Ever since Xiang Mianmian got the system storage compartment, he has been playing with it in many ways.
Although she didn't dare to go to the black market because of her young age, she was familiar with the pigeon market.
Don’t get me wrong, the Pigeon Market is not for selling pigeons, it is actually a buying and selling market.
The difference between the black market and the pigeon market is that most of the things in the black market are under control and are often checked by patrolmen.
Pigeon Market is different. It is a place for exchanging daily necessities. You don’t need tickets here, you can use money. But the things are more expensive than department stores.
There was no other way. The unemployed in the city also needed to survive. Most of them were children and the elderly. Without the factory's food and shelter, and the commercial grain supply during the three-year famine was pitifully scarce, they couldn't starve to death, could they? The higher-ups had no choice but to acquiesce in the existence of the pigeon market.
Many people from nearby rural areas would carry their goods to the county town to sell, and the city people would exchange them for their household items or tickets and money.
Everyone gets what they need and everyone is satisfied.
Xiang Mianmian would often choose an adult to follow her, and when she saw something she liked, she would call out, "Mom, I'm going to buy that. Wait for me at the front exit."
She was afraid that she, a child, would be cheated by people selling things, or even abducted and sold. After all, child brides were quite common in this era, and she had to be on guard against them.
The sellers would be much more restrained when they knew she was with an adult.
An 8-year-old child couldn’t afford to be hurt, but it would be better if he became an adult. Xiang Mianmian just wanted to grow up quickly and didn’t want to go to school with a child who still had a runny nose.
The pigeon market opens in the morning, and by noon people have sold most of their pigeons and go home.
Fortunately, there was no nightlife at that time and I could still get up in the morning. Xiang Mianmian would go to school half an hour earlier every day and go to the pigeon market to see if there were any rare goods.
Fortunately, Xiang Lili and Xiang Lihua had already graduated from elementary school and went to junior high school. The three of them were not in the same school, otherwise they would not be able to hide it from their families.
Pigeon City is very prosperous. It was originally a street more than 600 meters long, but now there are staff members with red armbands standing at both ends.
They are responsible for maintaining public security and also collecting stall fees. Each stall is on a first-come, first-served basis and is generally only allowed to occupy an area of two meters by two meters. There will be people patrolling back and forth.
I asked Mianmian about the vegetable stall owner, and he told me that the stall charges 3 cents a day.
It’s not expensive. The pigeon market is over 600 meters long, and there are only about 600 stalls on both sides. Each stall costs 3 cents, and the maximum revenue per day is 18 yuan.
The security team has to dispatch at least seven or eight people at a time, and some have to take turns. The 18 yuan is barely enough to cover their wages.
Usually, I only buy some household items, but today, while I was browsing, I found some good stuff.
A group of people gathered there in a lively atmosphere. Xiang Mianmian went over to take a look and found that it was actually a river clam!
It's not small in size, about the size of two palms, but it doesn't have much meat.
The stall owner smashed one open and found three or four pearls of different sizes inside. He was smart too. He took out the pearls and sold them, and the clam meat could also be sold as river delicacy.
The aunties kept asking about the price, and the stall owner got tired of it and simply wrote on his cart:
Pearls: 20 cents each.
River clam shell and meat: 10 cents each.
Whole river clam: 6 cents each, guaranteed to be opened (the pearls may vary, and will not fall back once opened).
Seeing that there were four pearls in the smashed clams, which were worth 90 cents, people thought it was a good deal.
So an old lady bought two pearls and paid 1 yuan and 20 cents to gamble on river clams.
The stall owner had a flat iron tool and skillfully pried open the clam shells. He opened the first one but found no pearls. Everyone sighed, thinking that the meat was only worth 10 cents, which was a loss.
The second one was okay, as I got 4 pearls to protect my capital, which together with the meat was worth 9 cents, and together with the 1-cent clam meat I got, the total value was 1 yuan, so I lost a little 2 cents.
The scene suddenly calmed down.
Moreover, the pearls are of varying flatness, with the large ones being as big as a fingernail and the small ones not much bigger than a grain of rice, and their colors are varied and non-uniform.
This is what later generations called Baroque pearls. If they are well designed, they have some value, but most people cannot appreciate them.
However, people in this era only appreciate round pearls. None of the four pearls that were opened are perfectly round, not even partially round.
After all, the aunties are the smart ones who manage the household and are very careful with their food, clothing and other expenses. Now they don’t dare to gamble anymore and disperse with the crowd who are looking for something new.
Only Xiang Mianmian was still squatting on the ground playing with river clams.
The stall owner saw this and was anxious. He had discovered these clams by accident and was planning to make a fortune, but they were delicate and several of them died along the way.
He opened the dead ones, took out the pearls and put them all in an opened river clam to attract customers to buy them. However, the opening was not good and no one bought them.
Looking at Mianmian playing there, he asked with a smile on his face: "Little girl, do you want some beautiful pearls? There are so many beautiful pearls here, do you want one?"
Xiang Mianmian was not stupid. She tilted her head to glance at the stall owner, stood up and ran to an old lady to say a few words before running back:
"My aunt said I can buy them. How many do you have?"
In fact, she was just pretending to ask for directions. The aunt she chose was plump and had a gold bracelet on her left hand, looking wealthy.
The stall owner didn't suspect anything and continued to lure the little girl to buy the clams: "Let me see, eight buckets, forty-four clams, I remember there were six in each bucket, and one bucket was missing one."
He actually brought nine buckets, but six died, leaving only eight. He opened one on the ground, sold two to the aunt, and had forty-four river clams left.
Xiang Mianmian hooked her fingers and quickly calculated: "44 times 0.6, 26.4 yuan. Auntie wants all of these. How about 20 yuan?"
"How can this be! Are you trying to haggle for fun, little girl? Ask your aunt to come over and tell her who can get a bargain of more than 6 yuan. Don't do this."
The stall owner was completely devastated. If they bought the whole thing, it would definitely be cheaper, but how could the price be reduced by one-fifth in an instant?!
He looked at Xiang Mianmian with a bad look, thinking that the little girl was playing a trick on him.
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