Chapter 7: Black Market Transactions

The next day, Mi Xia had just woken up when Zhang Hongxia had already prepared breakfast. Mi Xia blushed with embarrassment, having overslept. She vowed to wake up earlier the next day to help her sister-in-law cook.

Zhang Hongxia seemed to understand what Mi Xia was thinking and quickly said, “Little sister, don’t get up early tomorrow. I can manage it myself. I used to cook at this time before you came. Besides, you were tired all day yesterday in the mountains. You should sleep in as much as you can. Your elder brother also gets up later than usual when he’s not working.”

Mi Xia blushed again, responded softly, and went back to her room to wake Mo Zhixia. Mother and daughter went to wash up together.

After breakfast, Mi Xia planned to teach her sister-in-law how to make persimmon cakes and roast chestnuts.

Mi Qiu played with the children for a while before going to work. Only the two young girls were left at home. Her sister-in-law went to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. While her sister-in-law washed dishes, Mi Xia picked out the persimmons with stems.

Zhang Hongxia finished cleaning up and came to help. After the two sisters-in-law picked out all the persimmons with stems, Mi Xia began to teach her sister-in-law how to peel them.

After peeling, they hung the persimmons on ropes in the sun to dry. It took two hours to hang all the persimmons.

Next, they waited for the outside of the persimmons to dry and the inside to soften. Then, they would gently squeeze them into the shape of persimmon cakes, kneading them two or three times.

Then, they would put the persimmons in a container until a white frost formed on the surface, at which point they could be eaten. Her sister-in-law could complete these remaining steps.

When it was time to roast the chestnuts, Mi Xia realized her sister-in-law probably wouldn’t want to use sugar. She decided to make chestnut chicken instead.

After telling her sister-in-law, she took out one of the wild chickens her brother and sister-in-law had cleaned the night before. She chopped the chicken into pieces, washed it, and secretly marinated it with Huadiao wine, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce for 30 minutes.

While the chicken marinated, she shelled and washed the chestnuts and set them aside. She heated oil in a pot, added scallions and ginger, and sautéed until fragrant. Then, she added the chicken pieces and stir-fried until the chicken was firm. Finally, she added the chestnuts and stir-fried them together.

She added water, brought it to a boil, and simmered until everything was cooked. Then, she let it simmer in the pot for 15 minutes. (All cooking segments are from Baidu; little fairies, please don’t try this!)

She steamed the rice, and by the time her elder brother came home, lunch was ready. The whole family looked at the dish with wide eyes and ate ravenously.

“Little sister, your cooking is so delicious! It’s so fragrant. When you have time, teach me,” Zhang Hongxia said while eating.

“Sure, sister-in-law. Next time I cook, you can watch. As long as you’re willing to use enough seasoning, it will be delicious,” Mi Xia said with a sweet smile.

After lunch, Mi Xia gave her daughter to her sister-in-law and decided to go to the black market. She went outside, found a secluded spot, and took some grain from her space, putting it into the white bags she had bought earlier.

The bags had no markings. Each bag contained ten jin (approximately 10 kg) of grain, pre-weighed in her space. She put them in her backpack.

She did the same with some flour, noodles (one pound per package), several chickens, and rabbits.

The walk to the county almost exhausted Mi Xia. She disguised herself in her space before entering the black market with her backpack.

Mi Xia found a spot to sit down, covering her backpack with a cloth, revealing only a small part. Soon, someone came and asked, “Big sister, how much are you selling these for?”

Everyone was short of fine grains. Remembering the prices she’d heard earlier, Mi Xia said, “Rice is 60 cents a pound with ration coupons (any kind), 90 cents without. Flour is 40 cents a pound with coupons, 60 cents without. Chickens and rabbits are 7 yuan each. What would you like?”

“Why are your prices so high? Rice in the supply and marketing cooperative is only 30 cents a pound,” the old woman exclaimed dramatically.

Fortunately, Mi Xia had heard from her grandmother that people in this era always haggled, no matter the price, hoping to get even a cent off.

Just then, another person came and asked, “How much is the rice per pound?”

Mi Xia looked at the man, who was well-dressed and around her age. He looked like he had money.

She calmly repeated the prices. The man immediately said generously, “I’ll take all of it.”

Mi Xia’s eyes lit up. This was a big customer! She quickly listed the prices of everything in her backpack.

The transaction was completed quickly. The old woman watched with regret, realizing she had missed out because she haggled.

Since her daughter-in-law was postpartum, she still looked hopefully at Mi Xia and said, “Big sister, do you have any more? I won’t haggle this time, whatever you say is fine.”

Mi Xia, seeing the old woman’s genuine desire to buy, said, “Wait here for a moment. My nephew has some in another place. I’ll go get some more.”

The old woman readily agreed. Mi Xia went to a deserted place, retrieved more supplies, and returned to the black market entrance, only to find a man blocking her path. It was the man who had bought everything.

“Is there anything else? Did I make a mistake in the calculation?” she asked, since he was blocking her way.

“Do you have more of these goods?” the man asked directly. “If you do, I’ll take all of it, however much you have.”

“Such confidence! I’m afraid you won’t have enough money,” Mi Xia thought. This man seemed to have connections, ordering everything at once. This was better than selling things individually every day.

She continued, “Is that all? Do you want noodles and milk powder?”

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief. If he had noodles and milk powder, he could get a significant bonus this month. Excited, he said, “Yes, of course! As much rice, flour, and noodles as you have.”

“My name is Zhang Xiaoyu. Call me Xiaoyu,” he said.

“Nice to meet you, Xiaoyu. Milk powder is one yuan per package, noodles are 40 cents a pound, rice is 60 cents a pound, flour is 26 cents a pound, and chickens and rabbits are 6 yuan each. I also need various coupons—any kind. How does that sound?”

“Okay, sister. That price is fine. I’ll go get the money. We’ll meet at the grove over there in an hour. Don’t worry, it’s usually deserted,” Zhang Xiaoyu said.

Mi Xia left, sold the goods to the old woman, and bought some rice and flour bags from the supply and marketing cooperative. She went to the agreed-upon location, changed the packaging in her space, and repacked everything.

This time, she took 300 kilograms of rice, flour, and noodles, all the wild rabbits and chickens she’d caught in the mountains, and 50 packages of milk powder.

She checked the time and moved everything to the grove. Soon, Zhang Xiaoyu arrived with some people. “Sister, you’re amazing! You really got this much!” he said, his face beaming.

“Okay, check the goods. There are 300 kilograms each of rice, flour, and noodles, 98 chickens and rabbits, and milk powder,” Mi Xia said, stepping aside to let Zhang Xiaoyu’s men check.

Zhang Xiaoyu instructed two men to check the quantity and quality. Satisfied, he nodded. The quality was good enough to sell at a slightly higher price.

The total was over 1200 yuan. He hadn’t expected Mi Xia to get so much in an hour. Since he didn’t have enough cash, he asked if she accepted antiques and calligraphy and paintings. Mi Xia nodded, and he sent his men to fetch them.

Ten minutes later, the men returned with two small boxes and a bundle of coupons. Mi Xia didn’t open the boxes; she simply hugged them. She put the money and coupons Zhang Xiaoyu gave her into her backpack (actually, into her space).

Zhang Xiaoyu told Mi Xia where to find him next time, and Mi Xia gave him her name and address before leaving.