage in more interaction with him.
He promptly told a young man beside him: "Xiaoliuzi, go bring the gold, silver, and jewelry we’ve prepared, and let Leader Ye take a look."
"Sure thing, Brother Chen."
The young man named Xiaoliuzi quickly ran off.
Ye Fan didn’t lead Chen Hao to the courtyard where the Raptors and Iron Armors were parked, nor did he show him the armored vehicles and explosive trucks. Instead, he led him to the courtyard where the large trucks were parked.
As soon as they entered, Chen Hao’s eyes lighted up upon seeing the large truck piled high with supplies.
"Impressive, Leader Ye, you’ve collected quite a lot of supplies! Let me see... you even have gasoline! Don’t your vehicles need petrol at all? Please leave some of it for me; many of our cars still run on gasoline."
Ye Fan’s current vehicles all ran on diesel, and the petrol-powered small vehicles were not as practical nowadays, so he brought much of the collected gasoline for trading.
"No problem; fate brought us together. Since we’ve met Leader Chen here, you can prioritize picking the resources you need."
Chen Hao nodded repeatedly, and Ye Fan could even see him secretly counting fingers as if calculating something.
He was a farmer leader with low educational attainment, lacking depth, yet also devoid of treacherous, scheming malevolence that the decaying air of the apocalypse hadn’t yet tainted his heart.
So letting him pick resources first was an act of friendship.
Ye Fan instructed Shen Ruihui to bring over Gao Dongliang since it was Gao Dongliang who negotiated the trade prices with these people.
In no time, both Gao Dongliang and Xiaoliuzi arrived.
Upon introduction, as soon as Gao Dongliang spoke, Chen Hao immediately recognized his voice.
"Haha! So it was you speaking on the broadcast, turns out you’re a little fatty, not as handsome as Leader Ye."
Gao Dongliang’s small eyes widened: "You’re not much different from me."
Finishing his sentence, Gao Dongliang complained to Ye Fan: "Ye Fan, this Chen Hao is notoriously terrible at talking; he was ostracized in the broadcast. If I didn’t mention trading supplies for gold and silver, he would be the one people criticized the most."
Ye Fan nodded in agreement: "I can see that."
Since they met here, there was no need to wait for the trade conference; Chen Hao and Gao Dongliang immediately discussed the trade details.
Ye Fan listened without commenting, leaving the matter to Gao Dongliang. Ye Fan didn’t want to interfere in every little detail.
About half an hour later, they reached an agreement on the trade details.
Ye Fan didn’t have much ordinary food, providing five barrels of gasoline, five pistols, two hundred rounds of ammunition, and one hundred kilograms of Mutant Beast Meat, receiving from Chen Hao fourteen kilograms of gold and silver jewelry.
The trade was successful, making everyone happy.
Ye Fan felt very satisfied because among the jewelry, there were even some jade pieces, adding up to a considerable amount of wealth.
Chen Hao was even more pleased; he never dreamed these useless trinkets could be exchanged for so many resources, especially the Mutant Beast Meat. They once hunted a mutant rabbit, almost swallowing their tongues due to its taste—it was really something good.
He even felt ashamed, thanking Ye Fan after the trade: "Brother Ye, you’ve helped me a lot this time. On behalf of the more than two thousand villagers of the Dazhuang Village base, thank you, thank you!"
"No need to be so polite, Leader Chen; everyone gets what they need; it’s nothing. Now that we’ve traded, do you still intend to go to Sishui County?"
"Yes, we have quite a bit of extra supplies and want to see if we can trade for something we need."
Speaking of this, Chen Hao showed a bit of resentment: "Damn it, that Xing Hai and Liu Long are despicable. They hold the trade fair on Liu Long’s territory in the Hardware Mansion, deliberately exploiting other survivors’ interests. The trade prices they set are always advantageous for them. We’re bound to get fleeced if we go."
"Oh! So you’re willing to accept it?"
"There’s no choice, whether willingly or not. Their location is central and suitable for trading. Others’ opposition doesn’t matter because together they hold the advantage unless the Hot Spring Base, Airport Base, and we combine forces."
"And they aren’t willing to join forces?"
"Dai Yu from the Hot Spring Base would, but unfortunately, the Airport Base doesn’t cooperate. Qin Yumo, that woman, is arrogant and doesn’t care about anyone’s opinion. You should be careful; I hear Xing Hai wants to deal with you."
This remark increased Ye Fan’s favor for Chen Hao a bit more, and he smiled slightly: "My brothers won’t allow it."
"Your brothers? Where are they?" Chen Hao still hadn’t seen Ye Fan’s strength.
Ye Fan raised his hand: "There!"
In front of them, three vehicles mounted with machine guns drove by slowly, armed soldiers marching in formation.
Cold steel glinted, bayonets sharp and gleaming!
Although their numbers weren’t large, the overwhelming aura of blood and iron projected fear!
Chen Hao’s eyes widened in disbelief, his words stumbling.
"Th-this... Brother Ye... Commander?"