C13 The Market Price Cutting

Twenty to thirty miles is quite a trek, and walking it left the siblings utterly exhausted. By a little after seven, the town was starting to wake up, with more people appearing on the streets. A few vendors had set up their stalls, but none dared to shout out their wares. In these times, engaging in speculative trade could land you in jail, so no one was bold enough to risk it.

As Zhou Ruonan looked around at the familiar streets, she felt a wave of nostalgia. After 2010, the old part of town began to decline, and the main area started shifting north, closer to where her family lived, which had its advantages.

On Zhongshan Street, they found a relatively safe spot and set up their stall. They didn’t call out to passersby, just waited for customers. In those days, buying meat required meat coupons, and grain needed grain coupons. Without them, even if you had money, the supply and marketing cooperatives wouldn’t sell to you.

Farmers like Zhou Ruonan didn’t have meat or grain coupons and had to earn work points through farm labor to receive their share of food. Once that ran out, they had to find other ways. If farmers wanted to eat commercial grain, they could trade mountain goods or vegetables with city folks for grain coupons.

After a day of eating coarse grains, Zhou Ruonan longed for the taste of commercial grain. Having walked briskly, both she and Zhou Dawei were parched. Scanning the area, she said to Dawei, “Dawei, you stay here and keep an eye on things. I’m going to look around.”

Dawei nodded and sat down in front of the stall.

Ruonan's school is on the northern edge of town, quite a distance from here, so it's like she's visiting this area for the first time.

Seeing a middle-aged man selling pork nearby, Ruonan approached and asked, "Sir, how much is the pork?"

The man looked Ruonan up and down and chuckled, "Young lady, where are your parents?"

Ruonan frowned, thinking the man probably assumed she was begging. She replied firmly, "You just need to tell me how much the pork costs."

The man didn't answer, waving his fan. This girl seemed like she was from the countryside, maybe her family was in trouble, asking for a discount. She didn't look like she could afford it.

As the temperature rose, more people started coming out to shop for groceries.

Just as Ruonan was about to turn and leave, an elderly woman walked up and asked, "How much is the pork?"

The man immediately replied, "Ninety-three cents."

The woman frowned and said, "That's too expensive. How about eighty cents?"

The man looked troubled, and Ruonan saw a business opportunity. She turned to the woman and said, "Ma'am, would you like some crayfish? I have plenty."

The man's expression turned sour, and he snapped, "You little brat, what are you trying to pull?"

"Crayfish? Do you really have them? How much are they?" The elderly woman was clearly interested, adjusting the basket on her arm and ignoring the butcher.

Ruonan glanced at the middle-aged man nearby, then made up her mind and said, "I won't overcharge you. These were just caught fresh from the river today. How about seventy cents?"

In these times, meat usually meant pork, so her crayfish couldn't be priced higher than that. Besides, they still had shells and not much meat—just a little treat for the taste buds.

"Seventy cents is too much. It's mostly shell, and there's not much meat. I'll buy some for my grandson to try. How about sixty cents? If they're good, I'll come back for more." The elderly woman was quite the negotiator.