The food they had stocked up on when they left the capital was all gone, except for two roast ducks. Since they had nothing else to do, Qin Hanshu decided to go to the county town to buy some more cooked food.
She plans to stay indoors in her cave dwelling and avoid going out when it gets colder.
When she rode her bike to the county, she went to the recycling station first, as usual.
The woman at the recycling station was delighted to see her, saying, "It's been so long since I've seen you here!"
Qin Hanshu asked with a smile, "Any new arrivals lately?"
The woman shook her head regretfully: "We haven't had any for the past few months. It's the same porcelain you saw last time."
Qin Hanshu nodded, "Okay, then I'll find some books."
The scrap yard had many Soviet novels, and Qin Hanshu planned to pick out a few to take back with her.
Just as Qin Hanshu picked out three books, the older woman came over and kindly handed him a handful of sunflower seeds.
Qin Han paused for a moment, then took it. "Thank you, ma'am."
The older woman smiled and started chatting with Qin Hanshu while eating sunflower seeds.
"I feel you're a pretty meticulous person. Look at your outfit, the fabric is so bright and shiny, and it even smells fragrant up close... Is it the scent of shampoo?"
Qin Hanshu smiled.
The woman continued, "But these days, even the most particular people can't be that particular. Everything is rationed. Even if you have money, you can't buy anything without a ticket."
Qin Hanshu's heart skipped a beat. She felt that this older woman's attempt to get close to her today must have had another purpose.
“Yes,” Qin Hanshu followed the old lady’s lead, “For example, if you want to eat a few more pieces of meat, you can’t. You have to wait until next month when you get your meat ration coupons.”
"That's right!" the middle-aged woman exclaimed excitedly, then paused calmly for a moment, glancing around to make sure no one was watching before leaning closer and saying:
"But there's a place that supplies a lot of goods and doesn't require coupons... it's just a bit pricey!" The older woman looked Qin Hanshu up and down with a smile, "But it's definitely nothing to you."
Qin Hanshu's origins are a mystery. At first, his accent made people think he wasn't a local, but later they thought he was.
However, the woman was very sensible; she only made guesses in her mind and never intended to pry into other people's backgrounds.
All she needs to know is that he's a rich person who's willing to spend money.
Upon hearing the old woman's words, Qin Hanshu immediately knew what place she was referring to.
The two exchanged a glance, and the older woman nodded affirmatively.
It really is a black market.
Qin Hanshu had exchanged some meat coupons at the brigade before coming to the city, but not many, only one jin of mutton coupons.
In Haowan Village, sheep are raised in large numbers, and people can exchange them for mutton coupons at other times, while pork coupons can only be exchanged at the end of the year.
The idea of buying things for money on the black market was somewhat tempting, but only slightly so; she had no intention of going.
Too dangerous.
The crackdown on the black market is very strict now. What if they happen to be caught up in the middle of it when she goes there?
Buying and selling are the same crime.
She shouldn't take such a risk.
However... Qin Hanshu looked at the old lady and didn't expect that the old lady's business was so extensive, even attracting customers to the black market.
Qin Hanshu shook her head. "There's nothing we can do about it. We ordinary people should still abide by the law."
The older woman was initially happy, but upon hearing this, she immediately became disappointed.
Qin Hanshu added, "If you want to eat meat, just exchange your banknotes for meat coupons."
Qin Hanshu seemed to have come up with an idea on the spur of the moment and asked, "Auntie, how many meat coupons do you have a month? Can I exchange them for ten or twenty pounds of meat?"
There's only so much meat and oil each month; you can't even save up ten or twenty pounds in a year. That's common sense, and Qin Hanshu couldn't possibly not know that.
But she immediately asked for ten or twenty pounds... The older woman instantly understood what she meant, thought for a moment, and said, "I do have ten pounds... but you'll have to wait until this afternoon... 8 cents for one."
"Pork coupons or mutton coupons?"
"Of course it's pork; a piece of mutton costs 1.2 yuan."
Qin Hanshu frowned.
Pork was only 60 cents a pound, and mutton was 1 yuan a pound. The meat coupons were more expensive than the meat itself.
Li Anguo traded ration coupons in the capital, and the price of meat coupons was up to 80% of the price of meat.
Of course, in remote areas, supplies are even scarcer, and prices in non-standard markets may be higher.
Qin Hanshu bargained, "6 jiao for pork, 1 yuan for mutton, give me 10 jin of each. Otherwise, I won't take it."
Tickets on the local black market are basically equivalent to commodity prices, so Qin Hanshu's bargaining was quite accurate.
The older woman looked Qin Hanshu up and down, and thought awkwardly, "Could this be because they did some research beforehand?"
"Okay! Come pick it up at the recycling station after lunch."
It was already eleven o'clock when Qin Hanshu went out to eat at the state-run restaurant across from the scrap yard.
After finishing their meal, they didn't go anywhere else but waited there until the older woman arrived, confirming that she wasn't followed by anyone.
After a while, he went in again.
Meat is a scarce commodity, and the supply and marketing cooperative certainly won't have any left at this time.
Qin Hanshu then went straight to the state-run restaurant.
Using the excuse that she was going to have a wedding banquet, she asked the chef at the state-run restaurant to make ten catties of steamed braised pork and eleven catties of boiled mutton for her.
Steamed pork belly is made by boiling pork belly, frying it, and then steaming it. Lamb is cooked in a clear broth with only salt and a small amount of spices.
The sheep raised locally are all goats, with good quality, tender meat, and no gamey smell at all. It tastes better than the mutton Qin Hanshu ate in the capital.
She had tried both the steamed pork and the mutton before, and thought they were delicious, so she specifically ordered these two dishes.
The cook looked at her with surprise and said, "Wouldn't it be more cost-effective for you to buy the meat and cook it yourself if you were hosting the banquet?"
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