Chapter 7: Do a Big Deal 1
Ye Qian also knew that she couldn't stay in the city for long, at most three days, otherwise it would be difficult to explain herself when she returned to the village. After counting the money and tickets, Ye Qian began to pack up the supplies to be sold tomorrow.
The main thing is still food, and what we lack now is food.
The coarse and fine grains were packaged separately. The plain noodles were sold out, so I had to unpack and repackage the rest. I also packaged the brown and white sugar in two-jin portions. Considering the purchasing power here, I also sorted out some canned meat and fruit. These two were fine; the labels on the outside were just pasted on; soaking them in water and rubbing them off came off. I also brought out a few chickens, ducks, and fish; these were sold individually.
Ye Qian no longer plans to use food coupons for the supplies she has sorted out. She still has a few hundred taels of food coupons in her hand, and the food coupons are time-limited. They will be wasted if they expire.
Although she didn't need food coupons, she could exchange them for other tickets—bicycle tickets, watch tickets, industrial coupons, and the like—to buy items from that era. After packing up, she piled her things in a corner and lay back down in her tent. This body was in such poor condition. She hadn't done much, yet she was sweating and panting. It was obvious she was just too lazy.
Forget it, let's go to sleep first. We'll talk about it tomorrow.
…
It was already late at night when Ye Qian went to bed last night, and she didn't get up until almost noon the next day. She lingered in the tent for a while and decided not to have breakfast and go directly to the state-owned restaurant for lunch.
I didn't leave the space until after 11 o'clock, and it was almost 12 o'clock when I walked to the state-owned hotel.
It’s okay today, not many people.
The state-owned restaurant in the city is a bit bigger than the one in the county, with six tables in the main hall and a few private rooms upstairs. Otherwise, the difference is not much; you have to order and get your own food.
Ye Qian glanced at the blackboard behind the waiter. Today's lunch included meat, fish, and chicken, with rice, steamed buns, and whole grains as staples. This city was different; the supply was plentiful. Seeing the braised pork she'd been craving, Ye Qian said to the waiter, "Comrade, give me one portion of braised pork and one portion of rice as staple."
A serving of braised pork costs 3 taels of meat coupons. She doesn't have many meat coupons on her, and meat coupons are precious things. Many people are unwilling to exchange them. After all, the whole family only has a few taels of meat coupons in a month.
The waiter took the money and ticket from Ye Qian, then said, "Find a seat and sit down. I'll call you later."
Ye Qian found a spot closest to the food window. It couldn't be helped; the food was so fragrant. After waiting for 20 minutes, she heard, "Braised pork, rice is ready." Everyone in the hall gulped at the mention of braised pork. Ye Qian hurried to get her own meal and, after a quick glance, saw that there were still plenty of dishes.
It was the first time she had seen so much meat in red braised pork. Red braised pork in later generations would be topped with many other things, making it look like a lot, but in reality, there wasn't much meat. People in this era were simple and honest, and there was nothing fake about it. A large plate of red braised pork with nothing else, paired with a large bowl of rice, looked very appetizing indeed.
Ye Qian picked up the rice bowl and put a chopstick of rice into her mouth. She frowned. What kind of rice is this? It's sticky and disgusting, half-cooked, and has a burnt smell!
She took a bite of the meat. Hmm, it was not bad. The meat was three-layered, fat but not greasy. The skin on top was also very chewy, and the soup underneath was thick. But she couldn't just eat the meat. If others saw how much I craved meat, I wouldn't want to lose face.
Ye Qian frowned and ate some of the pork belly with rice, then packed the rest in a lunch box.
After all, waste is shameful.
…
After dinner, Ye Qian took the bus to a nearby textile factory. The factory was full of workers, and since they were wealthy, their purchasing power must be high. Ye Qian walked around the factory, found a quiet spot, went into her space, put on her makeup, and then came out, crouching under a tree to the right of the gate.
Seeing two young women coming out, I took out my hair ties and hairpins and asked, "Miss, do you want hairpins and hair ties?"
There is no woman nowadays who doesn’t love beauty. Even the cheap hairpins and hair ties from later generations are much more beautiful than those today.
The two women saw the shiny hairpin and said, "This hairpin is really beautiful." They hurriedly asked, "How much is it?"
"This is something my relative brought back from Shanghai, so it's a bit expensive, 5 yuan each." The two young ladies looked hesitant when they heard this. It was indeed very beautiful, but it was too expensive.
Nowadays, the salary of workers who have just joined the factory is 18 yuan and some food coupons. If they are converted to regular employees, they will receive 25 yuan plus food coupons and some other tickets, so this hairpin is indeed not cheap.
"Miss, if you can help me get some people to buy it, I'll give you a hair tie, one for each of you. These hair ties are 5 yuan for two." The two women who were still hesitant immediately agreed when they heard about this good deal. "Okay, wait, I'll go get someone for you. I like this one, keep it for me, and I'll pay later."
Soon the two young ladies called several colleagues over. Ye Qian then sold some hairpins and hair ties, as well as some brown sugar and honey.
She couldn't stay in one place for long, otherwise she would be easily caught, so she collected the money and left quickly.
It was still early, and Ye Qian went to the supply and marketing cooperative again, selling a lot of dried noodles, rice, and flour in the same way as in the county town. It was true that after doing bad things enough, she became less fearful. She had been so timid a few days ago, but now she was so relaxed and natural. But this could easily lead to trouble, so she had to be vigilant.
After selling her supplies, Ye Qian wanted to do some shopping. She had never tried canned food from this era, so she bought a few to try. She then bought some toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, and a towel. Things in later times were different from today's, so she wanted to put them out there for everyone to see. She also bought some cigarettes and alcohol. There were also cigarette and alcohol coupons, and there were purchase limits: a maximum of one carton of cigarettes per person, and two bottles of alcohol per person.
I saw the cakes on the counter and bought some more cakes. Cakes also require a cake ticket. Anyway, you need a ticket for everything.
Seeing the cakes, she couldn't help but try them. These cakes definitely couldn't compare to those in later generations, so she didn't expect much, so there was no disappointment. Ye Qian walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative and put everything in her backpack into the space.
It was already late after she finished shopping, so she had to hurry up and have dinner, after all, that was the big deal.
She had noticed yesterday that there was a guy on the black market, probably a "trader," who specialized in buying things. This was perfect. She could sell them slowly, and it wouldn't take long before the dealer could buy them all. Ye Qian went to the state-owned restaurant again and saw the blackboard saying "braised pork elbow," "braised fish," "braised pork," and "braised lamb."
This state-owned restaurant has a lot of meat, but is it only braised? She ordered a braised fish, thinking about the rice for lunch, so she decided to order a white flour bun instead.
After paying the money and ticket, find a place to sit down.
You need fish coupons to eat fish now, but you can use meat coupons instead. Ye Qian ate the braised fish and steamed buns in front of her, and couldn't help but sigh that the steamed buns were made of three-grain flour and had a sweet taste. As expected, steamed buns were still delicious.
After finishing her meal, Ye Qian walked out of the state-owned restaurant and headed towards the black market. She arrived early and sold two rounds of supplies before she saw the trader from last night.
The trader was not very old, about 30 years old. Yesterday, he was seen collecting a lot of supplies. He transported the collected supplies back and then came back to collect more. He ran back and forth several times, so Ye Qian was so sure that he was a trader.
(End of this chapter)
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