Chapter 12 Buying Rare Stamps
We entered the alley.
The two walked through some dilapidated houses and garbage dumps, and stopped at the entrance of a small, run-down courtyard.
"Grandma! We have guests!" The little guy ran happily into the house as soon as he entered the yard.
"Ahem! Little Dang, who's here?"
An elderly woman with gray hair, thin and withered, appeared at the door, leaning on a cane.
Upon seeing Jiang Feiyan's unfamiliar young face, she hesitated for a moment and said, "Young comrade, have you come to the wrong place?"
"Grandma, she didn't go to the wrong place, I brought her here." Xiao Dang held her grandmother's hand and whispered in her ear:
"Grandma, this girl says she likes stamps and she has the money to buy them. I'll take her to see them!"
Upon hearing this, the old lady paused, then glanced at the little girl in front of her.
The girl was extremely beautiful, and she was wearing clothes made of the finest fabric.
The other person stood in the courtyard with a smile, looking upright and not like a bad person.
The old lady smiled slightly: "Young man, come in!"
It's been years since anyone visited her dilapidated courtyard.
"Hello, Grandma." Jiang Feiyan stepped forward and greeted her politely.
"Sister, I'll take you to see stamps!" Xiao Dang led her into a small room next door.
Once inside the room, Xiao Dang dragged out a large wooden box from the corner.
He opened the box, took out several wooden boxes, and said, "Sister, look, do you like these stamps?"
Jiang Feiyan took two steps forward, squatted down, and looked at the stamps in the box one by one.
After reading it, she was completely astonished.
This box contains all the stamps that could be collected, from the Qing Dynasty when stamps were first issued until the mid-1960s!
My goodness, these are rare, extremely valuable!!
"I like it, I really like it." Jiang Feiyan's eyes showed a hint of joy.
In the future, these will all be piles of hard-earned money; who wouldn't like that!
"Really?!" Xiao Dang was overjoyed and quickly took out an even bigger box from inside, opening it and saying:
"Sister, look at this! Grandpa said these are incorrect stamps. He got them from somewhere else; they're all bright red, and it would be a shame to burn them, so he kept them."
Jiang Feiyan's pupils contracted.
It's actually the 1968 film "The Whole Country Is Red"!
She was lamenting at the post office earlier, saying that you can't buy them anymore.
Unexpectedly, it suddenly appeared right in front of her!
Jiang Feiyan's hands trembled as she counted; there were a total of 20 complete sets!
Oh my god! We've struck it rich!!
Jiang Feiyan waved her hand generously and said, "I'll take them all! How much?"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he felt his slightly empty pocket and quickly changed his words, "Uh... can I exchange it for grain?"
"Of course!! My family is short of food!" Little Dangxi jumped for joy and said, "I'll talk to my grandma and have her set the price!"
Soon, Xiao Dang helped the old lady over.
The old lady was quite surprised when she heard that Jiang Feiyan was going to buy all of these stamps:
"Young man, are you sure? Many of these stamps are old and outdated, they can't be used."
These stamps had some value when the old man was alive, but now they're practically worthless. Even the recycling center doesn't want to take them away, complaining that they take up too much space.
Although my family was in dire straits and severely lacking food, I couldn't go against my conscience and deceive people.
“Don’t worry, I know,” Jiang Feiyan explained. “My grandfather also loved collecting these things when he was alive. I just wanted to buy a few more to keep as souvenirs.”
"Oh, is that so?" Hearing this, the old lady felt relieved and said, "In that case, I'll sell it to you for 20 yuan in total. You can also give me the same amount of grain in return."
There are several thousand stamps in total. Selling them for one cent each would be about right. We can't let the young girl suffer a loss.
"...20 yuan??" Jiang Feiyan's lips twitched.
She got a great deal; she wouldn't feel at ease giving her so little.
The old lady looked at her kindly: "What's wrong? Do you think it's a bit too much? Less is fine too."
She appreciates the child's filial piety and is willing to give less.
"No, no, no! You've misunderstood!" Jiang Feiyan quickly waved her hand: "I just think you're asking for too little. Stamps are 8 cents each now. You're too kind."
Upon hearing this, the old lady chuckled and said, "It's alright, they're all outdated stamps, they're worthless."
“But in my heart, they are still very precious!” Jiang Feiyan said quickly, “If you really want to lower the price, sell them to me for 6 cents each. Consider it as 2,000 stamps here, which is 120 yuan in total.”
She saw it as soon as she entered the yard; the house was so bare that even the phrase "sparsely furnished" wouldn't suffice.
It's easy to imagine how difficult it must be for an elderly woman of that age to raise her young grandson alone.
She has so many resources in her spatial storage, so giving her a little more food won't hurt. Besides, she's the one who's profiting in the end.
"Thank you, my dear child." The old lady's nose tingled and her eyes reddened.
She could tell that this girl wanted to help her.
How many years has it been since she felt this warmth?
After the eldest son and his youngest son's families were successively sent to the countryside, and the old man passed away, the family completely fell apart.
If it weren't for her youngest grandson, she would have passed away long ago.
Living in this world is really tough.
"Grandma, you're welcome. I should thank you for allowing me to collect so many rare stamps."
Jiang Feiyan continued, "Raw rice is now sold at the supply and marketing cooperative for 13 cents a pound. You probably don't have any grain coupons here, so how about I exchange it for you for 15 cents?"
"120 yuan is enough to buy 800 jin (400 kg) of brown rice. I'll have someone bring it over tomorrow. What do you think?"
"800 jin!!" Xiao Dang's eyes widened in surprise.
If you cook porridge with half a pound of brown rice every day, it will last you for many years!
Doesn't that mean we won't have to go hungry anymore?!
"This...is too much..." The old lady was also stunned.
Jiang Feiyan nodded thoughtfully: "It is a bit too much."
Brown rice doesn't seem to have a shelf life of more than a few years, so why not switch to something else?
"Here's what we'll do: give you 500 jin of brown rice, and replace the remaining 300 jin with other things, like white flour and brown sugar."
"No..." Xiao Dang's face was excited. He was about to say no when his grandmother stopped him: "Alright, young comrade, you've thought of everything."
Her little one is too thin and weak; she needs to eat some good food to nourish her body.
"Okay, I'll come over around noon tomorrow."
After agreeing on a time with the two, Jiang Feiyan said goodbye and left.
When I arrived home by bus, it was already evening, just as my family was having dinner.
Jiang Feiyan went to the kitchen to wash her hands, then sat down at the dining table and started eating.
She didn't care about her stepmother's piercing gaze.
After finishing her meal, Jiang Feiyan stretched out her hand again and said to her scumbag father, Jiang Guowei:
"I ran out of money today. Give me another 100 yuan so I can buy more things."
Jiang Guowei frowned and glared at her.
Jiang Feiyan raised an eyebrow: "You won't give it to me? Then I'll go out and howl!"
Jiang Guowei: ......
His face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
In the end, he reluctantly took the money out of his pocket.
Jiang Feiyan accepted it with a smile.
Great, another awful day!
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