Chapter 729

Cao Weiguo briefly flipped through the accounts and then opened the heavy kraft paper bag.

Inside, besides two stacks of "Big Unity" (ten-yuan bills), there were five "Small Yellow Fish" (one-ounce gold bars).

These were gold bars minted at the end of 1946 by the Central Mint on the Bund in Shanghai.

After being minted, they were successively airlifted to various places by the Central Bank for backup, to be exchanged by the public.

The gold bars came in denominations of five qian, one tael, two taels, three taels, five taels, and ten taels.

In old Shanghai, ten-tael gold bars were commonly called "Big Yellow Fish," and one-tael gold bars were called "Small Yellow Fish."

Dong Xiaoxue said, "The Small Yellow Fish are the payment for Duan Youcai's goods and the interest on his arrears."

Cao Weiguo took them out to look: "The purity is good; in the future, have Duan Youcai settle more with Small Yellow Fish."

Dong Xiaoxue nodded: "Got it."

Cao Weiguo put the Small Yellow Fish back and chatted with Dong Xiaoxue about shipping goods.

Recently, the market hadn't been quiet; several pigeon markets had been raided.

Dong Xiaoxue had also lost quite a bit of supplies, and two of her downstream contacts had been arrested.

For safety's sake, Dong Xiaoxue had her subordinates move to pigeon markets in the countryside.

Ever since the implementation of unified purchasing and marketing, farmers and even urban residents had been in a state of semi-starvation.

Both rural and urban areas had a huge demand for supplies.

Supply and marketing cooperatives and vegetable markets couldn't meet these demands.

Thus, the existence of pigeon markets was inevitable.

Pigeon markets weren't fixed; they were mobile.

If the city was strictly regulated, the pigeon market would move to the countryside or the suburbs.

Anyway, where there was demand, there was a market; it was just a matter of spending more energy.

But this energy wasn't free; the wool still came from the sheep.

If the risk was greater and the investment was more, the prices would be higher.

For example, in the past, one yuan could buy ten eggs at the pigeon market.

Now, one yuan could only buy five eggs at the pigeon market.

If things kept going like this, it was hard to say who was profiting and who was suffering.

Anyway, the people paying money to buy eggs were definitely the ones suffering.

The prices in the pigeon market had risen, which meant things in the market were even harder to buy.

The prices in the supply and marketing cooperatives hadn't risen, but you couldn't get things just because you wanted to buy them.

This forced some people to spend more money and take risks at the pigeon market.

There were plenty of people eating cornmeal buns and cursing their fate.

The stricter the market regulation, the more silver Cao Weiguo earned instead.

It really fit the saying: The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish!

Cao Weiguo urged sincerely: "You can earn less money, but you must pay attention to safety."

Dong Xiaoxue smiled: "I know; you've said that so many times."

"How many times I say it isn't important; you have to take it to heart."

Cao Weiguo said irritably: "I don't want to visit you in prison."

Dong Xiaoxue said confidently: "Don't worry! It's not my first day in the underworld! I know how to protect myself."

Cao Weiguo stood up and gave Dong Xiaoxue a flick on the forehead:

"Better safe than sorry!"

"It's useless for me to say more; you just be careful yourself!"

"Don't forget you still have a younger sister to take care of."

Dong Xiaoxue covered her forehead and pouted:

"I know!"

"You guy are still so rude!"

"Who flicks a girl like that!"

"It hurts, you know!"

Cao Weiguo grabbed a handful of White Rabbit candies from his pocket:

"Sorry for making you feel wronged."

"Eat some candy and it won't hurt anymore."

Dong Xiaoxue snatched the White Rabbit candies:

"I'll forgive you for the sake of the candy." ===== CHAPTER 731 =====