Chapter 32: Discovered

After that woman made the first purchase, several others began selecting fish, all worried the large ones would be taken.

Unlike in later generations, people in this era picked the biggest fish; meat was scarce these days.

After the first five or six people took their fish, the few behind them grew unhappy:

"You've only got the small ones left; if we pay that same price, aren't we losing out?"

"Exactly, your fish vary in size; the big ones were taken earlier, yet we're expected to pay the same..."

Li Long glanced at the remaining fish; indeed, everything over two and a half kilograms was gone. He smiled and said:

"Like this, everyone, don't panic. For these remaining fish, how about one yuan fifty per fish? Sound fair? Each weighs at least two kilograms; one fifty comes to seventy fen per kilogram, cheaper than mutton!"

"What about the silver carp?"

"Silver carp are one yuan!"

The others immediately started picking too. In winter, the Department Store and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative did sell fish, but those were hairtail brought from the coast; not only were they expensive, but the quantity was limited.

Who wouldn't want a stewed big carp on the table for the New Year? It looked festive. Besides, fish kept well in winter; buying one meant it could last a long time.

After this group finished selecting, only an elderly man of about sixty remained. Looking at those small fish, he asked:

"How much for these small crucian carp?"

"These four large slab crucian are seventy fen each; the rest, fifteen small crucian for one yuan, but no picking allowed," Li Long said.

Though called small crucian, they varied in size; the larger ones weighed three or four liang, while the smaller ones were under one liang.

"Give me two yuan's worth of the small ones," the old man said cheerfully. "They don't know how to eat; these small crucian are the real delicacy! By the way, young man, can you get any loach?"

"No loach, but I have ditch fish; they look quite similar to loach."

"Those are called plateau loach, a type of loach—can you get some?"

"Not in this deep winter; the water is too deep, and those creatures lie at the bottom. Maybe in summer."

"Ah, well then." The old man held his own cloth bag while Li Long packed thirty fish for him, accepting two yuan in vehicle-work coupons. Such things would be worth quite a bit in later generations; pity this one was a bit worn.

Seeing no more customers approaching, Li Long asked Tao Da to count the money.

"There are six two-yuan notes, eight one-fifty notes—those include the silver carp. Two one-yuan notes, plus this last two-yuan one, totaling..." Tao Da couldn't calculate it and started counting on his fingers.

Li Long, quick with mental math, said:

"That's twenty-eight yuan."

"So much!" Tao Da froze, messed up his count again, and restarted.

It was indeed twenty-eight.

They had sold just over half the fish.

"If we sell the rest, won't that be over fifty yuan?" Tao Da said excitedly.

People around looked over.

"Impossible," Li Long waved his hand. "I doubt the rest will sell; haven't you noticed people are already dispersing?"

Tao Da turned around and found the black market nearly empty. People were gradually packing up; there were now more sellers than buyers.

"Then... what do we do?"

"You keep watch, same prices as before. Give me the money; I'll go check the prices for other goods."

Li Long had noticed earlier that besides sellers, there were people exchanging grain coupons, oil coupons, and the like. As he approached, that person watched him warily.

"Brother, do you have any bicycle coupons?"

"Yes, fifty per coupon."

So expensive!

"What about sewing machine coupons?"

"Twenty."

Li Long was speechless:

"And vegetable oil coupons?"

"Two mao per jin."

Black! Truly black!

But there was no help for it; without connections, one could only scavenge here.

"Give me ten jin of vegetable oil coupons." Li Long didn't haggle; he knew this man had plenty of coupons and figured he could buy more when needed. Having coupons was what mattered!

Though somewhat dissatisfied, the man completed the transaction since Li Long was actually buying. He counted out ten jin of vegetable oil coupons; Li Long handed over two yuan, money for coupons, hand to hand.

Walking around, Li Long saw people selling grain and pork. Pork was one yuan seventy per kilogram; little fat remained, likely already carved away by others.

He ordered two pieces of pork belly, one weighing over two kilograms, the other over three kilograms, spending ten yuan.

On the way back, Tao Da smiled and handed him three yuan:

"Brother Long, we sold one guagua chicken."

"Not bad, not bad!" Li Long laughed. "Alright, let's go; no one's left."

"But what about these fish..." Tao Da seemed reluctant.

"Pack them up first; let's wander around." Seeing others gradually packing up, Li Long knew they couldn't keep the stall open, so he quickly gathered their things and left.

When they had walked about five hundred meters, they spotted people wearing red armbands heading toward the black market.

Boom!

There was no one left there.

Both sides remained undisturbed.

The two pulled the sled, with Li Long leading the way to the state-run canteen.

Li Long remembered this place was often called the Big Meat Hall; 'big meat' meant pork, and as the name suggested, it served Han cuisine, famous for its meat buns.

"Let's go, buy two buns to eat." Thinking of meat buns, Li Long felt a craving. Since his rebirth, though the food these past two days had been decent, it still tasted bland compared to later generations. The meat buns of today used real ingredients; they didn't grind up offal like pancreas or lymph nodes to stuff inside, but used solid pork belly with cabbage and green onions.

"Brother Long, I'm not hungry..."

"Eat first, then we'll talk." Li Long made Tao Da wait outside while he went in and bought four large steamed buns.

Palm-sized, three mao each, steaming hot—what a bargain!

Of course, he didn't tell Tao Da the price; the man would surely complain it was expensive.

The two of them ate one each, finishing them in just a few bites. Tao Da ate until grease ran from his mouth; he wiped it away with his hand, then licked his fingers clean.

Li Long found it a bit off-putting and turned his head away to avoid looking at him.

After finishing the buns and wiping his mouth, Tao Da felt warmth spread through his body and asked:

"Brother Long, what do we do next..."

"Right here." Li Long pointed to a woman approaching from not far away and said:

"I'll go ask. You keep watch; if anyone else comes over shortly, we'll ask them too."

As he stepped forward, the woman eyed him warily.

"Big sister, hello! My family's from the village; we caught some fish yesterday. Would you like to buy some? Very fresh, and very cheap! Big fish, one yuan each—a better deal than pork..."

The woman's interest was piqued, and she asked:

"Where are they?"

Li Long hurried over, pulled a fish out of a urea sack on the sled, and said:

"Look, this is a carp; we also have grass carp, silver carp, perch... and crucian carp..."

"One yuan—can you make it any cheaper?" the woman asked, seeing that the fish were indeed fine.

"Can't go any lower; these fish aren't small, working out to less than six mao per kilogram," Li Long said, holding out his hand to show her. "We earn only through hard labor; chopping holes in the ice is no easy task."

"Alright then, I'll buy... two: one carp and one perch."

Li Long quickly took out the fish for her. The woman looked somewhat dissatisfied:

"This perch is a bit small."

"But the taste is excellent! Perch grow up eating other fish; their flavor is far superior to carp's. How about I throw in two crucian carp for you as well?"

"Fine... alright then." The woman was satisfied.

Watching Li Long handle things so skillfully, Tao Da felt he truly had much to learn.

And he might not even be able to learn it all.

Thanks to readers 'I Am a Lone Star', 'tiandong520', '20190311153138002', and 'Feng Zhi Yi Xiang' for your monthly votes; thanks to everyone for your recommendation votes, clicks, and follow-read support. With May Day arriving, happy holidays to all! There may be a featured recommendation next week, at which time I'll post extra chapters; for now, I'll just stockpile drafts. Thank you all for your support!

(End of Chapter)