The woman in front of him was covered from head to toe—aside from her eyes, everything else was tightly wrapped.
In such hot weather, wasn’t she afraid of getting heatstroke?
But the black market wasn’t exactly a respectable place, so some disguise was normal. The young man adjusted his smile and looked at Yu Zhaozhao eagerly.
“Big sister, what kind of coupons do you need?”
“Do you have nationwide-use coupons? Anything is fine, but I’d prefer more industrial coupons.”
“Big sister, do you have children going to the countryside?”
“Yes, two of them. So the more coupons, the better.”
The young man thought for a moment.
“Big sister, I came out in a hurry today and didn’t bring many coupons. How about this—same time tomorrow, we meet here again? I’ll prepare more for you.”
“My son is leaving by train tomorrow morning. There’s no time. Just show me what you have—I’ll take all of it.”
The young man felt a bit regretful. He had thought he’d found a big customer and could make a larger deal, but it turned out to be so urgent. He couldn’t help but regret not gathering more coupons from his associates earlier.
The two of them moved to a secluded corner and sorted through the coupons in his bag. Altogether, there were quite a lot.
20 jin of grain coupons, 2 jin of sugar coupons, 5 jin 2 liang of meat coupons, 6 feet of cloth coupons, 12 industrial coupons, 2 jin of cotton coupons…
All kinds of items added up to a decent pile.
“I’ll take all of these. Calculate the price.”
“Big sister, it wasn’t easy for me to get these. Just give me 30 yuan, alright?”
Yu Zhaozhao calculated in her mind. With coupons, buying goods at the supply store would be cheaper. Compared to black market prices, the total value of these coupons plus the money was about right.
“Alright.”
She took out 30 yuan and handed it over.
The young man accepted the money happily.
He knew that women her age tended to be frugal, so he hadn’t set the price too high—but not too low either, just around market value. He had expected her to bargain, but the deal went through surprisingly smoothly.
“Thank you, big sister. If you need anything in the future, come find your little brother.”
“Sure.”
Yu Zhaozhao agreed verbally, but inwardly she thought that once her household registration was moved, she would probably never come back here again.
After exchanging the coupons, it was almost noon. Yu Zhaozhao glanced at the sky and prepared to leave.
But as soon as she stepped out of the alley, she felt someone following her.
Looks like she’d been targeted after all.
Yu Zhaozhao didn’t panic. Instead, she slowed her pace, deliberately leading the people behind her toward a more secluded area.
Just now, she had suddenly remembered—those thugs who lingered around the black market all year round should have quite a bit of money and coupons on them.
“Third Brother, looks like we’re lucky today. This little lady actually walked into such a remote alley herself.”
The lackey Chen Xi leaned toward Liu Lao San, his face full of flattery.
Liu Lao San was the youngest son in the Liu family, spoiled since childhood. Over time, he had grown into a useless troublemaker, spending his days roaming the black market with five or six followers.
Whenever they spotted an easy target, they would block and rob them.
There had already been many victims nearby, but Liu Lao San’s uncle was the head of the Red Armband patrol, so no one dared to testify against him.
Without evidence, he couldn’t be arrested. This only made him more arrogant, and he practically loitered at the black market entrance every day without any intention of restraining himself.
Today, just like usual, he was searching for targets when he saw Yu Zhaozhao exchanging coupons.
Anyone willing to use the black market to get coupons for their children—and in such large quantities—had to be from a wealthy family.
In that case, instead of letting others benefit from that money, it might as well benefit him.
So as soon as Yu Zhaozhao left the black market, he followed her with his men.
At first, he had worried she might head into a crowded area, which would make it inconvenient to act. But unexpectedly, she had practically led them to the perfect spot herself.
“Not bad, kid—you’ve got a way with words. Don’t worry, after we’re done, Third Brother will treat you all to a feast. Everyone gets a share!”
“Thanks, Third Brother!”
The other lackeys were delighted. If Liu Lao San wasn’t paying, they would never dare go to a state-run restaurant themselves.
“Then… do I get a share too?”
At that moment, Yu Zhaozhao suddenly appeared in front of Liu Lao San. With a bright smile, she asked the question—and before they could react, she threw a punch straight at his nose.
“You damn woman! You dare hit me?”
Liu Lao San was stunned. They had been following behind her the whole time—when had she stopped? How had she suddenly appeared in front of them and knocked him down with one punch?
“I’ve already hit you, and you’re still asking if I dare?”
Yu Zhaozhao rolled her eyes.
She had thought that someone who could act as a street thug would at least have some fighting ability—but he went down so easily.
How embarrassing.
“Brothers, get her! Take this woman down, and we’ll go eat and drink like kings!”
Furious, Liu Lao San got up and prepared to fight back.
“Don’t worry, Third Brother—leave it to us!”
The men pulled out iron rods from their waists. These were hard for them to obtain, all identical in size—intimidating weapons in a fight.
In her previous life, Yu Zhaozhao had been a special agent, trained from the age of five.
Medicine, disguise, mimicry, ventriloquism—even some artistic skills—she had studied them all due to the nature of her missions.
As a result, combat skills were actually the least remarkable among her many abilities.
Against trained fighters, she could handle ten alone—let alone these idle street thugs.
One minute later, Liu Lao San and his men were all lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
Yu Zhaozhao clapped her hands and looked down at Liu Lao San arrogantly.
“Well? Still want to fight?”
“No, no more! Sister, we were wrong—we were wrong!”
Liu Lao San was a coward at heart. Seeing her overwhelming strength, he had already lost the will to fight.
“Do you really know you’re wrong?”
“Yes, we do!” He nodded repeatedly, as if he could dig out his heart to prove it.
“Since you know, hand over all your money and coupons.”
??????
Liu Lao San and his men stared wide-eyed, wondering if they had misheard.
“What are you waiting for? Hand it over. A bunch of grown men surrounding a weak woman like me—do you know how much psychological trauma that caused? Isn’t it only fair you compensate me?”
Yu Zhaozhao grew impatient.
They were moving too slowly—it was starting to interfere with her lunch plans.