The little food that was stockpiled when leaving the capital was all eaten up, with only two roast ducks left. Since he had nothing to do anyway, Qin Hanshu decided to go to the county town to buy some more cooked food.

She planned to wait until it gets colder in a while, then stay in the cave every day to spend the winter and not go out.

After riding her bike to the county, she went to the scrap yard first as usual.

The woman at the scrap yard was happy to see her, "I haven't seen you for a long time."

Qin Hanshu asked with a smile: "Are there any new products recently?"

The aunt shook her head regretfully: "There haven't been any in the past few months. It's still the same porcelain you saw last time."

Qin Hanshu nodded, "Okay, then I'll find some books."

There are many Soviet novels in the scrap yard, and Qin Hanshu plans to pick a few to take back.

Just after picking three books, the old lady came over and handed Qin Hanshu a handful of melon seeds in a friendly manner.

Qin Hanshu paused for a moment, then took it and said, "Thank you, Auntie."

The aunt smiled and started chatting with Qin Hanshu while eating melon seeds.

"I feel like you're a very particular person. Look at how you're dressed. The material of your clothes is so bright. If you get close to me, you can smell a fragrance... Is it the fragrance of shampoo?"

Qin Hanshu smiled.

The auntie added, "But these days, no matter how particular a person is, he can't be particular that much. Everything is rationed. Even if you have money, you can't buy anything without a ticket."

Qin Hanshu's heart moved. She felt that this old lady came to get close to her today, and she must have other intentions.

"Yes," Qin Hanshu followed the old lady's words, "For example, if you want to eat more meat, you can't. You have to wait until next month to get the meat coupons."

"That's right!" The aunt was instantly excited, then remained silent for a while. She looked around and saw that no one was around, then she moved closer and said:

"But there is a place that supplies more supplies, and no tickets are required... it's just a little more expensive!" The aunt looked at Qin Hanshu and smiled, "But it must be nothing to you."

Qin Hanshu's origins are a mystery. At first, I thought he was not a local because of his accent, but later I felt like he was a local.

But the aunt was very sensible. She just made a guess in her mind and never intended to dig into the other person's background.

All she needed to know was that this was a rich man who was willing to spend money.

After hearing what the aunt said, Qin Hanshu immediately knew what place she was talking about.

The two exchanged glances, and the aunt nodded affirmatively.

It really is the black market.

Qin Hanshu came to the city this time and exchanged some meat tickets at the brigade in advance, but not much, only one pound of mutton tickets.

There are many sheep raised in Haowan Village, and you can usually exchange them for mutton tickets, but pork tickets can only be exchanged at the end of the year.

She was a little tempted by the idea of ​​being able to buy things on the black market with money, but only a little tempted, and she didn't plan to go.

Too dangerous.

The black market is being cracked down on severely now. What if it gets busted when she goes there?

Buying and selling are the same sin.

She couldn't take such a risk.

It’s just... Qin Hanshu looked at the auntie and didn’t expect that her business was so wide-ranging that she even attracted customers to the black market.

Qin Hanshu shook his head. "There's nothing we can do about it. We ordinary people should still abide by the law."

The aunt was happy at first, but she was disappointed when she heard this.

Qin Hanshu added: "If you want to eat meat, just use your banknotes to exchange for some meat tickets from others."

Qin Hanshu seemed to have come up with an idea on the spur of the moment and asked, "Auntie, how much meat ticket do you have per month? Can I exchange it with you for ten or twenty kilograms?"

There is only so much meat and oil each month, and even if you save them for a year, you can't save more than ten or twenty kilograms. This is common sense, and Qin Hanshu cannot be unaware of it.

But she asked for 10 or 20 kilograms. The old lady understood what she meant and thought for a moment before saying, "I do have 10 kilograms, but you have to wait until the afternoon. It's 80 cents per piece."

"Pork ticket or mutton ticket?"

"Of course it's pork. Mutton is 1.2 yuan a piece."

Qin Hanshu frowned.

Pork is only 60 cents a pound, and mutton is 1 yuan a pound. The meat ticket is more expensive than the meat.

Li Anguo traded tickets in the capital, and the price of meat tickets was up to 80% of the meat.

Of course, in remote areas, supplies are more scarce and prices in abnormal market circulation may be higher.

Qin Hanshu bargained: "60 cents for pork and 1 yuan for mutton. Give me 10 kilograms of each. Otherwise, I don't want it."

The tickets on the local black market are basically equivalent to the prices of goods, so Qin Hanshu's bargaining is quite accurate.

The aunt looked at Qin Hanshu and thought awkwardly, could it be that this investigation had been done in advance?

"Okay! After lunch, come to the scrap yard and get it."

It was already eleven o'clock, and Qin Hanshu went out to have a meal at the state-owned restaurant opposite the scrap yard.

After dinner, I didn’t go anywhere else. I just waited here until the aunt came and made sure that there was no one following her.

After a while, he followed in.

Meat is in short supply, and the supply and marketing cooperatives are definitely out of stock at this time.

Qin Hanshu went straight to the state-owned hotel.

She used the excuse that her family was going to hold a wedding banquet and asked the chef of the state-owned restaurant to prepare ten pounds of steamed braised meat and eleven pounds of boiled mutton for her.

Steamed pork belly is made by boiling and frying the pork belly, and then steaming it. Lamb is cooked in a clear soup with only salt and a small amount of spices.

The sheep raised locally are all goats. The meat is good, tender, and has no smell at all. It tastes better than the mutton Qin Hanshu ate in the capital.

She had tried both steamed pork and mutton before, and ordered these two dishes because she thought they were delicious.

The cook looked at her in surprise and said, "Wouldn't it be more cost-effective if you bought the meat yourself for the banquet?"

Qin Hanshu flattered, "Your cooking skills are well-known throughout the entire west city. It would be great to host a banquet with your dishes."

The cook was immediately happy, "Okay! I will definitely do it with my heart!"

The cook really put in a lot of effort. In the end, he wanted to give all the mutton soup to Qin Hanshu, but it was a pity that she was not easy to carry, so the cook gave her a pound of fried peanuts instead.

The steamed braised pork was only fried until done, and the ingredients were packed separately for her, and she was told to go back and steam it in the steamer and serve it on the table.

Afterwards, he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some candied fruits and snacks, and then Qin Hanshu rode his bike back to the team.

When she rode to a deserted spot on the road, she put all the cooked meat she bought from the restaurant into the space and only carried some candied fruits and snacks with her.

The last slope from the plateau to Haowan Village is very steep. You have to push hard to climb up, but it is very exciting to go down.

The speed of the bicycle was getting faster and faster, and it felt like a swing had reached its highest point. Qin Hanshu particularly liked this exciting feeling and enjoyed it every time.

But this time, who would have thought that before the bicycle even landed on the ground, a person suddenly jumped out from the side.

Qin Hanshu was so scared that his hands trembled and he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, he managed to steady the handlebars.

She looked at the person angrily, "Liao Yujie, are you sick? Are you lying in ambush here on purpose?"

"No, no, no!" Liao Yujie shook her head like a rattle, "I am waiting for you here, but I didn't mean to scare you..."

Liao Yujie's face turned pale, and it seemed that she was really afraid of Qin Hanshu.

Qin Hanshu asked unhappily, "What's the matter?"

Liao Yujie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Qin Hanshu did not pursue the matter.

"Hehe..." She took her hands out from behind her back, handed Qin Hanshu a paper bag, and said flatteringly: "I'll treat you to some beans..."