Chapter 15: Department Stores and Speculation

Lin Yue folded the letter and put it in her pocket. Envelopes and stamps cost money, and she didn’t have a single penny on her. She could only hope that the remittance slip would arrive today, so she could buy an envelope and stamps. If the remittance slip didn’t arrive today, she wouldn’t be able to send this letter.

Fortunately, today’s mail included a remittance slip sent by Zhang Yuandong, as well as a letter with a meat ticket and an industrial ticket, both of which were valid nationwide.

There were no other words besides the two tickets.

Lin Yue didn’t know that these two tickets were requested by Sun Hongmei from her son. The meat ticket was to be saved for the New Year, while the industrial ticket was intended for buying a bicycle.

Of course, this one ticket couldn’t buy a bicycle. Zhang Yuandong didn’t have nationwide industrial tickets, and he could only exchange for this one. He didn’t have more.

Lin Yue bought an envelope and stamps, wrote down the address and sent it out. Then she went to the department store.

The department store wasn’t very big. It was divided into many areas according to the types of goods. In front were glass counters, and behind were shelves. Each counter had a saleswoman.

If you wanted something, you had to tell the saleswoman, and she would show it to you. You could only look at it, not touch it.

She was wearing clothes with patches upon patches. She was also very thin, and the clothes hung loosely on her, like she was wearing someone else’s clothes. As soon as she entered, she received a lot of glares.

She didn’t care. She was like a country woman who had just arrived in the city, curious about everything. She looked here and there, and the saleswomen rolled their eyes at her, not even bothering to look at her.

She had heard that the saleswomen at this time were not kind, and Lin Yue didn’t mind at all. She just treated it like she was browsing a luxury store.

Besides, wasn’t she a country woman who had just arrived in the city?

After wandering around for a while, Lin Yue finally reached the place where kitchenware was sold.

She handed the introduction letter and the marked size to the saleswoman. Unexpectedly, the young girl glanced at it and threw it back, saying lightly, “We need tickets to buy things here. Introduction letters don’t work.”

Lin Yue was stunned. She hadn’t expected this.

Seeing the girl’s disdainful look, she knew it was useless to argue with her.

She happened to have a warm industrial ticket in her hand. Lin Yue, feeling rich and powerful, slammed it on the table. “I have a ticket. Get me a pot!”

The girl looked Lin Yue up and down, took the ticket and looked at it, but didn’t say anything. She grunted and carried a large iron pot of the corresponding size.

This pot cost 18 yuan, making Lin Yue’s heart ache.

Holding such a large thing, she couldn’t continue browsing. She carried it out of the department store.

At the entrance of the store, Lin Yue overheard someone whispering about “cloth that doesn’t need tickets.”

Lin Yue was overjoyed. She had stumbled upon “speculation.” She secretly looked over and saw a middle-aged, stout woman pulling a younger, thin woman towards a secluded street.

Lin Yue was still holding a large pot in her arms, so she couldn’t follow them directly. She could only watch them walk away, then nonchalantly tied the pot to her bicycle and rode into the street.

The street was very narrow, it would be more appropriate to call it an alley. Both sides were surrounded by people’s walls. After walking a short distance, there was a fork.

Taking advantage of the darkness and lack of people in the alley, Lin Yue quickly entered the space, leaving the bicycle and pot inside. She changed her clothes, packed some peanuts, millet, and eggs, caught a rabbit, put it in a basket, and came out of the space.

She reached the fork and saw a seven or eight-year-old boy squatting in the corner playing with pebbles.

When he saw someone coming, he raised his head and looked at her warily.

Lin Yue guessed that the boy must be watching out for them.

She grabbed a handful of peanuts and stuffed them into the boy’s hand, saying, “Go home and tell your family that the Lin Dayi from last time is here. Tell your aunt that I need her help.”

The boy grabbed the peanuts, looked her up and down for a while, and then ran away.

Lin Yue was actually quite nervous. During this period of time, speculation was severely cracked down on. She was worried that people wouldn’t do business with her because she was a stranger, and she was also afraid of being cheated. Even worse, someone might be using bait to catch fish, waiting for speculators like her.

Fortunately, the boy quickly poked his head out of a door in front and motioned for her to come over.

After entering the door, Lin Yue clearly saw that it was an abandoned old house. Besides the boy, there were the two women from earlier in the courtyard.

The stout woman looked Lin Yue up and down and said bluntly, “I don’t know you. You’ve never been here before.”

Lin Yue touched her nose and admitted, “Auntie, I heard you two talking about cloth at the entrance of the department store just now. I was so anxious that I followed you here.

My brother is getting married, and I’m worried about not having any cloth. You see, I’m…”

The stout woman’s face softened slightly. She had already finished bargaining with the woman in front of her, and after receiving the money, she rolled up the cloth that the thin woman wanted and gave it to her.

The thin woman was about to leave, but she saw something moving in Lin Yue’s basket and asked nervously, “What’s in your basket? Why is it moving?”

Lin Yue saw her nervousness and quickly lifted the lid of the basket, saying, “It’s just a rabbit. I raised it myself. It’s for my brother’s wedding.”

The thin woman glanced at the rabbit, then at Lin Yue’s clothes, and finally at the basket full of peanuts, millet, and eggs. She hesitated for a moment, then said, “You’ve come to the right place. We have a lot of cloth here, but it’s all from the black market. You have to be careful.”

Lin Yue nodded, secretly relieved. She had finally found a source of cloth.

The stout woman took Lin Yue to a small room in the corner of the courtyard. The room was dark and damp, and there was a pile of cloth in the corner.

The stout woman pointed at the cloth and said, “These are all good quality cotton fabrics. They’re all from the south. They’re much cheaper than what’s sold in the department store. You can pick whatever you want.”

Lin Yue looked at the cloth, her eyes shining. She had never seen such good quality cloth before.

The stout woman continued, “But you have to pay in cash. We don’t accept tickets.”

Lin Yue was a little disappointed. She had only brought 18 yuan with her, and she didn’t know if it was enough to buy enough cloth.

She looked at the cloth again, then at the basket in her hand, and finally made a decision.

She took out the rabbit and the eggs from the basket and said to the stout woman, “Auntie, I don’t have enough cash. Can I trade this rabbit and these eggs for some cloth?”

The stout woman looked at the rabbit and the eggs, then at Lin Yue’s clothes. She hesitated for a moment, then said, “Okay, I’ll trade with you. But I’m not sure if you’ll get enough cloth.”

Lin Yue nodded happily. She had finally found a way to buy cloth.

She picked out a few pieces of cloth and paid the stout woman with the rabbit and the eggs.

The stout woman was satisfied with the deal. She had never seen such a good rabbit before.

Lin Yue was also very satisfied. She had finally bought enough cloth for her brother’s wedding.

She left the old house and rode her bicycle back to the village.

On the way, she thought about the stout woman’s words. She knew that she had taken a risk by buying cloth from the black market, but she had no choice.

She had to find a way to make a living, and she had to find a way to help her family.

This was the beginning of Lin Yue’s journey as a speculator.

Lin Yue lifted the cloth covering the basket to show the two women, reassuring them, “Auntie, don’t be nervous. It’s just a rabbit. I brought it back from my parents’ house.”

Seeing such a fat rabbit, both women were very tempted.

The thin woman hesitated for a long time, finally making up her mind. She took off her shoe, took out a small handkerchief from inside, and asked, “Are you selling this rabbit? I have grain tickets and oil tickets.”

Lin Yue pretended to be hesitant and said, “I wanted to eat this rabbit myself.”

Hearing her say this, the stout woman’s face brightened.

Although she also craved rabbit meat, she wasn’t happy to see someone doing business right at her doorstep.

The thin woman grabbed Lin Yue’s basket and wouldn’t let go. “Girl, my daughter-in-law is about to give birth. Now she’s so thin that all that’s left is a big belly. I’ve been worried about not having a way to buy nutritious food. Just sell me this rabbit. I’ll pay extra money and tickets!”

The stout woman immediately intervened, “Girl, don’t listen to her. How can you give a pregnant woman rabbit meat? If she gives birth to a child with a cleft palate, watch out for her blaming you! Sell it to me. Tell me what kind of cloth you like, and I’ll give you a discount!”

The thin woman was furious. “Spit! You old hag, who are you cursing? My daughter-in-law can’t eat it now, but I can save it for her confinement period!”

Lin Yue quickly intervened, “Both aunties, let’s talk things out. Auntie, I have some eggs in my basket. I really don’t want to sell this rabbit. How about I give you some eggs?”

She lifted the rabbit, revealing the neatly arranged eggs underneath and two white cloth bags.

The two women pointed at the two white cloth bags, asking in unison, “What’s in those?”

Lin Yue was startled by the two of them and whispered, “It’s… peanuts and millet?”

Upon hearing this, both of their eyes lit up, especially the thin woman. She tightly grabbed Lin Yue’s hand, afraid that she would run away if she wasn’t careful.

The stout woman was fine. Looking at her build, you could tell that her family lived well.

She asked about the prices one by one. Lin Yue pretended to be hesitant and said, “The peanuts and eggs are easy. My parents live in the countryside, and I go back every few days. We always have plenty of eggs.

We also had a good harvest of peanuts this year, and I got a lot. I can spare some for you, Auntie, but I don’t have much millet. I only got this much.”

She acted like she was just answering whatever they asked, honestly.

The thin woman stopped bothering about the rabbit. After all, city dwellers received some meat tickets every month, so they could still eat some meat. But eggs, millet, and other things were rare and valuable for pregnant women and newborns. Especially eggs, they were hard to buy even with tickets.

In the end, the thin woman bought all the eggs, millet, and peanuts from Lin Yue’s basket. She paid with a sugar ticket and 2.7 yuan.

Eggs in supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores cost 5 cents per jin, and they were often out of stock. Lin Yue’s eggs were large, and with the stout woman mediating, she sold them for 8 cents each. 30 eggs earned her 2.5 yuan.

There wasn’t much millet and peanuts, so she only sold them for 20 cents.

A full basket of goods, except for the rabbit, only earned her less than 3 yuan.

The last time Lin Yue went to the market, she was amazed at how cheap things were.

Now that she was making money herself, she realized that money was really hard to earn in this era.

After sending the thin woman away, the stout woman took out two pieces of cloth in different colors.

One was blue, and the other was beige.

The beige one was the natural color of old cloth. The blue one was a bit like the color of jeans in the future.

However, both were small, less than 40 centimeters wide and about ten meters long.

Sun Meifeng could also weave this kind of old cloth. In the past, every household had a loom, and many elderly people in the village knew how to weave.

However, cotton was now a strategic material, and private buying and selling, as well as large-scale private planting, were prohibited. Rural areas usually only planted some in their own vegetable gardens. It would take three to five years to save up enough cotton to sew a new quilt.

What’s more, the harvest was bad now, and everyone was afraid of starvation. Every corner that could be used for planting was planted with grain, making cotton even more difficult to obtain, not to mention cloth.

Rural areas also issued cloth tickets, but many people still couldn’t afford clothes.

Xiaodatian Village was considered relatively good. In winter, there were still many children who couldn’t go out because they didn’t have clothes to wear.

The two pieces of cloth were not cheap, they were even more expensive than the machine-woven cloth in supply and marketing cooperatives. They cost 9.5 yuan in total.

Lin Yue’s heart ached. She had just earned less than 3 yuan, and now she had to spend nearly 10 yuan. It was only natural to feel heartbroken.

But she couldn’t buy less. After all, this was a rare opportunity.

In the end, the stout woman bought the rabbit. The rabbit weighed over ten jin and cost 4.5 yuan.

Lin Yue counted out 5 yuan to the stout woman. The stout woman saw that she was generous and leaned closer to ask in a low voice, “I also have cotton from this year. Do you want some?”

Lin Yue was very tempted, but what she wanted most was cotton seeds. With cotton seeds, she could plant her own cotton.

The stout woman was straightforward. Hearing that she wanted to plant her own cotton, she readily gave her a bag of cotton seeds.