By the third day, Sunday had arrived.
Lin Wanqiu woke up early that morning. She changed into her most inconspicuous gray cotton clothes, wrapped a headscarf around her face until only her eyes were visible, and tucked her work ID and household registration booklet safely into her clothes before leaving the factory grounds.
The county town’s black market was hidden in an alley behind the secondhand goods market.
Although people called it a black market, it was really more like an unofficial marketplace that had sprung up on its own.
The sky had barely begun to brighten, yet the narrow alley was already bustling with activity.
All kinds of people gathered here.
There were elderly women selling eggs laid by their own chickens, men squatting against the walls with freshly caught fish, young married women carrying baskets of hair ties and hairpins, and even a few educated youths huddled in corners with secondhand books spread out before them.
The air was thick with a strange mixture of smells.
There was the sharp scent of fish, the earthy smell of freshly dug vegetables, the sweat of the early morning crowd, and the tempting aroma of fried pastries drifting from somewhere nearby.
Lin Wanqiu pulled her headscarf a little lower and hurried through the first half of the alley.
She knew that the real money wasn’t made among these small vendors.
The more profitable dealings took place farther inside.
Deep within the alley stood a small courtyard with its wooden gate left slightly ajar.
Two young men were squatting outside. One was smoking a cigarette, while the other casually cracked sunflower seeds between his teeth.
They appeared relaxed, but their eyes constantly swept over everyone passing by.
Lin Wanqiu approached them.
“What do you want?” the young man with the cigarette asked, lifting his head to examine her from head to toe.
“I’m looking for Brother Li,” Lin Wanqiu replied in a low voice. “I have an important business deal to discuss.”
The two men exchanged glances.
The one eating sunflower seeds stood up.
“What kind of deal?”
“A permanent worker’s position at the textile factory,” Lin Wanqiu answered. “I’m sure Brother Li will be interested.”
Those words immediately caught their attention.
The smoker’s expression changed. He crushed his cigarette beneath his shoe and stood.
“Follow me.”
Lin Wanqiu followed him into the courtyard.
It wasn’t particularly large, but everything was neat and well maintained.
Three tiled-roof rooms stood directly ahead, and a man was waiting outside the eastern wing.
It was Li Weiguo.
He was in his early thirties, tall and lean, with unusually bright eyes.
There was a sharp, calculating quality to his gaze, as though he could see straight through anyone standing in front of him.
The young man who had escorted Lin Wanqiu leaned closer and whispered a few words into his ear.
Li Weiguo nodded before turning his attention toward her.
“Let’s talk inside.”
He pushed open the door to the eastern room.
The furnishings were simple.
There was a table, two chairs, and a wooden cabinet.
A pile of grain ration coupons and cloth coupons lay scattered across the tabletop. Li Weiguo had clearly been counting them before she arrived.
“Sit.”
He took a seat first, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one.
“So, you’re saying you have a permanent position at the textile factory that you want to sell?”
“That’s right.”
Lin Wanqiu removed her headscarf, revealing her face.
“It’s my own position.”
Li Weiguo studied her carefully.
“Why are you selling it?”
“My family is forcing me to give it to my younger brother,” Lin Wanqiu replied, mixing truth with a little calculated deception. “I’m not willing to hand it over for nothing. I’d rather sell it and use the money to find another way to support myself.”
“Do your parents know you’re planning to sell your job?”
“No.”
Li Weiguo took a slow drag from his cigarette and remained silent for several seconds.
A thin cloud of smoke drifted through the room.
“A permanent factory position is extremely valuable these days,” he finally said. “Especially at a good workplace like the textile factory. Countless people would do anything to get their foot in the door.”
Lin Wanqiu felt her heartbeat quicken.
“Then can you find a buyer?”
“Of course.”
Li Weiguo nodded confidently.
“And it’ll fetch a good price.”
“How much?”
Li Weiguo raised his hand, forming the number eight with his fingers.
“At least eight hundred yuan.”
Eight hundred!
Lin Wanqiu almost forgot to breathe.
What did eight hundred yuan mean in 1974?
An ordinary factory worker earned only twenty or thirty yuan a month.
Eight hundred yuan was roughly equivalent to three years of wages for an ordinary worker, assuming they didn’t spend a single cent!
For someone in her current situation, it was an enormous sum.
“I want cash,” she said, forcing herself to remain composed.
“That’s fine.”
Li Weiguo tapped the ash from his cigarette.
“But I have one rule. I take a ten percent commission. If the position sells for eight hundred yuan, you get seven hundred and twenty, and I get eighty.”
Lin Wanqiu quickly calculated the figures in her head.
Seven hundred and twenty yuan.
That was a fortune in this era.
With that much money, she would finally have the freedom to make plans for her future.
“Deal,” she replied without hesitation.
Li Weiguo seemed surprised by how readily she agreed.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and gave her another searching look.
Then he opened a drawer, took out a notebook, and picked up a pen.
“Name, workplace, and years of service.”
“Lin Wanqiu. County Textile Factory. Four years of service.”
Li Weiguo wrote down the information before closing the notebook.
“The buyer has one condition. They want to meet you in person to verify your identity. Naturally, they don’t want to be cheated.”
He smiled, though there was a distinct chill behind it.
“Of course, anyone foolish enough to try cheating on me, Li Weiguo, hasn’t been born yet.”
“That’s fine,” Lin Wanqiu answered. “When can we meet?”
“Tomorrow afternoon at two. Right here.”
Li Weiguo leaned back in his chair.
“Bring your work ID and household registration booklet.”
“All right.”
Lin Wanqiu stood and wrapped her headscarf around her face again.
Just as she reached the doorway, however, another thought occurred to her.
She turned back.
“Brother Li, do you buy medicinal herbs here?”
Li Weiguo raised an eyebrow.
“What kind of herbs?”
“Notoginseng, plantain, motherwort, and several others. They’re all wild herbs gathered from the mountains, and the quality is excellent.”
Li Weiguo chuckled.
“Bring them over and let me have a look. If the quality is as good as you say, I’ll pay the going market rate.”
Lin Wanqiu nodded, satisfied with his answer.
When she emerged from the black market, the morning sunlight was warm and pleasant.
She walked back toward the factory with a noticeable spring in her step.
A gentle breeze swept through the plane trees lining both sides of the street, stirring their lush green leaves into a soft rustling chorus.
For the first time in a long while, her future seemed to hold genuine possibilities.
When she returned to the dormitory, however, something unexpected happened.
The birthmark on her wrist suddenly began to feel warm.
Lin Wanqiu paused.
She could sense that something inside her spiritual space had changed.
With a single thought, she entered the space.
The sight before her left her stunned.
The spiritual spring had grown larger!
Previously, it had been nothing more than a small pool of spring water.
Now, it had expanded into a circular pond approximately two meters in diameter.
The water was clearer than before, and a faint, almost magical glow shimmered across its surface.
The fertile black soil surrounding the spring had expanded as well.
Judging by its size, there were now approximately five mu of land, roughly one-third of a hectare.
But what surprised her most was the new structure beside the thatched cottage.
A small wooden tool shed had appeared out of nowhere!
Lin Wanqiu hurried over to inspect it.
Inside, an assortment of farming tools had been arranged neatly.
There were hoes, shovels, water buckets, and several other agricultural implements.
Among them was a small medicinal grinding wheel.
Just as she was examining the new additions, a familiar voice suddenly sounded inside her mind.
“Spiritual Spring Space, Level 2.”
“Newly unlocked features: Basic farming tools and simple medicinal processing equipment.”
“Enhanced Spiritual Spring effects: Daily consumption strengthens physical constitution. External application accelerates wound healing.”
Lin Wanqiu’s eyes widened.
The space had actually upgraded!
She hurried to the spring, crouched beside the water, and scooped up a handful to drink.
The spring water was cool and wonderfully sweet.
The moment it slid down her throat, a pleasant warmth spread throughout her body, flowing into every limb and muscle.
The fatigue and tension she had accumulated throughout the day vanished almost instantly.
Even her thoughts seemed clearer and sharper than before.
She stood quietly for a moment, marveling at the sensation.
Then she walked over to the tool shed and picked up the small medicinal grinding wheel.
It was surprisingly heavy.
This wasn’t some decorative object.
It was a genuine tool that could actually be used.
Lin Wanqiu’s heart filled with excitement.
With these farming implements, she could begin cultivating medicinal herbs directly inside her space.
And with the grinding equipment, she could process those herbs into simple medicinal preparations.
In an era when medical resources were scarce and medicine was difficult to obtain, such knowledge and tools could mean the difference between life and death.
This space was becoming far more valuable than she had ever imagined.
The following afternoon, Lin Wanqiu arrived at the black market courtyard ten minutes ahead of the agreed meeting time.
Li Weiguo was already waiting by the entrance.
Today, he wore a gray jacket and held a cigarette between his fingers.
When he saw her approaching, he gave a slight nod.
“You’re here.”
But he wasn’t alone.
Another person stood beside him.
It was a young man who appeared to be around twenty years old.
He stood nearly 1.8 meters tall, with a straight back and an upright posture that reminded her of a sturdy pine tree.
He wore a faded military-green shirt that had clearly been washed countless times, paired with black trousers.
On his feet were a pair of yellow rubber-soled canvas shoes, scrubbed so clean that not a speck of dirt could be seen on them.
Yet what caught Lin Wanqiu’s attention most was his eyes.
They were gentle, but there was an unmistakable sharpness hidden beneath that gentleness.
When he looked at someone, his gaze carried an indescribable intensity, as though he could see far more than what appeared on the surface.