Chapter 161: Black Market

"Hehe, deal."

In two or three years, Li Huaide should be able to become a Deputy Factory Director; by then, the logistics department will surely undergo adjustments, and Shazhu will have a better chance.

After seeing off the arm-in-arm Ersha, Wang Xiaoling prepared two simple dishes; Zhang Ping'an hadn't eaten his fill earlier, so he grabbed a Steamed Bun and wolfed it down.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was slightly awkward, and the few old folks clearly noticed that every table was a mess of empty cups and plates.

"Ahem, looks like everyone was starving, hehe." Yi Zhonghai had achieved his goal and didn't care about how the others were eating.

Liu Dapang, however, was very annoyed; this time, his attempt to be clever not only cost him ten yuan for nothing but also made him look like a fool. No, he had to eat his money's worth, so while Lao Liu drank, his chopsticks danced rapidly.

With Liu Dapang taking the lead, the frequency with which the old folks used their chopsticks increased significantly, which caused the Deaf Old Lady's plan to pack up leftovers after the meal to fall through.

"He, we should gather often when there's a chance in the future; your skills..." Yi Zhonghai gave a thumbs up, not sparing any praise.

Yi Zhonghai naturally saw that the Deaf Old Lady hadn't left after eating, harboring the intention to pack up leftovers, but that was impossible now, so he could only suggest to He Daqing that they gather more often.

"Hehe, deal."

Anyway, it didn't cost him any money, just a bit of effort with his cooking skills; he could get a free meal and receive everyone's praise, so why not?

After eating and drinking his fill, Yi Zhonghai sent the Deaf Old Lady back to the Back Courtyard.

"Godmother, I'll have He cook more dishes when he has time in the future, so you can eat to your heart's content." Yi Zhonghai knew the Deaf Old Lady was a glutton and certainly wouldn't refuse.

"Hehe, good, I'll be waiting."

The Deaf Old Lady was also quite depressed; in fact, when Yi Zhonghai adopted the children, she had already started having people secretly investigate the children's identities, but unfortunately, three or four years had passed and there was still no news at all.

When she originally told Yi Zhonghai that the children would leave in less than ten years, it wasn't just a casual remark to annoy him, but what the person in charge of the investigation had said.

At that time, household registration records were chaotic, and it was too difficult to find the children's origins from mere clues, even with the information from the orphanage.

The Deaf Old Lady had spent no small amount of money on this matter; in four years, she had already dumped five Small Yellow Fish into it. She was a stubborn one, determined to get to the bottom of it, wanting the children's parents to come and take them away so that Yi Zhonghai would regret it.

Originally, the Deaf Old Lady had wanted to use extreme measures to steal the two children, but she didn't want Yi Zhonghai to hold a grudge against her, and she was afraid that Yi Zhonghai would fight to the death, as the children were now his only emotional anchor.

If it really came to that point, there would be too many people to deal with, and she would eventually leave a trail, but if the biological parents showed up, that would be a different matter entirely.

Yi Zhonghai knew nothing of all this and still kept the Deaf Old Lady as his godmother; if he knew she was helping him find the biological parents of his two children, who knows if he would go to extremes.

After the courtyard gathering, things returned to their usual calm, and Xu Damao also fulfilled his wish of becoming a group leader, taking a small step on the path to becoming a Cadre.

That night, after Zhang Ping'an and Shazhu finished the "Tyrant Parts with the Chicken," he quietly left the courtyard after Wang Xiaoling fell into a deep sleep and headed straight for the Black Market.

On the way, he used medicinal herbs to apply simple makeup, wrapped himself up tightly, and with a basket on his back, walked toward an alley.

"Buying or selling?"

"Selling."

"One mao."

Zhang Ping'an set up a random stall with the huge basket on his back, and after selling ten wild rabbits, he started to look around.

This time he wanted to buy some Jade and cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys; looking at the empty two mountain peaks, he felt very uncomfortable.

"How much for this pair of lambs?"

"Give me eight yuan for the two."

The person selling the sheep was also from the countryside; he was truly helpless. Currently, the acquisition price for lambs at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was a little over two mao per jin, and he would get at most four or five yuan for these two. He wasn't reconciled to that, so he thought he'd try his luck at the Black Market.

"Deal, I'll take them." Zhang Ping'an didn't haggle and put the two thin lambs directly into his basket.

"I have three more at home, slightly bigger than these; do you want them too?"

"Sure, at this time tomorrow."

"Good, good, good."

"If you have any calves, foals, lambs, or donkey foals, I want them all. Think it over and bring them all tomorrow, or you can pick a spot."

"Hmm, deal. Let's meet at the abandoned courtyard not far south of here."

"Fine." Zhang Ping'an replied and continued to search for his target goods.

"Uncle Liu, are we really going to go?"

"It's fine. Tomorrow, have a few young men from the village bring hunting rifles; we can sell them for several yuan more. Don't you want that?"

"Tomorrow, bring everything we can pull over. That person didn't even haggle just now; he's clearly someone who isn't short on money. Maybe he can even take all the young animals from our village."

"Good."

Zhang Ping'an walked through from beginning to end, but unfortunately, he didn't find any more animal young. There were quite a few Jade pendants, but each one was ridiculously expensive. Let's see if you can still hold out in three years.

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an slipped out of the courtyard again and arrived at the meeting place from last night. Zhang Ping'an used his space to scan the area, taking everything in at a glance.

Good heavens, there were quite a few; unfortunately, most were piglets, about twenty or thirty of them, estimated to be seven or eight jin in size, plus one cow, one donkey, and seven sheep, all tied up tightly. There were also eight people, all carrying gear on their shoulders.

"Ahem, I'm here to buy sheep."

"Hahaha, brother, you're here. Come and take a look; we have a lot of good goods today."

"Deal. I have brothers behind me too; it's best if everyone can trade peacefully."

"That goes without saying; everyone is just being cautious."

"Good. You have too many piglets here; our farm—ahem, we aren't short of these on our side."

A flash of light appeared in Lao Liu's eyes. He had just heard the word "farm," so it seemed these people were Workers from the surrounding farms. That put his mind at ease; as long as it wasn't a case of "black eating black."

"Deal, you take a look at the others first; we'll settle the piglets last."

"That works." Zhang Ping'an pretended to look around.

"Very good, we'll take them all."

"Hahaha, good. Five yuan per sheep, seventy for the cow and donkey, and for the piglets, six yuan each."

"Everything else is fine, but I don't want the piglets."

"Don't, don't, don't. Five yuan each. Look, each one is seven or eight jin; it's a good deal for meat."

"Hehehe, do you take me for a fool? After removing the bones, there's barely four jin of meat. Besides, the acquisition price for live pigs is only a little over four mao. Four yuan each; if you're selling, I'll take them all."

"Deal, it's a sale." Lao Liu and the others discussed it for over ten minutes before returning.

They wouldn't sell them, they couldn't afford to raise them themselves, the purchase price at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative wasn't high, and it would be a waste to eat them themselves; besides, they had already brought them here.

"Good," Zhang Ping'an didn't dawdle, directly counting out two hundred and eighty yuan and handing it to Old Liu.

"You can leave once you've counted it; I'll transport these away myself."

"Good, good, good."

The few of them shone their Flashlights and counted repeatedly several times before being certain; Old Liu waved his hand, and the young man unloaded all the young animals.

"Big brother, if you want to buy more next year, come back to the Black Market and find me."

"Deal."

After they had walked far away and disappeared from sight, Zhang Ping'an collected all the pigs, cows, and sheep into his space, untied the ropes, fed them some Space Water, and ensured they would all survive before exiting the space.