"Geng, vegetables, money..."

It took a long time to figure out that the money Chen Guofu had given for food when he left had disappeared.

How much had he given? 3,000? Chinese currency or shells?

Chinese currency? That's a lot! I have to say, even that damned Chen Guofu is quite generous when he has money.

Just the two of us spent over 3,000 Chinese currency on food in just over a month? That's unbelievable. One Chinese currency is worth 10 shells in the desert country. Pang Ya, who works as both a cook and a nanny, works all day and night, and only makes 1,000 Chinese currency a month.

That's a high salary in the local area, isn't it? What 18-year-old girl can earn 10,000 shells a month?

Those young and strong road workers only make 8,000 shells a month. Of course, skilled workers who can understand blueprints and work on construction can also earn 10,000 shells, or 1,000 Chinese currency, a month. But how many people are there?

Just spend it all. Just think about it. A single chicken costs dozens of yuan, plus all the vegetables and fruit I eat every day. It's almost enough. Damn, beef and lamb here aren't as expensive as back home, but chicken is.

Forget it. After all, who would want to eat chicken? They raise chickens for eggs, which they sell.

Eating a whole chicken and a bunch of potatoes and vegetables in one meal is like celebrating Chinese New Year every day!

It's Chinese New Year after all! Isn't it only March? The New Year isn't even far away.

In the past, I would have just paid for the food myself. After all, 100 yuan can last for most of the month.

But now, Yang Guofu isn't coming! Who am I going to ask for reimbursement?

Fatty saw I wasn't going to pay, confused as to what was going on, and sullenly walked back to the kitchen.

As for me, seeing her dejected figure, I felt a little sorry for her. What? It's just 100 yuan, isn't it? Mr. Geng gave it to me!

1,000 seemed a bit too little, since I was the one eating. So I drew 10 more shells.

Pang Ya took the 2,000 shells, her face beaming again, and she happily left.

Damn, her noodles must have clumped up already.

I slept until the afternoon, when Pang Ya called for dinner.

What did they cook for dinner? Barbecued meat!

And not a single vegetable.

It seems Pang Ya took my lunchtime warning to heart.

Yang Guofu isn't coming, so I have to pay for the meal myself. I have to be frugal. 2,000 shells is a month's worth of food.

Two people in a month, 2,000 shells, how are we supposed to eat? I absolutely can't eat big plate chicken anymore, and I can't afford vegetables, so I'll just have to eat beef or mutton. Desert Country is a major livestock producer. The price of beef and mutton is about the same as vegetables, but it's more filling and nutritious than vegetables!

Poor people indulge in lavish meals, while only the rich can have vegetables every meal. I've suddenly become poor, unable to afford vegetables, and can only eat meat and fish.

Of course, I was poor back home, too.

But who told me to come to Desert Country and live like a millionaire for half a year?

Thinking of this, I can't help but curse Yang Guofu again.

Why would he stay in China instead of coming back when he had such a good business?

I'm full, so I'm free to go check out the construction site, fulfill my obligations, and help digest my food.

Yang Guofu's construction site isn't much.

A huge pile of sand, a huge pile of gravel. The most expensive item is the 500 tons of cement I stole from the Second Construction Group a year ago. It's covered with plastic sheeting to keep it out of reach of water. If it gets wet, it'll solidify, and those tens of thousands of dollars will be gone. The main reason we had to keep someone here was to watch over these 500 tons of cement. First, to prevent theft, and second, to keep it waterproof. It's been over a month now, and there's been no theft, and no water damage.

Although I've been eating and sleeping here for over a month, who can say I haven't worked? If I hadn't kept someone here, how could the cement and sand be saved? Definitely not!

But now, they're saved, so how can we monetize them?

The cement cost over 100,000 yuan when I bought it, and that was a bargain. Because of the pandemic, the Second Construction Group, a large state-owned enterprise, had no workers, construction was stalled, and building materials were being sold at low prices. Yang Guofu, a former Second Construction employee, naturally seized the opportunity and snagged a bargain.

Cement in China costs about 400 yuan per ton, but in desert countries, it's much more expensive. Normally, it's over 600 or 700 yuan a ton, which is common. During unrest, you can't even buy it for 1,000 yuan a ton. Because, at a critical moment, cement is a military supply. Erjian Group was shrinking its business, and Yang Guofu somehow managed to secure 500 tons of cement at 300 yuan per ton. The original price was 150,000 yuan, payable in full. He only paid 130,000 yuan, with a 20,000 yuan balance, and the deal was ultimately abandoned.

A bag of cement weighs 50 jin (approximately 1000 kilograms), and a ton is 1,000 kilograms, so there are 20 bags. 500 tons makes 10,000 bags. If a bag sells for 20 yuan, that's 200,000 yuan. So what about selling the cement?

There's also a pile of sand and gravel! Of course, sand and gravel aren't worth much in a desert country.

But even if they aren't, a few hundred tons of this stuff could fetch tens of thousands of yuan, which is still acceptable.

Sell! Must sell! Why not?

I did it right away! Before I even entered the house, I called Erhei.

Erhei was a local, in his 30s, and had already married five wives. He was a true winner in life, a role model for our generation. Erhei is also a nickname given by Chen Guofu. People here have long, difficult-to-pronounce names, so we all give them short names—easy to remember and more approachable.

Erhei is now Chen Guofu's translator. He was originally the supervisor of the construction team, because he hired the people.

But Chen Guofu was clearly dissatisfied with his supervisor's efficiency, so he asked me to come over. I started as Chen Guofu's assistant, but ended up being the supervisor. Later, I also served as the office liaison, and now I oversee the construction site.

Erhei speaks very good Chinese. When he heard I wanted to sell cement, his face, full of fawning smiles, froze immediately.

"What? It's hard to sell?"

"This—now—that..."

After listening to him stammer for a long time, I finally understood.

What bullshit! The situation is turbulent, the price is low, and no one is buying.

He simply wants to build a road.

Of course, the road he wants to build is different from the road we usually think of as a road simply for walking. What he wanted to build was something similar to our commercial pedestrian streets.

Our pedestrian streets are lined with shops. They didn't have that luxury; they just needed to pave the road and build some concrete stalls on either side.

Erhei kept emphasizing how strategically located their village was: close to the Desert Country's second-largest city, with a train passing right by. Most importantly, their village was the core village of their tribe.

Of course, the concept of "village" was my own, based on how they define it in China. They call themselves something like "tribe," and above that "tribe" is some kind of alliance. Their village originally meant a place of shimmering glory, a dazzling place. I don't know what kind of light it was: sunlight, moonlight, starlight, or something else entirely.

Anyway, you get the general idea. For convenience, I'll simply name Erhei's village "Glorious Village." It's a decent name, isn't it? Their so-called "holy alliance" is called the "Glorious Tribe."

Glorious Village itself is quite large, with a population of tens of thousands. And the "Glorious Tribe" is even larger, with at least hundreds of thousands. Judging by the number of people, they definitely need a commercial street.

Then just build it yourself! I can just sell them cement.

But Erhei said, "No! They can't build it."