Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Cripple Lane

There were more things in there than in the state-owned stores on the main street; even the branches of the osmanthus tree at the entrance of the parking lot were hung with clothes.

A group of young lesbians gathered under the tree. It looked lively but it was not noisy at all.

Everyone lowered their voices consciously, either bargaining or just joining in the fun.

Wang Nian stopped in front of the clothing stall to look at it for a while, then led the children to the garage.

As soon as I walked into the garage, it was as if I had instantly entered another world.

There are four neatly arranged rows of stalls, and the scale is comparable to the open-air markets in the previous life. This doesn't look like a secretive black market at all; it would be more appropriate to call it a market.

There are many sellers and quite a few buyers.

Wang Nian didn't know where to start for a moment, and stood at the door looking around blankly.

Suddenly, the aroma of floral water wafted over, and then Wang Nian could see the figure slowly walking towards him.

"Comrade Wang, you are really here?"

"Teacher Li."

He wore a Tibetan blue cotton padded jacket with a grey towel and a Tibetan blue cotton hat on his head, leaving only his eyes exposed.

If Wang Nian didn't have good hearing, she would definitely not be able to connect the plain female comrade today with the young and beautiful female teacher yesterday.

"I didn't expect you to come!" Li Xiaojuan pulled down her scarf and touched Shi Wan's head happily: "The vanishing cream is on the other side, I'll take you there."

Wang Nian: “…”

Yesterday she seemed to say she wanted to buy some vanishing cream.

"I don't have much money with me. Let me check out other things first and buy them quickly." Wang Nian smiled and changed the subject to ask Li Xiaojuan: "Why are you alone today? Where are your colleagues?"

"I suddenly had work and couldn't leave. I'm alone today." Li Xiaojuan smiled. She wanted to leave after saying hello, but she didn't expect Wang Nian to take the initiative to invite her: "Then let's go shopping together. I'm a little scared since I'm new here and I'm bringing my child with me."

"Okay, I'll show you around."

Ever since Li Xiaojuan came back yesterday to tell him the location, Wang Nian knew that this girl was kind-hearted.

The stalls sell all kinds of food, clothing and daily necessities, and you can even see some old things and foreign gadgets.

While Wang Nian was picking up things from the stall, he curiously asked why the black market in Lame Alley was so large, and why everyone seemed to be doing it in a fair and honest manner, yet also seemed to be very cautious.

I always feel that the atmosphere here is...very contradictory.

"There weren't so many people in Bozi Alley in the first half of the year. You couldn't get in without someone you know. I don't know what happened in the second half of the year... suddenly a lot of people came." Pointing at the stalls, you can point out several stall owners who don't have local accents: "These are not new people."

Judging from her accent, she is very similar to Fu Fang, so they should both be from Guangzhou.

"We were afraid at first... but then we heard that even the city government was doing its shopping here, so the more people came, the more people would buy and sell..."

This means that Lame Alley is actually already an open "black market", but due to the habit formed over a long period of time, everyone unconsciously lowers their voices when speaking, resulting in this somewhat weird picture.

"No matter what the reason, it's a good thing for us ordinary people." Wang Nian said in a low voice.

Li Xiaojuan nodded, feeling particularly touched by this: "In the past, I wanted to buy pigeons to make soup for the elderly at home, but I didn't even dare to think about it. Now at least I can save some money and buy half a pigeon."

"Is the elderly in the family in poor health?"

Yesterday, when a few teachers were chatting, I heard Li Xiaojuan say that she wanted to buy some medicinal herbs to make soup for her grandmother to nourish her body.

"It was freezing cold earlier, and my grandma slipped when she went out of the house. She's still lying in bed. The doctor told me to buy some nourishing herbs to make soup."

"It's bad for an old man to lie down every day." Wang Nian used his limited knowledge of tonic medicine to think of a suitable soup: "Astragalus, Dangshen and Pigeon Soup is good for replenishing qi and blood."

"The doctor also asked me to buy some astragalus soup." Li Xiaojuan's eyes flashed with surprise, and then she smiled: "The local doctor selling medicinal herbs should be setting up a stall opposite today."

Wang Nian's dress was simple, but her manner of speaking did not sound like that of a country girl.

Li Xiaojuan was a little unsure of her origins.

Shi Wan suddenly shook Wang Nian's hand: "Auntie." Then she pointed to a very narrow stall not far away: "Buy a pen for Dad. The cap of Dad's pen is broken."

"There's also ink, but there's no ink left," Shi Shuwen also said.

Since they came in, the two of them have been very obedient and didn't say a word. Even when they saw many toys and comic books that children liked, they didn't ask to buy them. Instead, they put Shi Xiangming first.

"I just saw some skirts over there. After buying the pen, I'll go buy a nice skirt." Shi Shuwen added, pulling out a handful of banknotes from his trouser pocket: "I'll buy you a skirt."

The child would occasionally call me "Auntie", but more often he would use "you" instead. I got used to it after hearing it so many times.

But today, the word "you" was particularly pleasing to the ear, and Wang Nian's heart was instantly filled with an indescribable tenderness.

I've experienced all kinds of concern, but this is the first time it comes from children.

"This money?" In his palm was a handful of banknotes that Shi Shuwen had stuffed into his hand, among which were some Zhang Datuanjie's banknotes. Wang Nian smiled and touched his head: "Did your father give it to you?"

"This one is what my father asked me to give you last night. The others are the New Year's money my sister and I saved. My aunt and cousin asked us to buy cakes when we were hungry." Shi Shuwen explained.

"Dad said this is the money specifically for you to buy a skirt, you can't buy anything else." Shi Wan waved her hands and repeated it.

Wang Nian smiled and put the money in his pocket: "I will go back and ask your father where the private money comes from after handing over all the wages."

A science and engineering husband must have other ways to earn pocket money besides his salary.

Li Xiaojuan was so amused by the conversation between the mother and her children that she covered her mouth and laughed.

"Buy pens first and then buy skirts. I'll take you both."

Wang Nian was also amused, and emphasized: "Then I will accept the filial piety of Shi Shuwen and Shi Wanxiao. During the New Year, we will all wear new clothes to visit relatives."

Shi Shuwen pursed his face in embarrassment, while Shi Wan covered her mouth and narrowed her eyes while smiling.

"You choose the pens, and you will deliver them when the time comes."

Walking to the pen stall, Wang Nian gave the choice to the two children and stood aside waiting for them to make a decision.

In fact, there are only one or two styles of fountain pens now, with a white nose cap and a black or blue pen body.

The stall owner was a young gay man wearing glasses. There were four pens on the stall, with almost no choice.

"Comrade, you want to buy some pens?" The young man pushed his glasses with the back of his hand. "The two on the left are old pens, and the two on the right are new pens."

Everyone's eyes moved to the right at the same time, and saw two identical black pens.

Even the choice can be omitted...

Perhaps because Wang Nian looked a little uninterested, the young man quickly said, "I can engrave words on the pen."

Engraving?

Wang Nian looked at the young man and realized that he was actually engraving on the body of a pen.

"You can engrave anything you want, but if there are too many words, you may have to wait a few days before picking it up."

Wang Nian took a look at the words the young man was carving. Some inspiring words densely occupied half of the pen.

Wang Nian handed the pen to Shi Shuwen: "You decide."

"How much does it cost to engrave the words? How much does it cost without engraving the words?" Shi Shuwen felt that he had a great responsibility, so he asked very seriously after careful consideration.

"It's free to engrave." The young man smiled and said, "An old pen is one yuan, and a new one is two yuan and fifty cents."

A new fountain pen in a store costs only about 1.2 yuan, but in Bozi Alley, although no tickets are required, the price is more than twice as high.

Wang Nian remained silent, waiting to see what Shi Shuwen would say next.

Shi Shuwen looked up and sighed: "Uncle, can you give us a discount? We bought a fountain pen and also need to buy ink..."

The little one seemed to be really thinking about it. After asking if it could be cheaper, he said, "Otherwise, if we buy pens, we won't have money to buy rice. My dad will definitely scold us when he gets home."

Wang Nian: “…”

The more I look at this kid, the more he resembles someone. Even at such a young age, he's already... sinister.

The young man never thought that the young Shi Xiangming was talking nonsense. He thought for a moment and held up two fingers: "It can only be at least 2 yuan and 20 cents. It didn't take me much effort to buy these pens."

Wang Nian: “…”

"Two yuan and twenty cents is two yuan and twenty cents! Then uncle, give us this half bottle of ink."

“…”

In the end, the pen was sold for two yuan and twenty cents, and the word "Shi" (Shi Xiangming's name) was engraved on the pen. Of course, the half bottle of ink also ended up in Shi Shuwen's hands after much hard work.

Wang Nian took out the money and silently gave Shi Shuwen a thumbs up.

While waiting for the words to be engraved, Li Xiaojuan took them to the place where clothes were sold.

There were a dozen or so customers here, all of them lesbians, each of them busy searching through the clothes racks for clothes they liked.

"Auntie, this looks good!"

Girls are naturally much more enthusiastic about nice clothes than boys. Shi Wancai found a piece of clothing that she really liked as soon as she walked to the clothes rack.

A dark red herringbone coat.

It is hung alone on the edge of the hanger, and the button is specially fastened to the hanger with a buckle.

This style of coat has never appeared in state-owned stores.

Coat with lapel and a belt of the same color.

The style is simple, but it would never go out of style even in the past, let alone in this era when everyone wears underpants.

But it's too fashionable, so I can't wear it.

If you wear it out, every ten people will ask you where you bought it... Would you really tell people that you bought it on the black market?

Wang Nian shook her head: "Auntie doesn't like the color red."

"Auntie doesn't like red. I have another one. This one is also nice!" Shi Wan immediately pulled out another gray coat.

Gray lapel, the collar is slightly smaller than the red one, and the length is about knee-length.

"You have good taste, young girl." The middle-aged woman selling clothes always came out from behind and knocked with the hanger in her hand: "These two clothes are good things that my relatives brought back from visiting relatives. Not to mention our new order, there are only a few like them in the whole country!"

"Outside?" Li Xiaojuan pointed behind her with her thumb.

The "outside" here refers to overseas countries. When people visit their relatives, they will bring back many things that are not available in China as gifts for their relatives.

Some people are reluctant to wear them, and only sell them for money when they are in financial difficulties.

The stall owner said that it was unlikely that the person was her relative, but rather that he had bought the item and was reselling it.

"It looks good on Auntie." Shi Wan seemed to like the coat very much. She held it tightly with her little hand and refused to let go: "Wear it during the New Year."

Seeing that she was so persistent, Wang Nian walked over and asked about the price.

"Thirty-eight yuan, no bargaining." The middle-aged female comrade answered loudly.

Thirty-eight yuan... Wang Nian must have felt that it was not a good deal to use an ordinary worker's monthly salary to buy a piece of clothing that he would rarely wear.

Instead of buying more meat to stuff in your closet, you might as well buy more meat to eat.

The moment he heard the price, Shi Shuwen took a breath and seemed to be shocked by the price.

But soon, the clever boy blinked twice, stretched out his hand and tugged at Wang Nian's sleeve: "Dad said that if the money is not enough, he will give it back when you go back. Just buy it, it looks good!"

"Thirty yuan." Wang Nian pointed his finger at the first dark red coat: "If you can sell it, sell it. If you can't, forget it."

"I can give you the grey one at a lower price, but not the red one, because it's my signature product." The female comrade disagreed.

Wang Nian showed a relieved smile on his face and waved to the brother and sister: "Did you hear me? Let's go."

Shi Wan obediently took Wang Nian's hand, while Shi Shuwen grabbed the hem of her clothes, and the mother and her two children prepared to leave.

"Hey, hey, hey! Girl, don't be in such a hurry to leave... Thirty is thirty, I'll sell it to you!"

Wang Nian turned around and asked knowingly, "Thirty yuan?"

“You heard me right.”

"Then I have to take a good look at the clothes to see if there is anything wrong with them... It was sold so easily!"

Stall owner: “…”

The clothes are finely made and show no signs of having been worn. It's just that there's a little dust on the shoulders, probably because it's been hanging for some time.

Wang Nian seized on this point and argued with the female comrade for a long time, and finally won it for 29 yuan.

Even so, Li Xiaojuan was still shocked that Wang Nian spent only 29 yuan to buy a piece of clothing.

She tried hard to recall what the man looked like and how he was dressed when she met the family yesterday.

I remember that he was very tall, and he was wearing an ordinary cotton coat, and there was nothing special about him, so how could his salary be so high...

After packing the clothes and pens into the travel bag, they followed Li Xiaojuan to the car factory opposite to look for astragalus.

There are mostly food here, and a few daily necessities.

"I saw the astragalus root. It's over there."

All food can be bought in Changshenggou, so Wang Nian mainly searched for the medicinal ingredients for soup that Li Xiaojuan was looking for.

"Really." Li Xiaojuan also noticed the inconspicuous backpack in the corner.

This should be a herbalist. There is still undried mud on the old man's body. He is hiding in the corner and smoking a pipe.

The dried and processed herbs are placed on the ground in a messy pile. Those who don’t know will just think they are a pile of weeds.

"Master, how much do you sell this astragalus for?"

While Li Xiaojuan was asking the price, Wang Nian squatted down and casually rummaged through the pile of medicinal herbs.

Although it is messy, most of the medicinal materials are prepared very well.

"Cinnamon?"

Wang Nian found two pieces of brown bark from the medicinal materials team. He thought they were cinnamon at first, but when he scratched them with his fingernail, an oil mark appeared and he realized it was cinnamon.

Both can be used in cooking, but the former is mainly used in Western cuisine and medicine, while the latter is more suitable for Chinese diet.

"Female comrade, do you know about medicinal herbs?" The old man opened his eyelids and spoke slowly.

"I don't understand pharmacology, but I know some recipes for medicinal diet." Wang Nian sniffed the aroma of cinnamon and put it down: "It would be great if I had longan. I could make a pot of longan, cinnamon and chicken soup."

In her previous life, she suffered from dysmenorrhea for many years. Occasionally, she heard an old Chinese doctor mention that this medicinal soup had the effect of regulating menstruation, so she would make it and drink it a few days before her period.

I don’t know if it was the soup that really worked or if it was for some other reason, but gradually my illness stopped coming back.

I don’t have any trouble with dysmenorrhea in this life, so drinking some blood-activating food is a good thing.

"I don't have any longan." The old man smacked his cigarette again, turned around amid the smoke, and took out a few handfuls of white herbs from his backpack: "Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos and pork ribs soup, suitable for your two children."

Wang Nian was startled and subconsciously looked at the two children squatting beside him.

"They both often ate cold rice and washed their feet with cold water a few years ago, which caused their spleen and stomach to be damp and cold. They must be treated early so that it will not affect their future growth." After saying this, the old man smoked his pipe by himself, seemingly not caring at all whether Wang Nian bought it or not.

Wang Nian certainly couldn't be frightened by these two words immediately, so he asked Shi Shuwen directly: "Is what Grandpa said right?"

Shi Shuwen shook his head and answered immediately without recalling anything: "Grandma said that heating rice would waste firewood, so she made us eat rice soaked in boiling water..."

"Do you use cold water to wash your feet in winter?" Wang Nian asked again.

Shi Wan lay on Wang Nian's knees, pouting in grievance and fear: "Washing with cold water in winter will freeze your face."

Wang Nian: “…”

"Old comrade, do you think we need to buy some medicine for these two children?"

"Have the Poria cocos pork ribs soup once every three days for a month." The old man cleared his throat hoarse from the smoke and continued, "It depends on whether you are willing to give up all those pork ribs."

"I'm willing to give it up! As long as it's good for my health, I can spend all my salary on buying spare ribs." Wang Nian responded without hesitation.

"Ten sets of medicinal food, a total of five yuan." The old man stretched out his hand. Wang Nian quickly unbuttoned his cotton padded jacket and took out five one-yuan bills from his inner bag and handed them over: "Excuse me, old man."

With just a quick glance, the old man could tell that the two children had physical problems. With such medical skills, there was no reason to doubt... Of course, he had to take the money quickly.

The old man smiled, with the corners of his mouth pulled up, revealing an extremely stiff smile.

"My last name is Liu, and I live in Luoyan Lane. If you ask for someone named Liu, everyone will know where I am."

"Okay, I'll remember it." Wang Nian replied quickly.

The old man slowly wrapped the herbs into ten packages with newspaper and handed them to Wang Nian.

Ten portions together only make up one handful, and the price of five yuan is nothing short of sky-high, but Wang Nian thinks it is worth it.

The most surprising thing I got from my trip to Bozi Alley today was these medicinal dishes.

"Old man, look..." Upon seeing this, Li Xiaojuan immediately gave up the idea of ​​buying astragalus and instead wanted to ask the old man to come to her home in person to diagnose her mother's pulse.

Wang Nian carefully put the herbs into the luggage bag.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang in my head, and my left ear was instantly filled with a strong tinnitus.

Buzz——

Wang Nian covered his ears and shook his head subconsciously. Suddenly, the scene in the space appeared in front of him, and the spice rack moved up another notch.

Unlock the sixth layer of the spice rack...

"Aunt, what's wrong with you?" When Shi Wan's worried voice reappeared in her ears, the tinnitus disappeared.

Wang Nian smiled and said, "I feel a little dizzy after squatting for so long."

After a long pause, Wang Nian stood up and patted the dust off the outside of the luggage bag.

Li Xiaojuan had obviously mobilized some people, and the old man packed up his backpack.

"Then we won't waste your time, let's go back to the guesthouse first." Seeing this, Wang Nian offered to leave first.

The biggest gain of this trip is...

The mother and her two children returned chatting and laughing. Shi Xiangming had just finished his preliminary examination, and the two groups happened to meet downstairs in the guesthouse.

"What did you buy?"

The luggage bags looked so dry and light that Shi Xiangming even suspected that the men had returned empty-handed.

In the background light, a couple from Factory 401 passed by several people carrying food, and Wang Nian curled his lips.

"With that little salary, I can only go to the mall to look around. I can't afford to buy anything."

Shi Xiangming smiled: "Blame me, blame me. I will work hard in the future." He picked up Shi Wan and tossed her gently: "Our Xiao Wan is so light, it looks like she hasn't eaten yet!"

"How did you do in the exam?" Wang Nian held Shi Xiangming's arm and held Shi Shuwen with one hand: "Our whole family is looking forward to your final victory."

"We must win." Shi Shuwen added calmly, looking like he had gotten used to holding hands.

"Victory!" Shi Xiangming raised Shi Wan's little hand, and the little girl immediately repeated: "Victory!"

The whole family repeated it countless times with laughter.

The sound is loud and the atmosphere is pleasant.

However, the couple who were just a few steps above them both had gloomy faces. The woman bit her lips tightly, and managed to suppress the anger that was about to burst out of her throat.

The man lowered his head and slowly quickened his pace.

Once they reached the third floor, the two families walked in different directions.

The woman pushed open the door and immediately slammed the rice bowl heavily on the table in anger.

"I was so blind that I married a worthless man like you!"

"You are the chief engineer in Factory 401, but how come you are incomparable to anyone in the provincial capital? They are so proud of themselves, but you dare not even fart."

The continuous cursing made the man's face gradually turn red, and just when the woman's finger was about to poke his face, he suddenly got angry.

"You have the ability. If you have the ability, why don't you take the exam? Instead, you just keep on bullying others."

"If you had the ability, why didn't you get rid of Shi Xiangming? If you had the ability, why didn't you dare to say a word when the examiner scolded you at noon?"

After venting his frustration and grievances, the man's expression finally looked better.

There were hundreds of candidates taking the exam, and after the written test only ten were left to take the actual re-examination.

The results will be released immediately after the test. Everyone will wait outside the classroom for the results to decide whether to stay or go.

Shi Xiangming entered the re-examination with the first place score, while the men were eliminated.

As soon as the results came out, those who were eliminated rushed to buy tickets back to the city, not wanting to waste money staying in a guesthouse for another day.

But the couple from Factory 401 did not leave. Instead, they questioned on the spot why Shi Xiangming became the first.

The examiner took out the test papers and circulated them on the spot.

They were all engineers from the same industry, and most of them were convinced after seeing Shi Xiangming's test paper.

However, only the family of the engineer from Factory 401 felt dissatisfied and during the argument with the examiner, they even falsely accused someone of leaking the test questions in advance.

The examiner's face turned gloomy as he argued, and he almost dispatched the Academy of Engineering's security department.

Because of the quarrel, they failed to buy tickets to Wenxi Township today and could only leave tomorrow.

"If you can't pass the exam, we can't let Shi Xiangming pass it either." The woman suddenly said.

The man pinched his brows irritably: "My senior brother is the project leader, so what can you do even if you feel unfair!"

"So what!" The woman rolled her eyes at the man and said in a colder voice, "There is still the Supervisory Committee! Let's go to the Supervisory Committee and expose the truth."

"Forget it!" The man was a little scared.

"What do you mean by that?" the woman yelled, "If Shi Xiangming takes first place again, how will you survive in Wenxi Township? Who will come to you?"

The reason why women feel so angry when they mention Shi Xiangming is actually because of money.

In the past, machinery factories in the county and the neighboring county often invited her husband to provide technical guidance.

But since Shi Xiangming showed up, the opportunities for men to have sex with women on the job have been greatly reduced, and the chances of making money from it have been eliminated.

The woman was not only jealous, but also hoped that Shi Xiangming would disappear from Wenxi Township.