The plane landed at the airport in Urumqi. Ye Zhiqiu took a train and after two days and three nights, he finally set foot on the land of Beijing!
In December of this year, the snow had arrived relatively early in Beijing. Ye Zhiqiu had nothing in his hands but a light backpack and a Type 54 pistol given to him by the commander-in-chief.
The rest of the things, including clothes, were left to the comrades because it was too difficult for them to replenish their daily necessities!
Ye Zhiqiu only brought a change of clothes, two scarves knitted by Feng Xiaomei, two pairs of gloves, and a pile of letters.
The distance from the train station to Sanlitun is not very far, about four kilometers.
But Ye Zhiqiu was not prepared to let himself down, so he called a rickshaw, agreed on a fare of 40 cents, and rode it back to Sanlitun.
The cyclist looked to be in his forties or fifties, but he was riding very skillfully while pulling Ye Zhiqiu. Ye Zhiqiu lit a cigarette and asked, "Hey, Master, why are you so quiet? You're a little different from other masters."
"Hey, I haven't eaten lunch yet, so I don't have the energy to be a Kanerye."
Ye Zhiqiu asked curiously, "What's the matter? This job requires a lot of strength. Why do you start working without even having lunch?"
"Hey, comrade, I thought you were from out of town, but you came home alone! Never mind that someone at home doesn't have a ration, and even if we save and eat frugally, we can't even get enough food to keep from starving.
What else can I do? I'm a grown man, I can go hungry, but I can't let my little kid at home starve!"
"Hearing what you said, is it because the price of food on the black market is a bit high? Don't worry, I just came back after two years in the army, so I don't know much about this, so I'm asking this."
"Hey, I'm not afraid to tell you! Who doesn't go to the black market to trade things? No one has surplus food! But now I don't go to the black market much, I'll try my luck at the pigeon market!"
Ye Zhiqiu was a little puzzled, so he asked curiously, "Don't worry, Master, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me everything and I'll add another ten cents to the fare, making a total of fifty cents, okay?"
"That's great, thank you man! Then I'll tell you what we know, but I can't guarantee it's true, nor am I bragging.
If we say it's the food shortage, wouldn't everyone have to trade in food? With so many people trading food coupons, the price has skyrocketed, from the initial 50 cents per catty to the current 5 yuan per catty!
The problem lies here. Some people saw that the profits were so huge, so they colluded to print fake food coupons and sell them on the black market! You say these food coupons are fake, but they are not fake. After all, they are printed by the printing company!
But the government prints food coupons based on how much grain there is. These people are so cruel that they printed twice as many food coupons as there is grain!
Then, naturally, there was the issue of having food coupons but not being able to buy food, and this was exposed! That group of ruthless guys and the people who helped sell food coupons on the black market, more than 50 people, all ate peanuts!
Across the capital's black market, over 6,000 people were caught scrambling for supplies! Damn, I was just late, otherwise I'd be one of those caught too!
This group of people, whether they had a job or not, were all fined five yuan. This incident happened not long ago, and although the black market has opened up again, no one really dared to go there.
That's what happened. I can't guarantee it's true, but everyone says so. I wasn't caught, so I'm not sure if I was actually fined."
Ye Zhiqiu sighed, "This is truly outrageous! We spent so much money to get food, only to be ripped off like this! These people are getting nothing for nothing!"
"That's right. The key is that this batch of food coupons can only be purchased at a 50% discount! These beasts have really screwed us over. We spent a high price to get the food coupons, but we can only buy half of the food.
I also traded a few of these food coupons. Damn, I had to work for more than ten days to earn just fifteen yuan. I've been utterly screwed by these beasts!"
Ye Zhiqiu finally understood that the loss from pulling the cart was really huge, equivalent to buying one and a half kilograms of grain for fifteen yuan!
This dime is well spent, as I have already mentioned the basic prices. There are no eggs or fresh pork to buy now.
Meat coupons can only be used to buy aged canned meat at a butcher's shop, and a box of half a pound of canned meat requires five meat coupons!
But now, each household only has two meat coupons issued every month, which means that a family needs two and a half months’ worth of meat coupons to buy a box of canned food!
Ye Zhiqiu sighed and said, "Master, doesn't that mean we won't be able to make dumplings during the Chinese New Year this year?"
"Hey, I guess I'm doomed! I wanted to buy eggs to supplement my child's nutrition, but since July, there are no eggs left! An egg costs 80 cents on the black market, and the cheapest one used to be only 8 cents!
We all have to tighten our belts to pay off our debts, and we don't know when we'll be able to pay them off. I heard from the cadres in my yard that the reason there's no pork now is because all the pigs have been taken away to pay off the debts!
Today is the fourth day of the first lunar month, and it's less than two months until the Chinese New Year. I can't even dream of making meat dumplings anymore. I hope I can have some white flour by then, so I can make vegetarian dumplings for my kids!
Ye Zhiqiu remembered that some supplies would be temporarily restored during the Chinese New Year, so there would be no problem making dumplings.
But if this is the case in the capital, I wonder what life is like in those disaster-stricken areas!
We chatted like this for about half an hour and then the car stopped on the street in Sanlitun.
After Ye Zhiqiu paid the fare and thanked the driver, he felt a little homesick. He stood there looking around, unable to take a step back home.
He lit a cigarette. People passing by looked at him with a hint of disdain. Ye Zhiqiu knew how miserable he was. There was no water to shower at the base, and he was so tanned that he doubted his family would recognize him.
Moreover, he has an unshaven beard now, and looks just like a beggar. No wonder others look at him with disgust!
After finishing his cigarette, he took a deep breath and walked back to the alleyway leading to his home. The gate was closed, so he pushed it and found it was locked, so he knocked on the gate.
Not long after, Wang Fugui's voice was heard.
"Come on, come on! Who's knocking on the door?"
Ye Zhiqiu wanted to answer, "It's me," but he was a little choked up and couldn't say anything.
Although Wang Fugui felt strange, he still opened the door.
When he saw Ye Zhiqiu, he was a little confused, but the more he looked at this guy with red eyes who looked like a beggar, the more familiar he looked.
Wang Fugui asked in disbelief, "Grandson, is that you? Are you back? Or is the old man still asleep from his nap?"
Ye Zhiqiu finally recovered and said, "Grandpa, it's me, I'm back!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com