Because everything was ordered in advance, the transaction was very fast and was completed in about 15 minutes.
Those who took the things didn't say much, they just went out and went home quickly. Before leaving, they would nod to the aunt with gratitude in their eyes.
The aunt and her two daughters also helped until all the neighbors left. Lian Xiaomin took out the two enamel basins left in the big bag. They were brand new, bright red basins with double happiness characters on the bottom, which looked very beautiful.
She handed the basin over and thanked them. The mother and daughter were all very happy. The aunt was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She said casually, "This enamel basin with double happiness characters on it was sold out by the supply and marketing cooperative a long time ago. I saw that the only ones on the black market nearby were the ones with peony flowers. The happiness character looks better for weddings!" After saying that, she carefully took it into the inner room.
The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. After hearing this, Lian Xiaomin had an idea and took a look and wrote it down. It seems that there is a black market nearby.
Without staying any longer, she packed her bags and left quickly. This evening, she delivered 16 quilts, 16 kilograms of wool, and 6 military coats, earning a total of 1,180 yuan, which made her very happy.
After leaving the family compound, Lian Xiaomin found a quiet place with no one around and slipped into the space. She sorted out her large backpack, put some supplies in it, and planned to look for the nearby black market.
It was almost eight o'clock. The temperature in Northeast China was low, and the nights in late autumn were already very cold. Lian Xiaomin simply put on a military coat and stood up the collar to keep warm. In the black market, people usually squat in corners or something, and it's quite cold, so this was just right for her.
She walked through several blocks near the cannery's family compound and used her mind to detect the surrounding situation.
After walking for about half an hour, we finally found a place that looked a bit like a warehouse compound, and detected that there were quite a few people inside.
This should be the place. Didn’t you see there were two people standing at the gate? They were obviously keeping watch.
Lian Xiaomin walked over and was stopped by the person at the door. "Buy or sell?" the other person looked at her and asked.
"Sell something."
"Pay fifty cents, keep quiet when you go in, I'll blow a whistle to notify you if anything happens, and go out the back door." The other party said in a low voice.
Lian Xiaomin paid the money, nodded and walked in.
When I went in, I found that it was indeed a warehouse compound. I didn't know which factory it was abandoned from. It was a bit messy. There was a large open space outside, about four or five hundred square meters, and there was also a warehouse with a large iron door. The door was open, and the inside was even bigger.
There were crowds of people inside and outside the place, about fifty people, but they all spoke in low voices, and except for the occasional footsteps, the volume was very low.
Lian Xiaomin walked over slowly and wanted to see what others were selling. When she looked on the ground, she saw some people selling aluminum lunch boxes, thermos bottles, and Chinese medicinal herbs, but they were all common things in the mountains of Northeast China.
There were also places selling cotton cloth, raw coarse cloth, obviously spun at home. There was also a place selling Dacron cloth, a small roll of white cloth, not much.
There were few food items for sale. I saw an old lady squatting by the wall with a basket of dates and a small bag of dried mushrooms in front of her. Next to her was an old man selling two old hens, but they were quickly bought.
Lian Xiaomin walked into the warehouse and looked around. There were several kerosene lamps lit everywhere, and it was dim but still clear enough to see.
There were about ten people selling things inside, and more people seemed to be buyers, looking down to see if there was anything they wanted to buy.
People should have just started coming in at this time, otherwise such a big place would still be empty.
Lian Xiaomin discovered that there were two doors at the innermost part of the warehouse. There was a man who looked like a black marketeer walking back and forth between the two doors. This should be the back door leading to the alley behind where they could escape.
Someone was smoking in the warehouse, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of low-quality tobacco leaves. There was a window on the east side, which was wide open. She walked under the window and said, "Let's do it here."
Lian Xiaomin put the big backpack on the ground, and before she could squat down to rest, someone followed her.
A man in his 50s, wearing a blue work uniform, asked first: "Do you have any food or meat?"
Following him, on his left and right, were two middle-aged men, both of whom looked to be in their late 40s, and behind them was a young man.
Following the old man's words, the other three people also looked at the backpack with anticipation.
"I have white flour, cornmeal, noodles, and 20 kilograms of pork here." She found time to grind the cornmeal using the flour mill in the space. The thing worked quite well. She ground out 500 to 600 kilograms of cornmeal and used it for a few meals herself.
Not to mention, the fragrance of cornmeal is quite tasty to those who were used to eating rice and white flour in their previous lives. Both porridge and cornmeal steamed bread are sweet and delicious.
It is probably a crop produced from the black soil in space, so the taste will be even better!
Lian Xiaomin opened the backpack and showed it to them. They were all surprised. The old man quickly said, "I want 10 kilograms of pork and 20 kilograms of noodles. How much?"
He had always wanted to get something good as a gift to his son's boss, hoping to get him a permanent job as soon as possible. Now it was good enough, giving 10 kilograms of meat would get him everything done, and the white-washed dried noodles were also good to look at.
The dark-faced middle-aged man next to him said, "I want two catties of pork and five catties of flour!"
The other man wearing glasses was a little slow, so he just watched from the side, wondering what he wanted.
Lian Xiaomin first helped the two men. There was five pounds of pork cut in pieces. She took two pieces and also took out 20 bundles of noodles. She said to the old man, "Pork is 2.6 yuan per pound, and noodles are one yuan per pound. That's 46 yuan in total. How about it?"
"Yes! I want it!" The old man quickly opened his two bags, put everything in them, paid the money, turned around and left with a happy face.
Lian Xiaomin took something for the dark-faced man again, "Flour is 80 cents a pound, five pounds is 4 yuan in total, and two pounds of pork is 5.2 yuan." After hearing this, the other party had already started counting the money.
"Here's 13.2 yuan." He gave exactly the right amount of money, took the things and left.
The middle-aged man with glasses also thought about it and said quickly: "I want 20 catties of white flour and cornmeal, and 3 catties of pork. How much is the cornmeal?"
Lian Xiaomin said, "Okay, cornmeal is 50 cents a pound. The total cost of what you want is 33.8 yuan."
He silently counted it in his mind, and yes, he started counting the money.
The young man saw that it was his turn and was about to take another look in the backpack to see if there was anything else. Suddenly, he looked down and saw the watch on Lian Xiaomin's wrist. His eyes lit up and he asked tentatively, "Comrade, do you want to sell this watch?"
Lian Xiaomin took the third portion of money and replied, "You want to buy a watch? I have some here, both men's and women's watches. How about you take a look?"
The middle-aged man with glasses hadn't left yet. After hearing this, he stretched his neck and paid attention to his watch.
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