Song Ze took the money, asked Xia Qingqing to watch his bicycle for him, and then squeezed towards the window of the state-run restaurant.
Xia Qingqing stood guard beside the bicycle and watched as Song Ze nimbly moved through the crowd. A moment later, he returned with two oil paper packages.
"Here, this one is for you," Song Ze handed one of the oil paper packages to Xia Qingqing.
Xia Qingqing opened the oil paper package and saw three plump, white meat buns inside. A smile immediately flashed in her eyes.
A meat bun cost one mao (0.1 yuan) plus one liang (0.5 taels) of grain coupons. She gave Song Ze 5 mao and bought 3 large meat buns, which was equivalent to spending 2 mao to exchange for 3 liang of grain coupons from Song Ze.
Currently, a pound of grain coupons can be exchanged for about 50 cents, but these things are in short supply, so she doesn't lose money.
Thanks to Song Ze, Xia Qingqing tasted the meat buns from a state-run restaurant for the first time after arriving in this era.
After finishing two meat buns, Xia Qingqing let out a satisfied burp. It has to be said that the meat buns in state-run restaurants are still quite substantial these days. Xia Qingqing put the remaining meat bun into the system's inventory.
——
After disguising herself simply, Xia Qingqing followed the black market location that her classmates had mentioned in her memory and arrived at an alley.
She hadn't expected the terrain to be so complicated; she wandered around the alleys for ages but still couldn't find the entrance to the black market.
Just as she was debating whether to ask someone, a mother and daughter who were arguing passed by her.
"You silly child, that piece of floral fabric was so pretty, why didn't you like it? Don't you see what the situation is like now? You're still being picky. If you don't like it, then don't take it. I'll save some money." The middle-aged woman tapped her daughter's forehead lightly with her finger, but the force was very light, and you could clearly see the love in her eyes.
The girl with two braids looked to be in her early twenties. She seemed a little aggrieved as her mother nagged: "You promised me that you would make me a new set of clothes as long as I got into the food factory."
Her mother glared at her: "Is it that I won't buy it for you? It's just that you don't like it."
The daughter pouted and complained, "Those two pieces of cloth are so ugly. What young girl would wear something like that? If I wore it out, people would laugh me to death."
The mother imagined her daughter wearing that dress made of large floral fabric, but she still couldn't bring herself to say the words against her will.
Xia Qingqing suddenly had a little idea. After observing for a while and finding that there was no one else around, she cautiously stepped forward and asked, "Auntie, do you mean you want to buy fabric?"
The mother and daughter were startled by Xia Qingqing's sudden voice. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that she was a petite girl with dark skin, and their hearts instantly relaxed.
The middle-aged woman looked at Xia Qingqing with a puzzled expression: "Young lady, why are you asking this?"
Xia Qingqing didn't beat around the bush and directly stated her purpose: "I have a piece of cloth here. My family needs money right now, and I want to use this cloth to exchange for some things to supplement our household income."
As she spoke, a hint of reluctance appeared in Xia Qingqing's eyes, as if she really had no choice but to sell the cloth.
Upon hearing that she had cloth, before the middle-aged woman could even speak, the girl with the braided pigtails urged impatiently, "What kind of cloth is it? Take it out and let me see."
Xia Qingqing took out a piece of cloth from her handbag and showed it off, then immediately put it back.
The girl with braided pigtails immediately took a liking to the small, light yellow floral fabric and shook her mother's arm, saying, "Mom, this yellow is so pretty, I want to use this fabric to make a dress."
The middle-aged woman subtly nudged her daughter, reminding her to tone it down; if she seemed so pleased, how would she bargain later?
The girl with the braided pigtails wasn't completely clueless. Receiving her mother's prompting, she mischievously pouted and said, "Hehe, I just like it."
The middle-aged woman glanced helplessly at her daughter, then looked at Xia Qingqing and asked, "Young lady, how do you plan to change this fabric?"
Xia Qingqing held up one finger and said, "No cloth coupons needed, seven cents. There are nine feet here, so it's six dollars and three cents."
"70 cents? That's too expensive. The supply and marketing cooperative only charges 50 cents a foot of cloth," the middle-aged woman said, her eyes darting around as she tried to negotiate a lower price.
Xia Qingqing wasn't buying it: "This fabric is what my mother planned to keep for my dowry. If we weren't short of money, I wouldn't be willing to give it up. If you think it's too expensive, you can buy it from the supply and marketing cooperative."
After saying that, Xia Qingqing raised her head, slung her cloth bag over her shoulder, and was about to leave.
The girl with the braided hair immediately panicked: "Wait, little sister, don't go yet."
"Mom, this piece of cloth is so pretty, and it doesn't even require cloth coupons. It's only 70 cents a foot, so it's not expensive. Can you buy it for me?"
In the end, the middle-aged woman couldn't resist her daughter's coaxing and took out 6.3 yuan to buy the cloth.
Xia Qingqing took the money with one hand and handed the cloth over with the other: "Take a look, there are no refunds after the transaction is completed."
The girl with the braided hair took the cloth, gently touched it, and found the material comfortable and soft. Her face revealed an undisguised joy.
After the transaction, Xia Qingqing made a point of finding out the exact location of the black market from the mother and daughter. Since they had bought satisfactory cloth, the two of them were not stingy and told Xia Qingqing everything they knew.
Xia Qingqing was in a great mood after successfully completing her first business deal. She felt really insecure without money, because money is always a person's courage.
After the mother and daughter left, Xia Qingqing went to the black market that the mother and daughter had told her about.
As soon as I arrived at the entrance of the black market, I saw a thin, dark-skinned man with an ordinary appearance guarding the place, both to manage the black market and to keep watch.
Xia Qingqing used the code she had just learned from the mother and daughter to successfully enter the black market.
Once inside the black market, she didn't rush into action. Instead, she observed her surroundings. There were a few stalls scattered around, and occasionally a few people would approach to ask about prices.
An older woman noticed Xia Qingqing's unfamiliar face and took the initiative to ask, "Young lady, what would you like to buy?"
Xia Qingqing shook her head: "I'm not here to buy anything, I'm here to sell things."
The older woman looked at her with surprise, then her gaze fell on her slightly bulging handbag: "Young lady, what are you planning to sell?"
Inside Xia Qingqing's handbag were three pieces of cloth she had just put in. She knew she couldn't get rich overnight, and she didn't plan to sell too much at once to avoid attracting attention.
“This fabric was brought back by my older brother from a business trip to Shanghai. It just so happens that we are short of money recently, so my mother asked me to come to the black market to sell this fabric.”
Upon seeing the cloth in Xia Qingqing's hand, the old woman's eyes lit up immediately: "Oh, this cloth is even prettier than the one from the supply and marketing cooperative! How much do you want to sell it for, young lady?"
Xia Qingqing glanced at the old lady: "7 mao per foot, no cloth coupons required. One piece of cloth is exactly 9 feet, so it's 6 yuan and 3 mao."
The old woman remembered that her daughter was insisting on buying a dress. A dress cost more than 10 yuan at the supply and marketing cooperative, and even then, you needed cloth coupons. If she bought this piece of cloth and had someone make one, she could save several yuan.
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