Chapter 18: I can’t find anyone even if I run myself to pieces

The thugs trailing behind Fang Juan had been running around with her all morning. They hadn’t caught even a glimpse of the beautiful, wealthy woman they were promised—instead, their legs felt like compasses about to snap in half. They finally lost patience.

One of them slapped Fang Juan hard on the shoulder. “You’re not just fooling us brothers, are you?”

“I—I wouldn’t dare,” Fang Juan stammered, both anxious and frightened. If in the end they failed to find Ji Tangtang and got no money, wouldn’t they turn on her instead? Thinking back to what the man had just done to her earlier, she shuddered in fear and disgust. In a low voice, she said, “Maybe… maybe we wasted too much time back on Da Dong Road. She… she probably finished her errands and went back to the village.”

The man’s eyes turned vicious. “We’ve been running around all morning, our stomachs are empty, and now you think you can just wave it off by saying she went back to the village?”

Fang Juan’s heart trembled. She quickly changed her words. “No, maybe… maybe she hasn’t gone back yet. With so much money on her, she wouldn’t head back to the village this soon. We must have just missed her somewhere.” She hesitated, then cautiously suggested: “How about this, big brother—you guys go grab something to eat, and I’ll keep looking. Once I find her, I’ll come get you.”

“You asked us to do this job, yet you didn’t give us any benefits. We’ve nearly run our legs off for you, and now you just want to send us away with empty hands and an empty stomach?” The man rubbed his thumb and forefinger together in front of her face, clearly hinting for money.

Terrified, Fang Juan shakily pulled out the 80 cents she had hidden close to her body and handed it over. “Here… take this and get some food.”

The man snatched the coins from her hand, glaring. “Only 80 cents?”

“That’s all I have…” Fang Juan’s heart ached as she watched him pocket the money. She had spent so much time and effort saving up that 80 cents. In her parents’ eyes, only her younger brother mattered—she and her two older sisters were nothing but money-draining burdens. Forget pocket money, even when it came to food, they always ate last. Heaven only knew how long it had taken her to save that pitiful sum.

Now, not only had she failed to get her hands on Ji Tangtang’s money, but even her own hard-earned savings were gone. That loss stung her even more than the man’s groping earlier.

Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, the man didn’t press her further. Pocketing the money, he left with his two lackeys to satisfy their growling stomachs.

Enduring sore legs and an empty belly, Fang Juan still intended to keep searching for Ji Tangtang. But instead of finding her, she unexpectedly ran into Ji Tingting.

At this moment, Ji Tingting wasn’t in much better shape herself. She hadn’t been extorted by thugs, but she too couldn’t bear to spend money on food. Though her situation at home was a little better than Fang Juan’s, her family was poor, and she didn’t have much money either. What little she did have, she saved to dress nicely and present herself beautifully in front of Gu Hongwen. Having run around all morning, her legs ached, and her stomach was empty as well.

When she saw Fang Juan, she immediately lit up with surprise. “Juanzi, what are you doing here? You finished your errand already?”

Fang Juan forced a smile and greeted her. “Tingting, what about you? Didn’t you go see Brother Hongwen?”

“I did. I asked the gatekeeper, and they said he was busy at work, so I didn’t disturb him.” Ji Tingting could already tell from Fang Juan’s expression that things hadn’t gone well, but she still probed carefully, “And you? What are you doing here?”

Fang Juan replied, “I’ve more or less finished my business and thought I’d just wander around a bit.”

“Then I’ll wander around a little too,” Ji Tingting said.

So the two of them, each with their own hidden thoughts, pressed down their hunger and scanned the streets, still hoping to catch sight of Ji Tangtang.

Meanwhile, the very person they had spent the whole morning searching for—Ji Tangtang—had already eaten her fill at a state-owned restaurant. Satisfied, she was nibbling on a piece of fruit as she headed toward the supply and marketing cooperative.

Earlier she had bought two bolts of fabric from Qin Xiangdong, but she didn’t like the material much. She planned to buy some different cloth at the co-op instead.

In this era, everything was in short supply, and the fabric on display at the co-op was limited in variety. After looking around, Ji Tangtang’s eyes settled on a dark gray fabric. Instead of asking the price first, she pulled out a handful of wild fruits and handed them to the sales clerk. “Sister, these are some wild fruits I picked in the mountains. Have a taste.”

Fresh fruit was rare in those days, especially since it wasn’t even fruit season. Liu Xuemei, the clerk, happened to be pregnant and had been craving fruit badly. But even if she wanted to spend money, she couldn’t buy any—she had been drooling over the thought for days.

The moment she saw Ji Tangtang offering fruit, her eyes lit up. She quickly accepted them and popped one straight into her mouth. The fruit was sweet and tangy, exactly the flavor she had been longing for. Her attitude toward Ji Tangtang immediately turned unusually warm.

“Big sister, what do you want to buy?” she asked enthusiastically. Glancing around and seeing that most customers had gone off for lunch, leaving the co-op fairly empty, she leaned closer and whispered. From under the counter, she pulled out a stack of fabric. “These just came in today. See if you like them?”

Ji Tangtang vaguely remembered reading about a similar situation in that book. On a whim, she had tried offering wild fruit, and to her surprise, it worked exactly as described— the best goods were always hidden under the counter, reserved for those with connections.

“This is taffeta, the most eye-catching kind of fabric. Plenty of people are lining up for it, but they won’t be able to buy any!”

Patting her chest, Liu Xuemei assured her, “From now on, whenever you need something, just come straight to me at the counter. I’ll make sure to set aside the good stuff for you.”

There were four colors in total: yellow, bright red, blue, and white. Placed together, they looked far more vibrant than the fabric displayed outside.

Ji Tangtang touched them and found the texture much softer than Terylene. Without hesitation, she said, “I’ll take them all. Please tally it up—how much will it cost?”

Liu Xuemei hadn’t expected Ji Tangtang, dressed so plainly, to speak with such boldness. She blinked in surprise and asked again to confirm:

“You really want all of it? That’s going to take quite a few fabric coupons!”

Ji Tangtang opened the tin box she carried, revealing a thick stack of coupons. Liu Xuemei hadn’t imagined that this weathered-looking “big sister” in front of her would actually have such means, casually producing such a bundle. Without wasting more words, she picked up her abacus and began to calculate.

“The red cloth is 5 feet, the yellow is 4 feet 2, the blue is 7 feet, and the white has the most at 8 feet 3. Altogether, you’ll need 24 feet 5 inches in fabric coupons. As for the price, this brocade is all set at 1 yuan 50 cents per foot, so the total comes to 36 yuan 75 cents.”

Ji Tangtang picked through the coupons in the box but, unexpectedly, it wasn’t enough. At a glance, the stack had looked thick, but aside from fabric coupons, there were plenty of sugar coupons, soap coupons, and industrial vouchers mixed in. And aside from one larger 7-foot coupon, most of the others were in ones and twos, with many even just a few inches. When added up, the total came to only 19 feet 3 inches.

That was… a little awkward.

But being a demon, her skin was thick enough. Ji Tangtang pulled another handful of wild fruits from her bag, handed them over, and spoke sweetly:

“Little sister, I don’t have quite enough coupons with me. Could you help me figure something out? I can make it up by paying you a little extra in cash.”

Liu Xuemei glanced at the fruits being offered again, thought for a moment, then asked:

“So, how many coupons do you actually have right now?”

“19 feet 3 inches,” Ji Tangtang replied.

“That’s not too short, really.” Liu Xuemei looked at the cloth bag Ji Tangtang was carrying. “If you still have more of those fruits you just gave me, I can cover the missing coupons for you.”