Chapter 343 - 343 200

Words : 1330 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

343: 200. Selecting Canned Food 343: 200. Selecting Canned Food Grocery store. The cramped shop space was crowded with residents who had come to buy. With the rainy season approaching, this was a common sight in Belfast’s grocery stores. Lu Li stood by the door and waited for a while before a clerk who had freed up came over, “Sir, what do you need?” “Two boxes of canned food.” The clerk was damp, it was unclear whether from sweat or rain, “We only have a few boxes left of pork and pea cans, apple can, fish can, and beef can, not much else.” He pointed to the shelves on the wall, a few types of canned food wrapped in paper packaging were placed there, including the three types the clerk had mentioned. Lu Li took down the three types of cans mentioned by the clerk from the shelves. The pork can and apple can were similar in size with the fish can being flatter. They all made a sloshing sound when shaken, while the beef can was bigger and heavier, and made no sound when shaken. The paper labels on them had crude drawings and the names of the cans, but nothing else. There was no expiration date or ingredients list. The appearance of ingredients lists was a product born from people no longer suffering from hunger and starting to pursue nutrition and health, which was not applicable in this world. Apart from the nobility, most common people were barely getting enough to eat, and the nobility certainly wouldn’t be interested in cans stuffed with additives. It was imaginable that eating these cans for a long time certainly wouldn’t benefit one’s health. Lu Li handed the four types of cans to the clerk and asked him to open them—there was naturally no consideration for user-friendliness at the budding stage of capitalist industry. “Sir, open all of these?” the clerk couldn’t help but ask doubtfully. “I want to taste them.” The clerk hesitated for a moment, confirmed that Lu Li’s appearance and demeanor were not like ordinary people, and placed the cans on a wooden box by the door, saying, “Alright, please wait a moment...” He turned and squeezed back into the bustling store from the edge, his skinny body struggling through the crowd, occasionally having to deal with customers pulling at him with inquiries. When he returned to Lu Li’s side, he was even more soaked than before. The clerk used a can opener to open the four cans, clearing some space. Lu Li took a metallic spoon from the shelf, wiped off any potential dust or stains from the handle with his palm, and approached the wooden box. A very strong fishy smell emanated from the wooden box, even more intense than the smell of fresh fish carried by the workers from Sailor Street when their shift ended, completely overpowering the smells of the other three cans. A blue fish and some fish meat chaff lay in the murky broth, resembling bloated corpses. Lu Li scooped up some of the fish meat and broth from the edge and tasted it. Cold, fishy, and salty tastes spread on the tip of his tongue all at once, strongly stimulating away its originally unpalatable taste—not a good sign, as it meant there was a taste being resisted by the taste buds even more than the off-putting flavor. This was not something to be eaten directly; it was best consumed with stiff, hard black bread. The frown on Lu Li’s face was noticed by the clerk, who cautiously said, “I wouldn’t recommend the fish can...” After pursing his lips and waiting about ten seconds for the taste to fade, Lu Li turned his head and asked, “Why not?” “The fish can is made from those fish that are about to rot, only scavengers who are starving to death and people who can’t afford meals would want to eat them... especially in Belfast.” Buying fish cans in the port city of Belfast was as unreasonable as selling expensive art in the City of Art, Himfast. “What about the others?” “The rest are from local factories in Belfast, cans made by canning factories that people crave, although the taste might not be very good for you... at least they won’t make you sick.” The statement was very tactful and clear. That is to say, eating canned fish can make one ill. “Help me throw it away,” Lu Li said, seeing the hesitation on the clerk’s face, he added, “or you can use it for something else, I will pay for the can.” The clerk relaxed a bit, thanked Lu Li, and then placed it under the eaves outside the door. Seeing Lu Li looking over, the skinny young clerk smiled and said, “Every day, scavengers and stray cats and dogs wander around.” Lu Li nodded slightly, withdrew his gaze, and focused on the canned pork and peas. Chunks of pork and pea-sized peas were partly visible on the surface of the soup. The last time Lu Li had encountered it was at Seaview Cliff, where the long duration had almost dissolved the pork into the soup, making its taste indescribable. But that was still much better than the canned fish. The cold wind continued to bring in a misty rain into the shop, yet the fishy smell around the wooden crate at the door was persistent. Picking up a piece of pork and putting it in his mouth, the saltiness and slight gaminess spread over his taste buds. As his teeth sank in, a burst of meaty aroma exploded, lingering between his lips and teeth, nowhere near as bad as the first time Lu Li had encountered it at Seaview Cliff. It might have been the contrast caused by the previously eaten canned fish. Quietly finishing, Lu Li picked up the fruit from the canned apples and put it in his mouth. The off-quality sucrose and irrepressible taste of additives spread in his mouth, almost masking the taste of the fruit itself. But at least it was swallowable and could replenish sugars. Last was the canned beef, the can was packed with brownish-red beef paste. Tasting a small spoonful, the meaty aroma completely covered the salty and additive flavors. Compared to the previous three, the canned beef was more like actual food. Correspondingly, it was the most costly. When Lu Li took it off the shelf, the price tag read 57 shillings, equivalent to 60 loaves of pumpernickel. However, it weighed a pound, one-third more than the pork and fruit cans. “What’s their shelf life?” Having tasted them, Lu Li finally asked. “They wouldn’t go bad within a year, sir, you can be assured,” replied the clerk. “What about longer, what’s their maximum shelf life?” The clerk thought for a while, hesitatingly said, “It varies with different environments... the fruit and pork cans might not be edible after three years, the fish cans five years, and the beef cans should be fine for about eight years.” That was enough, by then Lu Li was unlikely to still be in this world—perhaps finding a way back to his original world, or perhaps dying here. “One crate each of fruit and pork cans, can you have them delivered to my house?” Canned beef was almost the top-tier can, and it was foreseeable that its price would rise as the environment deteriorated—however, Lu Li no longer had that much money. “Of course, I can,” said the clerk with a smile. A crate had 20 cans, priced at 13 and 12 shillings respectively, and Lu Li paid 500 shillings for them. As for the canned fish...it was only 7 shillings, but that was out of Lu Li’s consideration. Lu Li didn’t want to die from diarrhea. Or to be attacked by monsters while dying from diarrhea.

Chapter 343 - 343 200

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