Chapter 193 Tarantine Cookies

When the undead plague swept through the bad neighborhoods of St. Joseph Street, Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen, who had arrived late, arrived at the city with their logistics troops.

Because Lord Yang and Rex had taken away all the operators and most of the security team members, the undead town had to leave someone to keep watch, so Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen had to temporarily hire a large number of townspeople to help load and transport the goods, which is why they arrived so late.

After contacting the operators who had remained in the camp and understanding the battle situation, Zhao, who was very skilled at mass work, immediately divided the available operators into groups and issued new tasks.

More than two thousand undead were looting the city... The crackdown on the flesh trade, even if it was only carried out in specific areas and only targeted specific groups of people, would definitely have caused unrest among the residents in the city even if it were to happen without the accompanying invasion.

After all, the undead were non-human creatures, and the brothels, clients, and gamblers who were targeted were all local residents. Out of the most basic emotion of sympathy, the residents of the city would inevitably have empathized with the lawbreakers who were targeted and felt disgust, aversion, and fear towards the undead; these emotions, coupled with anxiety and tension, could easily have been further intensified into panic and riot – and that would have been a big deal.

The diplomatic corps' mission was to calm the tension of the city's residents, improve bilateral relations, and resolve the city's residents' hostility towards Weisshem.

While the business owners and clients of the club district on St. Joseph Street were being stuffed into square-headed carriages and sent to prison, Agent Barton and two of his colleagues, along with a group of local young men who had just signed employment contracts, drove several high-chassis iron-shell carriages loaded with goods (the modified versions of the agricultural tractors mentioned above) to the free market, which was less than 500 meters away from the bar area.

Due to the territorial war, the free market was very deserted, and most merchants did not dare to set up their stalls (for fear of being looted). The market square, which usually had to be reserved in advance, was now empty, with only a few vegetable vendors huddled together for warmth at the edge.

After stopping the carriage, Barton and his two colleagues quickly organized the young men to unload the goods and set up the stalls.

These young and strong people were accustomed to working. Their hands and feet were more flexible than those ordinary farmers, and their skin was thicker. After setting up the stalls, Barton could safely send these young and strong people out to the surrounding streets and residential areas to promote...

John, the freckled boy Sanji, Tommy, the workshop apprentice, and Bobby, who used to run errands in the bar area, had signed employment contracts and came to seek refuge with their acquaintance Barton. When Ms. Zhao asked them to choose their own people, Barton gathered the young people to his side.

Fearing that they would disappoint Operator Barton, the four young men picked up plates of food samples, held up denim jackets, jeans, thermos bottles (bed sheets, quilt covers), and four-piece sets, and ran towards the nearby streets.

Due to the chaos in the bar area next door, the streets near the Free Market were unusually deserted. Many people were afraid to go out. John and his friends had no choice but to shamelessly knock on doors and shout at the windows of residents: "Is anyone home? Weisshem's useful and cheap goods are on sale again. Thick cloth clothes, bed sheets, quilt covers, and thermos bottles are available again for only twenty copper coins. There are also freshly launched Tarantine cookies for sale!"

The locals were deeply impressed by the Weisshem caravan that had come to the city a day ago. Although they knew that the streets were in chaos that day, many people still poked their heads out of their homes...

As soon as the clever freckled boy Sanchi saw that citizens were willing to show up, he would immediately raise the sample plate and shove it in the other person's face, and say enthusiastically with his sales smile that he had trained from buying newspapers: "Try it, ma'am. It's free to try the Tarantine cookies. They are delicious and cheap, and better than you can imagine!"

The locals were reluctant to miss out on something they could eat for free, and the enthusiasm of the little boy Sanchi was hard to refuse, so many housewives hiding at home reluctantly tried a small piece...

Then the housewives' eyes lit up.

This so-called Tarantan sweet cookie was actually Yang Qiu's long-planned killer weapon: expired mooncake.

Anyone with life experience knew that once August 14th passed, mooncakes would begin to drop in price on August 15th.

In a few days, the mooncakes originally sold in gift boxes would be taken out and sold separately by merchants, and only the gift boxes would be kept for use the following year...

In half a month, some mooncakes that cost a few yuan a pound would not be sold. Unscrupulous merchants would collect the mooncakes, stuff them with enough preservatives, and sell them the following year; conscientious merchants would grind them up and use them as feed...

The batch of mooncakes that Yang Qiu had on hand had been intercepted from a merchant on the way to the feed factory... cough cough cough!

This kind of high-sugar, low-water product could be stored for a long time, so you did not have to worry about the shelf life!

This batch of mooncakes produced by merchants in Province G were mainly five-nut, red bean paste, rock sugar, and sesame mooncakes. Since the red bean paste ones could still be sold, there were not many of them. The rock sugar and sesame mooncakes, which were extremely sweet (to people in Province G), and the five-nut mooncakes, which young people firmly rejected, accounted for 80%.

But for the inhabitants of this world... how could sweetness be considered a disadvantage?! It was a huge advantage!!

How dare you despise a delicious cookie with almonds, peaches, olives, sesame, and melon seeds, with a rich filling and a thin crust?!

When the housewives heard that this sweet and filling (key point) cookie was only sold for two copper coins each, they could no longer sit still. They hurriedly gathered up the copper coins in their homes and rushed out the door with baskets.

With someone taking the lead, more and more people went out – many people had not been able to buy the good goods that Weisshem's people had brought to sell before. Even if there had been no new product "Tarantan Cookies", people in the surrounding blocks would have been very willing to buy things.

Soon, the "sales point" that Operator Barton was in charge of was surrounded by three layers of human walls.

Most people had come here in the beginning for the cheap four-piece suits, thermos bottles, scarves, and gloves. Although the communication methods in this world were relatively backward, people also had few entertainment options. The speed at which information spread in human settlements was no slower than on the internet on Earth. One night was enough for the information about these Weisshem products to spread to every household.

After trying the tarantine cookies cut into finger-sized pieces, these natives who lived in an environment of scarcity and had never come into contact with the power of overcapacity experienced the joy and trouble of being a shopaholic for the first time...

The same situation occurred not only at the St. Joseph Street Free Market but also at the Mary Street Market in the West City, the tavern concentration in the South City, the Cross Square in the East City, and even at the Workers' Square in the North City factory area.

Some citizens who had watched the looting in the bar district on St. Joseph Street hurried back home, anxiously mentioned the situation in the bar district, and wanted to discuss with their wives whether they should pack up their belongings and stay at their parents' home in the countryside for a few days.

"Why do you want to live in the countryside?" the wife asked curiously.

The citizens were all shocked. "Didn't you hear what I just said? The new lord actually let his undead rob on the street! The bar area was almost completely emptied by those undead!"

"You went to the bar district again? Aren't there enough pubs in the South City for you to drink in?" The wife was furious.

"I was just passing by there on my way home from work!" the citizen explained hastily. "It's not important. What's important is what I just said, those undead were robbing indiscriminately on the street! Can't you tell the difference?!"

"The new lord wants to rob those rich people who run bars. What does it have to do with you? Can you get a penny from the money those bars earn?" the wife said angrily.

The citizens were furious. "Why don't you think about it? Even the big bars owned by the rich can be robbed at will, what should people like us who don't know anyone and have no background do?"

The wife was also very angry. Years of dissatisfaction suddenly burst out. She spread her hands and said, "Look at this house. The most valuable thing is the bicycle you bought when we got married. My sewing machine is an antique passed down from my mother. Are these things worth stealing? Are those undead spirits going to steal me to be their wife?"

The citizen choked.

Life in the city was not easy. A small bag of bread cost five copper coins, and a small jar of butter cost more than twenty copper coins. If it had not been for the autumn harvest, food and vegetables would never be cheap. Ordinary families could only have a full meal at noon, and usually only had mashed potatoes to fill their stomachs at night. They did not have much spare money to buy furniture.

The wife shook out the jeans she had just folded and said angrily, "The gentlemen from Weisshem said that the temperature will drop soon, and they want people who have to work hard in winter to buy one or two sets of warm clothes. They thought that people like us don't have much money, so a set of such thick clothes only costs twenty copper coins. And you, you still think that the new lord from Weisshem wants to steal your shabby belongings. I have never seen such a ridiculous thing!"

The citizen then noticed the dark blue men's suit in his wife's hand, which looked quite thick, and his face was embarrassed...

Citizens of Weisshem had already seen people wearing this set of twenty-copper-coin ready-made clothes on the street. Although the style was a bit strange, it had to be said that the quality of this clothing was indeed better than all his clothes combined. The design of multiple pockets was also very suitable for men to store small tools.

These fine clothes, which would have been priced in silver coins even in a second-hand clothing store, were sold to people by the people of Weisshem at only twenty copper coins a set. It was really hard to believe that the new lord from Weisshem would rob everyone of their money if he was so used to throwing money out of the window.

Seeing her husband give in and smile at her flatteringly, the wife's expression softened a little, and she took out a tarantine cookie wrapped in oil paper from the basket and stuffed it into her husband's pocket: "I bought this with the money left over from buying clothes. Take it with you and fill your stomach when you are not busy in the afternoon."

The citizen smelled the fragrance through the oil paper and couldn't help but smile gratefully at his wife.

On the lunch table, in addition to corn soup and sliced bread, there was also a thick-stuffed cookie cut into triangles...

Similar situations occurred in many families.

No matter which world the people were from, they were very resilient. As long as life could go on, people could accept religious brainwashing, high-pressure rule and exploitation at all levels.

As long as there were no people with ulterior motives who tried to exploit public opinion and maliciously make ordinary people, who were already vulnerable, fight for high positions, wealth, and glory, the people's acceptance and tolerance would far exceed the imagination of many so-called "masters", "non-profit organizations", "public intellectuals", and "civil rights/religious activists." 

The history of the earth's people had proved countless times that there was no so-called irreconcilable contradiction between the masses. The Chinese people who had suffered from invasion would adopt orphans from the island countries, and Christians would lend a helping hand to the suffering of buddhists and vice versa.

What was truly irreconcilable was the conflict over the right to distribute the cake between politicians, interest groups, civil rights activists and religious elements.

A new lord and some formidable undead neighbors were not something worth risking their lives to oppose for the vast majority of Indhal citizens who already had only a few choices.

Of course... Yang Qiu would not give speculators the opportunity to take advantage of "public opinion" either.