Found Out

With that woman making the first purchase, several others began picking out fish, all afraid the big ones would be snapped up.

Things were different from later years. Everyone picked the biggest fish they could find-meat was scarce these days.

After the first five or six customers picked out their fish, those behind them began complaining:

"All you've got left are small ones. If you charge the same price, aren't we getting a bad deal?"

"Exactly! Your fish aren't all the same size. Other people picked out the big ones first, and now we're supposed to pay the same price..."

Li Long looked over the remaining fish. All those weighing more than two and a half kilos had indeed been picked out. He smiled and said:

"How about this? Don't worry, everyone. The remaining fish are one yuan fifty each. Sound fair? Each one weighs at least two kilos. At one fifty, that works out to seventy cents a kilo-cheaper than mutton!"

"What about the silver carp?"

"One yuan each!"

The others immediately began picking out fish too. Although the Department Store and the supply and marketing cooperative sold fish in winter, theirs was hairtail shipped in from the coast. It was expensive, and supplies were limited.

Who wouldn't want a big Common Carp stewing on the table for New Year? Even the sight of it was festive. Besides, fish kept well in winter. They could buy one and store it for ages.

When that group finished choosing, only an elderly man of about sixty remained. Looking at the little fish, he asked:

"How much are these small crucian carp?"

"These four Slab Crucian Carp are seventy cents each. The little ones are one yuan for fifteen, but you can't pick and choose," Li Long said.

Though he called them little crucian carp, their sizes varied. The larger ones weighed three or four liang, while the smallest weighed less than one.

"Give me two yuan's worth of the little ones," the old man said cheerfully. "Those people don't know good eating. These little crucian carp are the real treat! Say, young man, can you get hold of any loaches?"

"No loaches, but we have Ditch Fish. They look pretty similar."

"Those are Plateau Loaches, a kind of loach. Can you get some?"

"Not in the dead of winter. The water's too deep, and they stay on the bottom. We can get them in summer."

"Ah, all right." The old man had brought his own cloth bag. Li Long put thirty fish into it and accepted a two-yuan banknote with a lathe operator on it. That sort of note would be worth quite a bit in later years. Unfortunately, this one was rather worn.

Seeing that no one else was coming over, Li Long asked Tao Daqiang, who had been taking the money, to count it.

"Six at two yuan, eight at one fifty-that includes the silver carp. Two at one yuan, plus this last two yuan. Altogether..." Tao Daqiang couldn't work it out, so he started counting the money.

Li Long did the sum quickly in his head and said:

"That's twenty-eight yuan."

"That much!" Tao Daqiang froze for a moment, lost count, and started over.

It really was twenty-eight.

They had sold just over half the fish.

"If we sell the rest, won't that be over fifty yuan?" Tao Daqiang said excitedly.

People nearby looked over.

"That's not going to happen." Li Long waved a hand. "I doubt the rest will sell. Haven't you noticed everyone's starting to leave?"

Tao Daqiang turned around and realized there weren't many people left at the Black Market. Vendors were packing up one after another, and there were now fewer buyers than sellers.

"Then... what do we do?"

"Watch the stall for now. Same prices as before. Give me the money. I'm going to ask about a few things."

Li Long had already noticed that people here weren't just selling goods. Some were also trading grain coupons, oil coupons, and the like. He walked over to one of them, who eyed him warily.

"Hey, got any bicycle coupons?"

"Yes. Fifty yuan each."

That expensive!

"What about sewing machine coupons?"

"Twenty."

Li Long was speechless.

"And rapeseed oil coupons?"

"Twenty cents per jin."

What a rip-off! An absolute rip-off!

But there was no helping it. Without connections, this was the only place to get them.

"I'll take coupons for ten jin of rapeseed oil." Li Long didn't haggle. He knew this man had plenty of coupons, and figured he could come back whenever he needed more.

As long as I can get the coupons!

Though the man seemed a little dissatisfied, Li Long was still a paying customer. He counted out coupons for ten jin of rapeseed oil, and Li Long handed over two yuan. Money and coupons changed hands together.

After walking around, Li Long found people selling grain and pork. Pork was one yuan seventy per kilo. There weren't many fatty cuts left; someone must have already bought them.

He bought two pieces of pork belly, one weighing over two kilos and the other over three, spending ten yuan.

When he returned, Tao Daqiang handed him three yuan with a smile.

"Brother Long, I sold a Gugu Chicken."

"Nice work!" Li Long smiled. "All right, let's go. Everyone's gone."

"But these fish..." Tao Daqiang was reluctant to give up.

"Pack them up first. We'll have a look around." Seeing the other vendors packing up one after another, Li Long knew they couldn't stay. He quickly gathered their things and left.

When they had gone five hundred meters, they saw people wearing red armbands heading toward the Black Market.

There was no one left there.

The two sides avoided any trouble.

Pulling the Sled together, they made their way to the State-Run Canteen, with Li Long leading.

Li Long remembered that people often called this place the Big Meat Canteen. As the name suggested, it served Han-style food, with pork buns as its specialty.

"Come on, let's buy a couple of buns." The thought of meat buns made Li Long hungry. Though he had eaten fairly well over the past two days since coming back to life, the food still seemed a little bland compared with what he'd eaten in later years. Meat buns these days used proper ingredients. No minced pancreas, lymph nodes, or other scraps went into the filling-just real pork belly, cabbage, and scallions.

"Brother Long, I'm not hungry..."

"Eat first. We'll talk afterward." Li Long had Tao Daqiang wait outside while he went in and bought four large buns.

Palm-sized, thirty cents each, and piping hot. Now that was value for money!

Of course, he didn't tell Tao Daqiang the price. He would definitely call them expensive.

They took a bun each and finished them in two or three bites. Grease coated Tao Daqiang's mouth. He wiped it off with his hand, then licked it clean.

Li Long found that a bit much and turned away.

After finishing his bun and wiping his mouth, Tao Daqiang felt warmer. He asked:

"Brother Long, next we..."

"Right here." Li Long pointed at a woman approaching from nearby.

"I'll go ask her. Keep an eye out. If anyone else comes along, we'll ask them too."

With that, he stepped forward. The woman looked at him warily.

"Hello, ma'am! I'm from a village, and we caught some fish yesterday. Would you like any? They're very fresh and cheap! Big fish, one yuan each. Better value than pork..."

Tempted, the woman asked:

"Where are they?"

Li Long hurried back and pulled a fish out of the urea sack on the Sled.

"Look, this is a Common Carp. We've also got grass carp, Silver Carp, Five-Stripe Perch... and crucian carp..."

"One yuan? Can you make it a little cheaper?" The fish did look good, so the woman asked.

"I really can't go any lower. This is a good-sized fish. It works out to less than sixty cents a kilo." Li Long held out his hands for her to see. "We're only earning money for our hard work. Breaking holes in the ice isn't easy."

"All right, I'll buy... two. One Common Carp and one Five-Stripe Perch."

Li Long quickly took out the fish for her. The woman wasn't entirely pleased.

"This Five-Stripe Perch is a little small."

"But it tastes great! Five-Stripe Perch grow up eating fish. They taste much better than Common Carp. How about I throw in two crucian carp?"

"All... all right." The woman was satisfied.

Watching how smoothly Li Long handled it, Tao Daqiang felt he really had a great deal to learn.

And he might not even be able to learn it all.

Thanks to readers I Am a Lone Star, tiandong520, 20190311153138002, and Phoenix Soaring for your monthly votes, and thanks to everyone for your recommendation votes, clicks, and continued reading! May Day is here-happy holidays, everyone! There may be a recommendation feature next week, and I'll post extra updates then. For now, I'll build up a backlog. Thank you all for your support!

(End of chapter)