Chapter 4

Three days later, Chen Suihuan and her younger brother would leave. At that time, they would clean up the house so that others could move in anytime.

However, she warned them in advance: “But my grandmother’s side might come to cause trouble. You have to be mentally prepared for that.”

Wang Da-ma’s nephew chuckled twice, the tendons on his arms twitching as he said: “I’m not afraid of them causing trouble. I have ways to deal with them.” He then laughed quietly twice.

This nephew of Wang Da-ma clearly was not someone to be trifled with. Only someone like him could handle Grandmother Chen and the others.

It was a case of “an evil person is dealt with by another evil person.”

Chen Suihuan smiled slightly, feeling a little regretful inside. It was a pity that she was leaving and would no longer be able to see Grandmother Chen and the others get beaten down.

With Aunt Ye turning a blind eye, Chen Suihuan and the others quickly finished the property transfer procedures.

Afterwards, Chen Suihuan went to the bank, opened a passbook, and deposited 1,500 yuan.

This 1,500 yuan was for Chen Sui’an; she kept the remaining 1,000 yuan for herself.

Although Chen Sui’an was going to join the army, he should have places to spend money. Later, when he got married and such, he would definitely need to have money ready. Chen Suihuan had to prepare it for him in advance.

After completing these tasks, Chen Suihuan thought for a moment and prepared to make a trip to the black market.

Currently, her warehouse held more than 10,000 jin of flour and more than 10,000 jin of rice. The rest, such as corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and cotton, were also in abundance.

Chen Suihuan planned to take out some supplies. Money was not a problem, but she lacked ration coupons. In this era, having money without coupons wasn’t useful for buying things.

The army didn’t need ration coupons, and they even issued military ration coupons every month. Chen Sui’an did not need to prepare these.

However, the northeast was very cold; thick clothes and thick quilts had to be brought along. Chen Suihuan was especially afraid of the cold, so she had to bring plenty of cotton-padded clothes and cotton trousers.

Besides that, many other supplies were needed—pots, bowls, pans, daily necessities—all had to be prepared.

With these plans in mind, Chen Suihuan found a quiet corner. After entering the warehouse, she took out her unused cosmetics and smeared her face, neck, and hands with black makeup.

She then wrapped herself tightly, found a piece of blue cloth, and covered her face. Only then did she come out from the warehouse, carrying a large backpack, and headed toward the alley behind the hospital.

The alley behind the hospital was known to the locals as a black market.

Chen Suihuan looked over her disguise carefully, making sure nothing was wrong, then walked toward the secluded alley.

Before she could enter, someone called out to her. Chen Suihuan immediately felt a little scared. Could it be she was going to be caught before even reaching the black market?

Nowadays, speculation and profiteering were liable to lead to arrest.

Just as Chen Suihuan was about to turn and run, she heard someone quietly ask: “What are you here for?”

She turned back and sized up the person. He didn’t look like a captor, but more like a gatekeeper. She let out a long breath.

“Here to sell things.”

The man immediately said: “Five fen.”

Chen Suihuan was momentarily stunned but quickly understood. So even coming into the black market required a fee. As expected, no matter the time, money was always needed to open the way.

The money had to be paid, so Chen Suihuan took out five fen and handed it to the man.

Only then did the man step aside and say: “Go ahead.”

Chen Suihuan took two steps in, then suddenly stepped back and put down her backpack. “Big brother, I want to sell some things. I wonder if you all might want them?”

The man sized Chen Suihuan up from head to toe, then asked: “What things?”

Chen Suihuan lifted the cloth covering the top of her backpack, revealing the crystal-clear rice and the shimmering flour underneath.

The man’s eyes were sharp; he immediately recognized that these were good-quality items, definitely special supplies. He glanced around quickly, then beckoned Chen Suihuan over with a wave.

“Give me a little of each. I’ll go ask my boss.”

Chen Suihuan promptly grabbed a handful of rice and scooped some flour, placing them into the bag the man handed her.

The man then called over another person to guard the entrance and disappeared quickly.

Chen Suihuan stood there waiting for about ten minutes when the man came back, sweating profusely.

“Our boss wants to see you. Come with me.”

Chen Suihuan was not afraid; she followed him. She had her warehouse and even weapons—if anyone tried to harm her, she could fight back and protect herself.

They wandered through many doors and turned several corners before finally arriving at a large courtyard.

The courtyard was quite spacious. In the main hall sat a man in his thirties, somewhat refined in appearance. When he saw Chen Suihuan, he smiled at her.

Chen Suihuan nodded at him. “So, how is it? My goods aren’t bad, right?”

The man raised his eyebrows. “Indeed, good stuff. Since you say that, it means you have quite a lot on hand, right?”

“I wouldn’t say a lot, but more than a thousand jin of each, I can still produce that much.” Chen Suihuan said with a slight smile.

The man straightened up involuntarily—more than a thousand jin was no small amount. He had already seen the rice and flour, all top-grade products.

“All right, I want 1,000 jin of rice, 1,000 jin of flour. What else do you have? I want some of everything.”

Chen Suihuan thought for a moment and said: “I have corn, soybeans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, cotton, vegetables, and apples.

I also have pork, and chickens, ducks, and geese aren’t in short supply. If you want, I can sell all of them to you.”

This time, not only was the middle-aged man stunned, even the big boss who had brought Chen Suihuan in opened his mouth wide in surprise.

Seeing Chen Suihuan say so much so quickly, the middle-aged man suddenly felt uneasy. His gaze toward her was filled with caution and appraisal.

For her to be able to produce so many goods, either she had someone backing her or she was a lure.

Those who dared to deal in the black market naturally had very high vigilance.

Sensing the change in the middle-aged man’s gaze, Chen Suihuan stared back at him expressionlessly.

The middle-aged man thought that since she didn’t seem like someone here to fish for information, she must have a strong backing.

“All right, I’ll take everything you mentioned, 1,000 jin each.

Also, I want 20 each of chickens, ducks, and geese.” the black market boss said after a moment’s thought, gritting his teeth.

Such a large quantity was rare. If he completed this deal, he could make a big profit and then exit immediately.

In recent days, the black market boss had heard news that the Red Armband patrols might take action soon. Their place was very dangerous and could be shut down anytime.

He had been worried about this, but now seeing Chen Suihuan bring so many goods, he planned to gamble: sell all these goods first, then close the black market immediately.

Chen Suihuan smiled and nodded. “All right, then let’s settle on the price first.”

“Your rice and flour are premium quality. I’m sincere about doing business with you. So, rice will be 2.2 qian per jin, and flour 2.5 qian per jin. That’s already more expensive than the State Supply Agency.”

Before coming, Chen Suihuan had checked prices at the State Supply Agency. The agency required coupons; flour sold for 2.4 qian per jin, rice for 1.8 qian per jin.