Chapter 553: What Do You Want to Trade

Chuxue left the unit and just caught the first afternoon bus back to Huicheng; once on board she saw there were no seats left, so she sat down on the engine hood nearby.

But her luck really wasn't great — the vehicle had only gone a short distance before it broke down, and everyone had to get off and wait for a while.

But this one wait stretched on for a good long while.

Quite a few people, tired of waiting, hopped down to the river below the road. Chuxue didn't want to join the crowd, so she walked forward along the road for a stretch, thinking that if the vehicle got fixed in a bit, she could just flag it down and hop on — she had a ticket after all, and they couldn't very well deny it.

If it just couldn't be fixed, she'd walk back to Huicheng, and if she happened to meet another vehicle, she'd see if she could hitch a ride for a stretch.

But vehicles on the road were few these days, so she really wasn't holding out much hope.

While passing a stretch of fields, she happened to overhear two people talking in the distance: "Second Sister-in-law, have you sold off those chicks you were hatching?"

"Not yet. These past few days the authorities up top have been checking strictly, the black market hasn't opened in days. I'm terrified someone in the family will go running their mouth — it's really worrying."

"Right, we really can't keep them at home any longer. If someone really finds out, that won't be good. I'll go back and ask around for you too, see whose household wants chicks."

"Then you'd best be careful."

Chuxue looked in the direction the voices came from. Although she wasn't close to those two, her cheat-like hearing was simply too powerful.

Even though they had lowered their voices, Chuxue still heard them.

Thinking her space was still missing these things, she detoured over to find them: "Good day, auntie."

The two glanced around, only then engaging Chuxue in conversation: "Do you need something?"

Chuxue smiled and said: "I'd like to ask you — is there anyone in the village who has chicks to trade?"

The two were still quite alert; they exchanged a glance, confirming there was no one else around: "You want to trade for chicks?"

Chuxue gave an "Mm." She actually wanted to say: not just chicks — if there were ducklings or goslings, she'd take those too. But she didn't dare say it, afraid of scaring the two women.

"What do you want to trade for them?"

Chuxue took a few cash vouchers out of her crossbody bag: "That depends on what the household needs, doesn't it?"

The two exchanged a look, conferred in low voices for a moment, then came back: "How many do you want?"

Actually, she had heard their entire conversation just now. She gave a small cough: "I'm buying on behalf of relatives and neighbors — give me however many you have. Mainly they're also afraid of losing chicks, so they want to raise a few extra just in case."

That was true enough — chick losses were a common occurrence: "You know the going rate, right? It won't do to see the goods and then try to haggle the price down."

Chuxue nodded: "We'd best settle on a price first, and the chicks have to be lively ones — I don't want any droopy, half-dead ones."

The woman, eager to offload the chicks, quickly assured her: "Don't worry, we definitely won't pull any 'raise the price on the spot' tricks. The chicks are top quality — you can set your mind at ease on that."

In the end the woman gestured a number to Chuxue; Chuxue felt the price was fair, so she confirmed it.

The woman called "Second Sister-in-law" trotted off, while the one who stayed behind went back to her own work. Chuxue walked to a tree not far away and waited for the trade.

In no time the woman came running back carrying a basket, looking for all the world like a thief, which struck Chuxue as hilarious.

They found a hidden spot, confirmed the twelve chicks had no problems, and the two happily completed the trade.

Chuxue didn't linger there either; she picked up the wicker basket — thrown in for free — and quickly left the spot.

After walking some distance, she found a hidden place, checked carefully several times that it was safe, and only then tucked the basket and the chicks together into her space.