Chapter 64 : Going to the Market

Song Shiwei pointed at them one by one and explained, “This is abalone!”  

Just as she was about to point to the next one, Wang Chunxiang excitedly chimed in, “I know that one! It’s a sea cucumber!”  

Sun Meimei nudged her arm. “How do you know?”  

Wang Chunxiang grinned proudly.  

“Hehe, a few years ago, when my husband Old Qian went back to his hometown during his annual leave, I saw someone preparing it at his friend’s house! That was my first time seeing one!”  

Jian Qiu laughed. “These are foods for rich people, sea cucumbers and abalone…”  

She turned to ask Song Shiwei, “Weiwei, how much are you planning to sell them for? The people at the market are all from nearby villages. I’m not sure they’d have enough money to buy these.”  

Song Shiwei understood this concern. “I just want to give it a try. The weather is getting colder, and I want to exchange them for cotton and fabric coupons to make some warm clothes for the children. I didn’t bring any thick clothes myself, so I need to make one for myself too. Tingyue hasn’t received many coupons in recent years.”  

Sun Meimei and the others understood.  

Fabric and cotton coupons were scarce, and many families dressed their children in altered adult clothes.  

After walking for about an hour, they finally arrived at the market. It was a large open space filled with stalls.  

People bustled about, some buying, some selling it was lively, just like New Year’s celebrations!  

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were thrilled at the sight. They followed Song Shiwei, looking around curiously.  

There were stalls selling vegetables, grains, flour, eggs, and duck eggs. Song Shiwei even spotted a vendor selling rapeseed oil.  

The vendor claimed it was homemade and that it added a rich flavor to food.  

Thinking about how she was running out of cooking oil at home, she stopped to ask about the price.  

“Auntie, how much is the rapeseed oil per pound?”  

The elderly vendor, pleased to have a potential customer, smiled and responded, “Our rapeseed oil is homemade, and it’s not expensive! Only 80 cents per pound! If you have ration coupons, you can trade them as well!”  

Sun Meimei, hearing this, immediately tried to pull Song Shiwei away.  

“Let’s go! This oil is too expensive. It’s better to buy pork, you can eat the meat and render the fat into lard! Pork is only 70 or 80 cents per pound!”  

But Song Shiwei stopped in her tracks.  

“Pork has a strong smell when cooked, which can overpower the natural flavors of the food. Although rapeseed oil also has a slight smell, it’s much milder.”  

As a food blogger, Song Shiwei couldn’t stand cooking with lard every day. While lard was good for the body, even adding garlic while cooking couldn’t completely suppress the greasy smell.  

The scent of pancakes fried in lard would fill the entire house, and worse, it would cling to her clothes and hair, making her want to take a shower immediately.  

Sun Meimei and the others weren’t as picky. They were used to living frugally and naturally opted for the cheapest, most cost-effective ingredients.  

Without arguing further, Song Shiwei simply bought two pounds of rapeseed oil. One advantage of this market was that no ration coupons were required.  

Similar to the black market, everything here was sold by villagers from surrounding towns.  

People brought goods from home to exchange for money or other necessities.  

The market also had food vendors catering to early-morning shoppers and stall owners who hadn’t had time for breakfast.  

There were stalls frying dough sticks, selling noodle soup, rice crust with vegetables, and even steamed buns!  

Song Shiwei also spotted a stall selling large spiced nuts. There was a big pot where they were being fried and cooked on the spot!  

The vendor, a middle-aged woman, spoke with an accent that suggested she was from Jinshi, a place near Beijing.  

The accent felt familiar to Song Shiwei because, in her previous life, one of her assistants was from Jinshi. He spoke in a way that sounded like a comedy crosstalk performance, often making everyone laugh.  

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were curious, staring intently at the large pot.  

Sun Meimei walked over and asked, “Big sister, how much are these peanuts per pound?”  

The middle-aged woman and her husband casually grabbed a few nuts from the hot iron pot and handed them to Sun Meimei and the others with a smile.  

“Try them first, okay? These are my homemade five-spice peanuts, absolutely delicious!”  

Song Shiwei picked one up and gently squeezed it. The red outer skin came off easily, revealing a large, plump nut inside. She put it in her mouth and took a bite, crispy and full of flavor!  

“Not bad, not bad! These are really delicious!”  

Since she said so, there was no doubt that the peanuts were indeed good!  

Sun Meimei and the others laughed. “Alright, if my sister says they’re tasty, then they must be! No doubt about it!”  

Jian Qiu also tried one and agreed. Her husband, Zhao, liked to have a drink of white liquor in the evening, often paired with peanuts.  

“How much for a pound of these nuts?” she asked.  

The woman smiled. “I guarantee you won’t be disappointed! One yuan per pound, or ten cents per small bag!”  

As she spoke, she took a piece of newspaper from the table, rolled it into an inverted triangle, and used a scoop to fill it with peanuts.  

“Look, for just ten cents, your husband will have enough to snack on while he drinks!”  

Song Shiwei smiled. Ten cents was actually quite a lot.  

But since they had come all this way to the big market, it wouldn’t make sense to buy only a tiny amount.  

Jian Qiu spoke first. “I’ll take a pound!”  

Sun Meimei pulled out five one-cent coins from her sleeve. “I don’t need that much, just fifty cents’ worth!”  

Song Shiwei glanced at Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin, who had been fixated on the frying pan ever since they got a taste of the peanuts. She smiled and pulled out two yuan from her pocket.  

“I’ll take two pounds!”  

Sun Meimei looked shocked. “Weiwei, why so much? I thought your family doesn’t drink much?”  

Song Shiwei pointed at the two boys beside her. “One pound for Tingyue, and one pound as a snack for the kids!”  

Snacks were hard to come by these days, especially on this remote island.  

Getting enough to eat was already a challenge, let alone finding treats.  

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were thrilled when they heard the peanuts were for them.  

Zhou Lin couldn’t wait to take the bag, but it was still hot, so he carefully held it in his arms.  

Wang Chunxiang asked curiously, “Why aren’t you eating them?”  

Zhou Lin glanced at Zhou Cheng and chuckled. “We want to save some for our younger siblings when we get home!”  

Hearing this, not only Song Shiwei but also Wang Chunxiang, Sun Meimei, and the others felt that this child was truly thoughtful and sensible.  

As they walked deeper into the market, the crowd grew larger, and there was an even greater variety of goods for sale.  

Song Shiwei planned to buy eggs, flour, pork, and other essentials, so she pulled Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin away from Sun Meimei and the others.  

But just as she bought a basket of eggs and duck eggs and was about to pay, she suddenly felt something was wrong with her right pocket.  

There had been more than ten yuan inside, meant for shopping at the market!  

Her expression froze for a moment. She hurriedly reached into her pocket, only to feel a cold hand inside!!!