"The young wife... the young wife wearing the red scarf... the one holding the baby..."
An older woman called out to her furtively and waved repeatedly at Chen Sisi.
Chen Sisi stopped in her tracks: "Were you calling me?"
The woman looked very simple and honest, wearing a patched cotton-padded jacket, her face red from the cold: "I have free-range chickens on the hill behind my house, would you like one for your child!"
Seeing that she didn't say anything, the older woman continued to sell.
"If you don't want to eat chicken, you'll still have to eat eggs, right? I have laying hens here. Buy them and you can eat fresh eggs every day..."
"There are chicks too, but they're in the back alley."
As she spoke, she enthusiastically lifted the lid of the chicken coop in front of her, revealing several roosters, hens, and a white-feathered black-boned chicken inside.
Shen Sisi originally only planned to buy some meat and vegetables and head home, but after this older woman called out to her, she suddenly became tempted.
Gu Chengfeng's yard is quite large, enough to raise two chickens. This number won't make the yard smelly, and it will also allow Niu Niu to eat fresh eggs every day.
Seeing that she was interested, the older woman quickly said, "Don't worry, the chickens here are the best in the whole market. Look at this rooster, its comb is so red, and it has thorns on its legs, it's a rooster. And the hens are very good, they lay eggs every day, several a day..."
Having lived in the countryside for a long time, Shen Sisi could tell at a glance whether a chicken was free-range or not.
The older sister was indeed not lying to her; the chicken looked excellent, but it was really inconvenient for her to be carrying a basket and holding a child.
"If you really want it, give me your address and I'll deliver it to your door," the older woman said.
This is the first time I've ever seen someone offer door-to-door delivery. This woman really knows how to do business.
So she made a deal with her older sister: she wanted a rooster and a laying hen.
Just as they were about to give the address, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the alley entrance; the city management officers and patrol team had arrived.
In an instant, everyone quickly packed up their stalls, grabbed their belongings, and scattered like birds and beasts.
The older sister didn't care about her, picked up the chicken coop and darted out, quickly blending into the crowd.
Chen Sisi followed the crowd, after all, sneaking into the black market and getting caught would be a real problem.
After running for a long time, she squeezed through the crowd to the vicinity of the dock.
It's so lively here. There are more than a dozen docks, and as far as the eye can see, there are cargo ships of all sizes, packed together in rows, their hulls swaying with the waves.
On the dock, busy workers were everywhere, wearing vests or light clothing, their muscles glistening with sweat, mixed with blood and mud.
Panting, Chen Sisi glanced around, taking in the bustling scene and the hardships the workers endured.
The skin on their shoulders was torn, their arms were swollen and bruised, and their backs were bent from years of pressure. Some people even had deformed joints, yet they still carried on with heavy burdens.
In the open space nearby, several elderly workers were rubbing their shoulders with medicinal wine.
While rubbing, he muttered, "This medicinal wine was somewhat effective at first, but it's becoming less and less effective now."
"Brother, you should really go see a doctor! Your body can't take this!"
"Hey, people like us don't have the time or money to go to the hospital..."
Shen Sisi was drawn to his medicinal wine and walked over curiously: "Uncle, can I take a look at your medicinal wine?"
The middle-aged man turned around in surprise and saw a pretty young woman with fair skin. He hesitated and handed her the medicinal wine, saying, "Why are you looking at this?"
"Curious." Shen Sisi took the bottle, held it to her nose and smelled it several times, and basically figured out what was inside.
She was almost certain that this was a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) with a little camphor, cinnamaldehyde, and a tiny bit of numbing herbs added.
It has some effect, but not much, and it takes a very long time to show results.
She handed the bottle of medicinal liquor back to the man: "I'd like to ask, do you all use this kind of medicinal liquor?"
Several veteran workers nodded in agreement: "We dockworkers all basically use this kind of liniment for bruises and sprains. It used to be quite effective, but now..."
The rest is self-evident.
Chen Sisi fell silent. This medicinal wine was very watery.
The added drugs and their dosages must be strictly controlled.
Too much medicine will be too strong, too little will have no effect.
If the medicine was effective before but is no longer effective, it's either because the older men have developed a tolerance to it, or because the factory cut corners.
In any case, this medicinal wine is nowhere near as good as the medicinal oil she makes herself!
The recipe for that medicinal oil was given to her by an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor from Jinfeng Village.
During that special era, the old Chinese medicine doctor was imprisoned in a cowshed, and only Shen Sisi treated him well, bringing him food every day.
Therefore, before his death, the old Chinese medicine doctor gave all the medicinal oil formulas he had secretly kept to Shen Sisi.
Chen Sisi could only memorize two commonly used prescriptions: one was a medicinal oil for sprains and bruises to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis; the other was for treating rashes in children.
The rest of the recipes were kept in her house in the countryside.
Seeing this, Chen Sisi had a flash of inspiration. She was just worried about not finding a business opportunity, and now the opportunity had come to her!
She excitedly hugged Niu Niu tightly and gave her a big kiss on her soft, chubby little face.
"Niu Niu, let's go home. Mommy will make you something delicious..."
Niu Niu was counting the big ships in front of her. She had just counted to fifteen or sixteen when her mother suddenly hugged and kissed her.
She was a little confused, but when she heard there was something delicious to eat, her eyes immediately lit up: "Yay, Mom, I want to eat fish!"
"Okay, Mom will go buy you fish..."
Since they couldn't go to the black market, Chen Sisi took Niu Niu and went to the supply and marketing cooperative. They bought a big, fat fish weighing one and a half pounds, some side dishes, half a piece of white tofu, and a few ugly apples.
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