Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 302 Night Market

Xu Xiaoyan parked her car in the officially designated parking lot and checked her phone; it was already 8 p.m.

My stomach growled loudly at that moment.

She then realized that she hadn't eaten a proper meal all day, and had only eaten two cookies casually before leaving home in the morning.

I was busy selling goods all afternoon, only managing to eat a piece of beef jerky in between. I also talked with Lao Zhou for a while in the evening, and then drove back to the parking lot, where I am now.

She took out a box of chestnut and pork rice crust from her storage space, opened it, and soon the aroma of chestnuts and pork filled the carriage.

The pile of snacks that had almost all been sold was still stacked in the corner, with the remaining dozen or so bags of potato chips, twenty or so bags of biscuits, a few bags of shrimp chips, and a small half of preserved plum candy scattered around.

She looked at the pile of things, mentally calculating today's expenses.

We sold about 100 bags of potato chips, earning 300 points; over 120 bags of cookies, earning over 600 points; over 90 bags of shrimp chips, earning 360 points; all 200 lollipops sold out, earning 400 points; and quite a few preserved plums were also sold, earning about 70 or 80 points.

In total, it's over 1,700 points.

She shook her head, trying to stop thinking about these things. Right now, filling her stomach was the most important thing.

The chestnuts are golden in color, soft, sweet and fragrant; the pork is streaky pork, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, melting in your mouth.

The crispy rice was soaked in meat gravy, making each grain of rice glisten and exuding an enticing aroma.

She scooped up a big mouthful, put it in her mouth, and savored the hot, fragrant taste. She closed her eyes and chewed slowly.

Xu Xiaoyan ate one bite after another, quickly finishing the entire box of food. After finishing, she wiped her mouth and threw the empty box into the prepared trash bag.

Then, she stood up and stretched her limbs.

After a hearty meal, I felt energized.

Now, it's time to get to work.

She locked the car door, walked into the car, lowered the curtain inside, focused her attention, and took out the snacks she had collected at the Xuancheng Zhonglian Supermarket from her storage space.

The potato chips I took out this time were in a large package, and they had expired almost a year ago.

The biscuits, on the other hand, are wafers, very brittle, and would probably crumble into pieces if you weren't careful. I checked the production date, and oh, they were more than six months past their expiration date.

She piled the items on the carriage floor, then took out the prepared plastic bags, squatted down, and began to work.

Packaging other items is easy, but wafer biscuits are a different story. Even with the utmost care, some still break. But then I thought, it doesn't really matter. I can just pack the broken pieces into several bags, as long as the price is a little cheaper.

She just squatted there, filling the bags one by one.

Time passed by, second by second.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she looked up at her phone—22:07.

It's already 10 p.m.

She stretched her stiff neck and looked at the things in front of her. There were about 180 bags of potato chips and more than 160 bags of cookies.

She put the packed snacks directly into her storage space, and then put the opened original packaging, empty boxes, and waste into garbage bags, making the carriage floor clean again.

She sat back in the driver's seat and rubbed her aching knees.

After working for two hours, her back ached and her legs were numb, but looking at the neatly stacked plastic bags in the space, she felt at ease. These were all points, which could be exchanged for supplies.

Start the engine, turn on the navigation, and get ready to go home.

The navigation showed that it would take 30 minutes to drive from here to where she lived.

If you walk back, it will take at least an hour and a half.

She's tired and sleepy now, with a sore back and legs. If she walks for another hour, she probably won't get back until midnight. Will she even be able to get up tomorrow?

She thought for a moment, then decisively stepped on the gas.

It's just a few parking points, we don't need them, there's no need to make ourselves tired just to save a little on parking fees.

The car slowly drove out of the parking lot and merged into the nighttime passage.

Xu Xiaoyan was driving, her mind preoccupied with the events of the day.

Old Zhou's words still echoed in my ears: "Don't bring all your goods out at once, sell them in batches."

He's right; she did bring out too many things to sell today.

Although it was my first time selling and I wanted to test the waters, thinking about it carefully—what would a normal person think if I brought out so much stock on my first time setting up a stall?

A normal street vendor should build up their business little by little, selling a little today and replenishing a little tomorrow, gradually expanding their stall. Who would produce hundreds of bags of snacks on the very first day?

Those who come to buy things may not think much of it, but there will always be observant people who notice the quantity of her goods.

This can't go on like this. She needs to change her approach. Either sell only one-third of today's quantity, or keep changing locations to sell. She can't stay in the same place. That's the good thing about a small truck; it can go wherever it wants.

Also, you need to diversify what you sell. If you sell potato chips and cookies today, you can sell something else tomorrow. It's best to sell only two or three kinds at a time, instead of bringing out everything, which would be too conspicuous.

Thirty minutes later, Xu Xiaoyan drove into the passage closest to her home and saw the normally empty residential parking lot glowing with a warm light.

She drove her car into the parking lot, locked the car door, and walked over with her bag on her back. There were two neat rows of stalls where the lights converged, with about forty or fifty people, men, women, young and old.

Each person has a small table or a cloth laid out in front of them, with a small nightlight placed to the side to illuminate their own little world.

Xu Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow, intrigued. At the very edge was a girl with a ponytail, in front of her were dozens of handmade hair clips, made of velvet and lace, as well as several small peacock brooches assembled from fabric.

The uncle next to me was much more casual. There were twenty or thirty old books stacked on an old bed sheet. The corner of the book on top, "Ordinary World," was curled up. He sat on a small stool looking at his phone without making any noise.

Further inside, a sweet and cloying aroma wafted through the air. An auntie in an apron was making egg rolls. A small pan was spinning on a mini gas stove, the egg sizzling. She lifted one up, rolled it up, and hung it on a wire rack to dry. It was golden and crispy.

There were three or four people standing in line next to him. A child was tiptoeing forward, but his mother pulled him back.

Xu Xiaoyan swallowed hard, her gaze shifting to the next room—the moment the rice cake steamer was opened, white steam rose up, mingling with the fragrance of rice, blurring the light of the nightlight.

She was engrossed in watching when she suddenly heard someone talking in front of her. Looking up, she saw a young man holding up a whiteboard with the words "Adult calligraphy class, children's painting class, free trial" written on it.

He stood there, explaining something to passersby, and every now and then someone would stop to scan his QR code and add him as a friend.

Xu Xiaoyan stood in the middle of the parking lot and turned around, then couldn't help but laugh, letting out a soft "whoa". This was no parking lot, but a small night market with everything you needed.

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