After enduring and waiting, the semester finally ends and winter vacation comes.
The local students at school immediately ran back home, as life was too hard.
This winter is particularly cold. I feel hungry and cold when I wake up in the middle of the night. We often hug each other in the dormitory to keep warm. We even dare not urinate in the middle of the night because we will be even hungrier if we do.
The situation for most students may be even worse when they go home, and every family may not live better than at school. But people, after being suppressed for a long time, always want to escape.
Originally, a class of students were supposed to accompany the professor on a field trip for internships during the winter break. But now, without even the professor mentioning anything, everyone dispersed. Zhang Guoqing, content to play dumb, told the students that he and his wife had returned to their hometown in Northeast China.
If there is really a mission, you teachers should go to the Northeast to find him if you have the ability.
Carrying their luggage, Zhang Guoqing dragged Zhou Jiao along with Yi Jiefang and several of his buddies, shouting happily as they ran all the way to the small station. It was really not easy; his wife was almost reduced to pieces.
Zhou Jiao stamped her feet anxiously. "What fools! You're so energetic, aren't you afraid of being exposed? Haven't you seen how limp and powerless the students from the nearby schools are?"
Inside the station, Zhou Jiao panted and supported her legs with her hands. "Hey guys, can we be more subtle?"
Everyone burst into laughter, but then realized something was wrong, winked at each other, and quieted down.
"Are you really going back home?"
"We will protect you back."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head, "I basically won't go back unless something unexpected happens."
Yi Jiefang and the others were all upset when they heard this. Where was their meat? They had a large family, unlike the Zhou family, where only Zhou Xiaozheng could guarantee that the whole family would have a taste of it.
"The car is here. Let's talk about it when we get back." Zhang Guoqing helped Zhou Jiao up and left first. He still had to search the black market in Beijing at the end of the year to see what was going on. He really had no intention of returning home.
When they reached the compound, Lian Yi Jiefang refused to go home, instead packing his luggage and heading to Zhou's house first. Everyone was still planning to discuss how to survive the winter, and who knew when they would finally be able to gather together.
A group of people entered the compound and rushed to the west wing of the Zhou family carrying their luggage. At this time, the elders had not yet finished get off work and were all lying on the kang in a very unpresentable manner.
Zhou Jiao was not surprised. She went to the bedroom alone, packed her luggage, and took her clothes to the bathroom. It was still early and Ping An had not finished school yet.
She slowly walked into the living room and saw that Aunt Chen had already prepared two bowls of noodles.
"There are too many people. I didn't prepare them. You eat first and let Xiaowu come over."
Zhou Jiao smiled and shook her head, "Auntie, make some dumpling soup for them to fill their stomachs. They gave us a lot of biscuits a while ago, don't let them go unappreciated."
"Okay. Xiaofei seems to have something to talk to Xiaowu about, so he left a message for Xiaowu to contact him as soon as possible. The commander asked you to come back and take good care of yourself and don't go out."
Zhou Jiao nodded after hearing this.
Speaking of Fang Fei, she thought of his wedding this past November. It was so simple. Just in the cafeteria, the young couple, wearing their military uniforms, exchanged a few vows, and they became husband and wife.
The couple gave two yuan to their parents-in-law and two yuan to themselves. Her father gave five yuan each to the Yi and Fang families. Thinking back to the New Year's money Fang Fei had given Ping An, well, that was a big loss.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jiao laughed foolishly. If people knew about this, they would say that her son looked like her.
Zhang Guoqing stayed in the west wing, listening to them chatter about which black market would be the best place to go. Come on, these guys were doing this knowingly.
"That's settled. Next is the meat. I've asked someone I know to help with the seafood. The price is double the usual price. If anyone wants to, let me know. We don't have any extra, so each person will get ten pounds."
"It's only ten kilograms, not enough to fill the gap. Find a way to ask the other party to get more." Wan Dayong curled his lips in disgust at Yi Jiefang.
"Man, there's really nothing we can do. Yellow croaker usually costs 40 cents a pound, but now it's not even worth a dollar on the black market. We can't afford to make things difficult for others."
Zhang Guoqing watched them arguing over ten kilograms of seafood with a smile on his face. His mind was filled with memories of the days when they could buy sacks of seafood for just five yuan.
It's really a combination of heaven and hell.
Wan Dayong slapped his forehead and asked, "Did we forget to say hello to classmate Mu in such a hurry to come back?"
Ding Datou smiled and said, "Dayi had already discussed it with him. I was there yesterday. But he has to go back to his hometown to get the news."
"Yes, young man, you have a bright future."
Yi Jiefang slapped Wan Dayong's arm off his shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't be too happy too soon. Even if there is any, it's just a drizzle. It's not worth it."
Aunt Chen came in with a wooden tray and shouted, "Fill your stomach first, don't just chat."
"Auntie, you have such a deep love."
"I was so hungry that I almost forgot my stomach was empty."
Zhang Guoqing got up and left, leaving them alone in the room. When they reached the living room, they saw a bowl of noodles. But why was he so happy to eat alone?
"I'll go out with them later and pick up our son. You go lie down in your room for a while."
Zhou Jiao lowered her voice, "Did they come to a conclusion?"
"A few people get together and talk about the same thing, there's nothing we can do about it."
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao didn't ask any more questions and told him to eat the noodles quickly, otherwise they would all clump together.
The next morning, Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao disguised themselves and went to the black market in the southern suburbs. He had heard about this piece of land, but he had never been there and didn't know if it was the largest in the city as they said.
When they arrived at the place, it was pitch dark and they leaned against the dim gas lamp. The couple didn't really plan to buy anything. After looking around, they found that everything they needed was available. In order not to appear weird, they bought two river fish.
After asking a few prices, Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao looked at each other and could feel each other's shock.
It's true that a day in the mountains is like a hundred years on earth. They never imagined the price would rise so much, it's truly "paper is expensive in Luoyang." No wonder so many people are reluctant to eat it and are trading it.
When Zhou Jiao heard that a large loaf of bread cost fifteen yuan and a pound of biscuits cost ten yuan per pound even with food coupons, her eyes flickered, she lowered her eyes, and pulled Zhang Guoqing.
In the blink of an eye, the price of a pound of food coupons had risen to five yuan, which was not enough to buy.
It has to be said that Zhou Jiao was moved.
She could sell the biscuits in exchange for food coupons and pay ten yuan per pound. This deal was a great deal.
Seeing that she was ready to make a move, Zhang Guoqing pulled her to squat in the corner, spread a black bag on the ground, and placed two packets of biscuits on it. In this way, the couple started their business.
Even though Zhou Jiao had been working part-time since she was little and had never set up a street stall before, Zhang Guoqing was back to his old job and was quite proficient in it.
After a while, a middle-aged man came forward and gestured to ask for the price, and asked for five packs of biscuits.
Zhang Guoqing took out five packets from the black bag behind him and handed them to Zhou Jiao, who immediately took the money. The couple worked together well and won the first battle!
After selling twenty bags of biscuits, Zhang Guoqing realized that they were all local grain coupons valid for one month. It would be very troublesome to exchange them for national grain coupons, so he immediately exchanged them for goods, using rice bran instead.
His demands were not high, and he only wanted three yuan for a pound of bran without any food coupons.
As for why the price was set at three yuan, it was just a casual remark. Can he tell us why he values the three-yuan note for its collectible value?
Given the high prices around here, this was probably the lowest price, and it must have been because everyone was really short of food. Soon, the 100 kilograms of decorative bran were all sold out.
Zhou Jiao kept taking the money and secretly sighed that it was a huge profit.
If they were not afraid of being too big a target, and all the bran in the space was sold, their family would not have to work for ten years and could just eat and wait for death.
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