Chapter 31: Witnessing the Black Market

Lin Sanqi wore a straw hat and a mask. If he wasn't afraid of being too conspicuous, he would have wanted to wear a pair of sunglasses.

But he found that what the old man said seemed to be wrong, because no one else he met in the grove was as "disguised" as he was.

Actually, think about it, if one is not extremely hungry or forced to do something, who would be willing to walk more than ten miles to Chaoyang Park to do something illegal?

As for whether he would be exposed or caught if he didn’t disguise himself?

Those who can come to the black market are either extremely vicious or starving and desperate. Who among these people cares whether they will be caught?

It’s better to arrest him, at least he can get free food in prison!

Another thing that was inconsistent with Lin Sanqi's idea about the black market in Chaoyang Park was that there were no fixed stalls here.

The people inside were all mobile, and the buyers were walking back and forth in the grove to "look at the goods" without talking. It was like the lonely ghosts in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", so quiet that it was scary.

The sellers were all in groups of three or four, squatting or standing in the corners, not disturbing each other.

Lin Sanqi took a quick look around and thought he should find out about the prices.

There was a middle-aged man wearing glasses standing there, his face a little red, and his eyes were a little evasive when he saw people coming.

Lin Sanqi approached and was a little surprised to see that the man had nothing in his hands. "Brother, what are you selling?"

The man with the glasses heard someone asking for the price. Seeing that Lin Sanqi was dressed well, at least his clothes had no patches, he took out a watch from his pocket.

"It's a Shanghai brand, an A581 manual mechanical watch. I bought it for 230 copper sterling. Look, it's been well maintained."

Lin Sanqi thought he was unlucky. The first thing he asked about was the watch. Others treasured this watch, but he had no use for it. A genuine watch that cost 100 yuan on Taobao in 2013 was really beautiful.

But when asking about prices, of course you have to ask about everything:

"The watch... is nice. How much do you want?"

The man with glasses was a little excited: "I don't want money, I want food. Give me 100 kilograms of coarse grains, and this watch is yours."

Lin Sanqi pretended to shake his head and walked away, still saying, "100 kilograms! That's too expensive. I can't afford it."

The man with glasses did not catch up to bargain. From this detail, we can see that the man with glasses does not look like a businessman and still has the backbone of an intellectual.

If life didn't force them, who would exchange their most beloved watch for cornmeal and dried sweet potatoes?

Lin Sanqi's sigh was suddenly stopped by a man with small eyes.

The man looked to be in his 40s, very thin, but he was well dressed and wore a pair of worn leather shoes. He looked like a ruined aristocrat.

Seeing Lin Sanqi stop, his small eyes looked like spies meeting, and he covered his mouth with his hands and asked softly:

"Comrade, do you want antiques?"

Antique? I'm not sleepy anymore if you say that.

Lin Sanqi's eyes lit up. Antiques are great. This thing will be very valuable in 2013. If it is sent to an auction, millions or tens of millions will not be a small thing.

"What antiques do you have?"

Lin Sanqi's voice was trembling slightly with excitement.

He had also seen "The Golden Eyes" and thought that God had a vision. The protagonist just happened to find a rare treasure while strolling around a street stall, and then he finally got the chance to spend tens of millions.

Get rich~~~

Why do you need a bicycle, a doctor, or purchasing?

The handsome man with small eyes mysteriously took out a package from behind the tree and opened it layer by layer, which made Lin Sanqi feel even more itchy.

After opening the last layer, a small bowl that was neither green nor blue was revealed. Lin Sanqi quickly thought about what kind of porcelain it belonged to and from which dynasty.

Little Eyes' face turned serious and he said solemnly:

"Comrade, this is a Ru kiln bowl, extremely precious. Look, there's a poem by Emperor Qianlong on the bottom of the bowl. Let me tell you, my ancestors were in the Imperial Household Department of the Qing Dynasty. These treasures were secretly brought out from the palace. They are absolutely amazing."

Ru kiln? From the Qing Palace?

If you said it was something else, Lin Sanqi might really be fooled.

But if you say it is Ru kiln, then he won't be fooled.

Why? Because he had seen a documentary that clearly stated that there are only two Ru kiln bowls in the world, one in the Palace Museum and the other in the Percival David Foundation in the United States.

What happened? Suddenly, a third Ru kiln bowl appeared and I happened to touch it?

If anyone has such a treasure, they will hide it like their own heart, for fear that outsiders will find out and snatch it away.

Lin Sanqi suddenly felt bored. He originally thought that the counterfeiting of antiques would peak decades later, but he didn't expect that fake antiques already existed in 1959.

Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi waved his hand, and even lost the desire to take a look:

"Brother, this thing is a treasure. I can't afford it. Please find someone else."

When Xiaoyan heard this, he became anxious: "Hey, don't worry, brother, if you like it, just name a price. I don't want much. Give me 200 kilograms of fine grain and I will sell it to you."

Lin Sanqi rolled his eyes at him and didn't bother to say anything more.

Those who take the illegal route often form gangs and factions, so there is no need for him to offend a local tyrant. Safety comes first when he comes to the black market.

After walking around for a few times, Lin Sanqi finally saw a man selling rice. The rice was in a cloth bag, which was opened on the ground. There were crowds of onlookers around him.

"Hey, this rice is good, it's snow-white."

"It looks like Northeast rice, which is rare these days. How much is it?"

"Exactly, how much is it? I'll cover it all."

The seller was a burly young man. When he heard someone asking the price, he shook his head.

"I'm not selling anything. I'm only exchanging things for things. Cotton cloth, meat coupons, bicycles are all fine. I just don't want cash."

When many people heard that they didn't need cash, they smacked their lips and said it was a pity, and looked at the rice with reluctance as they left.

Lin Sanqi squeezed into the crowd and pretended to casually ask a middle-aged man next to him:

"Comrade, let me ask, if this kind of rice is sold, how much can it fetch per pound?"

"That's not cheap. Right now, just the fine grain coupons cost three or four yuan per jin. The key is that even if you have the coupons, the grain stations may not have rice in stock. So if you really want to sell it, you can't get it for less than five yuan per jin."

Lin Sanqi thought that it seemed that he had sold it too cheaply to the dean at 3 yuan per catty. No wonder the dean's wife was so happy.

"And by flour, I mean the best, the whitest kind."

"You mean the Fuqiang fans?"

“Uh…right!?”

"Oh, Fuqiang powder is incredible. Anyway, I have never seen this pigeon market before. The price must start at 6 yuan at least."

Fuqiang flour is made from the core part of wheat seeds. 100 kilograms of whole wheat can only produce 70 kilograms of flour, so it is also called "70 flour".

Fuqiang flour is white in color, has few impurities, low gluten content, high fineness, and tastes very good.

In 1959, ordinary people could not even see it, let alone eat it. It was treated like a tribute.

There are also 80 fans, 85 fans, 90 fans, etc.

100 kilograms of wheat produces 90 kilograms of flour, which is yellow in color because it is mixed with too much bran. The grain yield is high, but it makes your throat hurt and tastes bad.

Of course, it is much better than cornmeal and can still be classified as a kind of "fine grain".

It’s just that Lin Sanqi is from the south, and the staple food of southerners is rice, so Lin Sanqi doesn’t know much about the classification and quality of flour.

(End of this chapter)