Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 292 Supermarket Clearance?

This isn't the kind of clearance sale before a business goes out of business, with signs everywhere saying "Clearance Sale," "Last Three Days," or "Selling at a Loss," and loudspeakers blaring jarring slang. There are more staff than customers, and they practically shove things into your hands.

Instead, it's a hidden clearance sale without any fanfare, solicitation, or even any obvious "clearance" signs.

As a supermarket manager for many years, she had seen this kind of trick many times, so she immediately recognized that this was indeed a more covert and respectable way to "clear out old stock and bring in new stock".

Xu Xiaoyan noticed that on several shelves, some items were picked out separately and placed in the most conspicuous position, with small labels next to them that read "Promotion" or "Special Price".

The labels were small, white with red lettering, smaller than the palm of your hand, and easily overlooked if you didn't look closely.

But once you pay attention, you'll find they're everywhere—in the corners of the snack section, on the bottom shelves of the beverage section, on the edges of the grain and oil section, and at the end of the daily necessities section.

She walked up to a shelf with a "Promotion" label and picked up a bag of cookies.

The packaging bag was made of aluminum foil and printed with colorful patterns. It looked very exquisite. She turned it over to look at the production date on the back, which was already fourteen months ago.

She then picked up another bag of the same cookies next to her, without any promotional labels, and the production date was eight months ago.

She put down the cookies and looked at the drinks on the shelf next to her. The drinks in the promotion area were piled up, with a small "Special Price" sign on them. She picked up a bottle, and the production date was one year and two months ago.

She looked at more than a dozen promotional items, all of which had production dates of more than a year, some even close to two years.

Those without promotional labels and priced normally usually have production dates between six and ten months ago.

Xu Xiaoyan understood.

She knew from her time in Zone C that the underground city's resource management system was extremely strict.

Every product entering circulation has a detailed record of its production date and shelf life. Products nearing their expiration date will be handled separately – either discounted or converted into reserve materials, or allocated to Zone C as exchange materials.

She had seen the dry rations at the exchange point in Zone C with production dates over a year old. At the time, she thought it was normal, but now she realized that they must have been nearing their expiration date and had been transferred from Zone B.

These "promotional" and "special offer" items are probably the ones that will be disposed of in the next batch.

She stood in a corner of the grain and oil section, pretending to look at the chocolates on the shelves, but her eyes were secretly scanning everything around her.

This is a good location; it allows you to see the entire grain and oil section clearly without being too conspicuous.

She pretended to pick out chocolates while keeping an eye on the customers coming and going out of the corner of her eye.

Someone pushed a shopping cart past her, the cart filled to the brim with rice, flour, cooking oil, condiments, and several packs of cookies from the promotional area.

They were a middle-aged couple. The man was pushing a cart, and the woman was checking a shopping list. They were talking quietly, their faces showing the calm expression of someone doing everyday shopping.

Another old lady pushed her cart over and stopped in the grain and oil section for a long time.

She picked up a bag of rice, looked closely at the production date, and then put it down; she picked up another bag, looked at it again, and then put it down again.

Finally, she chose a bag of rice from the promotional section, which had a production date eleven months ago, and put it in her shopping cart.

The old lady's expression was calm, even showing a hint of satisfaction at getting a bargain.

Xu Xiaoyan observed all of this and began to make rough calculations in her mind.

What is the approximate ratio of products on the surface to products produced in the dungeon?

While she was browsing, she paid special attention to the packaging and labels of each item.

Products produced in the dungeon are labeled with phrases like "B District Food Factory," "B West District Processing Plant," or "B East District Agricultural Products," and the packaging is relatively simple.

Most of them are simple plastic bags or cardboard boxes with a uniform design: white background with black lettering and a logo of the Underground City Administration Bureau. They look like they were mass-produced.

Products brought down from the ground have much more exquisite packaging.

Those colorful aluminum foil bags, tightly sealed glass jars, and beautifully printed tin boxes still retain the style of the ground era in their patterns and text.

Some prints depict green hills and clear waters, some show bustling cities, and some feature smiling models—these images are completely different from the gloom of the underground city.

She roughly estimated that the two types of products would be about 50/50.

She then turned her gaze to the fresh produce section.

Almost all fresh vegetables are produced in the underground city itself.

The lush green vegetables, crisp radishes, and bright red tomatoes were neatly arranged on the shelves, with a fine mist sprayed on them.

She recognized several varieties; they were fast-growing vegetables with short growth cycles and high yields, likely specially bred varieties.

She went over and looked at the labels, which all read "East District Agricultural Shelter" or "West District Greenhouse".

The agricultural technology in the underground city must be very advanced, probably hydroponics and temperature control, which allows vegetables to grow rapidly in a completely artificial environment.

But products related to chicken, duck, fish, and meat are different.

She walked to the freezer section and looked inside through the glass door of the freezer.

Rows of freezers stood side by side, and white cold air seeped out from the cracks in the doors, condensing into a thin layer of white mist on the glass.

Through the white mist, you could see neatly stacked frozen foods inside: bags of chicken wings, chicken legs, duck breasts, fish pieces, and whole frozen chickens and ducks, frozen solid.

She opened the freezer door, and a blast of cold air hit her, carrying the distinctive smell of frozen food.

She picked up a bag of chicken wings and looked at the production date on the packaging—fourteen months ago.

She picked up another bag of fish fillets; the production date was one year and three months ago.

Then I picked up a bag of frozen chicken; the production date was ten months ago.

Xu Xiaoyan put the items back, closed the freezer door, and looked at the other freezers. They were all the same, with production dates of about a year, some even older.

Then look at the place of origin—some are printed with "Linchuan City Chengnan Food Factory", some with "Beishan Province Livestock and Poultry Processing Factory", and some have no place of origin at all.

There were no live poultry! She had checked both the fresh food and seafood sections, and all the meat was frozen; there wasn't a single live animal.

What does this mean? It means that in the current underground city, either there is no live poultry farming, or the live poultry raised are not supplied to Area B.

More likely, it will be the latter – live poultry will be prioritized for supply to Zone A.

Area A should be the core area of ​​the dungeon, inhabited by the true elites of the dungeon—

Those who were among the first to participate in the construction, those who mastered the core technologies, those who managed the operation of the entire underground city, and their families.

Some say the military lives in Area A, some say officials live in Area A, and some say scientists and engineers live in Area A.

There are differing opinions, but one thing is agreed upon: the people in Area A are truly "superior people".

They live in the best houses, eat the best food, and enjoy the best medical care and education. All resources, the best parts, are given priority to Area A.

Fresh vegetables and live poultry should be picked first from section A, then from section B, and finally from section C.

Those live chickens, ducks, and fish are either consumed directly by Area A, or raised specifically to supply Area A; they will never appear in the supermarkets of Area B.

She snapped out of her thoughts and walked back to the grain and oil section.

She had already formed a general judgment while looking at the frozen goods, and now she needed to confirm it further.

She picked up a bag of rice and carefully checked the production date.

Six months ago.

She picked up another bag of flour and checked the production date.

Nine months ago.

Then pick up a bucket of cooking oil.

Eight months ago.

She examined more than a dozen items, from rice and flour to cooking oil and condiments, all with production dates between six and twelve months.

Some of these things have been there for over a year.

She frowned.

Six to twelve months.

For grain and oil products, this date is not considered "expired," but it is definitely not considered "fresh."

Rice will taste worse if stored for a year; flour may become infested with insects if stored for a year; cooking oil may develop a rancid smell if stored for a year.

In an artificial environment like an underground city, no matter how good the preservation conditions are, the quality of things will decline after being left for more than half a year.

She then looked at the grain and oil products in the promotional area; their production dates were even older, all over a year old.

They were definitely clearing out stock.

Clear out the old stock to free up the shelves and prepare for new products.

But the question is—where do the new goods come from?

No matter how high the planting capacity of the underground city is, it still takes time to plant.

It takes at least several months from sowing to harvesting grain.

Even if agriculture in the underground city relies entirely on hydroponics and vertical farming, and the growth cycle is shorter than that of traditional agriculture, it's not much faster.

Rice takes three to four months, wheat takes four to five months, and corn takes two to three months. Even with the help of high technology, this time cannot be shortened much.

Vegetables grow quickly; hydroponically grown lettuce can be harvested in about 20 days, but the yield is limited and can only be supplied to the fresh market. It cannot be stored and must be eaten after a few days at most.

Meat has a longer cycle. Even if you raise live poultry, it takes at least three months for chickens to hatch and at least four months for ducks, more than six months for pigs, and more than a year for cattle.

Moreover, aquaculture requires a large amount of feed, which in turn requires grain. This is a complete industrial chain, and any problem in any link will affect the entire supply.

So, what will the people in Zone B eat before the next batch of new goods arrives?

Eat these old, stockpiled goods.

And what happens after the new products mature?

Priority will be given to supplying Zone A.

Next is Area B.

Finally, there's section C.

As for areas D and E, it's estimated that even fewer will be missed.