The moment they heard she was going to buy grain, Zhang Hongqiang’s eyes lit up.
He happily followed Lin Wan as she took the bus to the other side of the city.
There was a black market here. It was mentioned in the novel.
Because the black market played an important role in the female lead’s path to wealth, it was described very clearly in the book.
The details were precise.
At this point in time, the black market hadn’t run into any problems yet, so Lin Wan wore a mask and walked in boldly.
The lookout for the black market was a woman in her seventies. The checkpoint was right at her home entrance. She sat there pasting matchboxes. People didn’t need any secret code—just tossing two cents into her basket allowed entry.
Otherwise, she would stop them.
Lin Wan told Zhang Hongqiang to wait outside and, very experienced, tossed in two cents.
The old lady lifted her eyelids and glanced at her, then let her pass.
Unlike in other novels where black markets only opened at night, here they operated during the day.
After all, people wandering around at night were easily caught, while daytime was different.
Lin Wan walked into the alley. It was a shantytown near the outskirts of the city. The lanes were interconnected and dense—perfect for underground trade.
If inspection teams came, it was easy to escape.
Vendors didn’t set up stalls here. Most carried baskets or backpacks. Whatever they were selling, they would hold a small portion in their hands so buyers could see it at a glance.
Everyone gathered together like a silent marketplace.
A few young men stood against the wall with hands in their pockets, watching carefully, the tense atmosphere thick in the air.
Lin Wan browsed around and bought a basket and two smaller baskets from a middle-aged man.
Then she bought three pieces of homespun cloth from a middle-aged woman.
She used the cloth to cover the baskets, then found a quiet corner and transferred items from her system space into them: three packs of noodles, twenty jin of rice, twenty jin of flour, two jars of lard, one jar of brown sugar, and one jar of white sugar.
Hiss—quite heavy!
One basket held two jin of apples, another held two jin of bananas.
After thinking for a moment, she added dried kelp, dried daylily flowers, a piece of cured meat, a string of sausages, and two jin of peanuts.
“Sis!”
Zhang Hongqiang ran over the moment he saw her and took the two baskets from her hands.
The moment he lifted them, his body sank.
“So heavy!”
But he quickly adjusted and stood straight again. He looked toward the road.
“Sis, hurry! The bus is coming!”
With that, he ran off with the baskets.
Lin Wan quickly followed.
Oh my goodness.
They really needed to get a bicycle as soon as possible.
The siblings squeezed onto the bus and were drenched in sweat.
By the time they got home, Lin Wan felt like she had fallen apart.
She looked in the mirror—goodness. Her hair was messy, strands of it sticking damply to her face.
It itched.
“Hey!”
“You girl, why did you buy so much stuff?”
“How much did it cost? Mom will pay you back!”
Lin Wan didn’t actually know how much it cost. Asking prices in the black market without buying anything would draw attention from the guards.
“Twenty!” she blurted out.
These goods were probably worth ten at most, so she doubled it.
“Just keep it on account. Pay me back later. Otherwise, if the money’s in my hands, I’ll spend it all in no time.”
Huang Guixiang nodded readily.
“Alright then, Mom will record thirty!”
No matter who suffered, it couldn’t be her daughter.
Lin Wan smiled and agreed.
She watched as Huang Guixiang carefully organized everything—what needed to be hidden was hidden, what needed to be locked away was locked.
Then she stuffed the fruit into Lin Wan’s cabinet.
“You hide this and eat it yourself. Don’t let them take it!”
Lin Wan didn’t refuse.
She was a good obedient daughter when it came to her mother. Besides, keeping it in her room didn’t stop her from feeding Huang Guixiang anyway.
Zhang Hongqiang eagerly fetched water for her to wash her face. After she finished, she made him wash too.
Then she handed him a banana.
“Don’t show off—finish it inside the house.”
Zhang Hongqiang nodded hard, eating the banana with eyes half-squinted in bliss.
After he finished, Lin Wan had him peel an apple and split it into three pieces. The three of them each had a share.
“This apple is so crisp and sweet!”
“It’s even better than the ones from the factory!”
The three of them hid in Lin Wan’s room eating together.
Huang Guixiang sighed as she ate.
Of course it was better than factory apples—these were Red Fuji apples.
They hadn’t even been introduced in this era yet.
“The old man selling apples only comes once a month. Mom, I’ll buy them for you every month,” Lin Wan lied casually.
Huang Guixiang shook her head.
“No way. You’ve got a job now. You’re not allowed to go to the black market!”
“If you get caught, it’s over! You’ll lose your job!”
She then warned Zhang Hongqiang as well:
“And you, don’t sneak off either. Today’s matter stays between us!”
“From now on, your sister is a proud postal worker. As her younger brother, you are not allowed to cause trouble or embarrass her!”
Zhang Hongqiang immediately straightened his chest.
“Mom, don’t worry! I won’t mess around anymore!”
Lin Wan added,
“You must study hard!”
“Strive to improve every day!”
“In ten years, you might catch the restored college entrance exam!”
“Try to get recommended to an industrial and agricultural university!”
“After graduating, you can sit in an office as a leader and back me up. Isn’t that better than going to the countryside to farm and raise chickens and pigs?”
“If you go down to the countryside, how could you protect me if someone bullies me?”
She kept brainwashing the sister-obsessed little brother.
Zhang Hongqiang’s expression gradually became serious, his eyes firming with determination.
“Sis, don’t worry! I’ll study hard!”
Then he scratched his head.
“But… teachers at school don’t really teach anymore.”
Lin Wan said, “Ignore that. You still have textbooks, right? Read them yourself. If you don’t understand, come ask me.”
“Alright, start studying now. Go find your books and copy the new vocabulary first.”
Zhang Hongqiang: “……”
The sky had collapsed!!!!
“Sis, school hasn’t even started yet!”
Lin Wan put on a wronged expression.
“You don’t want to study for me?”
“I understand… I…”
Zhang Hongqiang immediately surrendered.
“I’ll do it! I’ll copy it!”
He really couldn’t stand her acting like that. If she cried, his mother’s iron palm would be waiting for him.
“Xiao Wan!”
“Xiao Wan, are you home?”
A voice came from outside.
Lin Wan quickly wiped her mouth and went out.
She opened the door.
A girl stood outside.
Her classmate.
They usually didn’t get along, but right now she was acting extremely friendly, even hooking her arm around Lin Wan’s.:::