Even if I lose my job, I still need to eat!
Xu Xiangyang sat up with a jolt, ate and drank as usual, and headed to the cafeteria.
With only a few days left until the Lunar New Year, he planned to sell things in the city for two days.
I found out about the black market last time but didn't have time to go. Now that I've lost my job, I have plenty of time.
The cafeteria's food serving area was still overflowing with food, steaming hot.
The food here is automatically replenished, which is pretty good; at least I don't have to cook anymore!
Xu Xiangyang does know how to cook, but he finds it troublesome and usually eats in the cafeteria when he's busy with work, rarely cooking for himself.
I ordered some meat and vegetables, and also served four ounces of rice.
Since he started doing manual labor, his appetite has increased dramatically, and he can clearly feel that his body has become stronger; he should be building muscle.
I slept well all night.
The next morning, Xu Xiangyang got up, packed his things, and went to the port to prepare.
With the current shortage of supplies, anything you take out will sell very well.
He checked the container and found some frozen pork, each weighing two pounds.
Pork belly is the best-selling cut, so he only gets that kind of meat.
Then I found a basket, put some meat and a few pounds of eggs in it, and covered it with a thick cloth.
Although he didn't prepare much, as long as others didn't know what was inside, it was the same no matter what he took out.
Stepping out of the space, a blast of cold wind hit me.
Xu Xiangyang suddenly shivered and tightened his cotton-padded coat.
Luckily, he was wearing thermal underwear underneath, otherwise he would have frozen solid.
Arriving at the black market he had inquired about beforehand, Xu Xiangyang carried his goods but did not immediately sell them; instead, he decided to assess the situation first.
We don't know the market price. What if we sell it too cheaply? Or too expensive and we can't sell it?
After wandering around for a while, Xu Xiangyang got a general idea of the prices.
Pork was one yuan per jin (500g), no meat coupons required. Flour was fifty cents per jin, also no coupons required.
There are all sorts of other things too. Anyway, you don't need tickets on the black market; if you get tickets, the price will be reduced.
Normally, pork costs 70 cents a pound at the grocery store, but you need meat coupons. Here, you don't need coupons, but it's more expensive.
That's understandable. After all, the supply of tickets is limited each month. If it's not profitable, why would anyone buy and sell them here? What's the point?
Xu Xiangyang saw an old man wandering around for a long time, looking at things with a furrowed brow.
He leaned closer, nudged the old man lightly with his elbow, and whispered, "Hey buddy, I have something here. Shall we go take a look over there?"
The old man glanced at him, and although he didn't have much hope, he still went with him.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, Xu Xiangyang put the basket on the ground and opened the lid.
Inside were several pieces of frozen pork belly and a few small Fuji apples.
He put the eggs away on the way, because in winter the temperature drops to minus twenty degrees Celsius, and if they were left outside for a long time, they would definitely freeze, and if they froze, they would be a waste.
"Wow, such good meat!" The old man couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the high-quality meat.
The meat he just saw was frozen for a long time, and its surface had dried out.
Meat is meat, but it definitely doesn't taste as good as this.
Xu Xiangyang could tell from his clothes that his family was well-off, and the fact that he had just complained about something that wasn't good quality meant he must be someone who didn't lack money.
"Hey buddy, is this meat good?" he said with a smile.
The old man nodded in agreement. With a face like that, you can't lie through your teeth.
He squinted and asked, "It's nice, how much?"
Good things have to come at a price, everyone knows that.
Xu Xiangyang chuckled and replied softly, "One yuan and thirty cents, no ticket required."
He had already looked at everyone else's pork; the pork priced at one yuan was of poor quality, either dried out or just bloody neck meat.
Anyway, he couldn't find anything like that, so it doesn't matter if the item is a bit expensive.
The old man hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to buy two jin (1 kg). Good meat is something you can't usually find except at grocery stores.
I've come across this, I have to buy two jin (1 kg) of it.
Xu Xiangyang weighed him using the old scale from the cafeteria. It had been weighed before he came, so there was no problem.
The people nearby had already heard the old man say "such good meat," so they all gathered around.
After the old man finished buying, others followed suit. However, the price of two jin (1 kg) per piece deterred many people.
After all, this was Xu Xiangyang's first time doing business in this era, and he had little experience.
I bought ten pounds of meat, but only got five portions. Someone even told me to have it cut up and come back to buy more meat tomorrow.
Xu Xiangyang smiled and nodded in agreement. It's not too strict yet, but we'll have to be more careful with these businesses after the New Year.
Returning to the usual spot and entering the space, he tallied up his gains for the day.
It cost five yuan and fifty cents, and contained many small change.
Even a mosquito bite is still meat, and with my previous wages and the honey and meat I sold, I've saved up a little over twenty yuan.
Don't be fooled by the fact that twenty-odd people in later generations couldn't even afford a drink while eating spicy hot pot; now, it's enough to feed a family of five for a month.
Of course, you need a ticket first. If you eat on the black market, you probably won't survive until the end of the month before you run out of money.
After putting away the money, Xu Xiangyang finished his meal and went to rest.
As for other things, he hasn't thought them through yet. Now that he's lost his job, he wants to go back with some dignity.
In fact, Xu Xiangyang wanted to lie to Xu Guangtian and his wife, saying that he still had his job.
But you can't fool Grandpa. He's the one who introduced the job. If I get fired here, he'll definitely find out.
As for how long it will take, I don't know, but I'll definitely find out eventually, so lying is definitely not going to work.
After preparing himself, he went straight to sleep. He needed to go to the black market again tomorrow; otherwise, he wouldn't have many excuses to come here often after going home.
The next morning, Xu Xiangyang got up, ate breakfast, and carried some meat and frozen fish to the black market.
It was just dawn, and it was still very cold outside.
Yesterday he bought a pound of meat, but this time he broke it into several smaller portions per pound.
It was past noon when Xu Xiangyang returned home with the money in his pocket.
He made two or three trips this time, so he sold a lot of things.
He also noticed that someone was watching him, but there were many people around, so no one would do anything.
People these days aren't exactly easy to deal with, so he carefully avoided them and went to the supply and marketing cooperative.
There were many people inside, so he quickly changed into a cotton-padded coat and then went out wearing a new hat.
The person who was keeping watch at the door didn't even notice him. With people coming and going here, who would notice that he had changed his clothes?
Xu Xiangyang returned to the old spot, not planning to go there again this time.
He's all alone; if something really happens to him, he'll be outnumbered.
Just to be on the safe side, he decided to go home tomorrow and not stay here any longer.
Going home early will put their minds at ease.
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