Xing'an Mountains 1984: Starting from climbing mountains to support the family

Chapter 36: Reluctant to let go of the child but unable to trap the wolf

The entrance to the alley.

Two middle-aged men in linen clothes squatted aside with their hands in their sleeves.

When they saw Chen Weidong coming in, the two of them looked at each other, and then sneaked towards Chen Weidong.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Weidong stretched out his hand and grasped the knife at his waist and asked in a cold voice.

"Don't be nervous, man."

Seeing this, the two men's faces changed slightly, and they stepped back a few steps. They also put their hands out in front of their chests to indicate that they had no ill intentions, and smiled apologetically: "We two brothers saw that you were unfamiliar, so we just wanted to come over and ask if we could exchange tickets?"

"We have food coupons, oil coupons, etc. If you need anything, we two brothers can even get you a sewing machine, a TV, or a plane ticket! The price is negotiable."

"Not for now, I'll come find you if I need you."

Chen Weidong said calmly, but it’s no wonder that they sell tickets in a sneaky way. The supervision is strict these days, and dealing with these ticket scalpers is basically like doing underground transactions.

The reason why Chen Weidong was so alert was simply because the world was in turmoil these days, and in a small black market like this, the people inside were all kinds of people.

In this area, people cannot be too polite, otherwise they may be forced to buy or sell. In fact, these two people look quite friendly.

"Okay, if you need anything, be sure to find us brothers." The two men didn't say much, and retreated to their previous positions and squatted down.

Then, Chen Weidong continued walking into the alley.

From time to time, I would meet some people who came up to me and chatted with me. Most of them were food and meat coupons sellers.
In this age when tickets are required for almost everything, the demand for all kinds of tickets is the greatest. Ticket scalpers like this can be found almost everywhere across the country.

…………

Soon we arrived at the exit of the alley, at the corner.

Chen Weidong saw a video hall, looked inside, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Then, he walked over.

In front of the video room, several young people were smoking.

A human-shaped stick wearing a long black coat stood at the outermost.

The hair is very long and the most popular trend nowadays is to flip the hair.

His face is very thin, but he looks particularly energetic, especially his big eyes.

At this moment, the bones were spinning around, seeming to be looking around.

Chen Weidong walked over, stopped in front of the man, and smiled.

"Monkey, do you have any more goods to sell?"

The humanoid called monkey was stunned.

He looked at Chen Weidong in front of him suspiciously.

"Do we know each other?"

"I came here because of your reputation. Last time I saw you had some goods in the video hall. Others told me that you are the best in this area and can get any goods."

Of course Chen Weidong was lying.

This person is called Monkey.

Selling cigarettes.

Chen Weidong was talking about goods, so he naturally understood. If Chen Weidong had just said he wanted to buy cigarettes, the other party would have either run away or ignored him.

Nowadays, many people resell cigarettes to make money. However, if you are caught by the police for selling cigarettes, you will be rewarded with a peanut if you are unlucky.

In his previous life, Chen Weidong was in the mountain products business and often dealt with these people from all walks of life, so he knew about Monkey.

But it didn't end well.

I heard that he was caught reselling and was put in jail. As for whether he ate peanuts or not, Chen Weidong didn't know!

Chen Weidong came this time to buy cigarettes.

In 1984, if you asked for the hardest thing to buy, cigarettes would definitely be one of them.

To buy cigarettes, you need a quota. For those poor people who are struggling to get food from the soil, let alone quotas, real cigarettes are rare.

Basically, they make their own pipes from wood and stuff some local tobacco into them.

If it's hot, one bite will make your lungs hurt.

Cigarettes are a high-end product.

Many people can’t afford some of the more expensive cigarettes.

Chen Weidong just went to the purchasing station and knew that he could not save the money.

After all, the social atmosphere in the 1980s was still very strong. If you went there with nothing in your hands and were a peasant with no connections at all, you might get into trouble.

The young man I met earlier who came from the acquisition was a lesson for me.

After all, even the fur of the same wild animal does not have a uniform price.
Moreover, not every animal skin is perfect. Some skins may be slightly damaged or even incomplete when cut, or may not be air-dried. This is normal, and the price will fluctuate accordingly.

If the buyers at the purchasing station don't like you, they may find fault with you and lower the price.
Especially this time, Chen Weidong took advantage of the situation and hid a few undried leathers in there.

If they really wanted to give a low price, Chen Weidong would have no chance to argue.

These days it’s a human society,

Buying a pack of cigarettes is easy. You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a child.

What's more, Chen Weidong will have to deal with the purchasing station frequently in the future, and he will have to carry a pack of cigarettes with him.
It is possible to avoid a lot of trouble. Although Chen Weidong is not afraid of trouble, he does not want to suffer losses in vain.

The monkey was originally looking at Chen Weidong suspiciously.

At this moment, when he heard the other party blowing on him, he suddenly felt a little carried away.

"Hey, you're right. I have the most and most complete products in this county! If I don't have it here, I dare say you can't find it anywhere else in the city!"

The monkey said this, ruffling his own hair with a smug look on his face.

"Come on, brother, what brand do you want? I have some Jinhulu cigarettes here. They're sold at the supply and marketing cooperative for 9 cents, but here I only sell them for 5 cents, and you don't even need a ticket."

said the monkey.

Jinhulu cigarettes were known as "Nine-cent Loss" because the supply and marketing cooperative sold them for nine cents a box.

Chen Weidong: "What other brands are there?"

"Brother, you will know after you take a look." Monkey approached Chen Weidong and carefully unrolled his black coat. Suddenly, rows of cigarettes were hanging inside the black coat.

"Golden Gourd, Changbai Mountain, Horite, Dajianshe, New Jilin... and a pack of Sanwu"

Chen Weidong knew that these cigarette dealers could get some cigarettes from all over the world, but he didn't expect it to be so complete. He estimated that these cigarettes accounted for most of Monkey's fortune.

"How are you, brother? I have the most complete stock in the entire county. If I don't have it, I'm sure you won't find it anywhere else in the city."

"Brother, what kind of cigarettes do you want?" Monkey then asked politely.

"What's the price?"

Chen Weidong asked.

"Cigarettes like Horite are 1.4 cents, Changbai are 8 or 9 cents a pack, these are the most popular! Yingchun is 2 cents, Xinjilin is 4.8 cents, and the most expensive one here is 352.3 yuan!"

The popular saying among smokers in Northeast China at that time was: "Poor people smoke Changbai, rich people smoke Sanwu, bastards smoke bats,

Of course he couldn't afford to buy Sanwu cigarettes, but he remembered a popular brand of cigarettes, Xin Jilin cigarettes, which were not cheap and he had just enough money.

Chen Weidong's heart moved. You have to know that life was difficult in the 1980s, and cigarettes were a luxury item, especially those that cost 40 or 50 cents, which were not cheap. They were even more expensive in the supply and marketing cooperatives, especially without cigarette coupons, you couldn't buy them even if you had money.

(End of this chapter)