There were two types of food stamps issued in this era. One was a universal-type food stamp, and the other was a specific-type food stamp.
The specific-type food stamps would state what kind of food could be exchanged for and how much of that food item the stamp could be exchanged for.
For example, the food stamps for the synthetic food chunks that Lu Heng earned from working on the farm were the specific-type food stamps.
Generally speaking, these specific-type food stamps were for food sources that the government could completely control the output of.
For example, synthetic food chunks, rice noodles, farm vegetables, pigs, cows, sheep, farm poultry, and so on.
These things could be planted and cultivated according to the government's plan, and the output of such food sources was completely under the government's control. Therefore, when a food stamp for that corresponding food item was issued, it would match the available output. This was why the specific-type food stamps included the exact amount of food that stamp could be exchanged for.
As for things like monster meat, the government had no way of controlling the supply.
When martial artists hunted more monsters, and the government bought more of the meat, the supply would naturally be higher.
On the other hand, if martial artists could not hunt monsters, the supply of monster meat would drop accordingly.
Therefore, the food stamps for monster meat were all universal-type food stamps. They would not specify which type of monster meat they could be exchanged for, nor would they specify the corresponding weight.
When people brought these food stamps to the grain station to exchange for monster meat, they could only exchange them for whatever type of monster meat the grain station had in stock. The amount that could be exchanged also depended on the government's daily price announcement.
In other words, the type and amount of monster meat that could be obtained using the food stamps depended on luck.
As such, logically speaking, due to the uncertain nature of the universal-type food stamp, people should prefer specific-type food stamps. In reality though, on the black market, the value of a universal-type food stamp was generally higher than a specific-type food stamp.
Perhaps the uncertain nature of the universal-type food stamp inspired people to gamble.
He had heard from some of his high school classmates back then that their parents were particularly keen on making the most of these food stamps, and would pay close attention to the government's daily price announcement.
Lu Heng was overjoyed to find that these ten stamps were universal-type food stamps, not because of their value on the black market, but rather because he really needed monster meat.
Just like the Golden Armored Beast meat that he had just read about, which would increase muscle tempering speed by 70%. He really could use some of that soup right now.
"Second brother, how much meat can these food stamps be exchanged for?" Lu Xiaoxiao asked curiously.
After a moment of thought, Lu Heng replied, "One food stamp can be exchanged for about one to three catties of fresh monster meat. With ten, we'll be able to get to thirty catties. The exact amount will depend on the government's daily announcement."
"That much?!"
Lu Xiaoxiao was so surprised that she could not close her mouth.
How long would it take them to finish eating so much meat?
She had no idea at all. After all, she had never eaten meat since she was a child. At most, she had eaten some jerky.
Moreover, the jerky had been cut into tiny pieces and added to the paste for seasoning. She had never eaten it by itself.
"Xiaoxiao, are these the only food stamps in that book?"
Lu Heng placed the universal-type food stamps on the table.
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao hurriedly lowered her head and started flipping through the book. As she vigorously flipped through the pages, she replied, "I don't know. There are too many pages in this book. I haven't finished looking through all of them."
"Okay, then you should look through them carefully."
After Lu Heng spoke, he got up and went over to the stove to check on the synthetic food in the pot.
He opened the lid of the pot and took a look. The synthetic food chunks in the pot had indeed been overcooked.
'Sigh, what a pity. I'll just have to make do with it.'
Sighing, Lu Heng picked up the spatula and stirred it. When he stirred it, he found that the food at the bottom of the pot had already been burnt. It gave off an unpleasant burnt smell.
'Ugh, how can I eat this?' Lu Heng's heart ached.
These synthetic food chunks had been obtained through his hard work on the farm. It felt very distressing to see them burnt like this..
Just as Lu Heng was feeling sorry for this bit of synthetic food, Lu Xiaoxiao, called out in surprise, "Second brother, come and see. I've found eleven more food stamps."
When Lu Heng heard this, he simply ignored the cooked synthetic food chunks and turned around to walk over the dining table.
"So many! Are there any more?"
Lu Heng looked at the pharmacology manual in front of Lu Xiaoxiao.
"There's more! There has to be more!" Lu Xiaoxiao said excitedly as she flipped through the pages quickly.
Seeing this, Lu Heng also grabbed the Encyclopedia of Small Monsters and started flipping through it page by page.
He felt that there might be food stamps in this book too.
Just like that, the brother and sister completely forgot about eating and focused on flipping through the books to look for food stamps.
"Another one!"
"Two! There are two here!"
The more Lu Xiaoxiao flipped through the book, the more excited she became. She kept finding the food stamps and putting them aside.
Lu Heng, on the other hand, could not find a single food stamp despite flipping through the pages for a long time.
However, he was still worried. He was afraid that there might be some food stamps in the book, so he kept on flipping.
Unknowingly, more than ten minutes had passed.
The brother and sister had carefully flipped through the two books and found all the food stamps that they could find.
The final result was that a total of 63 universal-type food stamps were found in the Handbook of Common Plant Pharmacology, but none in the Encyclopedia of Small Monsters.
It seemed that Old Xu had hidden all the food stamps in the pharmacology handbook.
"Second brother, how many catties of monster meat can we get with 63 food stamps?" Lu Xiaoxiao asked excitedly.
She had never been to school, so it would be difficult for her to calculate the slightly more complicated equations.
Lu Heng performed some quick mental calculations before saying, "63 to 189 catties."
"That's so much meat! How long will it take for us to finish eating it?"
Lu Xiaoxiao was stunned, while Lu Heng was ecstatic. He was really lucky to have made such a huge fortune.
If he averaged out the numbers, he would probably be able to get more than the 100 catties. With that amount, he would be able to eat meat with almost every meal.
Old Xu was probably furious.
While Lu Heng was deep in thought, Lu Xiaoxiao's expression suddenly changed to one of melancholy.
"Second brother, that sister secretly gave you so many food stamps. Are you really going to accept them?"
When Lu Heng heard this, he suddenly remembered that Xiaoxiao still did not know the true origins of these food stamps.
She believed that Liu Shiyao had secretly stuffed these food stamps into the book.
"Let's accept them first. Since she has good intentions, we can't refuse."
"After I get into the University of Martial Arts, I'll think of a way to return this favor."
"Second brother, do you really have a chance of getting into the University of Martial Arts?" Lu Xiaoxiao asked.
"Yes, you can rest assured."
Lu Heng smiled and said, "I'll exchange these food stamps tomorrow for monster meats that have some sort of tonic effect on the body. I'll eat some every day and my body will soon become stronger. I'll definitely pass the physical examination!"
Hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao immediately clapped her small hands and smiled. "That's great. Second brother, you have another chance to go to university!"
However, as soon as she finished speaking, her stomach started growling.
After Lu Heng heard it, he remembered that the food had been overcooked and could no longer be eaten.
"Second brother, what's that smell?"
Lu Xiaoxiao also picked up on the burning smell coming from the pot.
Lu Heng explained helplessly, "It's the smell of overcooked synthetic food."
"Ah? Second brother, what should we do then?" Lu Xiaoxiao said with a pained expression.
"We can only cook another pot..."
"Wait, Xiaoxiao, let's eat meat today!"
Lu Heng suddenly remembered the jerky from the day before yesterday.
The jerky was normally added to the paste as seasoning, but since he had received such a huge windfall, there was no need to save it for later.
"Let's eat the jerky for dinner tonight. All of it!"
With that, Lu Heng reached for the jerky in the cabinet.