Chapter 51: Don't Flaunt Your Wealth? Entrapment!

"There are plenty of ways to make money. As long as you want to, you can make money doing anything."

Nick Young, acting quite dutifully, continued his introduction: "Throughout the wasteland, the most common profession is scavenging. You just need to go outside, pick up pre-war trash, and sell it to someone to make money."

"But this trade is getting harder and harder to do."

"After all, 213 years have passed, and people have been picking through the trash year after year. Safe places have basically been stripped down to the bare earth. If you want good stuff now, you have to go to much more dangerous places."

"That's why the number of people who deliberately go out to scavenge is slowly decreasing."

"Everyone just wants to live a good time, and nobody is foolish enough to actively court death."

At this point, Nick Young noticed that Xu Wang beside him was suddenly puffing out his chest with great pride, and he was momentarily bewildered.

What does that mean?

I wasn't even praising him, so what's with that proud and coy little expression?

However, Nick Young quickly brushed the confusion from his mind.

Although he hadn't spent much time with Xu Wang, he had roughly figured him out.

This guy's mental state might be a bit different from ordinary people.

So, Nick Young continued, "I recommend that you do some relatively safe work. Like a waiter, a handyman, or maybe go be a farmer on a farm."

"Our Cookie Town is a grain-producing town. We have our own farmland dedicated to growing horn potatoes, which we then turn around and sell as horn potato cakes to other human settlements. That's why we're called Cookie Town."

"Once you save up some money, you can do like me—consider setting up a small stall or raising some livestock. If you like adventure, you could even get a two-headed cow and become a traveling merchant."

"I'm saving money right now. I plan to open my own restaurant and live a good life with my fiancée, Antherine."

Even though he was supposed to be introducing a job to Xu Wang, Nick Young ended up getting happier and happier the more he spoke, unconsciously daydreaming about a wonderful future.

"Is your fiancée pretty?" Xu Wang suddenly asked.

Nick Young, who had been rambling on incessantly, instantly turned alert!

He looked at Xu Wang with guarded eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Xu Wang didn't bother to keep up that topic and directly asked the question he was most interested in. "Just tell me about the most dangerous job you know. I like that one better."

Hearing this, Nick Young looked at Xu Wang in surprise, then had a sudden realization. "Oh, I get it! You're one of those people who aim high but have low abilities, who only want to make quick money while ignoring hidden risks! My uncle told me that people like that always end up in miserable states!"

Xu Wang thought to himself that Nick Young really didn't know how to talk; he was miles behind someone with high emotional intelligence like himself.

Without explaining further, he simply repeated the question.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Xu Wang, Nick Young had no choice but to respect his choice. "Well, scavengers still fit the bill—you can go pick through the bomb craters and high-radiation zones. Besides that, Wasteland Hunters are also a high-risk, high-reward profession."

"The police station and the tavern post all kinds of bounty missions. As long as you feel up to the task, you can take them."

"Of course, a Wasteland Hunter's missions often involve digging things up in high-radiation zones, which actually overlaps a bit with a scavenger's work."

"It's just that scavengers don't have to answer to an employer."

Upon hearing this, Xu Wang thought:

Isn't that just a mercenary?

Sure enough, this primitive profession, much like technical laborers, would never disappear even in the apocalyptic wasteland.

In fact, it would thrive even more than in times of peace.

"Wasteland Hunters sound good. I'll take it."

***

Satisfied, Xu Wang took out five coins and handed them to Nick Young.

Their transaction was successfully completed.

As soon as he paid, Xu Wang called Tie Zhu and turned to walk toward the Third Tavern.

"Hey, wait, wait!"

Just as Xu Wang started walking away, Nick Young chased after him from behind.

"What?! I sell my art, not my body!" Xu Wang glared at Nick Young suspiciously.

Nick Young choked for a moment and hurriedly waved his hands. "I didn't mean it like that, but I happen to be heading to the Third Tavern too. Shall we go together?"

"Alright. Do you need me to lead the way? I can give you a tour of Cookie Town, and the tour guide fee is only 10 coins." Xu Wang looked quite seriously at the five coins in Nick Young's hand.

Upon hearing this, Nick Young quickly snatched back his coins and looked at Xu Wang helplessly. "Have some human decency, will you?"

Seeing that the business deal had fallen through, Xu Wang felt a tinge of regret and figured he would look for another opportunity later.

They always said employment was hard to come by these days, and Xu Wang finally felt the truth in that.

Making money was indeed difficult.

It had to be said that Xu Wang had a really good memory.

Nick Young had only walked him through the small town once, and he had already memorized most of the routes.

Of course, this was also partly because Cookie Town wasn't very large to begin with.

The exterior of the Third Tavern was quite distinctive.

At a glance, its storefront was formed by three large buses stacked on top of one another.

Further back were hastily welded sheet-metal rooms.

As the largest tavern in Cookie Town, it was truly lively here.

Right outside the stacked buses hung a huge neon sign.

Many wastelanders were coming and going through the entrance.

The moment the bus doors slid open, the bustling noise from inside spilled out.

Yes, the door of this tavern was also quite unique.

It literally used the folding double doors of a bus as the tavern entrance.

Just as Xu Wang was about to enter the tavern, Nick Young suddenly pulled him back and asked nervously, "Xu Wang, we're friends now, right?"

"Are you going to add me on WeChat or QQ?" Xu Wang turned to look at Nick Young.

"Huh?" Nick Young didn't understand.

"Bah! Creep! So repulsive!"

Ignoring Nick Young, Xu Wang walked straight into the tavern.

***

"Huh?! What?! What does that even mean?! Are you speaking Commonwealth? Why can't I ever understand a word you say?!" Nick Young was driving himself mad.

It wasn't until he saw Tie Zhu the dog also scamper into the tavern that he hurriedly chased after them.

However, there were simply too many people inside the tavern.

He stood on tiptoe and searched for a long time, but couldn't find Xu Wang anywhere.

Meanwhile, Xu Wang had already followed a bartender into a private little room.

The Third Tavern looked rather small from the outside, but with the added sheet metal and wooden expansions, it was actually quite spacious inside.

Even though it was his first time here, Xu Wang had an inexplicable sense of confidence. He familiarly found the bartender at the counter and stated that he was here to make a transaction.

"What kind of trash do you have to deal with?" The bartender looked Xu Wang up and down suspiciously, finally casting his gaze on Tie Zhu.

This dog looked barely affected by radiation; it should fetch a good price.

"Do you have any pencils here?" Xu Wang didn't sell anything right away, instead bringing up a completely unrelated topic.

"What?" The bartender was momentarily stunned.

"Nothing. I just saw so many people in the tavern, and I was wondering—if a fight broke out and you gave me a pencil, how many of them could I take down?"

Xu Wang's train of thought was clearly a bit eccentric.

He was reminded of a certain fellow dog-lover just like himself.

"Let's talk about the trash instead." The bartender had encountered quite a few weirdos and refused to follow Xu Wang's line of questioning.

"Fine, since you're so persistent." Xu Wang nodded.

The bartender was left speechless.

You were the one who came over to sell me stuff; what do you mean *I'm* persistent...

The next second, however, the bartender's eyes widened in shock.

Because he watched Xu Wang fiddle with his personal terminal, and a pile of junk suddenly appeared out of thin air in Xu Wang's hands!

"Pretty blown away, right? I've got a subspace pouch—now that's good stuff. Are you sure you're not tempted? Want to consider rounding up a few guys to mug me later?"

Xu Wang placed the raider leather armor and the mechanical prosthetic eye onto the table in front of the bartender.

Like a succubus, he kept trying to seduce the bartender with his words.

Anyway, all his items were bound to him, so Xu Wang didn't care about the whole "keeping wealth a secret" principle.

To Xu Wang, this felt more like a spot of fishing enforcement.