Chapter 14: Spending Over Half Her Savings

Lin Jianxue grew wary as soon as the old man tried to lead her to a more secluded area.

This black market was a chaotic mix of all kinds of people—who knew what that old guy was really up to? What if he got greedy and dragged her somewhere quiet just to rob her? No one would be able to help her then.

She subtly took a step back, putting some distance between them. Her neck stiffened and her tone turned colder.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re staying right here. Don’t try anything shady!”

As she spoke, Lin Jianxue quietly assessed her surroundings.

The alley was narrow, yes—but at least it had a constant flow of people. If anything went wrong, she could scream, and someone would come to help.

“Ai yo, missy, you’ve misunderstood me! Old Li here is doing honest business, really!”

The old man saw her ready-for-a-fight stance—clearly, she wasn’t someone to mess with—so he quickly raised both hands, exasperated.

Seeing her caution, he stopped pushing and instead unbuttoned his army-green coat, revealing a leather satchel slung across his chest.

He glanced around cautiously, then opened the bag and showed her what was inside.

“Look, missy! Real stuff right here! I brought fifty jin of grain coupons today—five tickets, each for ten jin. I’ve got twenty one-jin meat coupons, five half-jin sugar coupons, and ten industrial vouchers! Plus some cloth coupons, soap coupons, match coupons… all sorts of stuff. You name it—I’ve got it!”

Lin Jianxue stared at the colorful pile of ration coupons in his satchel, surprised.

This guy had a lot of stuff!

In these times of material scarcity, these coupons were hard currency—worth more than actual money.

Clearly, this old man had some serious connections.

But she kept her expression neutral and asked calmly, “How much for the grain and meat coupons?”

Old Li perked up—she was interested.

He leaned in slightly and said, “The price? Easy to discuss! You name it, missy. Whatever price you think is fair, I’ll go with it!”

Lin Jianxue didn’t know the going black market rates for these things. This guy was obviously a sly one—trying to get her to name a price so he could size her up and overcharge.

She wasn’t about to play along.

She gave a cold snort and said sharply, “If you won’t give me a price, I’m not buying. I’ll go ask around!”

She turned to leave.

“Hey hey hey, missy, wait! Don’t go!” Old Li panicked, quickly reaching out to stop her. “Let’s talk! I was just joking, don’t take it seriously!”

Realizing she wasn’t easy to fool, he gave up the game and finally quoted a price honestly.

“Grain coupons—there are national and local ones. National coupons are pricier—ten jin for four yuan. Local ones are cheaper—ten jin for two yuan. Which do you want?”

Of course, Lin Jianxue wanted the national grain coupons.

Fu Zhewei’s family lived in the northeast—local coupons were useless there.

Still cautious, she said, “Let me check with other vendors first. If your prices are fair, I’ll come back.”

She wasn’t about to blindly trust Old Li, not when he’d already tried to pull a fast one.

Only by checking with others could she know if he was inflating prices.

“You’re a tough one, missy…” Old Li chuckled and shook his head.

“Go ahead then. But I guarantee you—no one in this black market beats Old Li’s prices!”

Lin Jianxue said nothing more and walked off.

With her scarf pulled up tight around her face, she wandered through the black market, asking around.

“Comrade, how much for your grain coupons?”

“Sis, how much for a meat coupon?”

“Got any industrial vouchers? What’s the price?”

…

After checking several stalls, she realized Old Li’s prices were actually pretty reasonable.

Some others offered slightly lower prices, but they didn’t have enough quantity, or their coupons were old and worn—not as good as Old Li’s clean, complete sets.

Feeling more confident, she returned to Old Li’s spot.

“I’ll take all the grain, meat, sugar coupons, and industrial vouchers. National coupons only.”

Old Li’s face lit up with joy.

He eagerly began pulling out coupons from his satchel while chatting cheerfully.

“Missy, buying this many coupons—sending them to relatives, huh?”

Not many people could afford to drop so much money on ration tickets.

Lin Jianxue was inspecting the stack of coupons and casually replied, “A benefactor of mine ran into hard times. I’m sending these to help out.”

Old Li understood right away.

These days, who didn’t have a struggling friend or relative? And to still think of others in such times… that spoke to a deep loyalty.

He looked at her with admiration and sped up his hands.

“Don’t worry, missy. Old Li here does honest business—every single coupon is real. I’ll count carefully for you!”

“Here—50 jin of national grain coupons, five tickets of ten jin each. Four yuan per ticket, that’s 20 yuan total.”

He neatly stacked the grain coupons and handed them to her.

“Check them over.”

She did—national grain coupons, good condition, no damage or stains.

“Fifteen meat coupons, one-jin each, at 1.5 yuan apiece—22.5 yuan total.” He counted them out—smaller than the grain ones, printed with a pig.

“Five sugar coupons for half-jin each, 0.5 yuan apiece—2.5 yuan total.”

“Industrial vouchers—national, 5 yuan each. You want all ten, that’s 50 yuan.”

He added with a grin, “And since you’re buying so much, I’ll throw in a few soap, match, and cloth coupons for free.”

He pulled out a bunch of miscellaneous tickets and handed them to her.

“Good stuff, missy. Not worth a lot—but take them. Just a little something from Old Li.”

It was a smooth move—made himself look generous while offloading small, hard-to-sell tickets.

“100 + 22.5 + 2.5 + 50… comes to 175 yuan total.” Old Li rubbed his hands together with a smile.

“Count and confirm, missy. If everything looks good, we’re all square.”

175 yuan…

She really had just spent over half her net worth.