Chapter Thirty: The Grand Market
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“When you speak to your relatives later, tell them that if they have ration coupons, I can pay them a little less. Could you get me some coupons?”
“What kind do you need?”
“Grain coupons, meat coupons, sugar coupons, soap coupons... Whatever they have, I’ll take.”
Lin’s mother had only two ounces’ worth of grain and meat coupons, and she had already used them to buy the braised pork.
Without coupons, even if she had money, she could not buy meat to eat!
Chef Shen thought for a moment. “I’ll discuss it with them later. If they don’t have coupons, I’ll do my best to get you some other things instead. As for meat coupons and grain coupons, you don’t need to worry about those. I’ll set aside some meat for you every few days. All you have to do is pay.”
“That’s wonderful! Brother Shen, you’re such a good person!”
Lin Xiang was generous with her praise, and Chef Shen’s face crinkled into a broad smile.
After they finished discussing work, Lin Xiang asked about something else.
“Brother Shen, my family kept a very tight rein on me when I was growing up, so I hardly ever went out. I’ve never even been to a market fair. I heard people can do business at the fairs. Is that true?”
“That isn’t exactly doing business. It’s exchanging goods,” Chef Shen corrected her.
After a pause, he amended his explanation. “That was how things worked a few years ago. There was one large fair every season, and people could bring surplus items from home to exchange for things they needed. Money couldn’t be involved in the process.”
“But since the middle of this year—that is, since the notice announcing the resumption of the college entrance examinations was issued—the policies have loosened somewhat. On the day of the fair, people can do a little small-scale business. As long as the sums involved aren’t large, the administrators turn a blind eye and no one interferes.”
Just as she had guessed!
Suppressing her growing excitement, Lin Xiang pressed on. “Then, according to what you’re saying, doesn’t that mean we can earn money once every season?”
“Once?” Chef Shen laughed and shook his head. “As long as you’re bold enough and have the energy, you can make money every day!”
Lin Xiang’s eyes practically turned into stars. “Brother Shen, tell me more! Aren’t the fairs held only once every season? How could anyone earn money every day?”
As he pinched dumplings, Chef Shen explained, “That was in the past. Didn’t I just say that ever since the document announcing the resumption of the college entrance examinations was issued, the policies have loosened a little? The large fairs have already changed from once a season to once a month.”
“This once-a-month schedule applies only to your commune. But there are so many communes throughout Mianyang Town, and Luochuan County has several other towns as well. That means there’s practically a fair somewhere every day.”
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“As long as you aren’t afraid of hard work, doesn’t that mean you can earn money every day?”
It could really work that way?
Lin Xiang admitted that she had been too narrow-minded.
“Brother Shen, there’s something else I’d like to trouble you with...”
Before she could finish, Chef Shen had already guessed what she wanted to ask. “At the beginning of every month, the town government posts a notice outside its entrance. It lists the locations and dates of all the fairs being held within Mianyang Town. You can go take a look for yourself. But it only includes Mianyang Town, not the other towns.”
To find out the dates and locations of fairs in the other towns, she would have to go to the county government offices.
Lin Xiang was not greedy. Just Mianyang Town alone would give her more than enough to keep busy!
“Brother Shen, keep wrapping the dumplings for me. I’m going to the town government offices and will come back for them later!”
“Sure. I’ll finish wrapping them and leave them here. When you return, I’ll cook them for you.”
Lin Xiang rode her bicycle to the town government offices again, and sure enough, she found the notice Chef Shen had mentioned on the bulletin board.
The notice had been posted at the beginning of the month, and it was now nearly the end of the month. After more than twenty days of wind and sun, its original red background had faded, but the black brush-written characters could still be made out.
There were no smartphones capable of taking photographs in the 1970s, so Lin Xiang had developed the good habit of carrying paper and a pen with her. Today, that habit proved useful.
It was the twenty-first of the month, leaving ten days until the beginning of the next month.
She still had to make preparations before doing business. Since today did not count, she had only seven days left.
Fortunately, there were fairs on each of the final seven days, giving Lin Xiang the chance to make some money.
She rode her bicycle to the grain and oil station.
Rice, flour, and meat required the corresponding ration coupons, but seasonings did not. Lin Xiang spent two yuan and sixty cents on various condiments before carrying them back to the state-run restaurant.
The braised pork had already been cooked. Chef Shen had packed it into a lunchbox for her, and once she entered, he began boiling the dumplings.
“These two lunchboxes are brand-new. I haven’t even had the chance to enjoy using them myself. I’m lending them to you today, so remember to bring them back the next time you come into town.”
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“I’ll bring them back tomorrow.”
“No rush. Just remember not to forget them. There’s no need to make a special trip.”
Lin Xiang explained with a bright smile, “Factory Director Chen said I was supposed to report for work today, but since I didn’t go, he gave me an extra two days. I have to report to the cotton textile mill by the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest, or it will be considered that I’ve voluntarily given up the position. So, Brother Shen, I’ll have to come by again tomorrow at noon.”
“All right. I’ll give you the address. Just go there directly at noon tomorrow.”
Lin Xiang put away the slip of paper with the address written on it, then said goodbye to Chef Shen with the two heavy lunchboxes in hand. She rode her bicycle home, put the food away, and then went to return the bicycle to the brigade office, paying fifty cents for the rental.
The two bicycles had been purchased collectively by the brigade office. Villagers could rent them whenever they needed one, at a rate of fifty cents a day. The income counted as money earned for the village.
After returning the bicycle, Lin Xiang went home. The moment she stepped inside, she saw several unwelcome guests.
Yu Fang behaved as though she were in her own house, rummaging through every corner. The home, which had originally been neat and orderly, soon became a complete mess.
But the Lin family was poor and did not own many things, so after searching for a long while without finding anything worthwhile, Yu Fang could not help growing frustrated.
Lin Xiang was simply relieved that, worried someone might break in, she had locked the braised pork and dumplings from the state-run restaurant inside the kitchen cabinet before leaving.
Otherwise, given the way Yu Fang was turning the entire house upside down, the braised pork and dumplings would already have ended up in the stomachs of her family of four!
“Are you people ever going to stop? You’ve come to my house three times in one day over a lousy position!”
Aunt Lin opened her mouth to curse Lin Xiang, but the middle-aged man beside her stopped her.
Uncle Lin was about the same age as Aunt Lin, yet he looked much younger. He had a fairly kindly appearance and was fond of smiling. Whenever he beamed at someone cheerfully, even the greatest fury would dissipate before long.
“Little Niu, listen to yourself. We came to visit because we care about you. Don’t misunderstand our good intentions.”
Lin Xiang disliked Uncle Lin no less than she disliked Aunt Lin—in fact, she might even dislike him more.
He was a smiling tiger. He seemed easygoing, but in reality he was the most calculating of them all. Many of Aunt Lin’s underhanded deeds had been carried out because he had egged her on.
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