The drove over 10 kilometers north, passing a number of tent assembly sites on their
way, and then, more tents appeared in front of them .
Their jeep stopped, and the soldiers went down first to make sure it was safe . Remonin
got out of the car and waved . "Mr . Li, please come here . "
Li Du saw an African bazaar in front of him, an open-air affair in the middle of a
settlement .
There were no roads here, only dirt paths . Because of the dry season, there was a lot of
sand and dust and they couldn't go forward, or the car would bring a lot of smoke and
dust with it, and the market would not be able to operate .
Li Du took off his sunglasses and gave them to Brother Wolf . He went to Remonin and
asked, "Those on the road are all your tribesmen?"
Remonin nodded . "Yes, they are . "
Li Du wondered, "There is no lack of sand and soil here . Why don't you live in a house
and not in this kind of tent?"
"Because we are a traditional people living off hunting and farming . We used to migrate
a lot, looking for places with plenty of water and grass . Living in tents was, then, more
convenient than building a house," said Remonin with a smile .
"Besides, the tent is enough . Mozambique has good weather . When it's not too cold, we
can easily shelter from the wind and rain . "
Li Du said, "But your barracks are all permanent buildings . "
Remonin said, "Of course, that is necessary . My house is not only for people but also
for defense . In case of a battle, it would be a soldier's bunker!"
Li Du was shocked . Do you still fight with bows and arrows? It's a small hovel, no
cannon would be needed to break through . A bazooka or even a large caliber rifle would
be enough!
Remonin, who was obviously aware of the drawbacks of his camp and district, was a
proud man and clearly did not want to talk too much on the subject . "Come on, Mr . Li .
Let's get going . "
The soldiers moved on, with guns at their side .
At first, their appearance caused panic at the market, but slowly, as the people saw that
the soldiers were not making any trouble, all calmed down and returned to normal .
It was a large market, about two hundred meters long, and it was full of people, at least
a thousand or two, all bargaining noisily .
There were no shops here, and all produce was sold in randomly placed open stalls .
Vendors sat on the ground, bare-footed and bare-armed . Some people came to talk
business, and all had to shout to be heard .
Remonin told him that they were not shouting, but singing .
The vendors seemed fairly prosperous . There was plenty of land near the market .
Several tin buckets of produce were standing on the ground .
The market was crowded, but the atmosphere was safe . There was no pushing or
stealing .
This, of course, had to do with the authority of police . The democratic army of Remonin
was in charge of that .
If thieves or robbers were caught, they would likely be shot dead on the spot .
The bazaar was run following the barter system, with stalls selling local groceries and
fresh fruit and vegetables from the jungle .
Among daily necessities, local people mainly provided crops and foraged food, which
could be exchanged for food stamps or for other commodities without a clear price tag .
Someone was selling money, yes, actually money . The vendor stood in front of a pile of
large bills . Li Du went up to have a closer look . It was quite a bundle of money, he could
not count how many billion .
Needless to say, this was the Cecil coin .
Li Du smiled bitterly . The inflation rate of the Cecil coin was quite a feeble joke .
There was no local market for Cecil coins, and the old vendor sat with his head down
and his arms around his stomach, looking very sad .
Li Du turned to him and asked, "How would I exchange these?"
The old man blinked, opened his mouth and mumbled a few words which Li Du did not
understand .
Remonin said, "He is hungry . He sneaked in from Cecil to get something to eat
because, in Cecil, money doesn't buy food . "
Cecil, once Africa's breadbasket, has turned into a land of famine because of a severe
drought .
Li Du waved to Godzilla, who always had food in his backpack .
When the big man approached, the old black vendor was startled and fell on his knees .
He wouldn't have believed it if someone had told him such a thing could happen . In
many parts of Africa, people had no human rights . They lived like livestock, and poverty
eroded morals and compassion .
Li Du opened Godzilla's backpack, took out a packet of dried mutton and handed it to
the old man . Then he took one of the valueless banknotes and put it in his wallet as a
souvenir .
The old man took the dried meat and smelled it . He held it in his arms excitedly and
smiled . He took all the notes and gave them all to Li Du, and left at once .
Li Du was surprised, "He gave me all his money . "
Remonin said, "It's worse than waste paper . It's only good for starting a fire . "
The lion hunter added, "If you go to the bank, all this is not worth a dollar . Of course, no
bank would take it . "
Cecil's government was not going to print money, and not due to an attempt to control
domestic inflation . It was just that printing money required paper, electricity, and ink,
none of which the government could afford .
A boy carrying a box came to Li Du and said, "Hey, roast bananas . Tasty roast
bananas . Want roast bananas?"
Li Du held up the Cecil coin and asked, "How much do I get for this?"
The boy shook his head . "Don't this, want that . "
He gestured at Li Du's chest, where he had a pair of sunglasses clipped to his shirt .
"You can get meat for sunglasses, give you this meat . " Another vendor patted the dark
red meat on the chopping board in front of him with his greasy black hand .
The young man cried out, "Mine is traveler's bananas . Who wants your stinking meat?"
Mozambique was warmer than South Africa, being closer to the equator . In September,
a piece of meat would certainly spoil outside very quickly .
Li Du retreated . The young man looked at Godzilla again . "Traveler bananas, deliciously
roasted bananas . Exchange with your sunglasses, can I?"
Godzilla looked at him suspiciously and said, "Are you sure? My sunglasses are too big
for you . "
The boy said, "One day, I'll be as tall as you . "
Shrugging his shoulders, Godzilla took off his sunglasses and gave them to the boy,
receiving the box in exchange .
"Can a banana be roasted?" wondered Li Du .
Brother Wolf said, "The name is misleading . Traveler's banana is not really a banana,
it's a root with water storage capacity . "
Godzilla didn't care . He ate like a pig .
Chapter end
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