Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 112 - 0112: Returning to the Black Market4_1

Chapter 112: Chapter 0112: Returning to the Black Market4_1

After saying this, Wang Zhengguo quickly added, "I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the law of the state. In fact, the establishment of new China, with its principle of equality for all, has been the greatest blessing for us common folk, sparing us from countless instances of oppression. However, some of those enforcing the law after it was put into effect have been too drastic. After all, there are good and bad people in every stratum of society and we can’t generalize."

Feng Qingxue remained silent, not commenting.

Wang Zhengguo sighed, picked up his chopsticks to eat a bit of food, and didn’t continue the topic.

Feng Qingxue didn’t press further. She thought about how great the black market business must be towards the end of the year, and how she might be able to barter food for many good items, thus she set off the next day.

Although we are now in 1961, the drought last year resulted in reduced grain yield, so there are many people in the black market who are in dire need of food.

On her first round in the black market, Feng Qingxue exchanged five pounds of cornmeal for a gold ring inlaid with an emerald, and three pounds of brown rice got her a finely crafted jade snuff bottle and a blue-and-white porcelain plate.

The gold ring didn’t weigh much, but it was finely crafted and the gemstone was of excellent quality. The snuff bottle and the porcelain plate were also quite nice.

She didn’t lack money, but she intended to barter, one side being food and the other side being goods.

In fact, the people in the black market who were willing to exchange jewelry and antiques for grain were few, unless they were at their wits’ end. They feared inciting trouble, and those who were willing to exchange were living in desperation, yet they did not dare to blatantly bring out their items. Each time, it was Feng Qingxue who approached them and asked if they were willing to exchange goods for grain.

Those she asked were people who used to live in opulence but had fallen on hard times, yet their intrinsic elegance could not be concealed.

Only these kinds of people would have jewelry and antiques that they found difficult to part with.

Of course, not everyone Feng Qingxue asked agreed to barter, but out of every five people she approached, three were willing to exchange goods for grain, while the other two offered to pay money. Feng Qingxue sold the grain to them as well, after all, a few pounds of grain could save a life.

There were many black market sites near the city and county, and after completing a transaction in one black market, Feng Qingxue would immediately switch to another.

She dressed ordinarily, not the kind of person who would impress you at first glance. Sometimes she wore what was known as a Lei Feng hat, sometimes she only wore a scarf without a hat, sometimes she would change her coat, sometimes she would wear a military coat. Even if she returned to a black market after rotating through a few others, no one seemed to recognize her, which had really allowed her to trade for quite a few items.

For others, a few pounds of grain could help sustain their life, but for her, it was extremely profitable.

Everyone had their own needs, so Feng Qingxue didn’t feel that she was getting an unfair advantage.

Five pounds of flour was exchanged for a stack of silver dollars, two pounds of millet got her a pair of Jade Bangle, a piece of cured meat was exchanged for a Jade Brand, a diamond ring was traded for eight pounds of wholemeal flour, a Ru Kiln brush washer cost her ten pounds of rice, two ice jade bracelets were equivalent to ten pounds of cornmeal, half a basket of sweet potatoes got her a tea cup, a piece of genuine antique calligraphy from a famous artist only cost ten pounds of flour...

Perhaps feeling underprepared, an old woman quietly caught up and stopped Feng Qingxue as she was leaving a black market on the outskirts of the city, having just completed a transaction with her.

"Young girl, I have a few more antiques at hand, can I exchange them for more food?"

The old woman, probably in her sixties, wore shabby clothes and had a mournful look on her face, but she couldn’t hide her aristocratic air.

Earlier, she had swapped a Clear Mud Inkstone, which she couldn’t sell or exchange for grain, for ten pounds of wholemeal flour from Feng Qingxue. She immediately understood that Feng Qingxue knew the value of such items well and didn’t care if what she received in exchange for food was not gold or silver.