She stopped and walked along the way due to physical reasons. The soles of her feet were probably calloused because Liu Daya walked so often, but there were no blisters. It was just that her feet were so weak!
After resting under a tree by the roadside, I stood up and walked towards the city. This city is an ancient city with ancient city walls. There are even some bullet holes in the walls, probably because of the war in the past!
She knew that this was a turbulent era, and people had been recuperating since the war, but natural disasters continued and the people were living in misery!
Walking through the city gate, she discovered that the interior didn't resemble an ancient city. Instead, it was filled with brick and tile houses, unlike the mud-brick structures of the Red Star Brigade. Although the houses here were crowded, they were neatly arranged and well-planned. Tall buildings could be seen in the distance. She walked through the alley. As dusk approached, her shadow stretched out long, casting a shadow across the long alley, leaving her feeling dazed.
Is this Earth?
The Earth in 2220 was desolate and dilapidated, but this small city in 1976 unexpectedly gave her a glimpse of vitality.
She walked through the alley and emerged onto a wide avenue, lined with utility poles. Perhaps it was approaching dusk, and the streets were crowded. Pedestrians hurried along, while others rode bicycles with their clothes fluttering in the wind. There were even rickety old-fashioned buses. Curious, she wandered around. Both sides of the road were dotted with inspiring slogans, as were state-owned restaurants and supply and marketing cooperatives.
It turns out that the seventies were so beautiful!
Xia Youyou excitedly walked into a state-owned restaurant, but for some reason, no one was there. Two girls dressed like waiters were standing by the serving window, whispering something and laughing. They didn't react when someone came in.
She looked up at the menu and glanced at the prices, which were just a few cents...well, her pockets were empty, she had no money at all.
She left the restaurant angrily and looked back at the two girls, who actually rolled their eyes at her.
Xia Youyou's breath got stuck in her throat, and her chest, which was stuck between her legs, began to ache. She wanted to take back those beautiful words! They weren't friendly at all!
She clutched her clothes tightly and found a secluded spot to lean against. Her primary task now was to get money! But where? Could she just ask someone where the black market was? Obviously not! The reason the black market was called the black market was because it was hidden from the public, wasn't it?
She watched the crowds coming and going, lost in thought. She was, at best, a 19-year-old girl, barely reaching adulthood in the year 2220. She admitted to being cautious and ambitious, but faced with the current situation, she couldn't think about the future like an adult.
A loudspeaker blared, interrupting her thoughts. Listening closely, it sounded like the factory's closing announcement. She looked in the direction the sound had led her. A large group of people emerged from the direction they had just left the state-owned restaurant. They were all wearing work hats and neat work clothes, energetically exiting the factory gates.
She observed them calmly, seeing eagerness and fatigue in their expressions. Suddenly, she saw a man not wearing work clothes and carrying a bag. He looked around furtively, as if trying not to attract attention, and went around to the back of the state-owned restaurant.
Xia Youyou rolled her eyes and decided to follow.
The man was wandering around in the alley in many twists and turns. Just when she was about to lose track of the way, she finally saw the man with the bag secretly making some gestures with a tightly wrapped person, as if giving a secret signal, and the person let him in. She secretly took note of it, hid herself to the side, and prepared to wait a little longer.
Remembering the bag the man was holding, she took a less conspicuous messenger bag from her space and put it on her back, then put the food she had prepared inside. If she was right, this was the black market. Now she just had to wait for the man to come out, and she would be able to confirm it.
Xia Youyou leaned forward to take another look over there. She had been waiting for nearly half an hour, but still no one had come out. She was getting impatient. Could there be another exit?
After a moment, she decided to take the risk. She took out a black silk scarf from her space and wrapped it around her face. She put on the hood of her bathrobe, revealing only her distinct almond-shaped eyes.
The man was startled by Xia Youyou's sudden appearance in the alley. She was dressed in a black robe, looking like the Black Impermanence. He patted his chest and whispered, "What are you doing? Aren't you afraid of scaring people to death dressed like this?"
Xia Youyou nervously squeezed the shoulder strap of her bag and stretched out her bony hand to show him the gesture she had just memorized.
The man was puzzled for a moment. He had never seen this person before. After thinking about it, he thought it was probably someone's child who had learned it and was sent here. Xia Youyou looked short and thin now, like a child of eleven or twelve. So he stepped aside and let her pass.
Xia Youyou breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed her dry throat, tried to steady her heartbeat, and walked in steadily.
As soon as she entered, she saw a number of people standing in a dark alley, all dressed up tightly, some holding baskets, others carrying bags. She had found the right place!
She breathed a sigh of relief, opened her messenger bag, and headed straight for the crowd. After wandering around the crowd to make sure everyone had seen what was in her bag, she found a place to stand and wait for someone to arrive.
The alley was quiet, with occasional whispers coming from it, but I couldn't make them out clearly. It was people trading.
Xia Youyou was no longer nervous. As long as she found the right place, her dinner would be settled and she wouldn't have to worry about eating milk bread anymore!
A hunched figure approached her, locked eyes with her, and whispered, "How much?"
She recognized the middle-aged woman, who was deliberately hunched over. However, she hadn't decided on a price yet, and she panicked for a moment before reacting.
"It's better if it's a little cheaper than the store. How much do you want?" She opened her backpack and showed it to her. "Look at this side of mine. It's very good. The store might not be as good as mine."
The woman pondered for a moment, then took some noodles and tasted them. After confirming that they were good, she said, "The best ones in the store are 20 cents a pound. I'll give you 15 cents, plus food coupons. Is that okay with you?"
Xia Youyou raised an eyebrow. Is it really that low? But then she thought about it and felt that it was not right. It seemed that the prices in this era were really like this. She nodded quickly. "How much do you want? I have 5 jin per bag."
She had already packed the bags in the space, but the bags were not from this era, so she could give them to her. "Do you have a bag?"
"have."
The two quietly completed the transaction in a secluded spot. Xia Youyou's bag was empty, having only brought two bags of flour. She took the newly acquired money, and her heart finally settled. This was where she would settle down, and she wouldn't be able to return until 2220.
She put the money into her bag, or actually directly into the space, and began to walk into the crowd to see if there was anything she wanted to buy.
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