Payment in Meat, Not Flesh

Ten jin of venison and a carrying basket came to thirty yuan in total.

The price wasn't very high, considering it was venison, so Bai Yao promptly took out three ten-yuan bills and handed them to the pair.

After taking the money, the twins ran off so fast it was as if Bai Yao might swallow them whole if they were a step slower.

Bai Yao picked up the basket, found a deserted spot, and put it into his System Space.

While he was at it, Bai Yao sorted through the ration coupons he had just obtained by "ransacking a house."

How should he put it?

The coupons in the countryside just weren't as good as those in the city. There were pitifully few nationwide coupons, only a handful. The rest were local, and some would expire in another half a month.

To avoid wasting them, Bai Yao naturally decided to use his old method to exchange the coupons for money.

The thing was, Jiang Rou's black market was the only one left in town, and he felt that going there would be like putting up a sign saying "no silver buried here."

So he could either make a trip to the county seat or sell them off a few at a time?

After considering the difference between the two, Bai Yao readily chose the latter.

Retail it was. Coupons were even scarcer in the countryside, and the ones he had that were about to expire were for scarce things like cloth, sugar, and meat.

He wouldn't shortchange himself, though. Bai Yao kept a few pastry coupons on him, planning to rush in and buy some as soon as the supply and marketing cooperative opened.

It was noon, and the supply and marketing cooperative wasn't open now.

But he had nothing to do anyway, so rather than sit around bored, he might as well sell some coupons.

All right, he was just plain bored.

He didn't know if it was fate, but the direction he had picked at random brought him across the twins again.

By the looks of them, they weren't selling anything anymore. Instead, they seemed to be waiting to buy something.

But would anyone come here to sell things?

Curious, Bai Yao stayed where he was and waited to watch the show.

He didn't have to wait long. Soon, a young man came over, looking around as he walked.

Bai Yao: ???

This wasn't a big fish.

Bai Yao was a little disappointed, but since he had already watched this far, he might as well see the rest.

When the young man came closer, neither side spoke. One handed over a few coupons, and the other handed over a pheasant.

Both sides checked what they had received, and after making sure there were no problems, they went their separate ways without saying a word the entire time.

Judging by how the two sides acted, though, Bai Yao thought this wasn't their first transaction.

But the twins were trading for coupons?

Weren't they buyers ready and waiting?

He had plenty of coupons and wouldn't have to be as stingy as the person who had just traded with them.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem!" Bai Yao deliberately made a noise, startling the twins so badly that they immediately tried to run.

As they fled, the two habitually glanced back, wanting to see who had spotted them.

And there they saw Bai Yao leaning against a wall at a corner, smiling at them.

What rotten luck! the brothers thought in unison.

But the next second, when they saw Bai Yao fanning himself with a stack of coupons, the two felt they weren't unlucky at all. They had met the God of Wealth.

After all, Bai Yao had paid them the largest sum they had earned from selling venison.

They stopped running, exchanged a glance, and turned back.

Bai Yao hadn't expected it to work so well. The moment they started running, he had already prepared himself for failure.

Judging by their behavior, the two really were desperate for coupons.

With that thought, Bai Yao waited until they came up to him, then asked directly, "What coupons do you want?"

"Cloth coupons," the brothers replied.

Bai Yao noticed then that the brothers' clothes had been mended many times and probably couldn't be patched much longer.

"How much do you want?" Bai Yao asked.

He wasn't about to show them great kindness. They barely knew each other, after all, so he would trade with them as usual.

"Coupons for six chi of cloth."

Clearly, the two were planning to make themselves a new outfit each.

"Fine. We'll go by the black-market price. If you agree, hand over the money. If not, I'm leaving." As Bai Yao spoke, he took out several cloth coupons and put the rest away.

The twins wanted to bargain, but seeing Bai Yao's expression, they knew he wasn't in the mood to haggle with them.

After thinking it over, they realized they wouldn't lose out by making the trade under the circumstances, so they accepted it.

The two then began taking out their money.

At first, Bai Yao remained expressionless, but then his face abruptly changed.

He had forgotten that people these days deliberately sewed pockets inside their clothes to hide their money.

In their socks, inside their clothes, in their crotches...

As the two pulled out the bills, Bai Yao felt like telling them to keep the money.

If he actually took it, he felt he would become dirty himself.

After a second of silence, Bai Yao hit on an idea. "Look at you two, so reluctant to part with it. Forget it, I don't want the money. You can pay me back in meat."

What Bai Yao didn't expect was that, as soon as he said that, the brothers quickly put their money away.

"When?" "Where?" the brothers asked, one after the other.

Bai Yao: ???

"What are you thinking? By paying me back in meat, I meant you two could pay your debt with meat from pheasants and wild rabbits," Bai Yao said, rolling his eyes.

If it really had been that kind of payment in flesh, Bai Yao wouldn't have been interested anyway. Wasn't Kong Wu better-looking than these two?

Still, the brothers' reaction did arouse Bai Yao's curiosity.

"Why did you agree so readily? Don't tell me you two have experience with that sort of thing?" Bai Yao's eyes were ablaze with the fire of gossip.

The twins also breathed a sigh of relief and explained, "We don't have any experience. It would've been our first time too. We only agreed so readily because you're good-looking and rich, so we wouldn't have lost out doing that with you."

"Exactly. Unlike what's-his-name, who just wanted a bite to eat and ended up being tricked into losing both his wife and his soldiers."

Hearing the first answer, Bai Yao suddenly felt lucky. He had almost suffered a huge loss, losing both his money and himself.

But right afterward, his attention was caught by the second piece of news.

"Who's this what's-his-name you're talking about? Which educated youth is it?" Bai Yao hadn't expected such a huge melon to eat. This was so worth it.

The brothers exchanged a glance, however, and didn't answer directly.

Bai Yao understood instantly. He took out a coupon for half a chi of cloth and said, "If it's a deal, talk. If not, forget it."

"Deal."

Bai Yao handed over the coupon and waited to hear the juicy gossip.

"It was Zhang Dashu."

Bai Yao: ???

"Wait! You mean the male educated youth Zhang Dashu? Zhang Dashu, that baby-faced, burly man? Are you sure it wasn't a female educated youth?" Bai Yao was truly shocked.

Good grief. As expected of the place where Hu Yang and Dongfang Dazhuang could develop feelings for each other. Even if there were a few more cases involving men, he would find it perfectly reasonable.

"Yeah, it was Zhang Dashu. Dong Aiguo tricked him."

Bai Yao: !!!

Holy shit! Dong Aiguo! He was involved too! This was getting even juicier!

Bai Yao pulled a handful of melon seeds from his pocket and gestured for the two to continue. He was going to eat his fill of this melon today!

But...

"All right, all right, stop staring. I'll share some melon seeds with you. Hurry up and tell me the details."