Bai Taotao was squatting in a corner and watching the vendors sell their goods.

Xingxing went over and pulled her, and the two of them squeezed onto the bus and returned to the area near the train station.

Remembering that their father had told them to buy groceries, the sisters went straight to the black market near the train station. But Bai Taotao ran directly to a vendor and asked, “How much are the eggs?”

The vendor replied, “Five… no, four cents each.”

Bai Taotao asked, “How many do you have?”

The vendor grew a little nervous. “How… how many do you want?”

Bai Taotao said, “Two cents each. I’ll take a hundred!”

Xingxing panicked and tugged on Bai Taotao’s sleeve. “Fourth Sister, we don’t need a hundred eggs!”

“If you have a hundred eggs, sell them to me for two cents each,” Bai Taotao said.

The vendor shook her head. “No, no, two cents each? That won’t work…”

Bai Taotao turned and walked away. Xingxing, still shaken, patted her chest and hurried to follow.

The vendor chased after them. “Little girl! Wait a moment! Three cents each—okay? I still have over eighty eggs. I’ll sell them to you for two yuan and fifty cents!”

Bai Taotao said, “Eighty eggs, one yuan and fifty cents. And I already saw that you have one with a cracked shell in the basket.”

“Little girl—”

The vendor stomped her foot, thinking about how the other vendors had already sold their eggs and gone home, while she was still stuck here wasting time. She finally gritted her teeth and agreed. “Fine, fine! I need to get home quickly, so I’ll sell them to you!”

Bai Xingxing’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Bai Taotao said, “Give me the basket too. Later, you can go to the gatekeeper, Old Zhang, to get it back.” Then she turned to Bai Xingxing and said, “Give her one yuan and fifty cents.”

Bai Xingxing foolishly pulled out the money and paid, still wondering if they’d be eating eggs for lunch and dinner. With only fifty cents left, could they even buy a pound of rice…

The vendor took the money, reminded them to return the basket, and left in a hurry.

Bai Taotao said to Xingxing, “Let’s go to that black market near Reporter Zhang’s place.”

“Huh?” Xingxing looked dazed.

Bai Taotao confidently said, “We’re going to resell these eggs and make a profit!” She had already observed three different markets, listened to people talk, and studied the prices. She already had a rough idea in her mind.

“Fourth Sister, where did you even learn… reselling? Be careful, or you’ll be labeled a profiteer and get arrested!”

Bai Taotao ignored Xingxing’s worries and dragged her onto the bus again.

The sisters transferred buses once before finally reaching the black market near Reporter Zhang’s home. This area was part of the county’s “luxury residential zone,” not far from the gate of the County Commitee. People here were wealthier, and prices were slightly higher.

Bai Taotao was good-looking and dressed cleanly. She set the basket of eggs down by the roadside. Before long, a middle-aged woman came over and asked, “Little girl, how much for these eggs?”

Bai Taotao smiled and said, “Sister, these eggs are six cents each. Sixty cents for eleven.”

The middle-aged woman was delighted to hear the pretty girl call her “sister,” and the price seemed reasonable. She asked, “Are these eggs good?”

Bai Taotao said, “They’re from my own family’s chickens. I eat one every day…”

The woman glanced at Bai Taotao’s fair and smooth skin. “Alright, I’ll take sixty cents’ worth!”

Bai Taotao said, “Sister, buy one yuan’s worth. I’ll give you twenty-one eggs!”

“Deal!” The woman readily agreed.

Bai Xingxing was dumbfounded.

Wait… are they already about to make their money back?

After this first sale, an old lady came by and asked, “Is it one yuan for twenty-one eggs?”

—The county committee was a bit far from the train station, so selling eggs for six or seven cents each was normal here. Bai Taotao’s price of five cents each, plus the bonus egg, was a good deal.

Bai Taotao nodded, and the old lady immediately bought one yuan’s worth.

Another twenty-one eggs were sold.

Bai Xingxing’s eyes grew round with shock.

Soon, another customer came and haggled for a while. In the end, they bought the remaining forty eggs for one yuan and eighty cents.

And just like that, all the eggs were sold out.

Bai Xingxing still hadn’t recovered.

—In less than ten minutes, her silly older sister had sold the entire basket of eggs, earning three yuan and eighty cents. After subtracting the cost of one yuan and fifty cents and the bus fare, they made a net profit of two yuan and twenty-two cents¹!

Next, Bai Taotao went to a fish vendor. “Uncle, how much for the fish?”

“Fifty cents each. This one here weighs at least two pounds!” the vendor said.

Bai Taotao said, “Thirty cents each. I’ll take all ten, and I’ll give you two eggs for free.” As she spoke, she took out two eggs she had set aside earlier.

—Taotao had been observing this vendor for a while. He wasn’t good at attracting customers, and although his fish were the freshest, his prices were also the highest. Many people asked about the fish, but no one bought any. It was already close to noon, so he must have been worried about not being able to sell them.

The vendor hesitated.

In his mind, ten fish at fifty cents each would earn him five yuan. But today, there were several vendors selling fish, and even though their fish weren’t as good as his, they were much cheaper. As a result, he hadn’t sold a single fish.

This girl’s offer was low, but at least she’d buy them all.

“Alright, deal!”

Bai Xingxing was too shocked to speak and just paid the three yuan as instructed.

The two of them used the egg basket to carry ten fish and then drove back to the train station.

Bai Taotao imitated what she had learned earlier and headed to the black market to start selling. She called out, “Fresh fish caught from the river this morning! Only sixty cents each. Each fish weighs at least three pounds—much cheaper than meat! Perfect for fish soup, braised fish, sweet-and-sour fish—delicious no matter how you cook it! Come buy now!”

From Bai Taotao’s observation, no one was selling fish in the black market near the train station today.

Sure enough, as soon as she started hawking, people gathered around immediately. Someone quickly picked the fattest fish, and soon, others came in twos and threes to make their choices. In the end, only two fish were left.

By then, Bai Xingxing was holding five yuan and fifty cents in her hand, up from the initial two yuan, along with the remaining two fish.

Bai Taotao asked her sister, “Is five yuan enough to buy two chickens, five pounds of meat, and twenty pounds of rice?”

Bai Xingxing finally came back to her senses and thought for a moment. “It might be tight, but we can ask around. Even if we can’t get it all, we should come close.”

In the end, the two sisters returned to their rented courtyard carrying two fish, one chicken, two pounds of meat, two bags of cabbage, and about ten pounds of rice.

Bai Zhengqian, Tan Fenghui, and Bai Lili were all stunned.

Tan Fenghui asked, “Did you two… rob someone? Where did you steal all this from?”

Bai Zhengqian said, “Are city prices really this low?”

Bai Lili added, “Did you just pick all these up for free? Without spending a cent?”

Hongdou and Hongdou were so excited they started spinning in circles, shouting, “Oh, oh, oh, we’re eating meat today!” and “There’s chicken! And fish too!”

Bai Taotao was parched and went to drink some water, while Bai Xingxing recounted to their father and sister-in-law everything they had done—how many trips they made, how much they sold.

The entire family was dumbfounded.

After drinking water, Bai Taotao cried out that she was hungry and wanted to eat meat.

Finally snapping out of her shock, Bai Lili quickly took the rice and vegetables to the kitchen. Not long after, a fragrant meal was ready: plain white rice as the main dish, stewed cabbage and meat as the main course, and an additional dish of stir-fried bitter melon with tomatoes.

Since Tang Liren was not at home, Tan Fenghui was the manager of the house.

She arranged for Bai Xingxing to deliver food to their family members in the hospital and then discussed plans with Bai Lili. “At most, it will be two more days before people from the village come, and it will probably be ten people. If they all stay here, we can squeeze in with floor mats in the courtyard, but feeding them? That’s not going to be easy. What Taotao did today taught us a lesson. We might as well take advantage of the next two days while we’re free to make more trips and at least earn enough for the coming days’ meals.”

Bai Lili nodded in agreement.

Bai Taotao suggested, “I heard from the vendors that today was a rest day for city folk, so more people were out shopping. Business isn’t usually this good. However, the day after tomorrow is Qingming Festival, so I think tomorrow’s business will also be decent.”

Tan Fenghui agreed, “People eat mugwort cakes for Qingming. How about we buy some glutinous rice, mugwort, and peanuts to make mugwort cakes and sell them?”

Bai Taotao shook her head. “That’s too much work, and it won’t make much money. Instead, we could go to the train station market this afternoon to catch deals, buy live chickens, ducks, and geese, along with some ginger and green onions. We can keep the birds in the courtyard overnight and sell them tomorrow near the County Commitee gate. We can mark up the price by thirty percent and offer free ginger and green onions with every purchase. They’ll sell out quickly.”

Everyone stared at Bai Taotao in shock.

Bai Taotao asked curiously, “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Bai Zhengqian exclaimed, “Daughter, how did I not know you were this clever before?”

Bai Taotao responded, “I’m hungry!” She then stared at the dishes on the table with dissatisfaction. “Two pounds of meat is such a small amount? Why didn’t you cook the chicken and fish too?”

Bai Lili explained, “You were starving, so I quickly made the stewed cabbage and meat. Fish soup takes time, and braising chicken does too… Don’t worry, Taotao. Third Sister will get the pot ready later and make sure you have fish soup and braised chicken for dinner.”

Bai Taotao thought for a moment. “There are so many of us. Even two pounds of meat are barely enough for a taste. One chicken for ten people is just one piece per person…” She felt a bit disheartened.

Tan Fenghui reassured her, “Don’t feel bad, Taotao. This afternoon, we’ll go to the market to buy more chickens. We’ll make sure you have enough to eat. How’s that?”

Bai Lili added, “We could also braise some potatoes along with the chicken. Two chickens with four or five pounds of potatoes would be delicious!”

Finally, Bai Taotao brightened up. “Potatoes with chicken? I can’t even remember what that tastes like anymore…”

Bai Zhengqian, Tan Fenghui, and Bai Lili exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but think—Taotao was still a bit naïve and childish. Perhaps it was her desire for meat that had driven her to work so hard.

This made them feel all the more motivated to try harder too.

1. The math is not mathing… ↩︎