Chapter 76 Jade
Song Lubai ignored Lu Shuangshuang's words and asked the stall owner how much it cost.
The stall owner gestured to indicate the price, using both hands in a very aggressive manner.
"One dollar?"
Feng Ying exclaimed, "Why didn't he just rob it? It's just a broken rock."
The stall owner shook his head and waved his hands, saying things that Song Lubai and the others couldn't understand.
Liu Fengshou, who was passing by, understood what the old man was saying and said to Song Lubai and the others, "He wants ten yuan."
The price almost scared several people away.
Song Lubai put down the stone in her hand, stood up, and left.
She only had about seventy yuan in assets, and she didn't have the money to waste on this stone that she wasn't even sure was jade.
Seeing that the group had left, the old man hurriedly tried to pull them away, muttering something under his breath.
Liu Fengshou translated for them, "He said this piece is definitely jade, and he can sell it to you for five pieces."
Song Lubai waved her hand, "Brother Liu, could you help me ask him if he'd sell it for one yuan?"
Liu Fengshou is a veteran of the military reclamation program. He has been in XJ for ten years. Although he can't speak fluent Uyghur, he can understand the common language of bargaining and can say a few words in it.
After Liu Fengshou quoted the price to the old man, the old man hesitated.
Song Lubai suddenly realized she had overcharged.
It's obvious that the old man was just making wild guesses when he asked for ten yuan earlier, and his claim that it must be jade shouldn't be believed either.
If these stones were valuable, the old man would have been furious at her asking for one dollar.
Feng Ying and the others were still trying to persuade her not to be foolish and waste money on something that she couldn't eat, drink, or wear.
Song Lubai also felt bad about spending her money, so she simply let the group drag her away.
But the old man, who was afraid the customer would run away, came to persuade her, gesturing wildly that he was willing to sell it to her for one yuan.
"Brother Liu, could you help me ask if he'd sell it for five cents?"
After Liu Fengshou finished talking with the old man, the old man started waving his hands, looking unwilling, and muttering something that was hard to understand.
After exchanging words with him for a while, Liu Fengshou turned to Song Lubai and said, "Eight cents. He said you can take one cent for eight cents."
Liu Fengshou lowered his voice: "Eight mao is enough to buy them. Some of these stones look like jade."
Song Lubai's eyebrows twitched.
She was still willing to spend 80 cents.
After wavering among the six or seven stones on the stall, Liu Fengshou picked out two.
"Take a look at these two. This yellowish-red one is bigger; you can make a bracelet out of it. This sky-blue one would look great as a few jade pendants."
Since Song Lubai couldn't pick any out herself, she simply listened to Liu Fengshou, who had been in XJ for ten years and definitely knew more about the stones here than she did.
And so, to the disbelief of the girls, Song Lubai spent 1.6 yuan to buy two stones that were neither edible nor drinkable.
Lu Shuangshuang, who was watching, couldn't believe it. "Are you stupid? You can buy more than two pounds of meat for 1.6 yuan."
Song Lubai rolled her eyes: "I just like these two stones."
Although she didn't know much about jade, it seemed that jade prices would be quite high in the future, so even if it wasn't jade, she wouldn't lose much.
Whether it's jade or not, she'll like wearing jade bracelets and pendants later, so why can't we buy them?
Her shirt costs eighteen yuan, but it's only one yuan and sixty cents. She can afford to waste it once.
Lu Shuangshuang snorted and left.
However, Feng Ying, who had been trying to pull Song Lubai away, had Liu Fengshou help her pick out a piece.
Liu Fengshou then became modest.
"If I don't pick the right ones, they won't be worth much in the future, so don't blame me."
Feng Ying: "It's alright, I'll just get a small accessory to wear. Just pick one that looks good to me."
Liu Fengshou picked out a whiter-colored stone from the remaining few stones.
After paying and leaving, Liu Fengshou said, "Actually, XJ is most famous for its Yutian jade. Before liberation, Yutian jade was a tribute item. It comes from Yutian in southern Xinjiang, but that place is now called Hotan. Have you ever heard of mutton fat jade?"
The group of girls nodded. "We've heard of it, but we've never seen it."
Liu Fengshou's tone was tinged with smugness as he spoke, "I was fortunate enough to see it once before, but I can't tell you how. Besides Khotan jade, XJ has quite a few other stones that look like jade. Like the one Comrade Feng is holding, it's even whiter, and the stone has no blemishes, just like mutton fat jade. Although I don't know what kind of jade you bought today, at eight cents a piece, you can't go wrong. Maybe it'll be worth something in the future. Even if it's not worth anything, you can just think of it as buying two pounds less meat; you won't lose anything."
Upon hearing Liu Fengshou's words, Feng Ying tightened her grip on the stone.
The other girls who hadn't bought anything earlier were also somewhat tempted.
Liu Fengshou advised, "The few pieces left over didn't look very good. They were small and wouldn't be able to be used to make anything. Let's try our luck again next time."
The girls' excitement finally subsided.
Liu Fengshou was used to being a loner and had never been married or had a wife to take care of him. Today, he showed his face in the women's group and enjoyed the feeling of others listening to him seriously, which made him feel somewhat pleased.
However, he didn't come today specifically to be a guide for the women.
However, just as he was about to slip away from the crowd, he was stopped by a girl behind him.
"Brother Liu, where are you going? There's a place selling sesame candy here. Don't walk so fast, help us bargain."
Liu Feng turned his head back and waved to the group. When they came closer, he asked, "Would you like to eat meat?"
The girls' eyes lit up at the mention of meat.
Just hearing the word "meat" makes my mouth water.
Although they had eaten meat twice just a week ago, after several days of hard labor, it's no exaggeration to say that those two meals of meat felt like they had eaten them a year ago; they had forgotten the taste of meat.
The women nodded in unison, and some of the less-than-ideal ones were already swallowing their saliva.
"You have connections?"
Liu Fengshou spat out the dry grass in his mouth. "Come on, come with me."
He led the group to the outside of the bazaar and said in a low voice, "I know someone in this village who sets traps in the wild and catches rabbits every now and then. I come to him to try my luck whenever I have a break. If you want to eat, I can take you with me, but you can't just eat for free, can you?"
Song Lubai: "How much is it?"
Under the watchful eyes of Liu Fengshou, he gestured and said, "If there is only one rabbit, there are eight of us in total, so each of us won't get much. You can contribute five points. If there are two, then add another five points."
"A roasted rabbit sprinkled with a little salt is so fragrant it'll kill you. Add some spices, and it'll be roasted until it's crispy and delicious, making you want to swallow your tongue. You're guaranteed to get your money's worth."
Liu Fengshou smacked his lips, his eyes filled with reminiscence.
"Go, go, we're all going."
Liu Fengshou added, "Remember this, this is a secret. Don't tell anyone. If it gets out, none of you will escape."
Nobody's stupid; catching rabbits in the wild is, to put it bluntly, undermining someone's livelihood.
And so, the girls followed Liu Fengshou to the Uyghur village below the bazaar.
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