Chapter 8: Black Market

Xia Ning’an waited for a while and saw the two female educated youths who had bought things come out.

She put on a mask, walked up to them, and asked in a low voice,

“Do you need iron pots?”

The two girls, who were about to hide, looked at Xia Ning’an in surprise when they heard her voice.

“Do you have iron pots to sell?”

“I just bought two a while ago, and I haven’t had a chance to use them yet. If you’re in a hurry, you can have them.”

“We do need them, but we don’t have enough industrial coupons. Can we just pay you in cash?”

Xia Ning’an pretended to hesitate for a moment. “How much are you willing to pay for one?”

“We can give you 35 yuan each,” one of the female educated youths said anxiously, not even noticing the other girl pulling her arm.

Xia Ning’an didn’t expect the girl to offer such a high price. She thought 30 yuan would be enough.

“Wait for me for a few minutes. I’ll go get them.”

She said this and ran into the alley. Seeing that no one was around, she took the pots out of the space.

She came out of the alley just as the two girls looked over. She waved to them, and the two girls came over with their things. Xia Ning’an showed them the two iron pots and deliberately revealed the army water bottles in her bag.

When she went to get the iron pots, she bought 50 army water bottles from the system. This was also a hot commodity now.

Sure enough, the two girls saw the water bottles she revealed and asked if she had any extra to exchange with them.

“How many do you want? I have a few extra.”

“Can you exchange five with us?”

“I have exactly five. It’s just that these water bottles are hard to buy…”

“I’ll pay 20 yuan each,” the girl said anxiously.

“Alright, five water bottles and two pots total 170 yuan.”

The two girls quickly counted the money and gave it to Xia Ning’an. The deal was done, and they parted ways.

Xia Ning’an came out of the alley and carefully observed the bustling street. She noticed an old woman carrying a basket, looking anxious as she walked towards an alley. She thought for a moment and followed her.

She followed the old woman through twists and turns until they reached a deserted factory yard. She saw the old woman say something to the man at the gate, pay him, and then go inside.

Xia Ning’an turned around and walked to a corner. She took a hat and a sun mask from the space, covering her face completely. She took a backpack and covered it with a piece of cloth, just like the old woman’s, and walked to the gate of the yard.

The man at the gate asked, “Buying or selling?”

“Both.”

The young man at the gate was stunned.

“A lot of goods?”

“Quite a few. Eighteen iron pots, 45 army water bottles. Are you interested?”

“I’ll take them. Wait here a moment. I’ll go find the manager and ask. Why don’t you go inside and have a look around? I’ll bring the manager over to find you later.”

“Okay.”

Xia Ning’an went into the courtyard and strolled around. She was really just strolling. People who came here usually went straight to the things they wanted and rarely wandered around aimlessly like her. Almost every stall had people trading. She quietly got closer to listen to the prices of things.

My goodness, brown sugar actually costs two yuan per pound! In this era, when you can buy things for five cents, how can brown sugar be so expensive?

“Xiaomiao, how much does brown sugar cost per pound in the system?”

“One coin per pound.”

“What are you waiting for? Get me 100 pounds!”

“Okay, Anjie. Your system coin balance is 375.”

You don’t know until you come out, and then you’re shocked. When she went back today, she would definitely cook well and work hard to earn money. After all, the price difference between the system and reality was too tempting. She strongly suspected that the system was doing this on purpose.

System: You guessed it!

Xia Ning’an strolled around, and when she turned a corner, she saw a middle-aged man with gray hair, a refined air, and patches on his clothes. But even so, he held his chest high, which made her take a second look. He had a basket in front of him, but no one was asking about the price.

She curiously walked over and saw that there were a few books in the basket. She squatted down and flipped through them. They were actually rare professional physics books. The covers were a little old, but the insides were well-preserved. It seemed that the owner cherished the books very much. No wonder no one was patronizing him. In this era, books were very dangerous. If you weren’t careful, they could be labeled as forbidden books, and you could be dragged away for criticism. Most of the people in those cowsheds were experts and scholars. It was all because of books.

“Do you have anything else besides books?”

The man looked at Xia Ning’an. Even though her face was covered, she had clear eyes. He thought for a moment and took out a cloth bag from his pocket and handed it to Xia Ning’an.

Xia Ning’an took it and opened it. Inside was a gold pocket watch and a small bag of diamonds…

“How much do you want for these things?”

“I don’t want money. The pocket watch and these diamonds, all together, I just want 500 pounds of fine grain and 500 pounds of coarse grain. The books are one yuan each.”

Xia Ning’an was secretly amazed. She had just seen that there were 10 diamonds in the small bag, each over one carat. There was one large one that was at least 7/8 carats. Now, he was only exchanging them for a little grain. It was such a good deal. For her, it was like getting them for free!

“In ten minutes, go to the first alleyway after you turn at the entrance of this yard. I’ll be waiting for you there with the things.”

“Okay.”

Xia Ning’an said this and ran out of the yard. She went to the place she had mentioned and put down 400 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of noodles, 300 pounds of cornmeal, and 200 pounds of sweet potatoes. She thought for a moment and put 10 yuan in the bag.

Not long after, the middle-aged man came out. He saw the grain on the ground and tears welled up in his eyes. This grain was a lifeline.

The man also saw so many noodles. He knew that Xia Ning’an was taking care of him. After all, noodles were several times more expensive than flour.

He readily handed the things to Xia Ning’an. Xia Ning’an only took the small bag of diamonds and returned the rest to the man.

“I don’t understand these books. I’ll leave them for those who need them more. This pocket watch is well-preserved. I’m sure the owner cherished it very much. A gentleman does not take what others cherish. I prefer this shiny thing. If you have more things like this in the future, you can come here and try your luck. I usually come here at this time.”

“I have to go. See you later!”

She said this and took the diamonds and ran into the black market yard.

The middle-aged man watched her back with gratitude.

The manager arrived just then.