NOVPUB
Chapter 145: Chapter 139 Black Market
Shen Yunfang glanced at her watch as she left the bank, finding she still had plenty of time. So, she decided to take another look around the black market.
Last year, when she came to the provincial city, she had learned about the specific location of the black market, but she always felt that if everyone knew about it, then the police must know too. Therefore, the black market might be very unsafe, which was why she didn’t go last time and chose to go door-to-door to sell her goods instead.
However, this time she was short on time and had an important task at hand; she also had to care for a patient and couldn’t spare so much time every day to sell things. That’s why she wanted to check out the black market—to scope it out first. If it seemed okay, she would sell some goods there; if not, she would hold on to them.
She took the bus again and got off after three stops. Following the landmarks she had heard about, she wandered around in circles but couldn’t find the place.
Could she have gotten it wrong? She surveyed her surroundings once more, but it really didn’t seem right—nobody acted the slightest bit unusual.
Just as she was starting to feel frantic, a small voice behind her asked, "Little sister, are you here to buy or to sell?"
Shen Yunfang abruptly turned around. When had this person approached her, and how could he appear and disappear like a ghost?
"Don’t get worked up, little sister. If I’ve got it wrong, pretend I never said anything," said an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, who would definitely go unnoticed in a crowd—a truly inconspicuous face.
"Brother, you didn’t get it wrong. If I were to buy, what do you have here?" Yunfang asked calmly.
The middle-aged man scrutinized her carefully, probably wondering if she was just fooling around. After a moment, he replied, "Whatever you name, I have it here."
His words carried a grand air, which made Yunfang’s eyes light up, "Do you have fish? What about beef? And pigeons, do you have pigeon meat?"
The middle-aged man furrowed his brow upon hearing her request; he needed to make sure this young woman wasn’t here to cause trouble, asking for such hard-to-get items. "I have frozen crucian and carp fish, no live ones. Beef is rare in the market, so if you want it, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny. As for pigeons, I do have them, but they are alive—you’ll have to kill them yourself."
When Yunfang heard that he really had the goods, she was overjoyed. With these items, she could cook various delicious dishes for Li Hongjun, "What are the prices for these? Tell me."
"Big sister, can we not talk here? Let’s go somewhere more private to discuss," the middle-aged man suggested, always mindful of their surroundings.
Yunfang checked the place he indicated and it seemed there were no traps, so she followed him.
"The price for both crucian and carp is the same, one yuan per jin. Beef on the market is ninety-three fen per jin, but if you really want to buy, it’ll be three yuan per jin. Pigeons are sold per bird, two yuan each," the middle-aged man quickly recited the prices, while still keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
The prices sure were steep, but it was good enough to be able to buy them. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Okay, I’ll take two carps, six crucian fish, ten jin of beef neck, twenty jin of shank, and twenty jin of brisket. And give me ten pigeons," Yunfang muttered her list of needed items.
"Sister, hold on, I understand beef neck, but what is this ’shank’ you speak of?" The middle-aged uncle interrupted, not ashamed to ask for clarification.
"Shank is the meat from the cow’s thigh, and brisket is the meat from the belly," Yunfang explained, thinking that people probably don’t make such distinctions nowadays.
"Ah, I see now, you should have just said beef thigh," the middle-aged uncle said, as if he’d just had an epiphany.
Shen Yunfang rolled her eyes, feeling like she was wasting her breath on someone who couldn’t understand.
"Can I get these items right now?"
"I don’t have them on me at the moment, but tomorrow, I can definitely get them for you," the middle-aged uncle gestured as if counting money. "Let’s still meet here for the transaction, but you have to give me a deposit first. You’re asking for a lot of items. If you don’t show up tomorrow, I’ll be stuck with all these goods."
Shen Yunfang gave him a wary glance, "I can’t trust you, just as you can’t trust me. If I give you the money and you don’t show up tomorrow, where would I find you?"
The middle-aged uncle had thought of that too, indeed, it’s always cash on delivery in this business.
"Alright then, I’ll trust you, sister. Let’s meet here at nine o’clock tomorrow morning for a cash on delivery exchange."
"Good, make sure to pick out the big carps and crucian carps for me, and with the pigeons, don’t try to fob me off with small ones."
"Sister, you can rest assured," the man promised. "In business, we value reputation. Negotiating the price is one thing, but the quality of the goods is absolutely guaranteed. You can see for yourself tomorrow. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to take them, no problem."
"Good, that puts me at ease. Oh, and make sure you don’t sell me sick or dead beef. I’m getting this for a sick person. If something goes wrong after they eat, I’ll definitely come looking for you to settle accounts," Shen Yunfang quickly stated, wary that she might be sold poor-quality meat—she knew that people at this time wouldn’t care if the animals were sick or dying, they would still kill them for their meat.
"Oh, sister, that’s an insult. I never engage in such despicable acts. I only deal with cattle that are butchered when they’re alive and kicking, not sick ones," the middle-aged man assured her repeatedly.
Seeing that it was about time, Shen Yunfang realized she should get back to cooking for Li Hongjun. She stopped her market stroll and hopped on the bus back to the guest house.
Before entering the guest house, she found a secluded spot to take out a shopping basket containing a pork bone, more than ten eggs, some mushrooms, a large radish, a few carrots, and thinking that she didn’t have any staple foods, she also took out ten home-steamed corn bread buns—each as big as the mouth of a bowl and one centimeter thick. Because they were made with leavened dough, they were suitable for Li Hongjun to eat and easy to digest.
Upon entering the guest house, she placed her bags in the room, then headed to the kitchen to start simmering the bone broth.
This had to be simmered for a long time to get a good flavor, so she started it as soon as she got back, asking a young attendant to help keep an eye on it while she went back to her room for a nap.
The young attendant was more than willing to help out; she had just been treated to a small basin of chicken soup plus several pieces of pork the day before.
She slept until three in the afternoon, as sleeping propped up had not been comfortable. After a quick wash-up, she headed to the kitchen with her basket.
The bone broth was now milky white and fragrant. She filled a thermos with part of it, and for the portion that didn’t fit, she washed and cut the radishes into chunks, then continued to stew them in the broth.
She grabbed two small aluminum basins, ready to steam some egg custard. She beat four eggs in each basin, mixed them well, added condiments, and then placed them on a steaming rack over a large pot. The pot was big enough that she was able to warm up the corn bread at the same time.
By the time the custard was done, the radishes had absorbed the broth and softened, so she seasoned them with a bit of salt and took them off the stove.
Lacking enough thermoses, she carried the small basins directly. After borrowing something from the young attendant, she set off to deliver the food, basket in one hand, thermos in the other.
Of course, she had saved some of the day’s delicious fare for the Li family elders as well as a portion for the young attendant.
