Chapter 25: Observations in Guangzhou, Keep Stocking Up!
After such an incident, Jiang Si decided to stay in Guangzhou for a few more days.
Firstly, they wanted to see if the police could catch those people.
Secondly, the weather has been extremely changeable these past few days.
Yesterday the sky was clear and sunny, but when I woke up this morning, it was pouring rain and strong winds.
Jiang Si was already prone to seasickness, and if the ship encountered rough seas during its journey, she would be the one to suffer.
Since Huo Tingzhou is away on a mission, she'll just have to wait at the guesthouse when she gets to the military base anyway, so she might as well stay here for a couple of days before setting off.
I took this opportunity to tour Guangzhou in the 1960s and take a few more photos to send back to my third uncle and the others.
Jiang Si acted immediately, and over the next two days she visited all the major and minor attractions in Guangzhou.
The three rolls of film she brought weren't enough, so she bought some more.
During that time, she also went to the black market.
To be honest, Jiang Si really had no intention of going to the black market this time.
After all, she had plenty of food, drink and supplies in her space, and she didn't lack money or tickets, so there was really no need for her to take any more risks.
As I was walking that day, I saw many people carrying baskets coming out of an open-air market.
Jiang Si thought it was a state-run vegetable market because of its open and aboveboard appearance!
Little did I know that once I went inside, I would find out that this was actually the largest black market in Guangzhou!
She had heard her third uncle say before that the "struggle" in the south was not as serious as in the north, but she never expected it to be this lenient.
No wonder that three out of the four pilot cities in the first batch of reform and opening up were in Guangdong Province!
Since we're already here, we might as well take a look around.
Believe it or not, Jiang Si actually found something good!
She had been searching for sanitary napkins in Shanghai for a long time without success, and then she found them here!
The sanitary napkins are the straight type, made of pure cotton, with adhesive backing.
The young man selling things was very honest, but when he introduced the products, his face turned as red as a monkey's bottom.
"Sister, each pack costs 2.5 yuan. With labor and material costs, we can't sell it for less than 3.5 yuan a pack."
A pack costs 3.5 yuan, and each pack contains 10 tablets, so each tablet costs 35 cents.
This price is no problem for Jiang Si.
She acted decisively and bought all the stockpiled items the young man had, but the quantity was too small, only 30 packs!
The thought that China didn't have its own sanitary napkin production line until 1982 left Jiang Si feeling numb.
Seeing her generosity, the young man quickly pressed his advantage, "Sister, I also have some shampoo from Hong Kong, want some? It's five yuan a bottle! I have ten bottles!"
"Absolutely!"
A big bottle for just five yuan, it'll last a long time!
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Si asked the young man another question.
"Do you have any medicines from Hong Kong? I'd like to buy some."
It's not that she doesn't trust domestically produced medicines, but rather that many medicines on the market these days, while truly effective, also have significant side effects!
Take, for example, the most popular antipyretic – Analgin.
For example, gentamicin, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, compound glycyrrhiza tablets, vitamin C and honeysuckle tablets, ribavirin...
If Jiang Si didn't know these things, that would be one thing, but now that she does, she definitely needs to take responsibility for her own health.
"Sis, I don't have any, but wait a moment, I'll go find some for you. I'll take care of it."
Those in their line of work have nothing else to offer but a lot of connections.
Half an hour later, the young man found more than ten kinds of medicines from the port city for Jiang Si and even made her a medicine box.
Jiang Si didn't put these things into her spatial storage; she just stuffed them into her suitcase.
She didn't plan to tell Huo Tingzhou about the space, but for such a trivial matter that didn't involve principles, there seemed to be no need to hide it.
If asked, she would tell him clearly that these were all bought in Guangzhou.
Anyway, he knew she was rich and couldn't endure any hardship!
Perhaps it was the relaxed environment in Guangzhou that allowed Jiang Si to temporarily lower her guard.
With nothing else to do the next day, she went to visit a fishing village near Guangzhou.
October is the season when seafood is at its fattest and most delicious.
Before dawn, the docks near the fishing village were already crowded with people buying fish, shrimp, and crabs.
Unlike the reserved black market traders, the vendors here practically shout out their wares.
After all, what's not allowed in this era is 'individual speculation and profiteering,' but it doesn't say that collective revenue generation is forbidden!
Fishermen rely on the mountains and the water for their livelihood. If you block all the roads, how will they survive?
Moreover, in this kind of weather, seafood caught on the same day will rot in your hands the next day if it cannot be sold in time.
Rather than dumping it into a septic tank to compost later, it's better to sell it cheaper.
So every morning, there's a small fish market at the pier near the fishing village, where all the seafood is not only cheap but also free.
Of course, those who came to set up stalls were all fishermen from the nearby communes.
Jiang Si originally just wanted to come and take a look, since there is no shortage of seafood on Qiongzhou Island.
But when she asked about the price, she was immediately tempted.
Family members, does anyone understand?
Wild yellow croakers that cost thousands or tens of thousands of yuan per kilogram in later generations are only 50 cents per kilogram here!
Wild yellow flowers, 35 cents a pound!
Giant grouper and various wild grouper, all for only 4 cents a pound!
Plump, large swimming crabs with roe, only 25 cents a pound!
Abalone with a single head bigger than a fist costs 2 cents per pound. If you only want the meat and not the shell, the price will be even cheaper.
Because the city's traditional Chinese medicine company buys abalone shells, and the price is even higher than that of abalone meat, at 50 cents per pound.
Jiang Si also saw a lot of large flower dragons, which were sold individually. A dragon weighing over 8 jin (4 kg) was only 5 yuan! Dragons weighing five or six jin (2.5 kg) were only 2.5 yuan each!
As for seafood that is troublesome to handle and can easily damage fishing nets, such as starfish, sea urchins, and mantis shrimp, basically nobody wants them.
After the fishermen finish their day's work, they will crush these pieces together with broken crabs and rotten shrimp, and then use them as compost.
Jiang Si spent the morning wandering around the fish market, and finally ordered a batch of seafood from the commune leader under the guise of purchasing for the canteen.
1000 jin each of swimming crabs, butter crabs, mantis shrimps, eels, squid, baby octopus, and sea-caught ribbonfish.
2000 single-head abalone, large yellow croaker, yellow croaker, various grouper, 5 baskets of each, and as many large lobsters as you can get!
Anyway, there's a spiritual spring, so as long as you can still breathe, you can survive.
It doesn't matter if you die, the space has a preservation function.
In addition, we also ordered 3,000 sea urchins, which are excellent for sashimi, steamed eggs, or dumplings.
Because Jiang Si bought a lot, the commune leader also gave her several extra baskets of oysters bigger than her palm, as well as various kinds of sea snails.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Early that morning, both the National Daily and the Yangcheng Daily published a news article on their front pages.
Upon learning that the group had been apprehended and that the police had also seized a considerable amount of supplies, Jiang Si silently breathed a sigh of relief.
After finishing breakfast, she took a car to Taikoo Wharf.
During her few days off, Jiang Si had already inquired beforehand and found out that there were only two flights a day to Qiongzhou Island.
The departure times are 6:00 AM and 3:00 PM respectively.
The entire voyage takes approximately 27 hours.
There are five cabins in total.
The fifth-class cabins are located on the lowest deck and are the kind with large dormitory-style beds. You can't see any sea view during the entire journey, and the smell inside is comparable to a biological weapon.
However, it's cheap, costing only 11.8 yuan.
Fourth class has bunk beds, 16 people per cabin. Although it is also on the lower deck, the advantage is that it has a small, ventilated window, making it less oppressive than fifth class.
First, second, and third class cabins are all on the second floor, consisting of 2-person, 4-person, and 8-person cabins respectively.
The first class cabin offers the best conditions, as it includes a small bathroom and a toilet, unlike the other two cabin classes.
Naturally, it's the most expensive, costing over 40 yuan.
However, due to the heavy rain a few days ago, many passengers were stranded, and some cabins were requisitioned as "educated youth" seats, making it particularly difficult to buy tickets for individual passengers now.
Jiang Si had no choice but to find another way. Seeing that the ticket seller was a middle-aged man in his forties, she directly smuggled out a pack of Grade A cigarettes from her spatial storage.
At this time, even top-grade cigarettes are in limited supply; you can't buy brands like "Chunghwa" even with a ticket.
"Hello comrade, I need a ferry ticket to Qiongzhou Island."
"Could you please check what the next flight is on? I'd like to fly first class."
Jiang Si handed the letter of introduction wrapped with cigarettes to the ticket seller.
The ticket seller was quite accommodating, but her tone of voice remained as cold as ever.
"Wait a moment, let me check for you."
After waiting for about five minutes, he turned his head and asked a question.
"First class tickets are all sold out for the next week. Do you want a second class ticket? It's for 3 PM today, and there's only one left."
Second class is a four-person cabin.
Well... that's fine too, at least it has two fewer people than a hard sleeper.
Jiang Si nodded, took out 22.6 yuan from the price list posted on the window, and handed it over.
Unexpectedly, the ticket seller refunded her 3.2 yuan.
Seeing Jiang Si's bewildered expression, the ticket seller kindly offered an explanation.
"Military personnel have a discounted price. It's 19.4 yuan in total. Here's your ticket and change."
Jiang Si was truly dumbfounded.
They haven't even gotten their marriage certificate yet, but they can enjoy preferential treatment for military dependents just with a letter of introduction. That's amazing!
No wonder people these days say: When eating vegetables, eat the heart of the cabbage; when marrying, marry a People's Liberation Army soldier!
After buying the tickets, Jiang Si went to the nearby post office first.
I told my third uncle that I would be arriving at Qiongzhou Island the next day, and also sent back some photos I had taken a few days ago.
After the matter was settled, Jiang Si quickly paid and left.
Just as I reached the platform, the bus arrived.
As soon as the car door opened, a bunch of people jumped out.
Jiang Si was focused on getting back to pack her luggage as soon as possible and didn't notice at all that a gaze was fixed on her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com