Although in the future she would not be short of money from this “Bengma” stamp set, Su Yiyi still intended to buy it. Money not earned is foolish to ignore, and even if she didn’t resell it later, it would still be good as a collectible.
“Sister, how much is this set of stamps?” Su Yiyi asked directly.
The woman was clearly a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected Su Yiyi to want to buy so many stamps—one full set had ten pieces.
“What do you need so many stamps for?” the woman looked at her suspiciously.
Su Yiyi simply smiled sweetly. “My parents’ home is quite far from here, so I often have to send letters. I think these stamps look nice and I like them, so I might as well buy more so I don’t have to come back often.”
The woman nodded. Actually, these stamps weren’t expensive; they had face value. A full set of ten didn’t even cost ten yuan. The problem was that Su Yiyi didn’t have the money on her right now.
“Alright then. I’ll come back later to find you, sister. I still need to go buy some other things to send to my parents’ home.”
After thanking the woman, Su Yiyi left the post office.
Previously, every month Gu Zhenyang would give her ten yuan. No one knew how much money she had on hand, so even if she went to buy things now, she wouldn’t be exposed—she just had to be careful.
But of course, she wasn’t really going to buy anything. She didn’t have money on her at all. She was going to sell things.
Although it was already 1978, self-employed businesses were still looked down upon. Fortunately, restrictions on the black market were not as strict now, and higher-ups mostly turned a blind eye.
The original owner was very familiar with the black market. After all, there were many things that couldn’t be bought at supply stores or department stores. And the original owner, obsessed with a male educated youth, would send most of her money and goods over there.
So she was extremely familiar with the black market.
Following her memory, Su Yiyi arrived at a small alley. Inside were many people either carrying baskets or setting up stalls, mostly selling common goods.
At the entrance, Su Yiyi already had two large cloth bags in her hands. No one could see what was inside, only that they looked heavy, which attracted quite a few glances.
She had a thick scarf wrapped around her neck—this kind of outfit wasn’t unusual in this weather.
She found a corner and placed her things down, not rushing to ask around, simply waiting for buyers to come to her.
People who frequently mixed in the black market were all sharp-eyed. One look at Su Yiyi’s setup and they knew she must have good goods. Soon, a middle-aged woman who looked quite energetic and well-dressed walked over.
“Sister, what do you have here?”
Su Yiyi smiled faintly, though it was hidden by the scarf.
“Fine grains, meat.”
She spoke directly without hiding anything.
The woman’s eyes lit up instantly. Perfect—her daughter-in-law had just given birth, and it was almost the New Year. If she couldn’t get good food soon, she really didn’t know what to do.
As the New Year approached, every household started preparing early.
Spring Festival was extremely important to every Chinese family. If the New Year wasn’t good, people felt the coming year wouldn’t go smoothly either. So whether rich or poor, everyone would prepare in advance to celebrate properly and hope for a prosperous year.
Ever since her daughter-in-law gave birth, she had been running between supply stores and department stores but still couldn’t find much good food. If she didn’t get nourishment soon, the child might stop breastfeeding properly.
And just like that, she had unexpectedly run into what felt like a blessing.
“Do you have pig trotters?” the woman asked eagerly.
Su Yiyi’s eyes flickered. So there really was a postpartum woman at home. Normally people preferred fatty pork, not bone-heavy cuts like trotters.
But pig trotters help with lactation.
“Is there a postpartum woman in your family, auntie?” Su Yiyi asked softly instead of answering immediately.
The woman was straightforward and nodded. “Yes! If I don’t get something to help with milk production, my grandson will have nothing to eat!”
Su Yiyi smiled and leaned closer. “Auntie, I don’t just have pig trotters—I also have boxed milk powder. Do you want it?”
“You really have it?” The woman was shocked. Milk powder wasn’t something easily found in the black market, and buying it from supply stores required ration tickets or hospital prescriptions.
“I really do.”
The woman didn’t hesitate at all. “Yes! Yes! Tell me what else you have. If it’s all what I need, I’ll take everything!”
Su Yiyi listed them directly:
“Five jin of rice, ten jin of white flour, two 250g bags of milk powder, five jin of pork belly, two pig trotters, and three jin of brown sugar.”
Hearing the list, the woman was clearly stunned. She hadn’t expected such a large amount—and all of it was high-quality goods.
“I’ll take it all. I’ll take everything. Sister, how much in total?”
Seeing her sincerity, Su Yiyi didn’t hesitate.
“Rice and flour are 1.5 yuan per jin. You know they don’t require tickets. Milk powder is 3 yuan at the supply store; I’ll charge 5 yuan each since it’s ticket-free. Pork belly is 2 yuan per jin. Pig trotters are 3 yuan each. Brown sugar is 1.5 yuan per jin. Total is 53 yuan.”
She calculated quickly in her mind. After all, she had been in business in her past life—this kind of math was nothing.
The price was actually somewhat arbitrarily set by her; some items were even close to modern prices. But that was normal—scarce goods were always expensive, and people would still buy them.
Fifty-three yuan was not a small amount. It was almost a month’s salary for a worker.
The woman hesitated for a moment, but thinking of her daughter-in-law and grandson, she gritted her teeth and paid.
After checking the goods, she handed over the 53 yuan in full.
Goods and money exchanged hands.
The two of them left the black market one after the other—but Su Yiyi still hadn’t stopped there.