Every day she woke up, she was losing money!

And there was nothing she could do about it.

Last time Ji He had come, he had already realized that she wouldn’t be buying much—just a few animals at most.

But even a few was better than nothing.

The more he sold now, the less he would lose later.

Ji He took a quick look around and had a rough idea of the situation.

Since the owner was here, she wasn’t planning on doing anything illegal. She turned to him with a smile and said,

“Uncle, we both know the state of these livestock. Let’s not beat around the bush—if the price is right, I want to buy a good number of them.

I’ll take four boars, three sows, two male dairy cows, three female dairy cows, and for beef cattle, two males and one female. On top of that, I want three young female sheep—eighteen animals in total. What’s your price?”

The middle-aged man calculated for a moment before replying, “Girl, even if these animals aren’t doing great, you could still butcher them for meat. Even the smallest pigs are at least 10 to 20 pounds each.”

Seeing Ji He nod, he felt slightly reassured and continued, “You know what’s going on outside—supermarkets are all being taken over, and even if you go, you can only buy limited quantities. If you want to get more food, you have to pull some strings, and prices have gone up tenfold.”

He raised ten fingers.

Ji He nodded again. This had been mentioned plenty of times in the early morning market chat group.

Food and meat prices had skyrocketed.

Plenty of people had caught on to the situation.

The man saw that Ji He wasn’t reacting negatively and pushed further, “Look, I’m not trying to rip you off. Give me 100,000, and these animals are yours.”

Ji He was silent.

Forget 100,000—she couldn’t even scrape together 500 yuan right now.

After naming his price, the man carefully observed her expression. Since she wasn’t reacting, he started feeling a little anxious.

Was he asking for too much?

Should he lower the price?

These cattle and sheep were already on their last legs. If he didn’t sell them now, they might not make it through the night. Maybe he should go lower…?

“Can I pay with grain?” Ji He thought for a while but didn’t want to give up. Right now, there weren’t many legal ways to buy supplies. If she missed this chance, who knew when she’d find another?

“Uncle, since we’re talking price by weight, let’s not go by beef or lamb prices. You know the state of these animals—whether they’ll even survive is uncertain. If they die on me, I’ll be at a total loss. If you’re willing, I’ll take them all for 100 pounds of rice.”

“No way,” the man frowned. “Add a little more—that’s too little. These are still live animals, and it’s not easy to get them right now.”

Although the man didn’t believe Ji He could save these sickly livestock, that didn’t stop him from using them to negotiate a higher price.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Ji He shook her head, not backing down. “Uncle, these animals are in bad shape. They might die the moment I bring them home—I’m taking a risk here.”

“Even if you take them home just to eat, there’s still nearly 200 pounds of meat here.”

“After removing the bones and skin, it’s at most 100 pounds…”

The two went back and forth until they finally settled on 110 pounds of rice.

The man’s expression lightened considerably.

110 pounds of rice wasn’t a huge amount, but it was still a rare bit of income these days. It was one of the few good things to happen lately.

“Alright, Uncle, let’s pick out the livestock first. Once we’re done, I’ll go get the grain.”

“Okay!”

The man was in a good mood—he had just earned 110 pounds of rice.

And he could save a lot on feed and water too. A great deal!

Since the deal was made, both of them were happy.

With his spirits lifted, the man didn’t try to cheat Ji He. Among all the half-dead livestock, he did his best to pick out the healthier ones for her.

Ji He also examined them. It looked like they were just suffering from the heat and didn’t have any major illnesses, so she nodded.

Leaving the farm, she retrieved her tricycle, loaded it with 110 pounds of rice, and rode back.

When the man saw the rice, he was overjoyed. He quickly called people over to carry it inside while helping Ji He load the animals onto the tricycle.

She couldn’t fit them all in one trip, so she had to go back and forth several times to transport them all.

Aside from the cows and sheep, the man even packed a bunch of weak, fluffy little chicks and ducklings into a cardboard box for her.

They all looked like they were on the verge of death.

“Girl, come back if you need more!”

Ji He: “…”

Why did that sound so weird?

Saying goodbye to the man, she rode off, but before going too far, she stopped in a hidden spot and stored all the livestock into her space.

The moment they entered the space, the animals still looked weak, slumping onto the grass, unmoving.

Ji He wasn’t sure if they would survive, so she gave them some water and decided to leave them there for now.

She then stored away the tricycle, took out her bicycle, and started riding home.

She hadn’t forgotten that her space needed gasoline and diesel to upgrade.

She even took a detour, hoping to find an opportunity.

But before she even got close to the gas station, she spotted several large green trucks parked there.

There were many people in military uniforms moving supplies, and an oil tanker was stationed nearby.

Well, that was that—it was already under government control…

Without any hesitation, Ji He turned around and rode away.

She had no intention of staying there. If she got mistaken for some kind of criminal and arrested, what would she do?

She checked two more gas stations, but the situation was the same everywhere. Ji He realized that this was a nationwide operation, so she stopped trying.

She simply didn’t have the ability to steal fuel right under the military’s nose…

Besides the gas stations, she also saw many large trucks transporting supplies. To avoid trouble, she kept her distance.

A trip that normally took half an hour ended up taking her an hour.

When she finally got home, Ji He carefully shut her courtyard gate and let out a breath of relief.