Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Damn, He’s Really Rich
‘Came again, huh? You’ve been coming quite a lot these days, trading for game again?”
Old Niu skillfully took a steelyard from under the table. “The game from your mountains is really nice. If you have more in the future, could you send them all to me?”
Jiang Changhai smiled and secretly handed over a thick stack of cloth tickets, “The mountains are treacherous, we’ll talk about it next time. Take a look at these, and exchange them for money. Give me a good price; these tickets aren’t easy to come by.”
Old Niu’s eyes widened as he quickly pressed down the tickets with the steelyard, afraid that others might see. “You kid, where did you get so many tickets? Don’t get into swindling when you’re desperate—it can get you shot!”
He had almost been caught himself for speculative hoarding during strict checks.
Luckily, he was fast and clever, and he got away.
So even though the checks weren’t as stringent now, he still cautiously conducted business only with people he knew well, and his life was quite good.
Jiang Changhai shrugged. “They were legitimately exchanged. Don’t worry, why would I come to you if they were stolen?”
Knowing he was mischievous but not bad at heart, Old Niu was relieved and carefully counted, “Okay, I’ll exchange them for three yuan, okay? These days, meat coupons and milk coupons are rare, but not everyone can use them, right?”
“Okay.” Jiang Changhai wasn’t greedy; feeling that it was a fair deal, he turned and headed to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy cloth.
But just as he had taken a few steps out, he saw an old man in black, carrying a basket covered with a white cloth. As he approached, a strong smell of meat wafted through the air.
Jiang Changhai’s eyes lit up, and he hurried over to inquire. Learning that the pork was only fifty cents a pound, he almost couldn’t keep his excitement contained: “Let me have a look first.”
Upon lifting the cover, he saw the flesh was still a fresh red color, clearly from a recently slaughtered pig.
Even though it was just scraps, the price was cheap, and no meat coupon was needed. He had to buy two pounds!
He licked his lips, bought two pounds of pork, and spent two more cents on a big bone. He wrapped them in a bag and stuffed them into his cart.
Now all that was left was to buy new clothes for his wife and daughter.
At the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, a sales clerk with braided pigtails was busy tidying up.
Jiang Changhai approached with a smile, “Miss, I want to buy some cloth. What kind of fabrics do you sell here?”
The clerk, a young girl, saw that he was good-looking and was much nicer to him, pointing to the back. “There, that fabric can make a set of clothes for fifty cents a yard. It’s about three yuan for a set, quite reasonable.”
Jiang Changhai noticed several neatly folded new outfits beside him, which were fresher and more vibrant than the fabrics. “Miss, how much are these ready-made clothes?”
Thinking of how good his wife and daughter would look in them.
The clerk, while tallying up the account, replied, “These are made from fine broadcloth, fifteen yuan a set. They just arrived today, and only three sets are left. Four sets sold this morning—they’re really in demand.”
Some girls in the city, either not lacking money or wanting to dress fashionably, would grit their teeth and buy a set.
Jiang Changhai was stunned: People in the city really have money. Buying a set of clothes could cost twenty pounds of pork!
To think that his two hundred plus pounds of grain only sold for fifteen yuan!
The clerk was not surprised by his reaction, pointing to another few sets of clothes, “These are cheaper, only six yuan a set.”
She began chatting away as if opening a floodgate, “These ready-made clothes sell well, but that stack in the corner doesn’t. They’re dyed poorly, you see the splotches? People in the town don’t want them. Alas, they can’t even sell without requiring cloth tickets, so they’ll just sit and gather dust.”