CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 30: THE GRAND FAIR

"Turn around and tell your relatives, if they have any tickets, they can give me a bit less money, and give me some tickets instead, okay?"

"What kind of tickets do you need?"

"Food coupons, meat tickets, sugar tickets, soap tickets... whatever you’ve got, I need it."

All Mrs. Lin had were two ounces of food and meat tickets, which she used to buy braised pork just now.

Without tickets, even if she had money, she couldn’t buy meat!

Chef Shen pondered for a moment, "I’ll discuss it with them later. If there are no tickets, I’ll try to get you some things nonetheless. As for meat and food tickets, don’t worry. Every now and then, I’ll save you some meat. You just need to pay money."

"That’s great! Brother Shen, you’re really a good person!"

The emotional value Lin Xiang provided was more than enough, and Chef Shen’s face was full of smiles.

After finishing business, Lin Xiang asked about another matter.

"Brother Shen, I’ve been strictly managed at home since I was a child, so I haven’t been out much, not even to the market. I heard you can do business there, is that true?"

"That’s not business, it’s bartering," Chef Shen corrected Lin Xiang.

After a pause, he changed his tone, "It used to be like that, with a big market every quarter where people could bring their excess from home to exchange for what they needed without involving money."

"However, since mid-year, after the announcement of the resumption of the college entrance exam, policies have relaxed a bit. On market days, small transactions are allowed, as long as they aren’t large sums, the officials will turn a blind eye, and nobody will manage."

Just as she had guessed!

Lin Xiang suppressed her excitement and asked, "So, doesn’t that mean you can make money every quarter?"

"Once?" Chef Shen laughed and shook his head, "As long as you have the guts and energy, you can earn money daily!"

Lin Xiang’s eyes sparkled like stars, "Brother Shen, tell me more! Isn’t the big market once every quarter? How can you make money every day?"

Chef Shen, while pinching dumplings, explained to Lin Xiang, "That’s how it used to be. Didn’t I just say, since the college entrance exam policy announcement, things have loosened a bit. The big market is now once a month instead of quarterly."

"That monthly one is for your commune. But there are so many communes in Mianyang Town, and several towns in Luochuan County, which means there’s a market somewhere almost every day."

"As long as you’re not afraid of hardship, isn’t it true that you can make money every day?"

Is that possible?

Lin Xiang admitted her previous narrow-mindedness.

"Brother Shen, um, I have one more request I’d like to trouble you with..."

Before Lin Xiang finished speaking, Chef Shen already guessed what she wanted to say, "There’s a notice posted at the beginning of each month at the town government entrance. It’ll list the locations and times of the markets within Mianyang Town. You can go check it out, but it only lists Mianyang, not other towns."

If you want to know the market times and locations in other towns, you’d have to go to the county government.

Lin Xiang wasn’t greedy; a single Mianyang Town was enough for her to mess around with!

"Brother Shen, can you keep wrapping the dumplings for me? I’ll head to the town government real quick and come back to get them later!"

"Okay, I’ll wrap them and set them aside for you. I’ll cook them when you come back."

Lin Xiang rode her bike to the town government and found the notice Chef Shen was talking about in the bulletin board.

The notice, posted at the beginning of the month, was now at the end of the month. After twenty days of exposure to the elements, the original red background of the notice had faded, but the black brush calligraphy was still somewhat legible.

In the seventies, there weren’t any smartphones with cameras, so Lin Xiang developed the good habit of carrying paper and pen with her, which came in handy today.

It was the twenty-first today, ten days until the beginning of the next month.

Before she started doing business, she needed to prepare, and not counting today, she only had seven days left.

Luckily, there were markets every day for those last seven days, so Lin Xiang could make some money.

She rode her bike to the grain and oil station.

Rice, flour, and meat required corresponding tickets, but seasonings did not. Lin Xiang spent two yuan and six jiao to buy some condiments, then carried her purchases back to the state-owned restaurant.

The braised pork was already cooked, and Chef Shen had packed it for her in a lunchbox. As she entered, he started boiling the dumplings.

"These two lunchboxes are new; I haven’t even enjoyed them myself, but today I’ll lend them to you. Just remember to bring them back next time when you’re in town."

"I’ll bring them tomorrow."

"No rush, just don’t forget. There’s no need to make a special trip."

Lin Xiang explained with a smile, "Director Chen said I was supposed to report in today, but I didn’t, so he kindly gave me a two-day extension. If I don’t report to the cotton spinning factory by the day after tomorrow morning, it will be considered a voluntary forfeiture of the position. So, Brother Shen, I have to come back at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon."

"Alright, I’ll give you an address. You can go straight there tomorrow noon."

Lin Xiang put away the paper with the address, carried the two heavy lunchboxes, said goodbye to Chef Shen, and rode her bike home. After putting everything away, she returned the bike to the team headquarters and handed over the fifty cents rental fee.

The two bicycles were bought with money pooled by the team, and villagers could rent them when needed. The fee was fifty cents a day, and the money earned was extra income.

Lin Xiang returned the bike and came home, only to find a few unexpected guests.

Yu Fang acted as if she was at her own home, rummaging around everywhere. The originally tidy house soon became a mess.

But the Lin Family was poor and hadn’t acquired much, so Yu Fang couldn’t find anything satisfactory after searching for a long time, and she was a bit disheartened.

Lin Xiang was just glad she had been worried about thieves and locked the braised pork and dumplings bought from the state-owned restaurant in the kitchen cupboard before going out.

If not, with Yu Fang’s rummaging, the braised pork and dumplings would have long been in the stomachs of her family of four!

"Are you guys done or not? Coming to my house three times a day over a lousy spot?"

Aunt Lin was about to scold Lin Xiang, but the middle-aged man next to her stopped her.

Uncle Lin was about the same age as Aunt Lin, but he looked much younger. He appeared kind and loved to smile. Whenever he smiled at you cheerfully, even the greatest anger couldn’t be expressed.

"Girl, listen to yourself. We’re concerned about you guys, that’s why we’re visiting. Don’t misunderstand our good intentions."

Lin Xiang’s disgust for Uncle Lin was no less than for Aunt Lin, perhaps even more so.

This man was a sly one. He seemed easygoing, but he was actually full of schemes. Many of Aunt Lin’s unscrupulous deeds were incited by him.