Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 92 - 090 Trade at Midnight

Chapter 92: 090 Trade at Midnight

Two pieces of clothing totaled twenty-two yuan.

Li Xianglu quickly packed the clothes and receipts into her handbag, then looked over the blue cover shirts again. They were somewhat flawed but very cheap; these flawed ones didn’t require cloth tickets, each costing only two yuan. Li Xianglu bought six in one go, one for Li Dafu, one for Li Erfu, one for Qu Yeyu, one for Grandpa, and one each for Qin Xi and Qin Zhen.

As for cover shirts, she had bought enough. Li Xianglu then spotted military cotton-padded jackets that were 80% new, costing just sixteen yuan each. She was thrilled and grabbed five at once. Grandpa’s military jacket had stiffened, even with Uncle Xue’s help in tearing and re-sewing it before winter, it still wasn’t warm enough. Ideally, she would fill it with new cotton, but there was a cotton shortage during winter, and neither she nor Grandpa had enough supply; months of accumulation wouldn’t suffice for a jacket.

The salesperson bound the five jackets into a bundle with a thick hemp rope for her to carry; thus, Li Xianglu carried the cotton clothes in one hand and the bag in the other. So heavy, but she was blooming with joy inside.

Li Xianglu also bought three pairs of flawed rain boots and then rushed to the watch counter to take a look. Oh wow, so many! Although many were used, some were new but all had minor defects.

Li Xianglu leaned over the counter and saw a Shanghai-branded watch, smiling she asked: "Is this still a Shanghai brand?"

The watch salesman, a forty-year-old man, seeing that it was a young girl, smiled and said: "Yes, seventeen jewels, semi-stainless steel, 80% new, no industrial coupons needed, only seventy yuan."

Li Xianglu clicked her tongue; even a used one was seventy yuan. Her Grandpa also wore a Shanghai-branded watch, a new one, around eighty or ninety yuan, but that required industrial coupons.

Li Xianglu’s sharp eyes then spotted an old Omega, excitedly she asked: "What about this one?"

The male salesman smiled and replied: "This is an imported Omega watch, first-class, 80% new, costs three hundred yuan, also doesn’t need industrial coupons."

Li Xianglu pouted, suddenly feeling poor. She moved to another cabinet which sold slightly defective watches, most were lower-tier like Roman or Bovet.

Li Xianglu saw a very impressive-looking watch, it seemed like a military type but no logo was visible, so she had someone take it out. The friendly salesman introduced with a smile: "Japanese goods, since our country established trade relations, we imported a batch. But few people buy them so they’re priced low, completely new, no industrial coupons needed, only two hundred and twenty."

Li Xianglu’s eyes sparkled, only two hundred twenty! Sadly, only men’s models were available. Thinking that Qin Xi had nothing on his wrist, Li Xianglu felt it would suit him, but she didn’t have enough money on her. She thought for a moment and then greeted others before leaving.

Ten minutes later, Li Xianglu found Qin Zhen in the place selling radios, carrying a pair of boots and looking troubled. He was holding a second-hand imported radio which cost fifty yuan, but Qin Zhen only had fourteen dollars.

Li Xianglu had no choice but to help him purchase it.

Having nothing else to buy, they quickly left, carrying two large bags. Qin Zhen, annoyed, said: "Why did you buy so much stuff!"

Li Xianglu rolled her eyes and responded: "You only think about yourself. There are also clothes for you and Brother Qin in here. With insufficient cotton supply, we can only buy ready-made clothes now."

When Qin Zhen heard he had clothes too, suddenly the bags didn’t feel so heavy anymore. After boarding the vehicle, he kept reminding Li Xianglu to take care of her bag and be careful with his radio.

Chattering all the way, they finally arrived at their lodging. Using the excuse of buying some small items, Li Xianglu let Qin Zhen go ahead with the bags.

Li Xianglu made her way to a public restroom, quickly changed her traditional cotton coat for a more fashionable long down jacket in privacy, put on a woolen hat, then carried a bucket of unlabelled plastic converted ten kilograms of peanut oil. Li Xianglu planned to secretly sell it; how else could she afford her favorite watch? Besides, items purchased at this time would all become antiques in twenty years.

Thinking this, Li Xianglu headed towards what seemed like a residential area. Shanghai’s old districts mostly consisted of alleyways, similar to the capital’s old hutongs, winding and full of people.

Li Xianglu knew this was an old neighborhood, the residents couldn’t afford her peanut oil, so she directly boarded a tram heading to Huai Country. It was not crowded, and Li Xianglu had a seat.

Soon, a middle-aged woman boarded and sat next to her. Li Xianglu, curious, turned her head looking at the lively traffic outside, intrigued.

She heard the middle-aged woman beside her quietly ask: "Young lady, what are you holding?"

Li Xianglu’s eyes brightened, blinked, and whispered quietly: "Nothing much."

The woman, even more excited, asked: "Where are you headed?"

Li Xianglu smiled and replied: "No worries, just wandering around."

The women were overjoyed, and one of them said excitedly, "The next stop, Zhongshan North Road, is quite interesting; there are many things for sale, why not take a look?"

Li Xianglu smiled and nodded.

The two of them tacitly stopped talking until they got off the bus one after the other.

Seeing Li Xianglu following behind, the woman carefully observed her surroundings and finally called out to her near a school entrance.

Li Xianglu hesitated, then saw the woman smiling and saying, "Don’t be afraid, this is a school, there are no unruly people here."

Li Xianglu, feeling reassured, lifted the bucket, and the woman quickly took it from her, carefully opening the lid and excitedly exclaimed, "This peanut oil is so pure!"

Li Xianglu smiled and watched as the woman said, "As soon as I got on the bus, I smelled peanut oil, oh, it was so fragrant, and I saw you carrying a big bucket, I guess it’s not just for personal use."

Li Xianglu did not reply, just quietly listening, but thinking to herself, this lady has a really sharp nose.

The woman did a quick calculation, nodded, and said, "Including this plastic jug, it’s a bit over ten catties, how should we settle this?"

Li Xianglu thought for a moment; in the county’s deputy food supply, the best peanut oil with an oil ticket costs just eight cents per catty, and other oils are even cheaper. Since her peanut oil didn’t require an oil ticket, Li Xianglu decided, "Two yuan per catty, no oil ticket needed!"

The woman showed a look of surprise; nowadays, everyone’s home lacked food and drink, and even though the prices at the deputy food supply were low, they required tickets. In the black market, good peanut oil cost at least three yuan per catty. Keeping this in mind, the woman pondered and then said, "Okay, but you have to give me the oil drum, I have nothing else to carry it in."

Li Xianglu firmly shook her head, "No, I can’t give you the oil drum; I need to use it again."

ps: Thanks for the monthly ticket from Rainy Day Escape

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I just checked; you guys are too fierce, we’ve reached ninth on the new book monthly ticket ranking, ascended a rank, almost been mistaken as RMB players, haha, so exciting, I’ll keep writing. This afternoon, if we reach the monthly ticket goal, I’ll update more.

Kaqiu left a message, hoping to set a time, everyone has seen, recently it’s been ten-thousand-word updates, really demanding, I’ve used up saved Chapters, I type slow, I research while writing, and need to conduct review, time is tight, so recently it’s going to be sporadic, I’ll do my best in the morning.