Seeing that Xia Anyan didn't believe him, the man became a little anxious.

His eyes darted around, and he moved closer to Xia Anyan, lowering his voice: "Here's what we'll do. If you don't believe me, I'll take you with me. In our black market, business is all about mutual consent. If you're okay with it, we'll exchange money for goods. If you're not, then we can just be friends, okay?"

Although this man didn't seem like a good person, Xia Anyan still decided to give them a chance, thinking of the man at the entrance.

At the very least, I should go and see for myself first.

Xia Anyan nodded in agreement and followed the man to a small courtyard.

This is the back gate of the yard. The backyard is quite large. In a small shed, there was a large lump covered by a tarpaulin. Although you could make out its shape, you really couldn't guess what it was. It seemed to contain tables, chairs, benches, iron bars, and the like.

Seeing that Xia Anyan's eyes were fixed on that direction, the man smiled and said, "Comrade, to be honest, there are some really good things in here. Come, come, let me show you, and you'll see."

The tarpaulin was lifted, and Xia Anyan finally saw what was inside.

Good heavens, has this person piled up all the junk here? Just as she suspected, there were tables, chairs, benches, and old bicycles and tricycles piled up here.

They leave it lying around haphazardly, not worried at all about it being stolen. After all, it's all broken stuff, and the little bit of junk they make wouldn't even cover the medical expenses if they got beaten up.

"Comrade, don't be fooled by how old these bicycles are. I can pick out good parts from them and assemble them." He said this with a smug look on his face.

This was the first time Xia Anyan had looked at this man so seriously.

He has a somewhat pointed face and monkey-like features, but I never expected him to be a craftsman.

Xia Anyan also gave a thumbs up without hesitation, praising him.

The man was very happy: "My dad was a worker in a steel factory. I was an apprentice there. My dad taught me some things, like assembling bicycles. I was very good at it. I've sold quite a few of these assembled bicycles on the black market. You've come to the right person."

Xia Anyan listened and seemed satisfied.

But she was still uneasy until she saw the item.

She pulled five ten-yuan bills from her pocket: "Fifty, deposit. I need to watch you assemble the bicycle, and then we can discuss the price. If you agree, we can start now."

The man hadn't expected her to suddenly become so agreeable.

Since he had already brought the person back, there was nothing to worry about, so he simply rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Finding parts from so many old, broken-down cars is no easy task.

He searched for a long time before finally finding one he was satisfied with.

Assembly didn't take much time, but the colors were really ugly. There was some red on one stick, then it turned black, and there was blue and green too. It was a complete mess.

Xia Anyan couldn't bear to watch anymore after reading half of it, so she simply closed her eyes.

"Comrade, I have some paint here. I'll spray it in your favorite color for you." The man noticed Xia Anyan's disgust and quickly said, "Don't be fooled by how ugly this thing is. After it's sprayed, when you push it out, no one will believe it was assembled."

Xia Anyan gave a dry laugh.

Garlic birds, garlic birds, life isn't easy for anyone.

It took quite a bit of time from start to finish assembling; two hours just flew by.

During their conversation, Xia Anyan learned some things.

The boss of this black market is called Sister Dao. She's a woman, not very old, probably in her thirties.

If you want to do business here, you have to talk to Sister Dao first. If she agrees, you can set up a stall here. If she doesn't agree, you can only get lost.

“I started working with Sister Dao two years ago. Sister Dao collected all these things. I assemble them, sell one, and give Sister Dao a share of the profits.”

The man's name was Xia Er. He was the second oldest in his family. When he couldn't find work, he had to go to the countryside, so he ended up working in the black market and becoming a vagrant.

Xia Anyan just listened without saying a word.

These things are a mixture of truth and falsehood; she won't believe them entirely, nor will she completely disbelieve them.

However, it was Dao Jie's matter that gave her some thought.

There's too much stuff in this space; I need to free some up to make money, and incidentally, get into the market here and learn some basic things.

"Okay, look, do you like this color?"

Xia Er looked smugly at the bicycle he had painted completely black, becoming more and more satisfied with it.

"It really looks good. How much does it cost?" Xia Anyan stared at the bicycle for a while, making sure it was perfect inside and out, before asking.

Xia Er raised three fingers.

Xia Anyan frowned: "Three hundred? That's not a low price."

Even if you find good parts to assemble it, so what? This car is just a second-hand, pieced-together vehicle; it's not worth the price at all.

Xia Anyan took the money and was about to leave when Xia Er hurriedly chased after her.

"Hey, hey, hey, you woman, you didn't even try to negotiate the price with me, you just walked away. How do you know I won't give you a discount?"

"So, that's 280."

Xia Anyan remained silent and continued walking.

Xia Er also became anxious.

He had been working hard for two hours, and he couldn't just let the person go like that.

There are so few people who can afford a bicycle these days, we might as well rip off whoever we can.

"Then tell me, how much is appropriate? You don't have a bicycle ticket, so I can't possibly sell it to you for two hundred. I'd lose a fortune if I did."

Xia Anyan finally stopped: "I'm not stupid, you idiot. If you want, I'll ride away. If not, just pretend I was never here."

Another twenty yuan was gone in an instant.

This was only in the 1960s, when a month's salary was only a dozen or twenty dollars.

He earns his money through hard work.

Xia Er was conflicted.

Xia Anyan also gave him a chance to consider it.

In the end, Xia Er relented, but his expression was not good.

"Brother Xia, sell it to me cheaper, you won't lose out. To be honest, I have some connections, I can get grain. If you trust me, I'll bring some over next time I come."

Xia Anyan is also good at manipulating people. Just one sentence, and she turned Xia Er into a cuckold.

"If we didn't both have the same surname, Xia, I wouldn't be able to say this. Second Brother Xia, as your sister, I'm being very sincere!"

Xia Er slapped his thigh and said, "Sell it!"

He also made a profit of 260.

The two exchanged money for goods, and the cooperation went very smoothly.

After agreeing on a time to meet again, Xia Anyan rode away on her bicycle.

After that, she went to the post office to write a letter to her grandfather before heading towards the brigade.

She knew someone was following her, so she didn't rush to remove her disguise and just kept walking.

She also wanted to see whether that person was a friend or foe!