Without looking for anyone else, she sought out the mother and son duo she had spoken to earlier. She found them waiting impatiently in a corner of the alley.
Gu Qingyao walked over. “Elder Sister, I have ten kilograms of fine white flour, five kilograms of rice, more than thirty eggs, and also fifteen kilograms of cornflour. How much do you want?
“I also have five kilograms of pork and a pair of pork knuckles.”
The old lady and her son almost cried with joy. They badly needed these items.
“We’ll take them all, we’ll take them all! My daughter-in-law is doing her confinement now. We did not manage to get good food while she was pregnant and now she has no milk. The baby is crying with hunger, waiting for these things.”
Fifteen kilograms of fine grain was seventy-five dollars. Gu Qingyao estimated the eggs to weigh five kilograms, so that was twenty-five dollars. At that time, cornflour was considered to be coarse grain and worth four dollars a kilogram, so that was sixty dollars. Pork was the most expensive at twelve dollars a kilogram. Together with the pig trotters, they weighed six and a half kilograms in total, which cost seventy-eight dollars. Altogether, it would be two hundred and thirty-eight dollars.
The old lady was clearly pained at the vast expense. But she had no choice but to buy it. Because next time, these items might be unavailable even if she had the money.
In these times, food was the most valuable.
However, the old lady wanted to keep some cash for emergencies. Their family only had about two hundred dollars in total. If they spent it all, what would they do if they needed money in the future?
“Sis-sister, can I use some items to make up part of the payment?”
Gu Qingyao’s eyes flickered. “Certainly, if they are antiques.”
The old lady’s eyes brightened. She hastily took out a small cloth bag from her clothes and brought out a pair of jade bangles.
These bangles were of fairly good quality, and were clear, with green flecks. They were not of the best quality, or at least, they were fairly inferior to those that she and Mo Beihan had obtained from Chen Jin.
Later on, this pair would be worth about four hundred thousand dollars.
They might be valuable in later years, but now, even the best quality jade was worth no more than rocks. It could not be exchanged for anything.
The old lady was rather embarrassed. She looked gingerly at Gu Qingyao, afraid that Gu Qingyao would be angry and refuse to take them.
Gu Qingyao glanced at her. “A hundred and eighty dollars, plus the bangles.”
The old lady was surprised and delighted. She hastily handed the items to Gu Qingyao and thanked her repeatedly, then speedily took the items and fled, as if terrified that Gu Qingyao would regret her decision.
One could not blame her. Because in these times, her bangles were worthless!
On the black market, they could be bartered for a few kilograms of food at best.
Gu Qingyao put away the things and found a lonely spot to change her disguise. This time, she deliberately sought out old people, who were dressed in tattered clothes, and who looked worn out and aged.
These people were mostly scholars, capitalists and landlord families who were undergoing labor reformation. They were short on food and had superior items to trade.
By trading with them, she could not only save their lives, she would also obtain good quality items.
Sure enough, after a while, she traded five kilograms of rice, three kilograms of vermicelli, and ten kilograms of cornflour for an entire set of top-quality jade jewelry of deep green color. It included a pair of bangles, earrings, a ring, and a bead necklace.
These were definitely of the highest quality. They were a glossy green and extremely beautiful!
Another ten kilograms of flour and a piece of bacon was exchanged for a set of top quality diamond jewelry. It was a full set of pink diamond jewelry, and included a necklace, earrings, bangle, and a ring. When the person saw how much fine grain she had, he wanted to trade for a little more. So he brought out a snuff bottle and a ruby ring, and traded them for ten kilograms of cornflour.
Gu Qingyao smiled and gave him two extra kilograms of vermicelli and two apples.
This was a wealthy person. She guessed that he would enjoy finer food.
The man immediately beamed.