Chapter 30

The crowd was dense, and after Ji Chen Zhou squeezed in, he quickly bought the things they needed. Once he’d finished, he hurried to squeeze his way back out.

He was carrying a big pile of things, so He Xian Qiu rushed over to help share the load.

Then the two of them went over to the bicycle, and Ji Chen Zhou tied everything securely to the back seat.

Once they had everything, they planned to leave the commune.

As He Xian Qiu followed Ji Chen Zhou, she realized they weren’t taking the same road they’d come on; this road was a bit less crowded.

She was walking along when she suddenly noticed a few people sneaking about. One of them was even carrying a big basket on their back, and two of them were heading into a narrow alleyway.

He Xian Qiu immediately thought: Aren’t they going to the black market? Her curiosity was piqued.

To be honest, there were very few things at the supply and marketing cooperative. A lot of what she wanted simply wasn’t available. Even if she had coupons, there was no stock.

But the black market should have a lot more variety. She wanted to go see if she could find what she needed.

So she moved closer to Ji Chen Zhou and whispered in his ear, “Are they going to the black market? I’d like to go take a look.”

Ji Chen Zhou nodded.

Her eyes immediately lit up, but when she looked back, those people were already gone. How are we supposed to find the black market if we don’t know the way? She felt a little disappointed.

“They’re gone. We don’t know the way.”

“I know where it is. Just follow me,” Ji Chen Zhou said in a low voice.

He Xian Qiu was delighted. She nodded. How could I forget that Little Ji here is the future villain? In the book, he built his business bigger and bigger. If he didn’t have some skills, how would he pull that off?

She remembered how the novel described Ji Chen Zhou using his own seed money to start trading when the reforms began. He was one of the first to “eat the crab,” eventually founding a company and becoming the richest man in the province—until he crossed paths with the male and female leads, fell from grace, and ended up in prison.

She stuck close behind Ji Chen Zhou, lightly holding onto the corner of his jacket.

They twisted and turned through several narrow alleys until finally arriving near the black market.

Before going in, Ji Chen Zhou reminded her to disguise herself, so she did a bit of makeshift camouflage.

She didn’t have much to work with, so she smeared some charcoal on her face and wrapped part of her face up, leaving only a pair of bright, lively eyes visible.

With her face darkened, she looked like a mischievous little kitten that had gotten dirty. Ji Chen Zhou glanced over and couldn’t help but purse his lips in a smile.

When He Xian Qiu caught him looking, she got embarrassed and angry, and smeared charcoal across his fair face as well, turning it black and smudgy.

Seeing her handiwork, she lowered her head, laughing, her eyebrows curved and her eyes sparkling. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face.

Ji Chen Zhou looked at her laughing so happily. Though he felt a bit helpless, he couldn’t stop his own lips from curling up too.

Once they were disguised, they stashed all their things and the bicycle in a little hidden corner, covering it up so no one would see.

After all, it would be too cumbersome to bring everything inside, so they decided to leave it all there.

When everything was settled, they followed another path and soon reached the black market.

There were a lot of people here. Everyone was disguised, too, wary of the Urban Management or Public Security Bureau coming to search the place. After all, private trading was still considered profiteering.

The sellers were all clever and cautious. They only carried small baskets as they hawked their goods, ready to bolt at any moment.

The moment He Xian Qiu and Ji Chen Zhou stepped in, someone’s eyes locked onto them.

Noticing her neat and rather luxurious clothes—definitely not something ordinary people could afford—the sellers guessed she was a big spender, a fat sheep ready for shearing.

A middle-aged woman carrying a basket walked straight up to them to make her pitch. She even lifted the cloth cover a little so they could peek inside.

“This young lady, my homemade sausages are delicious. You’ll want to swallow your tongue after tasting them—so much fatty meat inside! They’re cheap too, and you don’t need coupons.”

He Xian Qiu thought the sausages sounded nice, but she didn’t like the overly fatty ones. So she asked, “Do you have any sausages with a bit more lean meat?”

The woman was startled. In these days, who would prefer the lean kind that got stuck in your teeth and had no oil? Fatty meat was the best—rich, tender, satisfying.

He Xian Qiu could see her surprise but didn’t bother explaining.

She knew that during this period, oil was scarce, so everyone preferred fatty cuts. Lean meat was usually unwanted.

Even if she was living in this era now, He Xian Qiu still couldn’t get used to greasy fat. She found it cloying and overwhelming.

The woman, though surprised, recalled that she did have a bit set aside and nodded. “Yes, I have some. How much would you like?”

“Six jin, please,” He Xian Qiu said after thinking a moment.

The woman was completely shocked—what a big order! Thank goodness she’d been proactive or she wouldn’t have gotten such a sale all day. She grinned ear to ear.

“Alright, young lady, wait here. I’ll go fetch it.”

He Xian Qiu nodded, planning to look around at other stalls.

Seeing that the woman had scored a big customer, the other sellers quickly hurried over, crowding around her and Ji Chen Zhou in a tight circle, all clamoring to make their pitch.

One by one, they started talking over each other, so many voices that she was almost dizzy.

Among all the babble, she caught two words—beef and fresh. She immediately asked, “You have beef?”

The man hawking beef lit up and stepped forward to explain again.

“Young lady, this beef is fresh—just butchered. The price is fair, cheaper than the cooperative, and you don’t need coupons. Anyway, the cooperative doesn’t even have any beef right now.”

He lifted the cloth cover, showing her the meat.

He Xian Qiu saw that the beef did look quite fresh. Thinking how hard it was to come across beef, she said, “I’ll take ten jin, but I’ve bought so much already—do you have a carrying basket I can use?”

The beef seller had already been knocked silly by the ten-jin order. He rarely sold that much in several days—most people just bought pork.

To him, a basket was no big deal. His family made plenty. He nodded at once.

“Yes, I have one. Since you’re buying so much, I’ll give you the basket for free. Wait here a moment—I’ll get it for you.”

He glanced around with a proud look as if to say to everyone: See? Look at my sale.

Then he hurried off to prepare the beef.

The others, seeing how smug he looked, clicked their tongues in annoyance. But realizing she was a big spender, they became even more eager to hawk their wares.

“My cabbages are full of juice…”

“Look at my pork…”

“My tofu is soft…”

But He Xian Qiu shook her head firmly. “Thank you, but no.”

Hearing this, the crowd sighed and dispersed. Such a pity—so much potential profit slipping away.

Finally, she had a moment to talk to Ji Chen Zhou. She looked up and said, “They’re so enthusiastic.”

“Because you’re buying a lot,” Ji Chen Zhou nodded.

Of course big customers got special treatment. He hadn’t even been able to get a word in—just stood there watching.

Ji Chen Zhou remembered he was almost out of soap, so he walked over to buy a bar.

He Xian Qiu followed and watched as he paid—one yuan and two jiao. Soap really wasn’t cheap in this era.

At the cooperative, it was one yuan five and required a coupon.

When he finished, they wandered around to see if there was anything else worth buying.

Soon, the woman selling sausages came back, smiling brightly as she approached them.

“Young lady, here’s your sausage.”

He Xian Qiu took the basket and peeked inside, though she wasn’t sure whether it really weighed six jin.

Ji Chen Zhou took it from her, hefted it, and nodded slightly, confirming the weight.

He Xian Qiu understood and asked, “Auntie, how much?”

“Three yuan six. The basket’s free,” the woman said cheerfully.

“Thank you, Auntie,” He Xian Qiu replied, opening her purse and taking out three yuan six to hand over.

The woman accepted the money with a big smile, then hurried off.

When she was out of earshot, He Xian Qiu turned to Ji Chen Zhou with a grin. “Little Ji, I didn’t expect you to have that skill. Amazing.”

Ji Chen Zhou smiled faintly. “I’m just used to buying things. A few lifts and I can guess the weight.”

He Xian Qiu nodded in understanding—but she knew most people could never learn that trick.

A while later, the beef seller returned, also beaming.

“Young lady, here’s your beef.”

Ji Chen Zhou took the basket, then subtly nodded to He Xian Qiu, indicating it was indeed ten jin.

She caught the signal, nodded back, then asked the man, “Uncle, how much is the beef?”

“Five yuan,” he replied, quickly adding, worried she’d think it too expensive, “It’s only fifty cents a jin, really not bad, and fresh.”

He Xian Qiu nodded, handed him five yuan, and watched him count it with a big, happy smile before he left.

She didn’t think it was expensive—actually, she found it cheap. Prices in this era were so low that one yuan could buy a lot.

Still, she knew most farmers couldn’t earn a few yuan easily—most of their work points were exchanged for grain.

And even if you had money, you also needed coupons. Sometimes you had money but no coupons, so you had to come to the black market. But without money, you were doomed either way.

Money wasn’t everything—but without it, you had nothing.

Since she’d bought so much, she crouched down to organize it all into the basket.

Then Ji Chen Zhou picked up the basket. Even with more than ten jin in it, he didn’t look the slightest bit strained—he carried it easily.

He Xian Qiu felt a little guilty that he was carrying so much just because of her.

Sensing her discomfort, Ji Chen Zhou took a bar of soap from the basket, put it in a small handbasket, and handed it to her.

He Xian Qiu looked at the nearly weightless little basket—so light it was almost laughable. If there was any difference at all, it was that it did weigh a little, but only barely.