Chapter 44 Rare Items

The next day, the brother and sister went to the black market again.

This time she brought some medicinal herbs that she had grown in her space.

Gangzi usually comes around this time of month.

Liu Xiangyang was more clever than Liu Xuejun. Before leaving home, he saw his sister putting the medicinal herbs into the basket, but he didn't ask any questions. When they arrived at their destination, he took the initiative to help arrange them.

Several jars of pickled vegetables were sold, but no one was interested in the medicinal herbs.

Until a strange figure walked over, the familiar scent made Liu Zhixia pause for a moment.

The person in front of me was tall and straight, wearing a long trench coat with the collar turned up, obscuring half of his face. He was wearing sunglasses and a liberation cap, so I couldn't see his face clearly.

Although many people in the black market dressed like this, Liu Zhixia couldn't help but take a second look.

The man seemed to notice her scrutinizing him, but he wasn't annoyed. Instead, he pointed to the dendrobium on the ground and asked in a hoarse voice, "Little girl, how much is this?"

The familiar tone made Liu Zhixia's heart skip a beat. She answered cautiously, "Five yuan a pound."

The man frowned slightly upon hearing the price, muttering, "This is truly a rare find. It's windy up here; how could a little girl have climbed all the way up to pick it!"

Liu Zhixia sensed something was off about his words and cautiously replied, "A friend picked them for me, and they've been sitting here for a while now."

The man nodded, picked up one and looked at it: "No wonder it's so dry and prickly. It doesn't look fresh, I don't want it."

After saying that, he gave Liu Zhixia a meaningful look, then turned and left.

Liu Xiangyang immediately became furious: "Guest, everything here looks very fresh, where is it dried out?"

He made a move to pull the man away, but Liu Zhixia quickly stopped him and said with a smile to the man's back, "I'm sorry, my brother was rude. As an apology, here's some pickled vegetables for you."

The man took the glass jar, weighed it in his hand, smiled slightly, gave a soft "hmm," and then turned to leave.

"Who are you? Trying to cause trouble?" Liu Xiangyang sat down angrily.

Liu Zhixia's face darkened, and she ordered in a low voice, "Brother, hurry up and pack your things!"

"What's wrong?" Liu Xiangyang then noticed that his sister's face looked terrible.

Liu Zhixia looked around; because of the commotion, many people were staring at them. She clutched her stomach and whispered, "My stomach hurts; I think I'm on my period."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiangyang's face instantly turned red: "Then... what should we do?"

"Shall we go find my second brother and sister-in-law first?"

“Okay,” Liu Xiangyang nodded immediately. “I’m a man and I don’t know what to do either. Let’s ask your second sister-in-law for help!”

He felt sorry for his sister and packed up the stall very quickly.

Just as the two were about to leave, Gangzi, who was collecting medicinal herbs, grabbed Liu Zhixia.

"Miss Xia, are you leaving so soon today? Do you still have any medicine?"

Liu Zhixia was in a hurry to leave and quickly said, "That's all."

Upon hearing this, Gangzi's tone became anxious: "Didn't I just hear you arguing with someone over medicinal herbs? Don't try to fool me. Is it because you think my price is too low? We can talk about it again; my family really needs this!"

Liu Zhixia was entangled by him, and seeing that more and more people were gathering around, she had no choice but to think quickly and say, "My stuff is indeed not fresh enough. The fresh stuff is all stored with my second brother. Come with me, and I'll take you to get the fresh stuff."

Gangzi was overjoyed: "Okay, I'll go with you!"

The three of them quickly left the black market and walked all the way to the entrance of the lumber mill before Liu Zhixia finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that no one was around, she gestured to Liu Xiangyang to take out the medicinal herbs and hand them to Gangzi.

Gangzi stared at the goods in his hand, stunned: "Isn't this perfectly fine? It's so fresh. Why did you lie to me and say you didn't have any?"

He looked around in a panic: "Why did you trick me into coming to this deserted place?"

Liu Zhixia glared at him: "I saved your life because you were worried about your family! Something's not right at the black market today."

Gangzi laughed when he heard this: "This black market boss has connections, everything's been taken care of, no one will check."

Liu Zhixia was too lazy to explain to him: "It's still five yuan a pound, as usual."

Gangzi weighed it in his hand; it was exactly one and a half pounds. He gave her seven yuan and fifty cents.

Liu Xiangyang stared wide-eyed at the scene.

Gangzi clasped his hands in thanks to the two of them and said, "Thank you, I'll be going now."

Liu Zhixia advised, "Since you've come out with me, you should listen to my advice and not go back over there."

"Okay! I'll trust you this time!" Gangzi excitedly hugged the medicine and left.

After the man left, Liu Xiangyang pointed in the direction he had gone, his words slurred: "Such a small amount of stuff, so expensive? Was what that strange man said true? Picked from a dangerous place?"

Liu Zhixia was amused by her brother's appearance: "Brother, this herb was picked for me by that person at the black market just now."

Liu Xiangyang scratched his head: "What? You know him?"

Liu Zhixia said helplessly, "You really didn't recognize him? That's Comrade Shen."

"Comrade Shen?" Liu Xiangyang exclaimed in surprise, "So he was just teasing you on purpose? Oh dear, I was so rude! Luckily you sent over a jar of pickled vegetables as an apology."

As Liu Zhixia packed her things, she lowered her voice and said, "Keep your voice down. He was just warning me. 'Strong wind' and 'prickly' are codes in the black market, meaning there's danger and something bad is going to happen. That's why I quickly pulled you away."

Upon hearing this, and considering Shen Yi's identity, Liu Xiangyang was immediately filled with dread.

"Didn't he go back to the army? Why is he here? Is something really going to change?" He looked at the lumberyard ahead. "Then... should we still go find Lao Er?"

“Go,” Liu Zhixia said decisively. “Since the pickled vegetables aren’t selling, I’ll just send two jars to my second brother and sister-in-law.”

Liu Xiangyang then chuckled and said, "That's right, they haven't tried your cooking yet. Let's go find them!"

When the brother and sister arrived at the lumber mill, the couple were still working. They left two jars of pickled vegetables and went straight home.

Hearing that not a single jar of pickled vegetables was sold today, and that quite a few were even given away for free, Shen Hongmei felt a little disappointed.

Upon hearing that something might go wrong in the black market, she was first frightened, then complained, "I told you guys long ago, it would have been so much better to cooperate with that boss, then none of this would have happened?"

Liu Zhixia shook her head, her eyes calm: "I suspect that the trouble in the black market this time is the work of that boss."

Liu Xiangyang also became serious: "That's right. He said that day, what will we do if the black market disappears? Cooperating with this kind of person, we might not only not get the money, but also lose ourselves. Honey, don't be greedy for such a small gain."

Shen Hongmei nodded reluctantly: "Fine. Anyway, I've been eating plenty of meat lately."

After saying that, she happily went inside.

After Shen Hongmei left, Liu Xiangyang lowered his voice and said to Liu Zhixia, "Don't let your sister-in-law know about the medicinal herbs. We agreed to split the profits as pickled vegetables, so you keep the money for the medicinal herbs yourself."

Liu Zhixia gave a soft "hmm".

In fact, she had no intention of sharing the money from the medicinal herbs. These were herbs she had painstakingly cultivated in her spatial dimension, so naturally, she wanted to put them all into her own little treasury.