Chapter 189: Supporting the Hometown 2.0

This Black Market was carefully selected by Zhang Ping'an; the people running the Black Market didn't give the impression of being thugs, but rather had a sense of magnanimity, and there was no such thing as "black eating black" here.

"What? You wait, I'll go ask the boss."

Not five minutes later, the lackey walked over with a burly man who had a scar on his face.

"Brother, how should I address you? I am the boss of this Black Market; people all call me Brother Daoba."

"Call me Changping."

"Brother Changping, do you really have tens of thousands of catties of sweet potatoes?"

"Yes, my family lives deep in the mountains. We usually just hunt and farm, and occasionally go down the mountain to buy some daily necessities. This year the rainfall was plentiful, and the yield of the tens of mu of sweet potatoes we planted was quite good; we couldn't finish eating them all."

"Good, I'll take them. Currently, cornmeal on the market is three mao per catty; I'll give you one mao for the sweet potatoes."

Daoba still had some common sense; currently, the yield per mu of sweet potatoes was three to four thousand catties. Calculating based on fifty mu of land, that would be over one hundred thousand catties.

Zhang Ping'an hadn't expected that cornmeal, which used to be a few fen per catty, had now risen to three mao, and sweet potatoes were one mao five per catty on the market.

"Deal. I will transport them over tomorrow night. I'll come find you then; you all should prepare more burlap sacks."

"Good."

At two o'clock in the early morning of the next day, on the side of the road less than twenty meters from the Black Market, two hundred burlap sacks of sweet potatoes were neatly placed by the roadside, surrounded by footprints of various sizes left by Zhang Ping'an.

"Brother, call your boss and bring the flatbed carts. On the side of the road twenty meters ahead, there are thirty thousand catties of sweet potatoes this time."

"Alrighty."

Ten-plus minutes later, Daoba arrived with ten flatbed carts and twenty lackeys.

"Brother Daoba, here. Each of my sacks is about one hundred and fifty catties; you all can weigh them."

"Deal." Daoba immediately signaled his lackeys to weigh them, and incidentally opened a few sacks to check the quality.

"Brother Changping is a man of his word. No need to weigh the rest, hurry and transport them back." Daoba randomly weighed ten sacks, and the weight was indeed as Zhang Ping'an had said.

"Brother Changping, here is three thousand yuan, keep it safe. I'll have the brothers bring the burlap sacks over in a moment."

"Good." Zhang Ping'an counted it simply and tucked it into his satchel.

Twenty minutes later, all the sweet potatoes had been hauled back, and Daoba provided five hundred burlap sacks.

"Brother Changping, here are five hundred burlap sacks. I wonder how many sweet potatoes you can bring next time?"

"About fifty thousand, I suppose. You all wait for my news."

"Deal. Brother, if you have wild boars or anything, you can send them over too."

"Good. Brother Daoba, you all head back first; my brothers don't like strangers."

"Hahaha, understood." Daoba took his group of lackeys back to the Black Market.

"Boss, should we follow them quietly..."

"Forget it. We only earn what we should earn. Those who live deep in the mountains are all savages; they have no concept of the law in their eyes. Killing you would be no different from killing a wild boar."

"Yes, Boss." The lackey was also given a fright.

After they left, Zhang Ping'an put the burlap sacks into his space, changed his outfit, and walked into the Black Market again. The price of cornmeal was two fen higher than yesterday, and the price of pork had also risen to one yuan four.

It was like this now; by the time the end of the year approached, it would be normal for the price to double. After the New Year, I'm afraid it would be hard to buy grain even if one wanted to.

Returning home just before four in the morning, Zhang Ping'an discovered there was a faint light in the house.

"Grandpa, why are you up?"

"I woke up. Did you go to the Black Market to find grain?"

"Uh..."

"Ping'an, I also want to help the village, but only on the premise of ensuring our own safety. I don't object to you finding grain, but you must pay attention to safety."

Although the old man didn't want the villagers to go hungry, he wanted his grandson to avoid taking risks even more.

"Mm, Grandpa, don't worry. I have already bought a batch of sweet potatoes at a low price; each family in our village can get about two or three hundred catties."

"Mm, good child."

At seven o'clock the next evening, the agreed time with his second uncle and the others arrived. Zhang Ping'an placed three hundred sacks of sweet potatoes twenty meters from the village entrance before turning on his flashlight and walking toward the entrance.

"Is that Ping'an?"

"It's me, Second Uncle. I've already unloaded forty-five thousand catties of sweet potatoes ahead. Uncle Laiyou, hurry and arrange for people to haul them back; don't leave them outside to get frozen."

"Good, good, good." Zhang Laiyou immediately called for the village militia and Cadres to drive the Ox Carts, horse carts, and donkey carts forward to load them.

"Uncle Laiyou, I acted early this time and bought them for five fen. Now the Black Market price is already one mao five, and cornmeal has risen to three mao two."

"Hiss~ How did it rise so much? Wasn't it a few fen before?"

"Sigh." After saying this, Zhang Laiyou reacted and let out a heavy sigh. Where is there not a shortage of grain now? Rising prices are only natural.

"Ping'an, thank you so much this time. If everyone eats sparingly, we can at least hold out until the summer harvest. I'll collect the money and give it to you tomorrow."

"Good. Uncle Laiyou, these burlap sacks will need to be brought back then."

"That goes without saying."

"Ping'an, go sleep at my place tonight."

"No need, Second Uncle. I'll just go back and heat the kang. I'm heading back first."

"Hey, alright."

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an gave his second uncle a bottle of Space Water.

"Second Uncle, this is animal medicine. Dilute it with water and soak chopped-up sweet potatoes in it; it can attract wild boars. You and Third Uncle can dig pits and set traps then, and you'll be able to eat pork for the New Year."

"Good, good, good." Zhang Laiwen absolutely believed Zhang Ping'an's words, especially regarding hunting; he was now even more skilled than Zhang Laiyuan.

Zhang Ping'an told his second uncle a few more precautions, and then Zhang Laiyou came looking for him.

"Ping'an, here is two thousand two hundred and fifty yuan, count it."

Forty-five thousand catties of sweet potatoes, with each household getting nearly three hundred catties, yet costing less than fifteen yuan—only a fool wouldn't want it.

"Good."

"That's right, that's perfect," Zhang Ping'an counted them casually.

"Then that's settled, the sacks are all tied up and placed at your door."

"Good, many thanks, Uncle Laiyou."

"It is Uncle who should thank you; without these sweet potatoes of yours, we wouldn't have had an easy time getting through this year, but at least now we don't have to go hungry."

"Uncle Laiyou, what are you saying? If I can help, I won't stand by and watch; as long as you don't blame me if I can't help, that's all that matters."

"That wouldn't happen. Helping is a favor, not helping is the duty; I can still distinguish that clearly. Don't worry, Ping'an, the militia and the brigade Cadre will all keep their mouths shut about this matter. Even if it leaks out, it will only be that we bought it ourselves at the Black Market."

"Right, Ping'an, tell me later exactly where the Black Market is, just in case."

"That works too."

If he told them the address, people from the village would certainly go to take a look, and by then the price of grain would only be higher, and they would also know how great a favor they owed.

After exchanging another half portion of Space Water for his second and third uncles' families, Zhang Ping'an finally went home to tie up the sacks and pedaled the tricycle back.

Just as he arrived at the entrance of the Siheyuan, Zhang Ping'an felt something was strange; usually at this time, there would be quite a few women in the Front Courtyard gossiping, but today there wasn't a single person.

Zhang Ping'an entered the Middle Courtyard and discovered that everyone was gathered at the Yueliangmen of the Back Courtyard, craning their necks to look.

"Sister-in-law, what's the situation?" Zhang Ping'an asked Yang Ruihua directly.

"I heard the Deaf Old Lady died, and the Public Security came over to remove the seal. It seems Lao Yi and the others went to collect the body."

Zhang Ping'an nodded and went home; this Deaf Old Lady had lasted an even shorter time than he had thought, so he would wait until he had time to go to the Sub-bureau to ask what happened.

In the evening, Yi Zhonghai returned with a haggard expression, evidently having already buried the Deaf Old Lady. Not long after, Yan Jiefang knocked on the door to say there was going to be a meeting, and the person who came was still Director Wang.

Zhang Ping'an glanced at her; he hadn't expected this Wang Zhihong to have such deep connections, as she hadn't been removed from her post even after all this.