Chapter 60 : Report

But Zhang Qiaohui didn’t recognize Jiang Li at all. She was focused on looking at the hairbands. “How much is this one?”

“The blue and white one in your hand is 1.5 yuan,” Jiang Li replied.

“This is too expensive. It’s made with such a small amount of fabric, it shouldn’t cost that much!” Zhang Qiaohui rummaged through the remaining hairbands. “Besides, these are leftovers from other people. If you can lower the price, I’ll buy it for 50 cents.”

“Sister, each of these hairbands is carefully made, and they’re all fresh goods from the south. The shipping cost is high, so we can’t make them this cheap.”

“Besides, these are high-quality items, so it’s worth the money. Someone just bought ten of them at once, and I didn’t even bargain.”

“Oh, those people just now are city folks, they have jobs. I’m a country woman, my husband just died, and I don’t have that much money. I’m buying this for my daughter, please give me a discount!”

Jiang Li’s eyes widened. If she hadn’t heard from Qi Shaoqiang that Zhang Qiaohui only had two sons, she might have believed her.

“Sister, it’s really necessary. Besides, if I give you a discount, the customer who just bought something might be unhappy.”

“If you don’t tell me and I don’t tell you, who would know? That’s it. 50 cents!”

Zhang Qiaohui dropped the bill, grabbed a woven hairband, and stood up, but was stopped by Qin Xiaoting. “Sister, you can’t do this. We haven’t agreed on the price yet, and you’re just taking the stuff and leaving. Isn’t that robbery?”

“What do you mean? I paid you,” Zhang Qiaohui frowned, deepening the wrinkles on her lips. She threw the hairband on the ground and said, “Forget it. This is so unlucky. It’s so hard to do business with people like you. I don’t want the stuff anymore. Give me back my money.”

The hairband fell onto the ground in a spot where there was no cloth, quickly gathering dust. Jiang Li frowned, thinking that the hairband was ruined.

“You’ve soiled our goods, how can we sell it now?”

Qin Xiaoting stopped Zhang Qiaohui from leaving. Jiang Li pulled out the stick hidden under the cloth and hit her leg hard, breaking it.

Zhang Qiaohui’s hair stood on end. She had forgotten that those who came to the black market to sell things were all profiteers. What good could they offer?

“How much? I’ll pay!”

“One dollar and fifty cents!” Jiang Li roughly stated.

Zhang Qiaohui, trembling, took out another dollar, threw it on the ground, and ran away.

The nearby stall owners who had been selling eggs and grains now withdrew their curious gazes.

Originally, they thought the stall owner was a small, skinny guy, and since he was with a woman, they assumed he might be an easy target. But they didn’t expect him to actually be quite capable.

Qin Xiaoting’s braised meat had already sold out. Jiang Li thought for a moment and realized there were only three hairbands left, so it might be best to close the stall. She could sell more next time, and it would look better when displayed.

Additionally, the way Zhang Qiaohui had looked at her when she left made her feel uncomfortable.

Beep, beep, beep! A sharp whistle sounded. The stall owners who heard it quickly grabbed their goods and ran. Those whose goods were too heavy simply abandoned their stalls and fled.

“The red armbands are coming, the red armbands are coming!”

Jiang Li and Qin Xiaoting hurriedly followed the crowd out of the alley.

They heard the skinny gatekeeper swearing, “He was here last week, why is he here again this week? This shouldn’t be happening! Our informant didn’t send us any news.”

Not far in the alley, Zhang Qiaohui raised two red armbands and said, “That’s them. There’s someone speculating and selling things privately. A man and a woman are selling hairbands made of that kind of cloth. Comrade, I want to report them!”

The two red armbands exchanged a glance and said, “Okay, we know about your report. You can go back now.”

As Zhang Qiaohui saw the two red armbands slowly walking toward the alley, a triumphant smile appeared on her face. However, it quickly faded when she noticed Jiang Li and Qin Xiaoting walking far away, already out of the black market’s range.

The man with the red armband and the skinny guy at the entrance of the alley nodded at each other. The skinny guy even bowed slightly and handed the red armband a cigarette. Several of them started smoking from the same pack of cigarettes.

The red armbands arrested a few unfamiliar people and then returned to report.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Qiaohui saw the skinny man and two thugs, one tall and one short, approaching.

“You’re the one who reported it, right?”

The skinny man spat into his palm, “I never hit women, except when they’re too mean!”

Zhang Qiaohui was slapped and staggered back, her cheeks swelling quickly.

“You misunderstood me,” Zhang Qiaohui explained with a slurred tongue, her heart filled with fear. She hadn’t expected that her report would not result in the arrest of the man and woman selling the hairbands, but instead she was retaliated against by people from the black market.

The skinny man didn’t let her go. He grabbed Zhang Qiaohui by the collar, slapped her a few more times, then snatched the coarse cloth bag at her feet. “Get lost. Don’t let me see you here again. Otherwise, I’ll beat you every time I do.”

“What terrible luck!”

Zhang Qiaohui burst into tears, covering her face with her hands, unable to speak, only nodding repeatedly.

Jiang Li observed the entire scene from the side. “Xiaoting, it turns out it was her who reported us.”

“Luckily, you were careful and we closed the stall early. Otherwise, we’d have ended up in the board house because of this woman.”

Qin Xiaoting was still frightened. Speculation and profiteering were still serious problems these days.

The two of them left the alley and found a public restroom to change their clothes and hairstyles, so they wouldn’t be recognized.

Qin Xiaoting had made twice as much braised meat today as yesterday, and it had all sold out. Jiang Li earned six yuan.

She felt a little embarrassed. “Xiaoting, you made the braised meat yourself, and you paid for the ingredients. It’s too much for me to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.”

Qin Xiaoting held her arm and pinched her face. “What are you talking about, Lizi? If you hadn’t been careful today, we would have been caught. Besides, didn’t you see that when we collected the money, several men nearby were so jealous they almost tried to rob us? If you hadn’t shown your skills, we wouldn’t have made it home safely. I hired a beautiful bodyguard for six yuan, and it was worth it.”

Jiang Li felt relieved after hearing this but still said, “Then I’ll charge no more than six yuan in the future. I won’t take any more.”

“What are you thinking? I almost died making 20 kilograms of braised meat yesterday. Besides, the braised meat didn’t sell well at the end of the day. If I make more, some may be left over. I plan to make 20 kilograms at most.”

“Besides, meat coupons are hard to exchange. I’ll have to see if there are other ingredients after a while and try stewing pork.”

Jiang Li finally felt at ease. “Well, to celebrate the success of the hairband business, I’ll treat you to a delicious meal today.”

“By the way, I wonder what happened to the report letter?”

“Then let’s go to the state-owned hotel and check?”

“Sure.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Qiaohui covered her face and went to the health center, where they gave her medicine, and she spent another two cents.