Chapter 109 - 108: Switching Wine

Words : 1194 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 109: Chapter 108: Switching WineListening to the slightly questioning tone of his subordinates, Leader Li frowned immediately and said to them, "Do you not know what the current environment is like? Are you hoping that seeing the sun could send you to the sky, or make the black clouds fall from it? Instead of wasting time on pointless thoughts, why not think about how to gather more resources in the afternoon to complete the task." Leader Li certainly understood why these team members were so dejected. In this kind of environment, if they were just living in a shelter, everyone could still endure the harsh conditions. But now, with the arrival of the blizzard, the temperature has further dropped, and even the official shelters have become harsh environments for survival. The low temperatures bring more than just cold—the accompanying problems are manifold, some of which the shelter managers have to face, while others each survivor has to bear. Originally, everyone was already overburdened after the end times, and now with additional pressure, some people with weaker psychological endurance are starting to crumble. In the past six months or so, although the shelters have been trying various ways to relieve stress and reduce the psychological burden, there are still people who can’t bear the pressure and choose to end their own lives. Some have even developed antisocial tendencies, causing violent incidents in the shelters. If it weren’t for the timely handling by the grassroots police and SWAT teams in the shelters, such incidents could have escalated into group events. Now, it’s considered normal for the members of the SWAT team to be only feeling depressed and low-spirited. Although Leader Li understood this, he didn’t have any good way to boost morale, and he still had to keep these people motivated to complete the afternoon’s work. Being reprimanded by Leader Li, everyone could only eat their meal in even more silence, and the atmosphere in the vehicle became even lower. Seeing this situation, Qin Lan hesitated for a moment, then came to Leader Li’s side and whispered, "Leader Li, this isn’t a solution! If everyone stays this down, there will be problems." Leader Li knew very well that problems would arise, but if he had any solutions, he would have used them long ago. Why else would the whole team be in such low spirits? Seeing Leader Li remain silent, Qin Lan thought for a moment and said, "How about we gather some things to trade for alcohol?" "Alcohol? Xiaoqin, do you know where to get alcohol? Just smelling it would be nice!" "Don’t even mention alcohol! It’s been so long since I’ve had a drink that I’ve almost forgotten what it is. Now that you mention it, my alcohol craving is already at my throat!" "Lan Jie, seriously? I haven’t even smelled alcohol in half a year! If I could have some, I’d be willing to donate my rations and chew mushrooms for half a month!" As soon as Qin Lan mentioned the word alcohol, everyone became excited, bombarding Qin Lan with questions on how to get alcohol. A few people even started gathering their own belongings to trade for it. Leader Li also paid attention to Qin Lan’s suggestion to trade for alcohol. If they could get hold of a couple of bottles, it would be very beneficial for boosting morale. You could tell just by the way their ’alcohol cravings’ were raging. In the current situation, food is already extremely valuable, and brewing alcohol is clearly no longer possible. Although all the shelters have organized scavenging teams to go out and collect resources from the city’s ruins, alcohol remains hard to find. Finding an undamaged bottle in the ruins is as rare as getting two six-star operators in a ten-shot draw. Even with a black market, trying to buy alcohol there isn’t just about the sky-high prices deterring SWAT members; the alcohol itself is a rare commodity with prices above what the market can offer. "Xiaoqin, can you really get alcohol? How much do we need to trade for it? You’re not going to the black market, are you?" Leader Li seriously looked at Qin Lan, calculating within himself how much he could spare to trade for alcohol. To be honest, Leader Li himself had an alcohol craving and used to enjoy a couple of drinks when he had nothing else to do, but now... Not only has he not smelled the scent of alcohol for half a year, but it was also exposed in one shelter that someone had stolen medical alcohol from the infirmary to dilute and sell as fake alcohol. "I know a friend who owned a bar before the disaster; she has a lot of alcohol in her house. We can trade with her." Qin Lan knew Mo Qingyan had alcohol and many good brands but never thought of buying from Mo Qingyan. The reasons were simple: first, it was too expensive, and she didn’t want to buy it; secondly, though Qin Lan drank, she didn’t have a craving and didn’t need it. Hearing Qin Lan say she knew someone with alcohol at home lit up everyone’s eyes, and given the dim lighting in the vehicle, Qin Lan even thought she saw a pack of wolves with green eyes. "Xiaoqin, ask your friend what it would take to trade for two bottles. If the price is right, we could gather up some stuff, and you could help us get it. Does that work for you?" Leader Li looked at his subordinates, who were almost morphing into werewolves, helplessly shook his head, swallowed his saliva, and half-consultatively asked Qin Lan. Qin Lan didn’t refuse Leader Li’s request. She nodded and said, "I’ll ask my friend when we get back. It shouldn’t be too expensive. A-Xin previously traded two hundred pounds of vegetables for a box of wine from her." Hearing this, everyone in the vehicle felt much more at ease. Trading two hundred pounds of vegetables for a box of wine—even if it’s six bottles in a box—isn’t too expensive. They could gather enough materials to trade for two bottles among themselves. With everyone agreeing to gather some things to trade for alcohol, the atmosphere in the vehicle warmed up quite a bit, and people even started smiling, no longer wearing their earlier worried expressions. Seeing everyone’s spirits seemingly lifted, Qin Lan felt slightly happy herself. These were comrades she entrusted with her life and death. She didn’t want to see them looking dejected and dispirited. Thanks to this plan and a hearty lunch, everyone was filled with enthusiasm for their work, and the speed of resource gathering in the afternoon significantly increased. Moreover, these SWAT team members learned from Leader Li why they were collecting these items. Upon discovering they were to be used to make heating equipment, they paid much more attention to the remains of burnt-out appliances, giving them more than just a cursory glance. By the time they called it a day, they had found thirteen complete air conditioning units and about twenty more severely damaged ones from which useful parts could be salvaged.

Chapter 109 - 108: Switching Wine

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