Making An Offer

As Mi Lai swallowed down the first bite of meat, he was shocked by its spicy texture. He could not help but let out an emotional sigh. "Never expected rot-eating rats to be so delicious!"

The subtle balance, which had been prevailing for a long time, was broken by this statement!

Having uttered the words, Mi Lai pinched another cutlet and put it into his mouth.

Seeing those cutlets, which had been confirmed to be tasty and gave out a wonderful smell, the patrollers could not stay put any more.

"Miss, can I buy the meat with 100 Alliance Coins? Does it sound feasible?"

It was a young soldier in his 20s. Another soldier countered him immediately after hearing his offer.

"Ken, you are not sincere at all. Those exiled criminals have lost their Light Head, so they are not allowed to use any Alliance Coins. Also, food is the most valuable thing on Planet Trash!"

Having said the words, he laid out his proposal. "I would like to exchange a cutlet with one bottle of low-level nutritive solution!"

One bottle of nutritive solution was worth 15 Alliance Coins. Compared to the previous soldier who had offered 100 Alliance Coins to get her Teppanyaki, this one was a much better exchange.

On Planet Trash, the locals and exiled criminals could only survive by picking out trash. The nutritive solutions were available solely to the residing warband. As a result, each soldier had a limited number of bottles of nutritive solutions provided to him on a daily basis. This is why nutritive solution was a lot more valuable!

Hearing the offer, Lan Jiao was happy to do the exchange. But before she was able to verbalise it, other soldiers started to put forward their proposals.

"I would also like to exchange one cutlet with one bottle of low-level nutritive solution!"

"Me too."

"Me as well!"

"Me too! The meat smells great. I only need one strip, just for the taste!"

Hearing that her Teppanyaki was getting immensely popular, Lan Jiao suddenly came up with another idea.

Since the demand was higher than the supply, she was going to host an auction for the food, making the highest bidder get the meat.

But as an exiled criminal, she might offend people if she raised the prices indiscriminately with the patrollers.

What if she got the offer yet was hated by some narrow-minded soldiers. They could create trouble for her in the future due to which she might not be able to survive here peacefully.

So, she needed to do the exchange in such a manner so that no one felt insulted.

Even if she wanted a high price for the meat, she had to make sure that the buyers were compliant and willing to pay for it without any malice.

With this idea in mind, Lan Jiao instantly had an embarrassing expression appear on her calm face.

She glanced at the soldiers and said in a gentle voice, "Thank you so much for your interest in my cutlets and your generous offers. But as you can see, there aren't a lot of cutlets here, so even if I want to do the exchange with all of you, I can't guarantee that everyone's demands are met. So…"

Lan Jiao paused here deliberately.

She had a confused expression on her face, as if she truly had no idea of what she should do to remedy the situation.

But she had explained the situation to those soldiers. All they needed to do was take the bait!

Someone said.

"I had the idea first, so I must be the first one to get it."

"I am one of the first ones to offer as well, so I am also eligible, right?"

As these people were speaking, the soldiers behind them looked displeased.

"Why? I can offer the solution too! There are so many pieces of the meat, I should get one too, no matter what!"

The soldiers started arguing animatedly…

Meanwhile, Lan Jiao saw that Mi Lai, who was totally focussed on the food, had picked another cutlet from the iron plate.

Before the cutlet could reach his mouth, someone started to shout loudly.

"Hey you, put down my meat!"

There weren't many cutlets on the iron plate to begin with, the loss of one more strip would make the number shrink even further. They could not stand seeing this exiled blonde boy gobbling up what should be rightfully theirs.

Shocked, Mi Lai retracted his hand and the cutlet fell upon the iron plate with a slight shiver.

Seeing that, the soldiers in grey-blue uniforms let out relieved sighs.

"I would like to make an exchange with each of you, but as you all can see, there are not so many cutlets left. Furthermore, to make the cutlets into a delicacy, they need a special spice. Unfortunately, I have very little amount of that condiment left with me. So, even if I am going to make some more in future, it may not be enough for a large batch."

Having said that, Lan Jiao heard someone shouting among the soldiers. "I can exchange one cutlet with two bottles of low-level nutritive solutions!"

This person had offered a higher bid, before Lan Jiao could say anything further. The competition had intensified after she pointed out the low possibility of the dish's availability in the future.

After all, rare things were precious.

Two bottles of low-level nutritive solutions would be able to keep a strong adult satiated for full 24 hours. For a skinny and weak girl like Lan Jiao, it would sustain her easily for two days.

Lan Jiao nodded in satisfaction at this offer.

Trying hard to conceal her smile, she said with a surprised expression on the face, "That is a good idea. In this way, there would be fewer people who would like to do the exchange, and the available meat should be enough for the bidders!"

Having said the words, she pierced a cutlet with the blade and dangled it in front of all the soldiers with an ingratiating smile.

"Anyone who wishes to take the cutlet, please queue up!"

She had just said the words when the soldier, who had proposed to make the exchange with two bottles of low-level nutritive solutions, came rushing next to her iron plate.

He stretched out his rough hand, picked up a cutlet and threw it into his mouth. He started to chew on it with relish.

Moments later, he showed another expression of surprise. He had not expected that someone could have made a rot-eating rat into such a sumptuous dish!

"I need one more!"

He said as he brought out four bottles of low-level nutritive solutions and stuffed them into Lan Jiao's hands. He could not wait but pick one more cutlet and pop it into his mouth.

Instead of swallowing down the cutlet, he kept chewing it inside his mouth, savouring the taste for as long as he could.

The cutlets seemed increasingly tastier with every bite despite the tough texture. He wanted to continue offering more nutritive solution bottles.

But he had originally offered a very high price to get the cutlet!

Now, he was unable to bring out too many bottles, since they were giving a limited number on a daily basis.

He might be satisfied at this moment, but he was going to starve soon.

What the soldier did had informed everyone else one clear piece of information - the meat was very tasty!

Otherwise he would not have done the same over and over again.