ITBBS Chapter 12

Early the next morning, Shen Yao got up. After getting ready, she pushed the old bicycle from the main room into the courtyard. Since she had never ridden this old-style 28-inch bicycle before, she practiced a bit in the yard. Feeling that there was no problem, she locked the door and set off for the county town.

Because it was still very early, the white frost hadn’t melted yet. The moment she stepped outside, Shen Yao felt the cold wind pierce her bones. Fortunately, she was wearing thermal underwear, thermal pants, a sweater, sweatpants, a new cotton-padded jacket and matching cotton pants on the outside. She was also wearing wool socks and shoes that had cowhide uppers and sheepskin lining. She was fully armed from head to toe, and only then did she dare to go out.

Shen Yao rode her bicycle out of the village and headed towards the county town based on her memory. Along the way, she didn’t encounter a single person. Everyone was probably still asleep at this hour.

She used her wind ability to assist her, which made her speed much faster than usual. After forty minutes, she reached the outskirts of An County. She stored the bicycle in her space and then entered the county town.

Seeing the buildings in the county town, Shen Yao was dumbfounded. They were so backward. The houses along the streets looked like ancient buildings, mostly brick and tile houses. Two-story buildings were rare, and even the roads were bumpy and uneven, full of holes here and there.

Shen Yao felt that not only were the buildings backward, but even the pedestrians on the streets were thin and sallow, walking as if they had little energy. The only difference was that their clothing and appearance were slightly better than in the countryside.

Looking at this poor and backward county town truly made her appreciate the hardships of this era.

Putting away her complicated thoughts, Shen Yao noticed it was just past six in the morning. The department stores weren’t open yet, so she decided to find a place to stay first.

After wandering around the streets for a while, she found a decent-looking guesthouse. She registered for accommodation using her letter of introduction.

Shen Yao chose a relatively good single room. She didn’t want to share a room with strangers.

She inspected the entire room. Overall, it was fairly clean, so she could stay with peace of mind. Seeing that she still had time, she used her astral projection to enter her space and organize her supplies.

“Master, why did you come in through your projection?” Xiao Ling looked at her master, quite surprised that she hadn’t entered with her physical body.

“I’m at a guesthouse in the county town right now, so I have to be careful. Xiao Ling, I’m going to organize the supplies so I can trade them over the next few days.” Even in a private room, Shen Yao didn’t dare to enter her space casually. Using her projection was the most convenient and safest way.

Xiao Ling followed beside Shen Yao and said, “Okay, Master, I’ll help too.”

Shen Yao walked to the storage warehouse and packed rice, white flour, and millet into cloth bags. These cloth bags were specially custom-made by her in her previous life. She had made a large batch back then and even bought a large quantity of old-fashioned burlap sacks wholesale from a bag factory. Now, they were all coming in handy.

She prepared plenty of both refined grains and coarse grains. Then she cut the pork into pieces of about one jin¹0.5 kg or two jin²1kg each. She also took out some eggs and soybean oil. After preparing everything she needed to trade over the next few days, her projection returned to her physical body.

After leaving the guesthouse, Shen Yao first found a remote place, entered her space, changed her outfit, and painted her face to look like a thirty-something older sister. She even added a big black mole at the corner of her mouth.

She put on a hat and went out. Carrying her basket on her back, she walked along the road while observing her surroundings. Using her spiritual power, she detected where the black market or factories might be, then headed straight for her destination.

When she arrived near the black market, Shen Yao didn’t rush in. Instead, she took out a white steamed bun and started eating. After just a few bites, she saw a woman in her thirties quickly walk up to her.

Zhang Xiuhe lowered her voice and asked, “Little sister, is there grain in your basket?”

Her intuition told her that since this girl could eat a white flour bun, she definitely didn’t lack food. With the increasing food shortages these days and her large family, if she couldn’t buy more grain, her family would soon run out of food.

Shen Yao was secretly happy. She knew that taking out a white flour bun would work. She nodded at the woman in front of her.

Zhang Xiuhe’s eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, “What do you have? I’ll take it all.”

Seeing the woman’s expression, Shen Yao knew she was really short of food. She lowered her voice and said, “I have rice and white flour, as well as eggs.”

Although Zhang Xiuhe was extremely excited inside, she didn’t dare show it. She pulled Shen Yao to the side.

She spoke loudly, “Oh my, little sister, I was wondering why I hadn’t seen you at the house for so long. Turns out you got the wrong place. Come, come, come, let’s go home with your cousin. You must stay at your sister’s place for a few days this time.”

“Cousin, I was wondering why I couldn’t find your house after searching for so long. Turns out I got the wrong place.” Shen Yao thought this woman was quite the actress. But since she didn’t sense any malice from her, she decided to go along. Who knew there might be an unexpected surprise.

“Little sister, my surname is Zhang. My name is Zhang Xiuhe. I work at the textile factory. My husband is the deputy director of the factory. Just call me Sister Zhang, so you can rest assured.” Zhang Xiuhe chattered as she enthusiastically pulled Shen Yao towards the factory’s residential compound.

Shen Yao didn’t expect this woman to be so honest. But she would see how things went. If they could develop into a long-term supplier, that would be good. After all, the textile factory employed quite a few workers.

“Sister Zhang, don’t you city folks all have ration supplies? Why are you so short of food?” Shen Yao asked in return.

“Sigh, as the saying goes, half-grown boys can eat their fathers out of house. My kids can all eat a lot. The ration supplies are now 70% coarse grains and 30% refined grains. Meat and eggs are even rarer. How is that enough?” Zhang Xiuhe sighed.

Zhang Xiuhe led Shen Yao into a small courtyard. Only after closing the gate did she ask, “Little sister, how much grain do you have in your basket? Don’t worry, I won’t let you lose out on the price. Right now, coarse grains on the black market go for two yuan, refined grains for five yuan per jin, eggs for thirty cents each, and pork for six yuan per jin.”

“Sister Zhang, I have ten jin each of rice and white flour, twenty eggs, and five jin of black pork. Are you sure you want it all?”

Shen Yao remembered that in her previous life, her maternal grandmother told her stories about their era. Her grandmother was born into a scholarly family, but during the hard times, she had to buy food on the black market to survive.

During those three years, black market grain prices skyrocketed. By the second half of 1960, black market grain ration tickets were five yuan per jin, and grain itself had soared to six or seven yuan.

Even though at the grain supply station and supply and marketing cooperatives, rice cost only 18 cents, standard flour 20 cents, and coarse grains just a few cents, during the hard times, even if you had money and ration tickets, there was no grain to sell to you.

Moreover, ration tickets were very scarce. You couldn’t just have them because you wanted them. Therefore, everyone knew the black market prices were high, but to survive, they had no choice but to buy there.