Chapter 38: Sixty Farm System (4)

Xie Yang left the family compound and headed straight for the Youth Office.

"I'm signing up to go to the countryside!"

"Good, good, good! The country needs educated youth like you! Fill out this form."

The Youth Office staff member praised her a few times and handed her a blank application form.

Xie Yang carefully filled in her personal information as required, and while handing it back to the staff member, she asked, "When does the group for Chuan Nan depart?"

"The earliest batch is tomorrow at 4:30 PM; gather at the train station at 4:10 PM. However..."

The staff member hesitated, looked at her, and finally revealed the truth:

"This batch was originally scheduled to leave four days ago, but it was delayed until tomorrow because we couldn't get enough people. I'm only telling you this because you're a female comrade: that area in Chuan Nan has many mountains, little land, and many snakes and insects. Why don't you wait for the group heading north in five days? Our train from Pingcheng to the north only takes two days, but going to Chuan Nan takes four days and three nights..."

Xie Yang shook her head and politely declined the kindness: "No need, I'm going to Chuan Nan, on that trip tomorrow afternoon."

Hearing this, the staff member sighed, thinking to herself that young people nowadays were just too impulsive. Going to the countryside wasn't a game; if things went wrong, they might stay there for a lifetime. Why didn't they plan better for themselves!

Looking at those thin arms and legs and that delicate, weak appearance, she really wasn't just saying it—once she reached the mountainous region of Chuan Nan, she would definitely want to run back within three days, and she'd be crying by then.

But thoughts were just thoughts; the staff member efficiently picked up a stamp, stamped the application form Xie Yang had submitted, tucked it into the thinnest stack of documents, and issued a receipt to Xie Yang:

"Keep this receipt safe. You'll use it to board the train without a ticket, someone will come to meet you when you get off, and you'll use it to collect your resettlement allowance once you arrive locally."

Xie Yang thanked her and tucked the receipt away.

After leaving the Youth Office, she wasn't in a hurry to go home and wandered around the street for a while.

Passing by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she saw customers walking out carrying large and small bags; many were parents bringing their children who were about to go to the countryside to purchase daily necessities.

Xie Yang actually had a lot of things to buy, but she only had three yuan, eight jiao, and five fen on hand, and many things couldn't be bought with money alone.

In this era, buying rice required Grain Coupons, buying cloth required Cloth Coupons, buying sugar required Sugar Coupons, and even buying a bar of soap required an Industrial Coupon, yet she didn't have even half a coupon in her pocket.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but complain to the Main System:

"Shouldn't your System Mall be upgraded? Most of the items listed can't be used in this plane. What kind of Host welfare is this? It looks good but is useless! I have points but nowhere to spend them. It's a pity you're the Main System; it feels like you're not even as useful as the Sub-system Zhao Wanqing has. At least that one can exchange points for practical things. At worst, it can unlock a Processing Workshop to produce things herself."

Main System: 【... Even if it were upgraded, Host, you wouldn't be able to exchange for many things with your few points.】

Xie Yang: "Then upgrade it! All talk and no action is a sham!"

【...】

【Ding! Limited Time Purchase welfare has been activated! Welcome, Host, to visit the Limited Time Purchase Channel!】

It actually upgraded?

Xie Yang logged in and took a look: "..."

emmm... 223 points; it was indeed as the damn System said, she couldn't buy many things.

【Host, the System didn't just talk without action! The System has brought over goods similar to this plane, but they are limited to purchases within this plane.】

Hearing it say this, Xie Yang looked carefully and discovered that they were indeed not much different from the goods sold in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative:

Category 1: Food items like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, flour, and grain:

【Salt: 50 points/bag】

【Egg: 50 points/each】

【Rice: 200 points/500g】

【White Flour: 260 points/500g】

【Soy Sauce: 300 points/500ml】

【Edible Oil: 450 points/500g】

【Fish: 500 points/500g】

【Shrimp: 500 points/500g】

【Crab: 500 points/500g】

【Pork: 600 points/500g】

【White Sugar: 650 points/500g】

【Brown Sugar: 700 points/500g】

【Fruit Candy: 700 points/500g】

【White Rabbit Creamy Candy: 800 points/500g】

【...】

Category 2: Living items like pots, bowls, ladles, basins, firewood, and belongings:

【Bamboo Chopsticks: 20 points/pair】

【Matches: 50 points/box】

【Porcelain Bowl: 100 points/each】

【Steamer: 200 points/each】

【Iron Pot: 500 points/each】

【Alcohol Stove: 700 points/each】

【Coal Ball Stove: 2500 points/each】

【Coal Ball: 3000 points/kg】

【Smokeless Charcoal: 5000 points/kg】

【...】

Category 3: Daily necessities like toothbrushes, towels, water bottles, and porcelain jars:

【Toothbrush: 100 points/each】

【Toothpaste: 200 points/each】

【Towel: 300 points/piece】

【Soap: 400 points/bar】

【Scented Soap: 500 points/bar】

【Laundry Powder: 1000 points/bag】

【Aluminum Lunch Box: 2000 points/piece】

【Thermos: 4000 points/piece】

【……】

Category 4: Clothing fabrics, quilts, shoes, socks, and other textile products:

【Labor Protection Mask: 200 points/piece】

【Labor Protection Gloves: 500 points/pair】

【Old Cloth Shoes: 1000 points/pair】

【Liberation Shoes: 2000 points/pair】

【Cotton Cloth: 2000 points/meter】

【Khaki Cloth: 2200 points/meter】

【Dacron: 2500 points/meter】

【Thin Quilt: 3000 points/piece】

【Winter Quilt: 5000 points/piece】

【Leather Shoes: 6000 points/pair】

【Watch: 8000 points/piece】

【……】

Xie Yang, who had browsed through it roughly: "……"

223 points can't even buy a catty of flour?

Main System: 【Host, items listed in the System Mall do not require coupons at all; generally speaking, it is quite cost-effective.】

Seeing her intention to back out, the System's electronic voice even carried a hint of grievance.

System is bitter inside!

Opening a new page in the System Mall costs it points; although common supplies in this plane can be collected from other Habitable Stars or abandoned Mining Stars and desolate stars, it still cost it quite a few points.

Although these points were fleeced from the Host, it would still feel heartache if they were spent and not used.

【Host, if you don't have enough points, you can top up! However, topped-up points are limited to use in the 'Limited Time Purchase' channel.】

In order not to let the supplies in the "Limited Time Purchase Column," which it had spent points to open, gather dust, the Main System had to spend another sum of points to open a top-up channel, and its private stash of points visibly decreased by another amount.

Upon hearing this, Xie Yang regained her interest and first topped up 5 cents to test the waters.

Main System: 【……】

How much???

5 cents?

Do you want to top up even less?

Xie Yang spread her hands.

There is no way around it; she only has three yuan, eight jiao, and five fen in total on her right now, and she wishes she could spend one cent as two.

Top-up successful, the point balance became 273.

So, the exchange rate between outside money and points is 1:1000?

Xie Yang raised an eyebrow.

According to this, if she buys from the System Mall, she can buy a catty of Rice for 2 jiao, a catty of flour for 2 jiao 6, a catty of Edible Oil for 4 jiao 5...

Buy a bar of Soap for 4 jiao, a bar of Scented Soap for 5 jiao...

Buy a catty of Pork for 6 jiao... buy a catty of Brown Sugar for 7 jiao...

Buy a catty of White Rabbit Creamy Candy for 8 jiao, buy a pair of thousand-layer sole cloth shoes for 1 yuan, buy a pair of Liberation Shoes for 2 yuan...

The same 2 yuan can also buy a meter of Cotton Cloth, 3 yuan can buy a spring/autumn quilt...

4 yuan can buy a Thermos!

The Coal Ball Stove and Coal Ball are also quite cheap, the stove is 2 yuan 5, a catty of Coal Ball is 3 yuan...

The key is—no coupons! Absolutely no coupons!

It's fine that some items are cheaper than the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, but they also don't require coupons!

But after the surprise, she quickly calmed down and asked the Main System: "You didn't use illegal means to get these things, did you?"

Main System: 【Of course not! These were all transferred from other planets.】

There are tens of billions of Habitable Stars in the entire universe that can be covered by the Master Brain, and there are countless abandoned Mining Stars and desolate stars; getting some ownerless supplies from them is a small matter, and the points are mainly spent on long-distance jumping and transmission.

Xie Yang: "Brother System, you are definitely a rare good person in this world... No! You are an unparalleled good System in the System Realm!"

Although the Main System had a strange feeling that "something is wrong" and "it feels like I've been set up," it still breathed a sigh of relief: 【As long as you are satisfied, Host!】

Only when she is satisfied will she be willing to spend.

Only when the Host is willing to spend points does it have a chance to save up its private stash!

This is called "you have to lose a bait to catch a fish."

Hmm, System is a System that loves to learn; it learned the slang of this plane so quickly!