Chapter 50
"Okay, I'll go back first. You're not familiar with this place, so be careful."
Zhang Hongyan had good intentions. After all, Tang Wan was such a pretty lesbian and she was afraid that she would be bullied.
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
Tang Wan waved goodbye to Zhang Hongyan. The basket in her hand was full of things and felt a little heavy.
She walked along the deserted street, ran to an empty space behind a public toilet, and quietly entered.
It was still inconvenient to take the basket, so she simply found a backpack that she had looted from someone's home.
She went to the mall again and picked out soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels and other things. She tried her best to choose things that were similar to this era.
Then I removed the packaging, picked out thirty eggs, five pounds of fine grains, brown sugar, etc., and put them aside, waiting to be taken out when I returned.
Finally, Tang Wan cleaned up the remaining wild boars quickly, including a thousand kilograms of wild boar meat and a lot of offal.
When we get home at night, we'll take the pigs to the water and rinse them.
Thinking of this, Tang Wan counted out the "garbage" she was going to clean up, the pots and pans she was going to loot, and the clothes and shoes of those people...
After piling everything together, Tang Wan thought for a while and went to the mall to get some cosmetics.
She transformed herself into a middle-aged woman, put on her mother's clothes, and made sure that there was no one outside before coming out carrying a basket in the air and a pot.
She didn't know where the black market was, so she could only try her luck.
After leaving the alley, Tang Wan silently memorized the location in her mind as she walked, so as not to ignore the places she often visited in the future.
As they were walking, an old lady suddenly waved to Tang Wan, "Ni'er."
Tang Wan: ???
Although she was confused, she still walked towards the other party, "Auntie."
"Nell, are you selling this pot?"
The old lady lowered her voice. It turned out that she was attracted by the pot. Tang Wan quietly looked at the old lady for a few seconds.
She was wearing a blue cloth shirt and black cloth shoes, and looked simple, but her temperament was not like that of an old lady from the countryside.
"Auntie, my son is getting married, and I worked so hard to get this pot to give to him and his wife."
Tang Wan lowered her voice to make it sound hoarse, but she felt secretly happy in her heart.
It’s really a blessing that someone gives me a pillow when I feel sleepy.
The old lady looked disappointed. Tang Wan sighed, "It's a pity that my father-in-law is unreasonable and insists on having a bicycle.
We don’t have enough money at home, if you like it, I will sell this pot and borrow some money to buy a bicycle.”
"real?"
The old lady's face was filled with joy. She was just trying her luck. It was really hard to buy such a pot, and one needed industrial coupons.
"Nier, you finally came to visit me, come home and have a drink of water."
She pulled Tang Wan and spoke these words loudly on purpose, fearing that someone would see them secretly dealing with each other.
"Okay, my mother also said that you haven't been back to see your aunt for a long time, so she asked me to chat with you more."
Tang Wan understood immediately, and she was also very brave, so she actually went to the alley next to the old lady.
Halfway through, she quietly reached into the backpack and put some supplies in it.
"Nell, come in and talk."
The old lady took out a key and opened a door to the courtyard. It was all made of mud and bricks. Tang Wan looked around warily.
After making sure there was no danger, he followed her in.
As if she could see what Tang Wan was thinking, the old lady closed the gate and asked her in a low voice.
"Nier, I also want to buy a pot for my son and daughter-in-law, but I don't have industrial coupons."
She rubbed her hands, feeling a little embarrassed. Even if she had a coupon, she still had to queue up to buy the iron pot.
"I understand."
Tang Wan nodded and vaguely heard a cough coming from the room, if she heard correctly.
There should be an older person in this family.
"I'm also in a hurry to change my bike, so I don't need a ticket for this pot. I'll give it to you for 15 yuan."
Ten years have passed since the end of the Great Steelmaking Campaign, but iron pots are still in short supply.
The iron pots in every household were patched up and used as a makeshift device, especially those in the rural brigades, who had no chance of obtaining industrial coupons.
Therefore, the price of iron pots on the black market remains high. An iron pot that costs a few yuan is raised to more than ten or twenty yuan.
"become!"
The old lady gritted her teeth and agreed. It was a bit expensive, but she didn't need a ticket. It would cost several dollars just to get a ticket.
"Auntie is a straightforward person."
She was too straightforward and Tang Wan felt embarrassed. She passed the iron pot over and "accidentally" lifted a corner of the backpack.
The old lady's sharp eyes caught sight of the meat in the basket, and her eyes lit up again.
"Nell, are you selling this meat?"
"Auntie, I plan to take this back to host a banquet."
Tang Wan pretended to be hesitant. She was a thousand-year-old fox. The old lady was not stupid either. She immediately realized that Tang Wan's words were probably just excuses.
She takes these things out to sell.
"Give me half a pound."
The old lady's eyes were glowing green, and Tang Wan stopped pretending with her and opened the backpack.
The old lady's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the good pork belly, eggs and fine grains inside.
"Nier, my grandson is only three years old and has been very greedy recently. Can you sell me some eggs?"
It's difficult to buy eggs in the market.
"I think you are very attractive, and I don't have enough money to buy a bicycle, so I'll give you some."
Tang Wan said with a helpless expression: "This pork is the best quality, and it costs 94 cents per pound."
In those days, pork was divided into three grades, and the prices were 78 cents, 87 cents, and 94 cents.
"We don't have enough money at home. Do you want some old stuff?"
The old lady felt painful when she heard this, but the price on the black market was much higher than that, and she thought about her dowry.
"If it's better, I can give it to my daughter-in-law."
Tang Wan was delighted but didn't show it. She pointed at the things in the basket and said:
"Eggs are eight cents each, grains are eighty cents, and brown sugar is seventy cents."
Fine grains and brown sugar also require grain coupons and brown sugar coupons, which are very difficult to buy for old ladies living in the city.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Nier, wait for me, I'll go get the money and the things."
"Okay."
Tang Wan was in a very good mood. This was a very good start. She waited for a while.
The old lady handed her fifteen yuan and said, "This is for the iron pot."
After saying this, she reluctantly handed Tang Wan a cloth bag. Tang Wan took it and opened it carefully, only to see a gold bracelet with a dragon and phoenix pattern inside.
The craftsmanship was not crude. Tang Wan weighed it and estimated it to be about 20 to 30 grams. It seemed that she was right. This old lady had quite a fortune.
"Nier, you can't just take this thing out now. I'm taking advantage of you. Just give it to me as you see fit."
These things were considered the "four olds" in this era, and taking them out might even bring disaster.
So the old lady decided to sell it for some food for her grandson so that she wouldn't be missed by others.
"I'll take it back and secretly give it to my daughter-in-law, who will keep it as a family heirloom."
Tang Wan was very happy. This thing was worthless now, but it would be worth a lot after the reform and opening up.
She weighed them in her hands and took out five pounds of wild boar meat, ten pounds of fine grains, five pounds of coarse grains, twenty eggs, and half a pound of brown sugar.
The old lady had a grandson at home, and Tang Wan gave her a handful of assorted candies.