Mrs. Chen smiled heartily and nodded. “Of course! If we lack anything at home, I definitely won’t be polite to you!”
“Okay, Auntie. Then I’ll go first and be busy now.”
“Go ahead and take care!”
After waiting for Xiulan to leave, Mr. Chen, who had just woken up, heard the movement and asked his wife, “Wife, who was that?”
Mrs. Chen explained to him what happened, “It’s that girl, Xiulan. That child really has a big heart. It is probably because she had seen our broken pot last time, so she came here today on purpose to give our family a new pot!”
After hearing that, Mr. Chen was full of emotions and commented, “That’s right! That girl is a very good person. She is kind-hearted and has the ability. If that kid, Cheng, can marry such a girl, it would be his blessing!”
“Haha! Correct! We have to turn the tables for him. We need to let him take the initiative and seize the opportunity, otherwise, if such a good girl is snatched away by others, he will have no place to cry if he wants to!”
After Xiulan left the Chens’ house, she went to the black market to exchange her foodstuffs for some money and coupons. It was not a bad thing to put more money and coupons in her hands now because she could buy whatever she wanted later with these.
She quickly arrived on the black market, looking for someone to trade with.
There were many people on the black market at that time, some were buyers and some were sellers.
Xiulan took a look and saw a well-dressed woman asking for foodstuffs, but what she wanted were fine grains.
Although many people were reselling grains on the black market, most of them were coarse grains.
After this woman asked the other sellers for a while, she didn’t continue asking and just sighed in frustration.
When Xiulan saw her like that, she walked over and asked the woman, “Sister, do you want to buy fine grains? I have some here.”
The woman immediately became happy and asked back to confirm, “Really? Do you really have fine grains?
Xiulan nodded. “Yes, I have rice, white flour, and dried noodles here.”
***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.***
The woman’s eyes lit up suddenly, thinking that she didn’t need to search high and low. It didn’t take much time for her to find the black market, but after wandering around there for so long, she still wasn’t able to find anyone who could sell her fine grains. And now, she was surprised that someone actually took the initiative to sell her some.
Because of that, she immediately asked Xiulan about the price, “What are the prices of your rice, white flour, and dried noodles?”
Xiulan decided to give the woman the same price she had given to Aidang before, so she said, “Rice and white flour are four yuan per half a kilo, and dried noodles are five yuan per half a kilo.
“If you have coupons, three yuan per half a kilo of rice and white flour plus 500-gram food coupon, and three yuan per half a kilo of dried noodles plus 500-gram food coupon.
“If you don’t have food coupons, you can also use other coupons or industrial coupons.”
In fact, the prices she quoted were no longer particularly expensive and they were already very low compared to the prices on the black market.
The fine grains being sold on the black market were so expensive that even if you had money, you still wouldn’t be able to buy any. She quoted such prices, which were completely reasonable.
But the woman felt that it was too expensive, so she frowned and sighed. “Why is it so expensive? You ask for so much money just for half a kilo and you still have to ask for coupons too?
“I have money and coupons, so I think it’s better to go to the Grain Bureau store to buy, where it only costs a few cents per half a kilo of grains!”
When the woman expressed her opinion and disliked Xiulan for selling her fine grains so expensive, Xiulan said, “Sister, you know, this is the black market. If you can buy fine grains at the Grain Bureau, then you will not come here to buy them.
“Regarding the prices I quoted, these are already considered cheap compared to the prices that the other sellers offer. If you want to buy my foodstuffs, then you can buy them. If you don’t want to buy them, then just forget about it. We are basically doing a business which is a matter of mutual consent. It’s a voluntary transaction and not forced.”
The woman thought for a while, hesitated for a bit, and said, “I still think your prices are too expensive. Sister, if you can make them cheaper for me, I can consider buying your goods.”