When Jiang Li arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she went on a shopping spree. She bought three jin each of white sugar and brown sugar, two jin of White Rabbit milk candy, two jin of assorted fruit candies, along with canned food, biscuits, and malted milk. She also purchased ten jin of cotton, ten feet of dacron fabric for making clothes, three feet of floral cloth, and two jin of cashmere yarn.
She still had a watch coupon left. Thinking about her relationship with Lu Yuanshan—and how she had stubbornly insisted on divorcing him before deciding to reconcile—she wanted to buy him a wristwatch as a way of making amends. She planned to give it to him when she joined him at the military base.
She picked out a men’s watch with a large dial and a wide metal band. Lu Yuanshan was tall with broad hands, so she thought this style would suit him perfectly. She sincerely hoped he would like it, and even asked the sales clerk to package it in a special wooden box lined with red velvet.
The items she had bought filled two large bags. After leaving the cooperative, she found a secluded spot and stored everything inside her pocket space.
Even then, she wasn’t finished.
She still intended to visit the black market to stock up on more supplies.
And there was something else.
Her aunt’s and uncle’s families had taken so much from her household that she intended to strip both of their homes clean in return. After that, she’d make sure the treasured children of both families were registered for the “Down to the Countryside” campaign.
She had never visited the black market in her previous life, so after asking around for directions, she finally found the entrance.
However, she couldn’t go in looking like herself.
She first found a deserted corner and entered her pocket space, where she carefully disguised herself with makeup until even someone who knew her well wouldn’t recognize her.
Only then did she leave the space, walk to the entrance of the black market, pay the one-mao admission fee, and go inside.
The black market sold all kinds of goods. There were daily necessities, fruits, vegetables, and grain. There were also people secretly selling radios, wristwatches, and other small electronics, as well as ration coupons and various government-issued tickets.
The biggest advantage of buying things here was that only cash was required—no ration coupons—and there were no purchase limits. As long as you had the money and the seller had the goods, you could buy as much as you wanted.
But Jiang Li’s first priority was to buy knockout drugs.
Even if she couldn’t find ready-made ones, she could always buy the medicinal ingredients and make them herself.
After searching the market, she found no one openly selling such items.
Thinking about it, that made perfect sense. Merchandise like that couldn’t exactly be displayed in public, even in the black market.
So she approached one of the gatekeepers and quietly asked him.
At first, the man refused to answer.
But, as the saying went, money could solve almost anything.
The moment she slipped a one-yuan bill into his hand, he immediately told her where to go.
She followed his directions and bought two packets of drug powder.
One could be mixed into food or water.
The other released its effects when burned, functioning as a sleeping incense.
After putting both packets into her pocket space, she continued shopping for other supplies.
With the harsh winters of the Northwest in mind—and also thinking ahead to the cotton clothes, quilts, and mattresses her future baby would need—she bought another thirty jin of cotton in one go.
The cotton vendor was stunned by such a massive purchase.
Still, a sale was a sale. If anything, he was delighted to unload so much stock at once.
The same vendor also sold cotton cloth, so Jiang Li bought another twenty feet of fabric and three jin of yarn.
She purchased twenty to thirty jin each of local vegetables such as eggplants, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Once stored in her pocket space, they would remain perfectly fresh no matter when she decided to eat them.
She also bought grapes, peaches, and cherries.
Outside the courtyard within her pocket space stretched a vast forest and open grassland. She planned to raise chickens, ducks, and geese there. Not only would fresh meat be convenient, but she’d also have fresh eggs every day.
She bought three of each kind of poultry and specifically asked the vendor to give her two females and one male of each species, ensuring they could breed and hatch more chicks, ducklings, and goslings over time, allowing her flock to keep growing.
After buying such an enormous amount of goods, Jiang Li hired the poultry vendor to transport everything outside on a handcart, paying him an extra twenty cents for the trouble.
As soon as the vendor left, she stored everything inside her pocket space.
Seeing that the sun was beginning to set, Jiang Li decided to make one more stop before heading home.
She went to the residential compound of the Revolutionary Committee to take a look around Li Qingyuan’s neighborhood.
Outside the compound, she spotted a middle-aged man wearing glasses riding home on a battered old bicycle.
It was Li Qingyuan.
On the surface, he looked utterly ordinary. He had no official car to pick him up, dressed very plainly, and lived modestly. No one would ever associate him with a corrupt official.
Which was precisely what made him so dangerous.
The more unassuming his appearance, the filthier his dealings were likely to be.
She waited a little longer but never saw Li Qingyuan’s wife—the woman she suspected might be the mysterious “old demoness.”
Eventually, she gave up waiting.
Whether the woman was human or something supernatural, her true nature would reveal itself sooner or later.
Watching Li Qingyuan ride into the residential building, Jiang Li noted that the Revolutionary Committee housing consisted of communal apartment blocks. Since so many families lived together, she doubted he would hide any important secrets at home.
She returned to her own house and was just about to enter her pocket space to rest when someone knocked on the door.
Opening it, she found her uncle’s entire family standing outside—her uncle, aunt, cousin, and cousin’s wife.
The moment the door opened, they walked straight inside as though it were their own home.
“Uncle, Auntie, Cousin, Sister-in-law… what brings you here?”
Jiang Li already knew they hadn’t come with good intentions.
It was either to borrow money or borrow belongings.
And once they took something, they never returned it.
That had been exactly how they behaved in her previous life.
Right up until they left for Hong Kong, they had joined forces with her aunt to squeeze every last bit of value from her. Once they arrived there, they had even forced her to accompany business partners to dinners and drinking parties.
Her uncle, Jiang Jin’an, spoke first.
“Lili, your uncle… well, these past couple of days my hands got itchy. I took your cousin gambling, and we lost everything. The creditors said if I don’t pay them, they’ll chop off my hand. Lili, my dear niece, lend your uncle one thousand yuan first. Once I win it all back, we’ll head to Hong Kong in style.”
Jiang Li wasn’t about to fall for that act again.
The man was notoriously stingy and greedy.
His story about losing money gambling was nothing but an excuse. All he really wanted was to keep squeezing money and benefits out of her.
She immediately put on a pitiful expression.
“Uncle, it’s not that I don’t want to help… I just don’t have any money left.”
“Because… because Auntie took it all.”
“She took all your money?” Jiang Jin’an exploded instantly, grinding his teeth in anger. “On what grounds? What gives her the right?”
Although Jiang Jin’an and Jiang Jinxiu were currently working together to exploit Jiang Li, the two siblings were hardly united.
Both were selfish and greedy.
Each wanted to monopolize the Jiang family’s fortune.
Earlier, Jiang Jinxiu had warned Jiang Li not to tell Jiang Jin’an about the “second treasure stash.” Likewise, Jiang Jin’an had no intention of letting Jiang Jinxiu claim the family’s wealth for herself.
Jiang Li pretended to hesitate before speaking.
“I… I don’t know whether I should tell you. Auntie specifically warned me not to.”
“She told you not to?” Jiang Jin’an became even angrier, his eyes bulging. “That Jiang Jinxiu is definitely up to no good!”
“Lili, you have to understand. Your father and I were brothers—blood brothers. I’m the only one who truly has your best interests at heart. Your aunt is different. She’s a married daughter now. She’s an outsider. Her heart belongs to her husband’s family. She wants to move all of the Jiang family’s property… all of your family’s property… into the Zhao family so those outsiders can spend it.”
“Lili, you have to trust your uncle. I’d never allow your parents’ inheritance to end up in the hands of another family.”