Chapter 17 The Black Market
When Lu's mother saw that Xia Qianqian wanted to go, she hesitated slightly at first, and then nodded in agreement.
After all, I'm going to buy things for Xia Qianqian's wedding. Letting her choose them herself will definitely make them more convenient to use in the future.
After the meal, Er Ya ran to inquire when the village's oxcart would go to town. Upon hearing that it was leaving now, she hurriedly called for Xia Qianqian and Lu's mother to get on the cart.
After boarding the carriage, Lu's mother took out a dime and handed it to the driver, which was a customary practice in Xiangyang Village.
The oxcart swayed and rattled until it reached the town. After agreeing to meet the driver at the meeting point at noon, Lu's mother got off the cart with Er Ya and Xia Qianqian.
"Er Ya, can you find the place? Or should Grandma ask someone to inquire?" Lu's mother asked.
Xia Qianqian knew they were going to the black market, and looked at them expectantly.
"Just go this way," Er Ya said crisply after recognizing the direction.
So they followed Er Ya, and after turning a few corners, they arrived at an air-raid shelter.
It's unclear when this air-raid shelter was dug, but it's been sitting idle since it's never been used. Little did I know that the black market would be right here.
As soon as she entered, she was frightened because it was pitch black everywhere.
Just then, a small hand reached out and grasped her hand.
"Auntie, I heard them say that we'll be there after just one more turn, so don't be afraid."
Seeing that Er Ya wasn't afraid, Xia Qianqian felt much calmer.
Before long, they adapted to the dark environment and their walking speed increased significantly.
After turning the corner, dim yellow lights appeared ahead. Just then, someone asked, "What are you doing here?"
Mrs. Lu quickly replied, "We came here to buy things based on recommendations from others."
The flashlight shone on them, and they saw that there were two women with a child. The flashlight beam then moved away from them.
"Come in."
Xia Qianqian and Lu's mother walked towards the light and then discovered that there were quite a few stalls there.
The stalls sold a wide variety of items, and even Xia Qianqian, who was used to seeing all sorts of good things, couldn't help but marvel at them.
Lu's mother said, "You and Lu Zheng are getting married soon, so you can buy things like washbasins, mirrors, and bedding here. You and Er Ya go ahead and pick them out, I'll come find you later."
The two nodded after hearing this, and then Lu's mother walked towards the person in charge of the black market.
"Comrade, do you buy watches here?"
As she spoke, she took off her watch and handed it to the man, since how much she could buy today depended entirely on how much this watch could fetch.
The man examined the watch carefully and then quoted a price to Lu's mother: "This watch is in very good condition, and it's a famous brand. I can give you 500 yuan."
Mrs. Lu was overjoyed at the high price offered by the other party and quickly agreed.
After accepting the watch, the man called someone over, counted out 500 yuan, and handed it to Lu's mother.
With money in her hands, Lu's mother felt more confident. She looked around the market and soon spotted Xia Qianqian and Er Ya.
Xia Qianqian had been wandering around the market for half a day, but she still hadn't seen Xia Wenwen, and she didn't know what the item mentioned in the comments was.
She checked the comments again and again, but the comments were as if they were mute; no one said a word.
Just then, the comments finally popped up.
[As expected, the female lead missed the ring earlier. It seems that even coming to the black market won't help. The opportunity still belongs to Xia Wenwen. She should be here soon, right?]
That treasure was actually a ring?
After seeing the words on the screen, Xia Qianqian pretended to be nonchalant and continued walking forward slowly, recalling the goods she had just seen.
There seemed to be a jewelry stall; she had only glanced at it briefly and hadn't paid attention to what it was selling, but there should have been rings.
"Qianqian, you've been looking around here for so long, haven't you found anything you like?"
Just as Xia Qianqian was pondering, Lu's mother came over.
Xia Qianqian said, "Auntie, Er Ya and I just saw some bedding for sale over there. The cotton in those bedding looked pretty thick. Shall we go take a look?"
After hearing Xia Qianqian's words, Lu's mother nodded, and the group walked back.
As Xia Qianqian passed by the jewelry stall, she stopped and looked it over.
When Lu's mother saw her standing there, she assumed that Xia Qianqian wanted jewelry. She thought to herself that it made sense; such a good girl was marrying her son, and she couldn't let her enter the house with her neck and fingers bare.
Although it's impossible to buy all the three gold pieces and five gold pieces, you should at least buy someone a decent piece of jewelry.
She then said to Xia Qianqian, "Child, is there any jewelry you like? Auntie will buy you one. Although Auntie can't get you all three pieces of gold jewelry right now, I can still afford to buy one piece. Please don't be shy with Auntie."
Xia Qianqian was waiting for the comments to give her a hint and was thinking about how to stall for time when she heard Lu's mother say this, so she said, "Auntie, I want a ring."
The stall owner overheard their conversation and realized that it was a mother-in-law bringing her daughter-in-law to buy jewelry, so his attitude immediately became warmer.
"Sister, you're so good to your daughter-in-law. She'll definitely be filial to you in the future. You want to see the rings, right? I have several here."
As he spoke, he picked out all the rings from the stall, placed them on his hand, and showed them to Xia Qianqian and Lu's mother.
Xia Qianqian tried on the rings one by one on her fingers, then secretly glanced at the comments section, but no one was saying anything.
Could it be that this isn't the ring from this stall? She was a little puzzled, as she didn't seem to have seen anyone else selling rings.
When Lu's mother saw that Xia Qianqian put the ring back after putting it on, she assumed that Xia Qianqian did not like it, so she said to her, "Child, there are many stalls here. It's okay if you don't like it. Auntie will take you to see other stalls."
The stall owner had finally gotten a customer who wanted to buy jewelry, so she couldn't let them leave. She hurriedly said, "Sister, wait a minute. It's okay if you don't like these. I have more here."
As he spoke, he took a box containing a ring from a basket at his feet; inside lay a ruby ring. Under the light, the ring shone with a captivating luster.
"This was reserved by someone else. If you like it, you can take it first, and I'll find something else for that person later."
No wonder I didn't see the ring; the stall owner hid it. Will the female lead buy it? It would be such a shame to miss out like this.
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