The casual chat before going to bed last night was not without results. The two of them talked about some gossips in a close relationship. After the conversation, at least Zhou Jiao got some useful information - every day before dawn, an old farmer would come to the cinema to exchange local specialties.

She used her sewing ticket and industrial voucher to exchange for some things. At four o'clock in the morning, Zhou Jiao ran to catch up with the aunt, and after she asked a colleague to take over her shift, she immediately followed her.

"Little girl, don't make any noise for a while. If you see something you like, I'll bargain for you."

Zhou Jiao smiled and nodded repeatedly, trying to get closer to the other person in dialect. She saw that this aunt loved gossip and had a girlish heart.

Who would take a strange little girl to the black market?

But when they arrived at their destination, Zhou Jiao realized that this was more of a morning market than a black market. Besides some local fruits and vegetables, the most common items were seafood.

While the aunt was exchanging yellow croaker with someone, Zhou Jiao also took out ten kilograms of rice from a black shoulder bag as a disguise and exchanged it with an aunt for a lot of local bills.

After the aunt finished her shift, she turned around and pulled Zhou Jiao back: "Go and see if you need anything. I have to go back for my shift."

"Auntie, you go back first. This is quite interesting. I'll go shopping some more."

The other party was a little hesitant: "Are you really okay alone?"

"Look, I'm empty-handed." Zhou Jiao spread her hands and gestured, "Wait until the restaurant across the street opens. I'll have breakfast and then go back."

She thought about it and realized that the morning market would open in half an hour, so there was really no danger. She gave a few instructions and hurriedly said goodbye.

Zhou Jiao was no longer anxious. Her target had never been these petty rioters, but rather the elderly farmers who seemed more clever.

Not long after, many people began to leave. Zhou Jiao took a fancy to an elderly man. Besides his age, which made it difficult for a single woman like her to interact with a middle-aged man, she was also drawn to his skillful dealings. He was very decisive. When the time came, he didn't sell any more items than the one in the bag and just walked away.

Looking at the other person, he was deliberately hunching his back and lowering his head, and his cloth shoes were covered in mud. This kind of old man was quick and efficient in his work and knew when to stop.

Zhou Jiao followed him silently, without even saying hello. A smart person would have waited until they were safe before asking.

After walking for five or six minutes, the old man immediately turned around and looked at the smiling Zhou Jiao, shaking his head: "Little girl, if you keep following me, you might get kidnapped."

Zhou Jiao took a step forward and whispered in dialect, "Old man, I want a larger quantity."

"I can see that while others are looking at things, you are looking for someone inside." The old man threw the bag to Zhou Jiao, "If you trust me, carry it on your back and follow me."

Zhou Jiao quickly put the bag on the ground on her back and followed closely.

"The old man's surname is Qiao, he's the fourth in line, and he's the driver of our team. The ox cart is outside the city gate, and it takes an hour to get to our village."

Zhou Jiao understood immediately: "Master Qiao, as long as we can get back before noon, it will be fine."

Fourth Master Qiao walked briskly with his hands behind his back, saying, "If someone asks you when you get there, you'll tell them you're my cousin's granddaughter."

"Master Qiao Si, just call me Miss Zhou."

After boarding the oxcart, the hour Mr. Qiao Si had promised hadn't even arrived yet. This old man was probably testing Zhou Jiao's attitude first; if she showed even the slightest hesitation, he'd probably find an excuse to run away.

Forty minutes later, Zhou Jiao was brought home by him. The old man asked his grandson to take the ox cart to the production team, and he took Zhou Jiao into the yard.

"I'm back. What is this?"

Zhou Jiao came in and an old lady came over while wiping her hands.

"Don't ask. This is your great-granddaughter!" The old man shook his hand. "You women are easy to talk to. Take this girl into the house and see what she wants."

The old lady looked at Zhou Jiao and waved at her, "Child, come into the house and tell me."

"Fourth Grandma, if the price of fruits, dried fruits, eggs, meat, etc. can be lowered, I would like to buy more."

The old lady looked behind her and asked, "How are you going to take it away?"

Seeing that the old man just smiled and said nothing, Zhou Jiao didn't hesitate and pointed at him: "Master Qiao Si, just take me to the main road in front."

Mr. Qiao nodded slightly towards his wife.

If he were to tell her that since the girl was so brave as to go to the black market alone to find someone, she must have figured out how to take the goods away. He didn't need to worry about that at all; he could just have his eldest son pull the cart over.

Seeing her husband's gesture, the old lady said, "Then go to the field and tell the children and uncles to bring the things over. Remember to avoid people."

Seeing her husband leave, she looked at Zhou Jiao and said, "Little girl, fruits are not worth much, so the price is easy to negotiate. But the price of eggs and meat is very high. It's not easy for us to raise them from dawn to dusk."

Zhou Jiao nodded. She hadn't expected to get anything cheap before coming here.

"Let's be frank. Once you leave this village, even if something happens to you, we won't admit it."

"I understand these rules."

"That's good. Let's go inside and I'll give you a price. If you think it's suitable, I'll ask someone to get more for you. It's almost the end of the year, and many families in the village are looking forward to weddings. If you had gone there two years ago, you wouldn't have been able to buy anything no matter how much you wanted. It's only this year that everyone has slowed down..."

Zhou Jiao followed her inside and listened to the old woman muttering about what happened the year before last and the year before last. She realized that in the past few years, no matter where they were, people from all over the country had had a hard time because of natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Even though Zhou Jiao knew that the private plot would be taken back soon if they continued to mess with it, she still didn't say anything. There were too many pitiful people, and it was impossible to sympathize with them all.

Especially after the other party quoted her eight cents per egg, she was even more reluctant to reveal the secret. Don't think she doesn't understand the market in the south. She had inquired about many prices at the black market that morning.

No matter how rare an egg is, if you don't sell it on the black market, you can get it for 5 cents at the supply and marketing cooperative, which is still a steal. The difference between the south and the north is that the weather is warm, so hens still lay eggs in winter, so the prices aren't as high as in the north. Especially since the free market has been opened this year, allowing farmers to buy and sell fruits and vegetables, why don't you try selling eggs there?

However, after she pointed out that the prices of various fruits ranged from 5 cents to 15 cents, Zhou Jiao didn't argue with her. She was being ripped off, so she had to accept it.

Buy less of the expensive ones and more of the cheap ones.

Aside from the variety of oranges, which attracted visitors, there wasn't much else worth buying. She bought a lot of lychees, longans, and dragon fruit from various places during her internship.

But she gradually got busy and couldn't take care of it. This time, in addition to dried fruits, she also wanted to add some local specialties such as figs and bananas, otherwise she wouldn't have made a special trip.

"Okay, I get what you mean. The more fruit, the better, right?"

"Yes. I go back to the company to pay for the benefits, and I can also satisfy my own cravings. My monthly salary is only so little, I really can't afford to buy all the meat."

The old lady pointed to the watch she was wearing and said, "I recognize this thing."

Zhou Jiao raised her eyebrows.

"Hahaha... Weird, isn't it? We have no shortage of water ghosts in this area, and many families have brothers who escaped a long time ago. Those who are well-off will send things over."

"Not worried?" Zhou Jiao asked meaningfully.

The old lady smiled meaningfully and said, "Poor people like us can't compare to them. Some families who could leave in the past few years have already left."

Since these were sensitive topics, Zhou Jiao stopped talking and changed the subject.