“Auntie, when you go out to sell these, how much do they go for per catty?” Bai Lu asked curiously.
“When we go out to sell them, it’s usually twenty cents a catty. But there aren’t many buyers, so we usually just end up bringing them back to eat ourselves,” Zhao Yonghong said with a look of helplessness.
For people living in the mountains, it was incredibly difficult to earn any income other than their official wages.
“Auntie, why don’t you sell these dried wood ear mushrooms to me? My hometown is in the South—there are no mountains there, so we don’t have these mountain products,” Bai Lu said. “Auntie, please weigh them for me. I’ll take everything you have here. No, actually, give me everything you have at home too!”
Zhao Yonghong was a bit surprised. “Nurse Bai, what do you need so many for?”
“I have a lot of relatives back home, and I want to give some to every family. What you have here might not even be enough!” Bai Lu laughed heartily. She didn’t want the older woman to feel any psychological burden or overthink the situation.
“Nurse Bai, are you sure?” Zhao Yonghong couldn’t believe it.
Bai Lu nodded. “I’m sure. I want them all. If there isn’t enough to go around, I’ll come back to buy more from you next time.”
Zhao Yonghong nodded happily again and again. After leading Bai Lu back home, she brought out the dried wood ear mushrooms and dried wild mushrooms. “Nurse Bai, all our family’s dried mushrooms are here. Take as many as you want; just pick them yourself. No need to weigh them, just give me a few cents as a token. These things are in every household around here; they’re impossible to sell.”
Bai Lu immediately refused. “Auntie, that won’t do. We should stick to the proper price. I know how hard it is to gather and dry mushrooms; I can’t let your hard work go to waste!”
Helpless, Zhao Yonghong had no choice but to take down a steelyard scale from the top of the cupboard and weigh several baskets of dried wild mushrooms. “It’s twenty-five catties total. The quality of my stock is a bit uneven, Nurse Bai, so just give me four yuan.”
“Auntie, I just said we should do this properly. If you won’t take my money, I’ll have to buy from someone else next time.” Bai Lu had wanted to cooperate with her specifically because she was a good person, as it would allow her to earn a little extra money.
Once the auntie finished packing the dried mushrooms and handed them over, Bai Lu gave Zhao Yonghong five one-yuan bills.
Zhao Yonghong took the money and clutched it in her hand. She felt a sense of vindication, her eyes welling with tears. She… had actually earned money!
Twenty-five catties of dried mushrooms was quite heavy for Bai Lu. Zhao Yonghong helped her carry them outside and tie them onto her bicycle. Bai Lu said her thanks and pushed the bike away. Once she reached a deserted area, she sold the dried mushrooms directly to the system.
The twenty-five catties of dried wild mushrooms earned her 1,250 Mall Coins. Combined with the 1,200 she had before, Bai Lu now had nearly 2,500 Mall Coins in the “Universal Mall.”
Thinking of this made Bai Lu overjoyed. She quickly rode her bike back to the auntie’s house, handed her twenty yuan, and said, “Auntie, I need you to help me go out and collect a hundred catties of dried mushrooms. Buy them at fifteen cents a catty, and then sell them to me at twenty cents a catty. That way, you can easily earn five yuan for yourself.”
“Really?” Zhao Yonghong couldn’t believe that Bai Lu was entrusting her with such a good opportunity.
“Auntie, don’t tell anyone about this. Let’s just keep it between the two of us. If anyone asks why you’re collecting mushrooms, just say you’re sending them to relatives.”
With the matter settled, Bai Lu rode back. Under the quiet night sky and the cool evening breeze, she was filled with anticipation for the future. With the support of this “Golden Finger,” she might not “take flight” instantly, but she would certainly be able to live this life exactly as she wished.
Two nights later, Bai Lu borrowed the bicycle again and went to Zhao Yonghong’s house—next door to Jin Jialiang’s—to pick up the mushrooms. As Zhao Yonghong tied the mushrooms to the back seat of the bike, she said with a smile, “Nurse Bai, if you need anything else in the future, just come find me.”
“Don’t worry, Auntie, I’ll definitely come bother you again,” Bai Lu laughed. “Thank you, Auntie. The road is hard to navigate in the dark, so I’ll be heading back now.”
“Then stay safe, Nurse Bai!” Zhao Yonghong waved her off and watched her leave.
Only when the beam of Bai Lu’s flashlight grew smaller and finally vanished did Zhao Yonghong turn to go inside.
Once she reached a stretch of road far from the village, Bai Lu sold the dried mushrooms. The hundred catties earned her 5,000 Mall Coins. Adding that to what she had sold a few days prior, she had already earned 7,500 Mall Coins.
If calculated based on the price of rice, 7,500 Mall Coins would only convert to about 500 yuan in the 1980s, which wasn’t very cost-effective. To turn Mall Coins into cash for this era, she would need to pick high-value items.
That afternoon, near the end of the shift, Wen Nuan saw the smile on Bai Lu’s face and couldn’t help but tease her. “Bai Lu, what are you grinning about? Is it because it’s our day off tomorrow and you can finally contact Jin Jialiang? Are you that happy?”
Bai Lu was happy because it was her day off and she could go to town, not because of Jin Jialiang.
“I haven’t bought a single new piece of clothing this summer; I’ve been wearing my old stuff. Why don’t we go to town together tomorrow for a look?” Wen Nuan suggested.
“Sure!” Bai Lu had been planning to go anyway, so she agreed without hesitation now that Wen Nuan had brought it up.
She had told Zhao Yonghong she was buying the mushrooms to send home. If she didn’t actually send anything, wouldn’t people start to suspect her? She definitely had to go to the post office and go through the motions!
On the way back to the dormitory, Bai Lu asked, “Wen Nuan, do you still have any envelopes and stamps?”
“Yes, I do,” Wen Nuan nodded repeatedly.
“Then lend me a set later,” Bai Lu said.
“Sure thing,” Wen Nuan agreed readily.
Back at the dorm, Wen Nuan immediately handed the envelope and stamp to Bai Lu. A row of shimmering gold characters appeared before Bai Lu’s eyes: Great Wall Stamp, one Mall Coin each. Sell?
Bai Lu refused immediately. These were ordinary stamps used by everyone for letters—not collector’s editions—and weren’t worth much. There was no need to sell them. She would wait until she encountered rare editions.
Afterward, Bai Lu sat at the desk and began writing a letter. She wrote to her junior high school deskmate, Xu Lebao, asking if she would be willing to sell dried wild mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms in the South. Since the South lacked these northern products, shipping them there would allow them to earn a profit on the price difference.
Bai Lu was doing this primarily to bring certain matters into the light. She couldn’t always trade solely with the “Universal Mall” because that income couldn’t be explained. If she suddenly became wealthy and her standard of living skyrocketed, people would question the source of her money. She had to make some moves to let everyone know her income was obtained through legal means.