บท 19: CHAPTER 13
At 8:30 am the next morning, Su Han started work on time. Because it's still early, there weren't many customers in the shop and she wasn't very busy. As she wrote down orders from the customers, she paid attention to their conversations.
Several aunties that were sitting at the table in the corner were airing out their grievances while eating noodles.
"Yesterday, after getting off work, I went straight to the department store without even having my dinner. Good thing I went early, otherwise I might have to go home empty handed."
"I went to the department store and waited in line for more than an hour before it was finally my turn to check out."
"One of my friends desperately ran around to buy stuff, and she was panicking so much it made me feel anxious. This won't do, I need to go buy some supplies and store them at home right away."
"I heard that the department store and the supermarket restocked their goods this morning. I have to hurry and buy some food and necessities. Yesterday the shelves in the supermarket were mostly empty when I got there, I was so shocked."
'The supermarket is restocking their items?' Su Han thought in secret, 'This is good news.'
*****
At 9 am sharp, she heard the system again, "On the 2nd day, price of all goods continued to rise by 50%."
… She couldn't even have a few minutes of peace. This time, the amount of milk and brown bread in the warehouse did not increase.
Suddenly, one of the aunties who was eating noodles beckoned her over, "Little girl, this noodle is really delicious, pack a bowl for me."
Su Han hadn't opened her mouth yet, the lady boss spoke first, "It's okay to pack you a bowl, but you should know a bowl of noodles costs 23 coins."
The auntie was very displeased, she frowned and said "I just ate a bowl, wasn't it 15 coins?"
The lady boss looked indifferent, "Just now is just now, the situation's not the same anymore, so the price is naturally different."
The auntie choked speechlessly and had to give up buying the noodle.
After the aunties left the shop, the lady boss instructed Su Han, "I'm going to the supermarket to buy some flour, you watch over the shop." then hurriedly left.
The lady boss was probably scared that the price of flour would continue to rise in the future, so she rushed to go buy some immediately.
It wasn't until 3 pm in the afternoon that the lady boss finally returned to the noodle shop. She had an ugly expression, "I finally managed to buy two bags of flour, use those first, and then I will think of some other ways."
One bag of flour can make about 200 bowls of noodles, so two bags … can probably keep the shop going for 5 or 6 days.
"En." Su Han replied, but thought in her heart, 'What else can she do if the system stipulates hyperinflation every day?'
*****
After getting her salary in the evening, Su Han found that the supermarket was empty again. In desperation, she could only go to the small shop she went to yesterday. Only this time, when she arrived, the shop was half empty. Others must have already found this shop.
"13 coins for a bar of soap, and there are only 15 pieces left. But I have to keep 5 pieces for my own use, so I can only sell up to 10 pieces." The shopkeeper recognized Su Han so he took the initiative to explain first.
Su Han had an indifferent face, 'Talking as if I'm rich enough to buy 10 pieces of soap!'
"I want 7 bars of soap. And…" Su Han looked around for a long time, before asking the owner for help, "What can I buy with 9 coins?"
The shopkeeper said, "Bottled milk, no more, no less, exactly 9 coins."
Su Han made a decision "Then give me 7 pieces of soap and a bottle of milk."
Su Han used 2 soaps to increase the cleanliness level back to 100 after dinner. She couldn't fall asleep even after lying in her bed for a long time. Her head was filled with thoughts about how the difficulty of the game seemed to increase exponentially with each passing day.
*****
At 9 am the next day, the system sounded on time, "On the 3rd day, price of all goods continued to rise by 50%."
Su Han calculated in her mind. A bowl of noodles costs 23 coins in the noodle shop yesterday, at this rate, one will have to pay 35 coins for a bowl of noodles today.
In other words, the daily salary she got from working in the noodle shop is not as valuable as the three meals she put in her stomach.
"We're all going to die! Not even giving people a way to survive!" The lady boss complained so much her mouth blistered. She told Su Han she's going to find some way to cope with the situation, but after racking her brains for half a day, she still couldn't come up with any ideas. Even getting a bag of flour was already becoming something very difficult to do.
Su Han didn't speak and finished her chores quietly. When the noodle shop goes out of business, it should also be time for her to leave.
In the evening, although she had a feeling there would be nothing left in the small shop, Su Han still ran there with a glimmer of hope.
As expected, the shopkeeper said as soon as he saw Su Han, "20 coins for a bar of soap, it's all sold out."
"What else is in the store?" Su Han didn't want to wait one more day to spend this money.
"Food, drinks, necessities, there's nothing left." The shopkeeper simply replied.
Su Han, "…"
What can she say? She can only accept her fate.
"Everything in the shop was sold out by noon. Of course, you can't buy anything when you come so late." The shopkeeper couldn't help but nagged a little.
Su Han shrugged, feeling helpless, "I had no choice, I have to work during the day. I came as soon as I was free."
The shopkeeper looked at the young girl for a while and finally pointed out a lifesaving path for her, "Do you know where the department store is? They restock the shelves at 6 am every morning. If you get up early and rush over, you might get there before everything sell out."
After a pause, he thought of something and asked, "I've been meaning to ask, why do you need to buy so many soaps?"
"To stock up." Su Han said truthfully, "I'm afraid they'll be out of stock later, so I want to keep more at home." Although a piece of soap can last half a month for NPCs, it's a consumable item that disappeared after one use for players.
"It's because there are too many people with similar thoughts that the goods are going out of stock!" The owner shook his head, he felt that hoarding is a very bad behavior.
Su Han didn't say much, she just smiled and left the shop.
*****
On the 4th day of the instance, Su Han made sure to get up very early and rushed to the department store.
As expected, a lot of people have the same idea. In the early morning, the department store was packed with crowds of customers. As soon as the staff puts the goods on the shelves, everyone rushed to snatch them.
Su Han with quick eyes and swift hands, finally managed to grab 5 bars of soap. She struggled to squeeze out of the crowd, and walked to the counter to pay the bill, then… saw the line for check out was more than ten meters long.
For a moment, Su Han felt her heart collapse. But she had no other choice, she wanted the soap, so she can only queue up patiently. One hour and twenty minutes later, Su Han finally walked out of the department store carrying 5 pieces of soap.
Back at the noodle shop, the lady boss muttered something from time to time with a worried face.
Su Han ignored her, made some noodles for breakfast, and then began to work.
At 9 am, the mechanical voice of the system sounded like a death knell, "On the 4th day, price of all goods rose by 75%." Instead of slowing down, the rate of hyperinflation has accelerated.
Su Han glanced at her warehouse and found that she received milk and brown bread today.
The lady boss took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Let's have a chat."
"I'm listening." Su Han was calm. She knew what the lady boss was going to talk about. The price of a bowl of noodles has risen to 61 coins, she wouldn't be able to eat three meals of it with her daily wage which is only 100 coins. The lady boss will probably no longer provide daily meals.
However, facts proved that the lady boss is still a very kind person. She said to Su Han in a negotiating tone, "I won't pay you a salary anymore, I'll instead provide you two meals every day at noon and evening, what do you think of that?"
"No problem." Su Han responded with a smile. She knew in her heart that finding a job was not so easy, and it was getting more and more difficult to buy what she needs with her salary. Thinking about it this way, the lady boss's providing her two meals a day is actually a good deal for her.
"Please let the situation get back to normal, I can't take these days anymore." The lady boss muttered pleadingly.
Tragically,
The price of goods rose by 75% on day 5.
The price of goods rose by 75% on day 6.
And the price of goods rose by 100% on day 7.
In just three days, the price of a bowl of noodles has climbed to 375 coins.
At this time, an even worse news came, "Due to a lack of raw materials, many production companies have shut down and their employees have lost their jobs."
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