Chapter 62

Meanwhile, at the Guo family’s house.

Guo Aiguo’s family had just steamed some rice, soft and fluffy, with the kind of rice that was tender and fragrant. It slid down the throat like it wasn’t even there.

As soon as the rice was steamed, the aroma of it drifted through the window, making the neighbors on both sides whisper about whose rice smelled so good.

Mrs. Fang smiled as she served everyone. Each bowl contained one-third fragrant rice, topped with a layer of cooked sweet potatoes and a corn bun. Because of the fragrant rice, the meal standards rose dramatically. She had once again provided her family with high-quality food!

The rice grains were plump and slender, even more fragrant and better than the best rice sold at the supply and marketing cooperatives. The rice could be ground into a paste and fed directly to children, and Mrs. Fang no longer had to worry about her kids not getting enough nutrition.

She was extremely grateful to the “Nicai Material Village Production Team” for crossing paths with such kind-hearted people! Eating coarse grains at every meal was something adults could bear, but how could children tolerate it? Both she and her husband worked at the same unit and had relatively easy jobs, unlike the heavy labor workers at the factory who received substantial grain subsidies every month.

Now, if they went to the supply and marketing cooperative in the city to buy a pound of refined grain, they might not even be able to get it without peeling off the outer layer. It was nowhere near as convenient as buying fifty pounds all at once!

Although speculation and profiteering weren’t good practices, these people neither charged exorbitant prices nor demanded high fees. On top of that, their rice was delicious and fragrant. Mrs. Fang and Guo Aiguo almost wanted to empty their savings and stockpile several hundred pounds of rice all at once.

Before, they could only envy others, but now, with a big bag of refined grain, they had no reason to envy anyone else. With this secret, their hearts felt as sweet as if they had drunk honey these past few days.

After their last successful rice purchase, the couple couldn’t help but stop by the alley every day after work to check. They had pressed the money under the blue bricks, but unfortunately, they hadn’t encountered such a lucky windfall again. However, their food supply hadn’t run out, so they weren’t worried.

Guo Aiguo asked his wife, “If we want to buy more rice, how should we contact the production team next time? A few of my brothers have asked me several times, and they also want to buy some.”

Guo Aiguo was an honest man. Once he had enough to eat, he couldn’t help but think about the people around him. His siblings were all struggling for a bit of refined grain, and even though he was well-fed and clothed, his conscience didn’t feel at ease.

Mrs. Fang gave her husband a hard look, “You didn’t tell anyone how we bought the rice, did you?”

Guo Aiguo shook his head, “How could I dare to reveal it? That would be selling them out!”

Mrs. Fang sighed in relief, lowered her voice, and said, “I don’t even know how to contact those farmers. They’re very cautious, and I can only buy grain if they approach me. How about we go to that alley and try our luck again? Let’s not expect too much, though. There’s a famine everywhere, so they probably don’t have that much grain to sell.”

Guo Aiguo nodded, “That sounds good! If they’re willing to sell, they must be short on money, and we’re not short on money, just grain. It’s a perfect match.”

Weekend.

Mrs. Fang went to the usual place, walking to the end of the alley where she counted out ten big black ten notes and carefully rolled them up before tucking them under the blue brick.

At this time, Su Ye was returning from the nightclub. She had just reached her doorstep, and the twenty pounds of rice she had earned that day hadn’t even warmed up in her pocket when she received a message from a fan—Mrs. Fang and her husband had come again!

Without hesitation, Su Ye took out some paper from her bag, quickly scribbled a few lines, and then rolled the paper up and tucked it inside the twenty pounds of rice.

When business comes to your door, you have to take it. Holding onto the grain does no good, it can’t sprout! Selling the grain is, in some way, also easing the pressure of famine.

When Mrs. Fang came back to the alley that afternoon, she was surprised to find that the money hidden under the bricks was gone!

At two in the morning, she and her husband eagerly returned to the alley to collect the grain and, sure enough, brought back a bag of rice. However, this time, there were only twenty pounds of rice. Guo Aiguo also found eight big black ten notes and a note inside the rice.

The note was written in crooked handwriting, “We hope you won’t sell the grain at a high price. If we find out that you’ve done so, we won’t do business with you again. After reading this, please burn it.”

After reading the note, Guo Aiguo couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

They were just grateful to have been able to buy the rice, thanking the heavens and all the Buddha gods for their blessing. There was no way they would resell it to make money. Moreover, they weren’t so poor that they’d be desperate to make money off a small transaction.

Although the Guo family wasn’t rich, they were well-known locally, with several family members involved in politics. Aside from him not having much ambition, everyone else was successful.

After all, the time between this purchase and the last one was so short. It was understandable that these farmers might worry they would turn around and sell the grain for a profit.

The rice was refined, top-quality rice, and even if it were sold for ten yuan, it would still find buyers. But they only sold it for two yuan, which showed that these farmers were simple and honest, with no intention of profiteering. Guo Aiguo felt even more favorable toward them after reading the note.

Doing business with people who have principles made him feel at ease.

Guo Aiguo was worried that the farmers might misunderstand him. After reading the note, his expression grew even more serious. He carefully wrote a reply, and that night, he went out and placed the note under the brick. To show his sincerity, he thought for a moment and then took out several coupons from his pocket, pressing them down with the brick.

Soon, Su Ye received this note, which had a few strong, straight lines of penmanship—bold and neat, completely unlike the awkward handwriting Su Ye would use with her left hand to avoid suspicion.

The note read, “Sorry for the misunderstanding. Please rest assured, we are not like that. These grains are purchased on behalf of our relatives and friends. Thank you! If you need anything in the future, feel free to contact me. I hope we can continue buying your grains in the future.”

In addition with the note, Su Ye also received a stack of coupons, five ten-kilo food coupons, cake coupons, sugar coupons, oil coupons, and the most valuable fabric coupons—^[1]“十市尺” (ten city feet) is “ten Chinese feet” or “ten Chinese yards”, where a Chinese foot (市尺, shìchǐ) is a traditional unit of length in China, … Continue readingten city feet, enough to make a whole outfit. These coupons were very useful to Su Ye.

How polite of them! She lacked reliable customers with money.

After reading the note, Su Ye tossed it into the warehouse. It wouldn’t hurt to accept this favor, it might be useful in the future.

She counted the money she made from selling grain—so far, she had earned a total of 295 yuan. With this amount, she could buy a lot of things, three watches, two bicycles, or even a house.

However, Su Ye frowned. Three hundred yuan was still too little… her productivity was too outdated!

In this era where grain prices were soaring, she had only earned this little from selling grain. It was a shame for her “golden finger.”

But then Su Ye thought about how she had sold dozens of kilos of low-priced grain to Qian Xiaohe. She had been too conscientious and had missed the chance to make a fortune!

Su Ye took out a pen and seriously reviewed the past few months, summarizing a few methods to increase grain production. 1. Be kinder to the golden chives. 2. In addition to teaching, find other ways to earn more grain.

The productivity of grain ≈ the impact (value) created by labor? Su Ye drew a big question mark.

After enjoying a nice lunch, Su Ye went out to handle the issues with the group of young people.

—

Guo Family. Guo Aiguo took some of the seventy kilograms of rice and divided it into small portions. “This is for my elder sister, this is for my parents, and also for Brother Qingguo and Brother Jianguo.”

“I almost forgot about Maogang. You can take five pounds of rice to Maogang and the others next time. They’re way greedier than you.”

Mrs. Fang nodded. She was an only child, and although she had many cousins, she only had one cousin, Fang Xiulian, on her mother’s side. Whenever there was something delicious, she always thought of Fang Xiulian.

On the weekend, she brought five pounds of rice to her younger sister.

When Fang Xiulian received the five pounds of high-quality fragrant rice, her eyes lit up in surprise. “Where did you get this rice, sis? It smells so good! You can’t even buy rice this good on the black market!”

Fang Xiulian immediately cooked two taels of rice, turning it into a thick and thin porridge.

Mrs. Fang, feeling it was inappropriate to tell her cousin the truth, simply said, “I bought this rice from the countryside. It’s not much, so make sure to eat it sparingly.”

Fang Xiulian immediately took out ten big black ten yuan notes and handed them to her cousin. If this kind of extravagant behavior were happening in another family, it would likely cause a commotion. One hundred yuan was enough to feed a family of six for a whole year.

“Sister Xiuhuo, if you run into any more kind-hearted villagers like this, please help me buy a few more pounds.”

The two sisters chatted about family matters, and Fang Xiulian murmured, “People with connections always seem to be able to buy rice. Sis, you have to take me along next time.”

“People with connections? Who else?” Mrs. Fang asked, suddenly alert.

Could it be that those farmers sold rice to someone else?

Fang Xiulian said, “Of course. It’s not as good as the rice you brought, but I always see them eating rice every day and even inviting people over for meals. I’m so envious.”

“Who are they?” Mrs. Fang asked. Could those farmers have sold their rice to someone else?

Fang Xiulian whispered, “Who else could it be? Yao Chunyu. She eats fine grains every day. If all that rice wasn’t bought from the black market, I wouldn’t believe it. I tried asking her if I could buy some, but she wouldn’t let me.”

Mrs. Fang said sternly, “Mind your own business! Stop asking so many questions about other people’s affairs.”

Fang Xiulian shook her head in her mind, thinking that if only she had seen for herself how wealthy Yao Chunyu really was.

One time, Fang Xiulian ran into Yao Chunyu coming back from the outskirts. At that time, there were several grains of rice stuck to her shoes and the cuffs of her rolled-up pants. How foolish could one be to waste food like that?

Yao Chunyu must have a lot of rice.

Fang Xiulian said, “Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore. I just wanted to mention it to you. I originally planned to try to ask her, but she’s very tight-lipped and wouldn’t say a word. Forget it, I wasn’t really counting on getting any rice from her. Now I have fine rice to eat myself.”

She hugged her cousin warmly, “Thank you, sis, for bringing me the rice!”

Yao Chunyu indeed had a lot of rice. Recently, she had also been “selling” rice, but not for money—she was trading it for goods.

This rice was something she had hoarded before the famine got too serious, when prices were still reasonable. She had saved up quite a bit. The rice was an important bargaining chip for her, and she wouldn’t easily part with it. How could she sell it to Fang Xiulian?

Yao Chunyu intended to use this rice to create as much value as possible within a year and a half. The famine couldn’t last forever, and now that half the time had passed, Yao Chunyu had already exchanged some of it for hard currency, like gold. In case the situation worsened, she could quickly take her whole family and escape overseas.

Overseas was such a free place, with a higher standard of living than in the country, and without the threat of hunger or turmoil. In comparison, China was too chaotic… Yao Chunyu regretted, especially back then, not having properly held onto Gu Xiangqian. Occasionally, she also regretted not having immigrated overseas with her relatives.

From what they described in their letters, the people in that faraway land were so rich and friendly, their technology so advanced, and their life so comfortable and peaceful. If she had another chance, she would definitely escape from this place.