While they were sitting around the flickering fire and waiting for their grass-and-fishbone soup to boil, Li Yang told Olga about the discoveries he'd made. Olga wasn't very impressed by the fact that he'd found tin ore.
"So you'll be able to mint bronze coins," she said. "Big deal. Guys, you don't seem to realize that the most valuable thing isn't money. It's food."
"You need money to buy food," Jake said.
"There won't be any food to buy before long, guys. Irina overheard Morello talking to John Hardin. You know, the mayor of Cambridge. Hardin was saying there's practically no food left in town. That there are only a couple of thousand Army rations left, and that they're only giving those to people on the brink of starvation."
"Really?" Jake said. "I had the impression there was plenty of food at the hotel."
