Feng Qingxue thought the price was agreeable and agreed to the transaction.
"I brought about twenty jin of rice and flour, and twenty to thirty eggs, but I didn't bring a scale."
"We have one, I'll take it over in a moment."
The old woman hurriedly ran off. Feng Qingxue quickly finished her bun and headed toward the old elm tree.
Upon waiting under the elm for a short while, Feng Qingxue saw from a distance the old woman approaching with a man in his thirties carrying a bamboo basket on his back. They moved quickly.
"This is my son." The old woman pointed to the man but did not tell his name.
Feng Qingxue followed the old woman behind the elm. The man kept watch.
When nobody was around, Feng Qingxue first opened the bag of eggs to let the old woman inspect.
"Oh, they are real eggs, they look so fresh." The old woman was delighted, quickly weighed them – a total of three jin and two liang. She efficiently placed them in her small basket, then weighed the rice and flour that Feng Qingxue brought.
There were five jin and one liang of rice, eight jin and five liang of flour, and seven jin and three liang of brown rice.
Although it was brown rice, it was still considered to be a fine grain.
After a final calculation, Feng Qingxue rounded down the total, "The rice and flour are one hundred and twenty yuan, and the eggs are fifteen yuan."
The rice and flour were calculated at six yuan per jin, while the eggs were calculated at five yuan per jin.
Upon hearing this, the old woman grimaced in pain.
It was expensive, but she still had to buy it.
Grains had become such a precious commodity that you couldn't buy them even if you had the money. The old woman didn't want to miss this rare opportunity.
Moreover, these fine grains could be exchanged for sixty to seventy jin of coarse grains.
Thus, the old woman swiftly fished out several large bundle of notes from her bosom, counted fourteen notes, and handed them to Feng Qingxue.
"Girl, I know these things aren't easy to come by, so I won't take advantage of you. Here's one hundred and forty yuan. Remember to look for me when you get hold of good things next time. The wall you were leaning against while eating the bun is my house."
"You have my word."
Feng Qingxue took the money without any hesitation and placed it in her purse, which was actually her space.
She couldn't think of a safer place than that.
Then, the old lady and her son with the bamboo basket quickly left, and Feng Qingxue also left the old elm shortly after.
After wandering around for half an hour and discovering two black market trading venues, Feng Qingxue returned to the market with her empty basket on her back.
Now with money, Feng Qingxue felt confident enough to enter a general merchandise store.
There were not many people in the store, and among those who were, most were simply browsing and few were buying anything.
The sales clerks behind the counter were so idle that they were cracking jokes, and they couldn't care less about the customers.
Feng Qingxue wanted to buy a pair of shoes for herself and her sister – one pair for now and one pair of cotton shoes for winter. She also wanted to buy clothes for Feng Qingyun to prevent her from wandering around with bare legs. Thus, she walked to the clothing and shoe counter.
"Comrade, how much for that pair of shoes?" Feng Qingxue asked, pointing to a pair of cloth shoes suitable for children.
The sales lady was knitting a sweater. When she heard Feng Qingxue's question, she looked up and snorted, "Do you have coupons?"
"Coupons?" Feng Qingxue looked surprised, as she momentarily forgot the fact that this era was a coupon era.
The sales lady sneered, "Why are you coming to the general merchandise store without coupons?"
A sense of contempt was clearly emitted.
Feng Qingxue felt uneasy and asked, "Do you need coupons to buy all merchandise? Can't you buy it with money?"
"Of course, buying things requires both money and coupons. You can't buy without any of them," the saleswoman said arrogantly, "Don't loiter around here without coupons. You're blocking the light I need to knit."
After saying this, the salesperson muttered under her breath: "Really, these poor peasants dare to step inside a department store without any ration tickets."
Feng Qingxue was filled with rage, but didn't want to cause a scene, so instead, she spun around and left.
Could they not go shopping without these tickets?
Just now, Feng Qingxue had been reminded of a passage from a document she had read that morning and couldn't help but sigh.
She now remembered that in the 1960s and '70s, one needed ration tickets for most commodities. Regardless of how much money one had, without tickets, it was impossible to buy things. Conversely, even with tickets, but no money, you couldn't purchase anything either.
There were many pieces of clothing, shoes, and socks in her storehouse, most of which did not conform with the aesthetics of the period, but some could be worn by people of Feng Qingyun's age.
The handmade shoes she had bought at the marketplace did meet the era's aesthetic, but as they were all new, despite fitting into this era's aesthetic, Feng Qingxue dared not let her sisters wear them casually. It would draw too much attention and would be challenging to explain their origins.
She was prepared to artificially age any new clothes they got, and if she couldn't buy new ones, she'd take some from the storehouse and age them.
An elderly, sallow-skinned woman dressed in humble but clean clothes couldn't bear to see what had just transpired and approached Feng Qingxue to kindly suggest, "Young girl, why don't you go to the second-hand clothes counter and see if they have any old shoes? They don't require a ticket."
Feng Qingxue asked in amazement, "They sell second-hand items?"
The old woman thought for a while before she understood the term 'second-hand'. She nodded her head and said, "Some people want to keep up with fashion and wear new clothes. But if they don't have enough money, they would sell their old clothes at a lower price, and then use cloth tickets and money to buy new ones. And some people who don't have tickets will buy these second-hand clothes and shoes. It's a win-win strategy."
"Dear old lady, thanks for your suggestion. I'll go and have a look."
Feng Qingxue slipped her hand into her basket and conjured two buns. Quietly, she placed the buns into the old woman's pocket.
The old woman was taken aback, but she quickly placed her hand over her pocket.
"Dear girl…" She moved her lips, felt the soft warmth beneath her hand but ultimately didn't decline their offer. She kept repeating, "Thank you, my child, thank you."
With these two buns, her grandchild would enjoy two more meals.
The old woman knew better than anyone how precious grain was. Even in her own family, it would be tough for her grandchild to enjoy white bread.
With her keen eyes, Feng Qingxue could tell that this old woman was even more destitute and frail than the previous one. The most common reason for such destitution and frailty was undoubtedly a lack of food, without exception.
Moved by the old woman's kindness, when they brushed past each other, Feng Qingxue whispered to her, "Tomorrow, I will be at Red Army Bridge. I plan to barter the food that I managed to scrounge together for money and goods that I do not have."
Red Army Bridge was the place where a black market operated on the outskirts of town.
Mentioning Red Army Bridge was akin to mentioning the black market.
The old woman's eyes sparkled with joy, and she hurriedly returned home.
After standing for a moment, Feng Qingxue found the second-hand clothing counter the old woman had mentioned. True enough, old clothes and shoes were displayed there, albeit in limited quantities, and there were even fewer other second-hand items.
The salesperson here was friendlier than the previous one; seeing Feng Qingxue approach, she quickly got up and greeted her with a warm smile.
"Comrade, what would you like to buy?"
Feng Qingxue stated her requirements, and the salesperson immediately brought out a selection of children's clothes and shoes for her to choose from.
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