Chapter 409 Not Enough New Year's Goods
For two consecutive days, Cen Yan gave away a lot of New Year's goods. She bought them from the supply and marketing cooperative, butcher shops, and grain stations. Apart from pots, pans, shoes, socks, and daily necessities, she used them all up.
Although I received some return gifts, the general rule on Dongming Island is that whatever you give, the other person cannot give you the same thing in return.
For example, the New Year's gifts she sent to Wang Lijuan and Huang Yuchang were food items. Although the New Year's gifts they sent later were also food items, they were basically roasted nuts or other relatively precious supplies. They were edible, but not a staple food.
"If all else fails, I'll take a vacation starting tomorrow and go to the countryside with Leng Feng to see if we can get some grain from the villagers. You like seafood, so we'll buy more and make an ice tank in the yard to store it. That way, we won't have to worry about not having anything to eat."
Qi Jingchuan felt heartbroken seeing Cen Yan's worried face; his wife must have put a lot of thought and effort into preparing those New Year's goods.
His social obligations have exhausted his wife's efforts. He really feels sorry for his wife. Before they got married, he didn't have to worry about any social obligations. How come after they got married, he suddenly has more pressure on his wife?
Cen Yan nodded, "That's a good idea. Let's get some seafood, set up a stove for our family reunion dinner, and have hot pot around the round table. It would be nice. We also need vegetables. If you and Comrade Leng Feng go to the countryside, buy more leafy greens. Hot pot without vegetables can get boring."
"Don't worry, I have the connections. There's no shortage of supplies. As long as you have the tickets and money, you can buy them. What I'm worried about is that I just finished buying New Year's goods a while ago, and now I have to go again..."
Thinking of the comrades queuing up at the supply and marketing cooperative, and the comrades at the meat shops and grain stations, who chased her and Su Xianhua away, Cen Yan felt utterly overwhelmed.
Qi Jingchuan laughed and said, "Then I'll go with you to buy some this time. Wearing my military uniform, they won't dare to do anything to me. It's good to buy more to keep for our family to eat."
"How can that be? The country is short of supplies, and every household is lining up at the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, hoping to have a good New Year. We can't just take advantage of our money and coupons to deny people a way to survive. Besides, you're going there in military uniform? Be careful someone reports you for abusing your power."
Cen Yan rolled her eyes at him.
"I think I'll go to the ghost market."
"Ghost market, that is, black market," Qi Jingchuan frowned. "Those kinds of places are a mixed bag. It's not safe for a woman like you to go there and buy so much stuff. You're not allowed to go."
“I didn’t tell you before because I was afraid you would overthink it, but I have an acquaintance in the Ghost Market. He’s like a classmate or relative of mine in Shanghai. He came to Dongming Island to work in the countryside. You know, the supply of goods in big cities is definitely not as tight as in small places like ours, so he would occasionally write home and bring things back for the villagers in the production team.”
It's called "bringing," but in reality, it's just taking advantage of the information gap between the two sides to speculate and profiteer. Qi Jingchuan is used to this kind of talk, but he feels a little uncomfortable about it.
"Is this acquaintance of yours male or female?"
Cen Yan paused for a moment, then chuckled, "What, are you jealous?" Seeing the man's ears turn slightly red, she snorted, "Don't worry, it's a woman."
Moreover, this classmate is not only female, but she doesn't even exist; she's a figment of her imagination.
Without a classmate like her, how would she get the resources out of her spatial storage? They just keep piling up, and constantly selling them in Blue City isn't a sustainable solution.
We need to find a way to sell all the fruits, vegetables, rice, and grains grown in this space, within a reasonable and legal framework! For example, using the excuse of helping fellow villagers bring things back would be a very appropriate and reasonable solution.
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