She preferred using brand-new items for anything she ate with. She did have plenty in her spatial dimension, but...
In this era, there were only two ways to buy and sell goods: going to the state-run supply and marketing cooperative, or hitting the black market. The latter was not only more expensive but also highly risky. But did she have any other choice right now? The black market was her next target.
However, being completely in the dark about this era, she had no idea where the black market was even located. Asking around was out of the question—who knew if someone would report her? Private trading was illegal, after all. Keeping the secretive nature of the black market in mind, Bai Jiu wasted no more time and began her search.
She specifically looked for secluded alleys or observed the passersby. After walking for who knew how long, Bai Jiu finally spotted something. In one alley, a few people were whispering among themselves before turning and heading to an even more hidden location. Seeing this, Bai Jiu immediately understood what was going on.
She first found an empty spot to disguise herself; she definitely couldn’t do business showing her real face. Once disguised, Bai Jiu returned to the alley. As soon as she arrived, she saw a middle-aged man wearing a worker’s uniform.
Bai Jiu walked over and asked the man in a low voice, "Sir, do you happen to have any industrial coupons? Other coupons are fine too."
Industrial coupons were generally used to buy daily necessities like pots, washbasins, enamel mugs, towels, and thermoses. Occasionally, defective goods at the supply and marketing cooperative could be bought without coupons. But right now, she didn’t know a single soul; no one would sell her those internally sourced goods. Therefore, she didn’t just need to trade for industrial coupons, but for many other types of coupons as well. The more, the better.
Although she had all these daily necessities in her spatial dimension, they didn’t match the style of this era and couldn’t be taken out for use. If she wanted to use high-quality goods, she had to blend in with the times.
The man nodded upon hearing this and whispered back, "I do, but what do you have?" He had plenty of coupons, as several people in his family were employed. Coupons were the last thing they lacked. What he desperately needed right now was food.
Hearing that he had them, Bai Jiu’s eyes lit up. "Could you sell me some?"
The man shook his head. "I’m not selling them. I’m using these industrial coupons to exchange for food. If you have grain, I can trade with you."
Bai Jiu smiled. "It’s not convenient to talk here. Let’s go." She was thrilled. The man wasn’t short on coupons—he was practically swimming in them! The grain in Bai Jiu’s dimension was so abundant it might as well be free. Furthermore, she didn’t just have grain; she had meat, too.
After arriving at a deeper, more secluded alley, Bai Jiu spoke up again. "Sir, I have grain, and I have meat. How much do you want to trade for?"
Hearing that she had both grain and meat, the man was so overjoyed he almost cried out. Fortunately, he remembered what he was doing and held himself back. "Really?"
"Really. I have twenty catties of rice, five catties of dried noodles, and two catties of meat. How much do you want?" It was Bai Jiu’s first time doing business, and her heart was pounding.
Hearing that Bai Jiu had so much refined grain, the man felt like he was dreaming. In the black market, most of the food available was coarse grain. Refined grains like rice and dried noodles were hard to come by, even if you had the money.
"Miss, you... you really have refined grain?" He had assumed it would just be coarse grain. He never expected his luck to be so good that she had entirely refined grain. It had been a long time since his family had eaten any, and his wife was heavily pregnant. If they hadn’t genuinely run out of food at home, he wouldn’t have come here.
"Of course. Why would I lie to you?" Bai Jiu said, taking off her bamboo basket and bringing it forward.
The items inside were things she had previously taken out of her dimension. The basket itself was brought from home; it was usually used for collecting pigweed, but it could hold quite a lot.
The man leaned over to take a look and immediately believed Bai Jiu’s words.
"Miss, it’s not safe here. Come on, let’s talk somewhere else," the man said, gesturing to Bai Jiu.
Thinking of her dimension, Bai Jiu wasn’t afraid of him trying anything funny. If he did, who knew which one of them would end up getting the worse end of the deal? Besides, trading here really wasn’t ideal. If they were caught, the consequences would be severe. It was never a bad thing to be cautious.
Soon, the two moved to the back of the alley. The man didn’t stop but kept walking forward until he finally halted in front of a house.
"Don’t be afraid, Miss. This is my parents’ house. It’s perfectly safe." He had come out today to try his luck and to check on his parents. He hadn’t expected to bump into Bai Jiu so soon after leaving the house.
Bai Jiu glanced at the house and lowered her head, wondering if she should go inside with him.
Seeing her remain silent, the man realized her hesitation. "Don’t worry, I’m not a bad guy. I’m a worker at the steel mill. My name is Zhou Daqing." With that, he took out his work ID.
Bai Jiu took it and looked it over, but she didn’t hand it back. Zhou Daqing didn’t mind.
Soon, an elderly woman came from inside to open the door.
"Daqing, why are you back so soon?" The woman was Zhou Daqing’s mother. She looked surprised to see her son return.
"Mother, my cousin is here. I bumped into her on the street, and since I’m off work today, I brought her over." There were other people living nearby, and Zhou Daqing was smart enough to be careful, just in case.
Aunt Zhou was a bit confused, but upon seeing the bamboo basket in front of Bai Jiu, she smiled and opened the door wider. "You child, it’s been so long since you visited your aunt! Come in, quick." With that, she pulled Bai Jiu into the courtyard.
As soon as they were inside, Zhou Daqing shut the door.
"Don’t be afraid, Miss. I just did that so no one would see us," Zhou Daqing explained.
Bai Jiu had indeed been a bit on guard, but hearing his explanation, she understood. This era was truly difficult to navigate.
"Brother Zhou, the goods are here. Take a look and see what you need," Bai Jiu said, setting the bamboo basket down. Still holding Zhou Daqing’s ID, she stepped back slightly to put some distance between herself and the other two.
Zhou Daqing couldn’t care less about her wariness; his mind was entirely focused on the food in the basket. After rummaging through it, he was absolutely thrilled. And it wasn’t just him—his mother was thrilled, too.
"Miss, I’ll take all of this," he said, taking everything out of the basket. Then, looking at Bai Jiu in awe, he added, "Sell all of this to me, and I’ll pay a higher price."
Ten catties of rice, five catties of dried noodles, and a slab of meat. These were premium goods you couldn’t even fight for at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Bai Jiu nodded. "Alright."
On the way there, she had heard Zhou Daqing muttering about how he was mainly buying refined grain for his pregnant wife and sick father. Such a good man was rare to find.
"Haha! Calculate the total, and I’ll go get the money and coupons for you."
Bai Jiu didn’t dawdle. After doing the math, she quoted a figure: "Twenty-nine yuan." She had calculated this price by multiplying the era-appropriate rates her grandmother had once told her about. "Twenty-nine yuan, and you can just give me whatever coupons you see fit."
Zhou Daqing was ecstatic when he heard the price; it was cheaper than the black market. "I’ll give you thirty. I can’t let you take a loss. As for coupons, let me see." As he spoke, he pulled out money and coupons from his pocket.
Aunt Zhou’s eyes sparkled as she stared fixedly at the grain and meat laid out on the ground.
Zhou Daqing placed all the coupons he didn’t urgently need into Bai Jiu’s hands. "Miss, these are all the coupons I can give you. I have to keep some for my own use," he said somewhat apologetically.
Though Bai Jiu didn’t know exactly what all the coupons were, she could clearly see the words "Industrial Coupon" printed on several of them. The handful she had received was worth at least a dozen yuan.
"This is plenty. Thank you, Brother Zhou." Bai Jiu was appreciative. She could tell that the man before her wasn’t the type to take advantage of others. "But Brother Zhou, seeing as you aren’t short on cash, I have to ask: do you want more grain?" Bai Jiu actually felt a bit guilty. If she could exchange for enough money and coupons from just one family, she didn’t plan on going back to the black market.
"Yes," Zhou Daqing said, startled by her words. "Wait, you have more refined grain?" He had assumed she had saved this grain from her own family’s rations. Now it seemed he had run into a major supplier.
"I do." Bai Jiu pocketed the money and coupons and put her bamboo basket back on.
"I want it. Bring me another thirty catties of rice and twenty catties of dried noodles. If you have wheat flour, give me twenty catties of that too. And I’ll take another five catties of meat—it won’t go bad in the dead of winter." Zhou Daqing wasn’t one to hold back, directly stating his maximum limit.
Bai Jiu thought for a moment before seemingly making a difficult decision and nodding. "Alright. Brother Zhou, have the money and coupons ready. As you know, the reason I’m giving such a low price is for the coupons."
"I know, don’t worry. Your Brother Zhou is an honest man. He won’t do anything against his conscience. Go get the goods. If he’s short, I’ll make up the difference," Aunt Zhou chimed in from where she was inspecting the grain. It was the finest grain she had ever seen, many times better than what the grain stations sold. Naturally, they couldn’t miss out on an opportunity like this.
Bai Jiu smiled. "How could I not trust Brother Zhou? I’ll go get them now." She handed Zhou Daqing’s ID back to him and added, "Brother Zhou, your wife is pregnant and needs nourishment. I have two freshly butchered chickens on my end, as well as some eggs. What do you think?"
After thinking it over, Bai Jiu decided to mention the chickens and eggs. Seeing that he still had quite a bit of money and coupons on hand, she figured she might as well earn more in one go.
"I’ll take them! I’ll take them all!" Zhou Daqing was overjoyed at the mention of chickens and eggs.
"Great. Brother Zhou, Aunt Zhou, wait for me at home. I’ll be right back."
With that, Bai Jiu turned and walked out of the Zhou residence.
She wandered around outside for about an hour before returning. Bai Jiu didn’t dare bring out too many things; she just added the two chickens and about thirty eggs. It was important to note that eggs were considered a luxury in this era. They were strictly rationed, and sometimes, even with money, they were impossible to buy. Bringing out thirty of them was already quite remarkable.
When she returned to the Zhou residence, Zhou Daqing and Aunt Zhou immediately helped her take off the bamboo basket. Staring at the contents, both of their eyes went wide.
"I’ll take everything."
The chickens weighed about five catties each, making the two of them over ten catties combined. Bai Jiu didn’t ask for a premium, simply calculating them as ten catties. As for the eggs, she really didn’t know how to price them. Her grandmother had mentioned that eggs from this period were sold by the catty—maybe ten cents a catty or something like that, but she had forgotten.
Not remembering wasn’t an issue. She would just let them pay whatever they felt was fair.