A doctor who travels through two eras

Chapter 31: Seeing the Black Market

Lin Sanqi was wearing a straw hat and a mask. If he wasn't afraid of being too conspicuous, he would have wanted to wear a pair of sunglasses.

However, he found that what the old man said seemed to be wrong, because no other person he met in the grove was as "disguised" as he was.

Actually, think about it, if one was not extremely hungry or forced into a desperate situation, who would be willing to walk more than ten miles to Chaoyang Park to do something illegal?
As for whether he would be exposed or caught if he didn’t disguise himself?

Those who can come to the black market are either extremely vicious or starving and have nowhere else to go. Who among these people cares about whether they will be caught?
It’s better to arrest him, at least he can get free food in prison!

Another thing about the black market in Chaoyang Park that was inconsistent with Lin Sanqi's idea was that there were no fixed stalls here.

The people inside were all moving around, and the buyers were walking back and forth in the grove "looking at the goods" without talking. It was like the lonely ghosts in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", so quiet that it was scary.

The sellers were in groups of three or four, either squatting or standing in the corners, not disturbing each other.

Lin Sanqi took a quick look around and thought he should find out about the prices.

There was a middle-aged man wearing glasses standing there, his face a little red, and his eyes were a little evasive when he saw people coming.

Lin Sanqi approached and was a little surprised to see that the man had nothing in his hands. "Brother, what are you selling?"

When the man with glasses heard someone asking for the price, he saw that Lin Sanqi was not badly dressed, at least there were no patches on his clothes, so he took out a watch from his pocket:

"It's a Shanghai brand, A581 manual mechanical watch. I bought it for 230 copper sterling. Look, it's been well maintained."

Lin Sanqi thought he was unlucky, and the first thing he asked about was the watch. Others treasured this watch, but he had no use for it. A 2023-yuan A-grade watch on Taobao in 100 was too beautiful.

But when asking about prices, of course you have to find out everything:
"The watch... is nice, how much do you want?"

The man with glasses was a little excited: "I don't want money, I want food. Give me 100 kilograms of coarse food, and this watch is yours."

Lin Sanqi pretended to shake his head and walked away, still saying, "100 kilograms, too expensive, I can't afford it."

The man with glasses did not chase after him to bargain. From this detail, we can see that the man with glasses does not look like a businessman and he still has the backbone of an intellectual.

If not forced by life, who would exchange their most beloved watch for cornmeal and dried sweet potatoes?

Lin Sanqi's sigh in his heart was suddenly stopped by a man with small eyes.

The man looked to be in his 40s, very thin, but well dressed. He had a pair of worn leather shoes on and looked like a ruined nobleman.

Seeing Lin Sanqi stop, his small eyes looked like a spy meeting, and he covered his mouth with his hands and asked softly:

"Comrade, do you want antiques?"

Antique? I'm not sleepy anymore if you say that.

Lin Sanqi's eyes lit up. Antiques are great. This thing will be very valuable in 2023. If it is sent to an auction, millions or tens of millions will not be a small matter.

"What antiques do you have?"

Lin Sanqi's voice was trembling slightly with excitement.

He had also watched "The Golden Eyes" and thought that God had a good vision. The protagonist found a priceless treasure while just strolling around a street stall, and then he finally got the chance to spend tens of millions.

Get rich~~~
Why do you need a bicycle, be a doctor, or do purchasing?

The handsome man with small eyes mysteriously took out a package from behind the tree and opened it layer by layer, which made Lin Sanqi feel even more itchy.

After opening the last layer, a small bowl that was neither green nor blue was revealed. Lin Sanqi quickly figured out what kind of porcelain it was and from what dynasty.
Little Eyes' face turned serious and he said solemnly:

"Comrade, this is a Ru kiln bowl, very, very precious. Look, there is a poem written by Emperor Qianlong on the bottom of the bowl. Let me tell you, my ancestors were from the Imperial Household Department of the Qing Dynasty. These treasures were secretly brought out from the palace. They are absolutely precious."

Ru kiln? From the Qing Palace?
If you say it is something else, Lin Sanqi might be fooled. But if you say it is Ru kiln, then he can't be fooled.

Why? Because he had seen a documentary before, which clearly stated that there are only two Ru kiln bowls in the world, one in the Palace Museum and the other in the David Foundation in the United States.

What happened? Suddenly, a third Ru kiln bowl appeared and I happened to touch it?

If anyone has such a treasure, they will hide it like their own heart, for fear that it will be discovered and snatched away by outsiders.

Lin Sanqi suddenly felt bored. He originally thought that the counterfeiting of antiques would peak decades later, but he didn't expect that fake antiques already existed in 1959.

Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi waved his hand, and even lost the desire to take a look:
"Brother, this thing is a treasure. I can't afford it. Please find someone else."

When Xiaoyan heard this, he got anxious: "Hey, don't worry, brother, if you like it, just give me a price. I don't want much. Give me 200 kilograms of fine grain and I will sell it to you."

Lin Sanqi rolled his eyes at him and didn't bother to say anything more.

Those who take shortcuts often form gangs and factions, so there is no need for him to offend a local tyrant. Safety comes first when he comes to the black market.

After walking around for a few times, Lin Sanqi finally saw a man selling rice. The rice was in a cloth bag, which was opened on the ground. There were crowds of onlookers around him.

"Hey, this rice is good, it's snow-white."

"It looks like Northeastern rice, which is very rare these days. How much do you sell it for?"

"Exactly. How much is it? I'll pay for it all."

The seller was a burly young man. When he heard someone asking the price, he shook his head:
"I'm not selling. I'm only exchanging things. Cotton cloth, meat coupons, bicycles are all fine. I just don't want cash."

When many people heard that cash was not required, they smacked their lips and said it was a pity, and left with reluctance when they looked at the rice.

Lin Sanqi squeezed into the crowd and pretended to casually ask a middle-aged man next to him:

"Comrade, let me ask, if this kind of rice is sold, how much can it be sold for per pound?"

"That's not cheap. Now, just the fine grain coupons cost three or four yuan per pound. The key is that even if you have the coupons, the grain stations may not have rice, so if you really want to sell it, you can't get it for less than five yuan per pound."

Lin Sanqi thought that it seemed that he had sold it too cheaply to the dean at 3 yuan per pound. No wonder the dean's wife was so happy.

"And by flour, I mean the whitest, best kind."

"You mean Fuqiang fans?"

"Uh...right!?"

"Oh, Fuqiang powder is incredible. Anyway, I have never seen this pigeon market before. The price must start at 6 yuan at least."

Fuqiang flour is made from the core part of wheat seeds. 100 kilograms of whole wheat can only produce 70 kilograms of flour, so it is also called "70 flour".

Fuqiang flour is white in color, has few impurities, low gluten content, high fineness, and tastes very good.

In 59, ordinary people could not even see it, let alone eat it. It was treated like a tribute.

There are also 80 fans, 85 fans, 90 fans and so on.

100 kilograms of wheat produces 90 kilograms of flour, which is yellow in color because it is mixed with too much bran. The grain yield is high, but it makes your throat hurt and has a bad taste.

Of course, it is much better than cornmeal and can still be classified as a kind of "fine grain".

It’s just that Lin Sanqi is from the south, and the staple food of southerners is rice, so Lin Sanqi doesn’t know much about the classification and quality of flour.

(End of this chapter)