"Hehe, I see? Do you have rice and flour?"
"What did you say? Rice? Wheat flour? Give me a break! We don't even have cornmeal. This year's harvest is bad, who would risk their life? What are you thinking? There's no such thing as a free lunch."
Zhang Hongmei wasn't embarrassed by what she was told. "Brother, if you had a wild boar weighing five or six hundred pounds, but it hadn't been butchered, how much would you pay per pound for the whole thing?"
"The highest I can offer is one dollar and eighty cents. If I were to kill it myself, I'd have to throw away twenty or thirty pounds of the head, so this is the highest price I can get. Little sister, do you have this?"
"Where would I find that? But I know where it is. How can I trust you?"
"How can I guarantee that? I've been in the black market for two years, and I have a good reputation. If you trust me, why don't we try working together? I won't let you work for nothing."
He subconsciously believed what Zhang Hongmei said, thinking that a young girl couldn't possibly have such a thing, and that she was probably just there to scout out the price.
"Where should we make the transaction?"
"Let's make the deal in an abandoned courtyard. When?"
"I need to check out the place first. If it's not safe, wouldn't I be asking for trouble?"
“Okay, I’ll take you there. Girl, let me tell you, that place is very safe. It used to be a haunted house, and nobody dares to go there.”
Zhang Hongmei nodded. This person wasn't bad; at least he told the truth. "Do you have a scale? Can you weigh it?"
"Where can I find a scale that big? I'll just have to estimate. If you have a good eye, you won't be cheated."
Zhang Hongmei thought so too. There were no scales available now, were they going to have to weigh an elephant like Cao Chong? "I hope our first collaboration goes smoothly."
She looked around the house; the street felt eerie, and after a while, no one had passed by, so it seemed relatively safe.
"Wait for me at the spot where we just met at 3 PM."
"Okay! Miss, can you tell me approximately how many kilograms that is? I need to prepare some money; this is no small amount."
"Six hundred jin is more than six hundred jin, but less than seven hundred jin." Zhang Hongmei knew that it was because the first pig Er Lengzi slaughtered last time weighed six hundred and eighty jin, and Zhang Hongmei thought the two were about the same, so she gave this number.
"Alright. I'll prepare 700 jin (350 kg). Don't worry, girl, you definitely won't be shortchanged."
"Can you have both of them?"
Zhang Hongmei found the man's excited yet conflicted expression amusing; he really had a lot of expressions.
"Hey girl, how big is that wild boar?"
"About the same size."
"That's 1,400 jin? I need to do the math. At 1.8 yuan per jin, 1,400 jin is 2,520 yuan. Good heavens, I need to do the math and think about it."
Zhang Hongmei watched him pacing back and forth in place, muttering to himself.
"Girl, okay, I'll take them all. I'll go back and borrow the money right away. Don't worry, I'll definitely have enough. I'll wait for you at three o'clock this afternoon." After saying that, he took out ten yuan, stuffed it into Zhang Hongmei's hand, and ran away.
The two parted ways. Without mentioning how anxious the person who had prepared the money was, Zhang Hongmei continued to wander the streets. She was filled with regret; she really shouldn't have taken the risk. But having the wild boar in her own space still felt unsettling. If only she could butcher it herself, she wouldn't feel so uneasy.
Well, it's already like this, let's give it a try. At worst, if someone poses a danger to me, I can just hide in my spatial dimension and never come out.
Another thing is to plan for the future. I have so much food in my storage space; I hope I can use as much as possible to survive. This is the opportunity; if someone steps in, that would be perfect.
I had a bowl of noodles at a restaurant for lunch. It wasn't very flavorful, but it was the best I could get. At least it was made from refined grains.
After finishing our meal, we went to the house. Pushing open the door, we found it extremely dilapidated, overgrown with weeds. However, the yard was large, and there were quite a few rooms. Almost everything was in ruins, and the doors and windows were missing.
I closed the door and went into a relatively nice room, which was empty. After looking around, I decided to stay here.
He slipped into the space, lay down on the bed, and decided to take a nap, since he had plenty of time.
After waking up, I put the two boxes I received yesterday into the warehouse, harvested the vegetables and put them into the warehouse as well, and planted a few tomato plants and green peppers.
Later, after leaving the space, they put the two wild boars into the small compartment inside. The two boars almost filled the room.
Zhang Hongmei arrived at the black market at 2:05. Unexpectedly, the man was already waiting there and immediately came to greet her.
"Girl, I was really afraid you wouldn't come?"
"I'm not late."
"You weren't late, but I was anxious."
"Hehe, no need to rush. I won't go back on my word since I promised you. Let's go and see the goods."
Walking excitedly behind Zhang Hongmei, I felt at least half relieved.
I didn't have that much money at all; I only managed to borrow it after guaranteeing it to the big boss. I'd already told him that, and even promised him a pig; it would be embarrassing if I didn't get it.
When the two arrived, upon seeing the two large wild boars, Sun Changquan excitedly ran over and even touched them with his hands. His gaze was so intense that Zhang Hongmei couldn't bear to look at him directly; it was too much to bear.
"Girl, girl, you're so capable! This wild boar is amazing, so fresh. It must have been difficult to get it here, right?" After saying that, Sun Changquan felt embarrassed and scratched his head. "I'm sorry, girl, I shouldn't have said that."
Zhang Hongmei shook her head and smiled, feigning an inscrutable expression.
"Girl, would you say these two weigh 1400 jin (750 kg)?"
"Okay, 1400 jin it is."
"Hey girl, let's leave it at that for now. If I sell an extra ten or twenty pounds, that's fine. But if I sell more than fifty pounds, I'll make sure to give you the extra money next time I see you."
"No need, the money and goods are settled on a first-come, first-served basis. Any extra is just your luck."
"Great! Here, this is two thousand five hundred and twenty yuan."
Zhang Hongmei took the money, counted it, and handed a ten-yuan note to Sun Changquan, saying, "You gave me too much. I received ten yuan this morning."
Sun Changquan waved his hand awkwardly, "No need, I can't let you work for nothing. This is for the girl to wear a pair of cloth shoes."
"No need, just do what you normally would."
Sun Changquan took the money and said, "Little sister, my name is Sun Changquan. Come find me if you need anything in the future."
"Okay, maybe there will be good things later? Go and find out the price of grain, especially the price of rice and wheat flour."
"Sister, do you really have this much grain?"
"Just ask, we can talk about it later. Where can I find you?"
“My home is at No. 43 Guangming Road. You can come to my house to find me. My wife is home every day. Don’t worry, we are both people who keep our mouths shut. We know what we should and shouldn’t say.”
"That would be wonderful. I'll think of you when good things happen. I'm off now."
"Okay, then I'll go find someone to get it done. You go ahead and do your work, girl."
Zhang Hongmei only realized she was sweating after she left; it was the first time she had ever done something like this, something she had always done as a good girl.
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