Chapter 65: Hope in Hard Times
The people in the line, upon realizing there were still plenty of vegetables, immediately grew excited. Thanks to the muscular man who is keeping the order, they refrained themselves from shouting or causing a ruckus.
The sales went smoothly for Kim Haru.
The cabbages and potatoes steadily dwindled in quantity. Aside from the first few people who hadn't realized the scarcity and bought a large amount in one go, Kim Haru quickly set a limit on purchases. Each person could buy no more than about 1.5 kg of cabbage, which equated to roughly half a cabbage, and no more than five potatoes, which was about 5 kg.
Most people were pleased with this rationing, especially those at the back of the line. They had originally feared that the vegetables would all be bought up by those people at the front, but now they felt reassured.
Only those people who are holding a large number of crystal cores were a bit disgruntled. But they soon accepted it. After all, the vegetables were Kim Haru's, and he could sell them whatever he pleased. They were already grateful that he was selling such high-quality produce at such a low price. How could they expect even more?
Besides, the combined weight of about 6.5 kg of cabbage and potatoes was enough to last them quite a while if they rationed it carefully.
In this apocalyptic world, finding someone like Kim Haru—who was willing to act so generously—was nearly impossible.
Yes, after the initial shock wore off, most people tacitly assumed that Kim Haru was doing a charitable deed.
Why else would he sell such obviously high-quality vegetables in this impoverished Four District, where most people here were just ordinary and struggling people? If he took these vegetables to the inner zones, where ability users and wealthier people lived, he could easily sell them for a sky-high price to those who didn't care about spending crystal cores.
Yet here he was, setting a low price and imposing purchase limits. Wasn't that a clear sign that he wanted as many people as possible to have access to good-quality food? If that wasn't charity, what was it?
Kim Haru was truly a generous person! This vegetable sale could end up saving countless lives—people who were on the brink of death from consuming too much mutated food!
Each person who received vegetables from Kim Haru's hands would bow deeply before leaving. In their hearts, a seed that was long withered and dried—something once called hope—was slowly being nurtured again. Sooner or later, that seed would receive more nourishment, and one day, it would finally break through its shell and grow.
...
If everything had gone smoothly, Kim Haru would have finished selling his stock by noon and found a quiet place to enjoy the lunch that was provided by th system as always.
But life wasn't that easy, and some people just couldn't let others have it easy either.