My 1978 Hotel

Li Feng wiped his mouth after finishing his noodles. The hand-rolled noodles tasted pretty good, but it was a shame they didn't have meat, or else it would have been even more perfect. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to the black market. Anyone want to go with me?"

"black market?"

Li Muxiao became interested. "Count me in."

"Count me in too."

Qin Yue, Wu Tong, and Li Muchen all chimed in, while Wu Zhenhua and Wang Yin smiled. "We won't join in the fun. Tongtong, you guys should be careful and don't cause any trouble."

"Don't worry, grandma."

Wu Tong felt quite regretful that he didn’t go to the black market last time.

"Then everyone should get some rest early. I'll take you to the black market tomorrow morning."

Li Feng planned to try his luck. There were always some wild game on the black market, such as pheasants and rabbits. If he was lucky, he might even find some better stuff like muntjac and antelope. "Then everyone, wash up first. I'll call you in the morning."

Around four o'clock the next day, Li Feng called on several people to get up. Wow, they were all rubbing their eyes and looking drowsy. It was really because he had told them to go to bed early and get up early.

"What time is it, Boss Li?"

Wu Tong was still a little sleepy and rubbed his eyes before finally opening them.

"It's almost 4:10."

"Ah, four o'clock?"

"Yes, hurry up, or they will leave."

"So early?"

Wu Tong and Qin Yue were both confused. Although they had expected it to arrive earlier, it was still too early.

"It's getting late, wash your face quickly."

Li Feng was helpless. If he had known earlier, he would not have followed the two girls. Fortunately, Li Muchen and Li Muxiao cleaned up quickly.

"Let's go." At 4:25, Wu Tong and Qin Yue finally packed up. Fortunately, there were not many cosmetics these days.

"It's pitch black here, is there anyone here?"

It was still dark at four o'clock, and it was even colder walking in the alley. Wu Tong and Qin Yue were somewhat scared.

"Don't worry, I've found out that someone will be here at three o'clock in the morning."

Li Feng whispered as they walked. "Some farmers from far away set out with their vegetables in the middle of the night, and they arrive here around two or three o'clock."

"We are already late. If we had arrived earlier, we would have all gone back."

“It’s really early.”

My goodness, the black market is no joke, it’s really shady.

"Let's go, we're just ahead."

After turning a few corners and walking through one or two alleys, we arrived at a secluded place.

“There really is someone there.”

"That's not."

The black market is quite a big place. It is a little different from the black market in the alley. There are quite a lot of people here. There seem to be more than ten stalls. There are also quite a few people visiting the black market, probably dozens of people.

"Block it."

"Do not worry."

Good guy, the scarf covered half of her face, Li Feng felt relieved. "Look ahead."

There are vegetables and other things here, but Li Feng is not interested. However, there are quite a lot of people in front, so he is afraid that there are some good things.

"pheasant?"

What good thing do you think it is? Li Feng curled his lips.

"Boss Li, come and see, there are kittens for sale over here."

Li Feng was thinking of buying the two pheasants when Wu Tong started yelling, "Kittens for sale! Are there still people who keep pets these days?"

"Isn't this a cat?"

Li Feng was a little speechless. It was a cat, but why did it look a little strange?

"Uncle, what is this?"

"Pick it up."

Good god, I was wondering why the vendors of mountain products also sell cats. "I wonder if this thing is a cat."

"Boss Li, you see clearly."

"Although I have never raised a cat, I have seen many cats. I can tell at first glance that this is not one of them. I don't know what it is." Li Feng thought it would be better not to buy things randomly. If this thing grows up one day, it will bite people.

"Boss Li."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue seemed to like the little creature quite a bit. Speechless, Li Feng looked at the old man. "Twenty cents, take it." The old man hesitated. He had originally planned to catch it and skin it and eat its meat, but it was too small and there wasn't enough meat.

"Okay, Ermao."

After buying some mountain products for fifty cents, Li Feng was about to go buy some pheasants when he glanced at the basket in the corner. "So many fish."

"No, we fought on the river bank."

This guy must have at least 100 to 200 kilograms of various fish and shrimp. Li Feng looked and saw that there were quite a few miscellaneous fish. "Do you have any swordfish?"

"Who wants that thing?"

The middle-aged man glanced at Li Feng. He thought, "Is this guy here to cause trouble?" "Even dogs wouldn't eat a knife loach. Who would want this?" Li Feng was speechless. He thought he was a fool, but never mind. He was a fool, and he didn't mind making money.

"Brother, there's an elderly person in my family who needs swordfish as a medicine. Look, could you save some for me?" Li Feng said, his voice trembling with anxiety. "I'll buy them for ten cents per pound."

"Really?"

"Really collected."

Li Feng nodded vigorously. "How about this, I'll give you a 20-cent deposit first, is that okay with you?"

"Row."

How can this thing not be good? You can pick up three or five kilograms of knife loach by just picking it up at the riverside. This thing is free.

"Little brother, do you want other fish?"

"Small fish are fine too."

Li Feng thought about it and decided to take some of the other fish and shrimp. "How about this, big brother, leave some of the other fish for me too."

He bought more than ten kilograms of fish and shrimp, two pheasants, and a kitten. This time, the harvest was not bad. Li Feng was quite satisfied, but Li Muxiao was a little disappointed. He thought there would be some good things on the black market, such as antiques like porcelain.

Who knew that this guy only had some vegetables, grains and the like, the best being pheasant, fish and shrimp, and none of the delicious things he had thought of.

"Mr. Li, the black market in a small county is like this. Maybe you can find what you want in a big city."

Li Feng had never been to a big city, so he didn't know if there were any good things to sell in the black market in the capital. After all, there were many antiques and curios in the capital.

"That's right, I'm overthinking it."

"But we're not short of money here, so maybe we can find some antiques or good stuff. I'm afraid it'll be hard to find them on the black market," Li Feng said. "The black market usually only sells wild game and the like."

"If you want antiques, you may have to go to the countryside to look for them." Li Feng said as they walked. It was around six o'clock when the group returned to the courtyard, and the sky was just getting light.

"Why buy so many fish?"

“It’s a lot cheaper.”

Li Feng said with a smile. "Auntie Wang, why are you up so early?"

"Yes, grandma, why don't you sleep a little longer?" Wu Tong hugged Wang Yin.

"As I get older, I have fewer worries."

Wang Yin took the fish. "I'll go take care of it."

"Auntie Wang, I'll do it. You take a rest."

"Let Boss Li handle it. This kid has good skills." Wu Zhenhua wiped his hands and walked over.

"That's right, Boss Li's craftsmanship is getting better and better." Wu Tong and Qin Yue nodded in agreement.

"By the way, what do you want to eat in the morning, Boss Li?"

"Fish head noodles."

Li Feng pointed at the rice noodles he had bought. He had never expected to be so lucky today and find something so good. "I just happened to have fresh fish heads and rice noodles." "That must be delicious."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue cheered, and the others helped to prepare the boiled water. Li Feng quickly processed the fish and shrimp, chopped off the fish head, and as for the pheasant, he would clean it later.

Li Feng ate an extra bowl of delicious fish head noodles in the morning. It was only 7:30 when he finished breakfast, and it was around 8 o'clock when he finished cleaning the pheasant.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

"This little thing is still energetic."

Li Feng rubbed the little cat. Hmm, he was roughly sure what it was. He never expected that he got a leopard.

"Money Leopard?"

Wu Tong and Qin Yue were shocked when Li Feng said the kitten they bought was a leopard. "Boss Li, are you sure?"

"should be."

"Why are you still selling leopards?"

"What's this?"

Li Feng said with a smile. "Even if they sell tiger cubs, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Does the old man who sold me the kitten know?"

"I probably know." Li Feng said.

"Then why is he still selling it?"

"There's not much meat. Even after peeling the skin, there's only about 200 grams of meat."

Li Feng gently kicked the little leopard. The little thing was quite fierce. It bit Li Feng's shoes and shook its head. "This little thing."

"Ah, is this edible?"

"Tiger cubs are skinned and eaten, and even black and white bears are secretly killed and eaten, let alone a leopard cub," Li Feng said. "This isn't the future, and filling our stomachs is our top priority. Do you think people in Sichuan don't eat black and white bear cubs?"

"real or fake?"

"Let's not talk about it anymore. What should we do with this little thing? Do you want to taste what a leopard tastes like?" Li Feng rubbed the little thing with his feet. After playing with it for a while, the little thing seemed to be familiar with Li Feng's taste and kept rubbing its body against Li Feng's shoes.

"Ah, eat, Boss Li, stop joking."

Wu Tong was speechless. Boss Li was becoming more and more dishonest.

"You're kidding, I'm not kidding. If they don't eat it anymore, we can't keep it alive, right?" Li Feng looked at the two women. "Besides, this little thing will eat meat when it grows up."

"You can't really peel it and eat it, right?"

Wu Tong agreed. This was no different from a kitten or a puppy. Even if he brought it home, he couldn't just raise it. He would have to figure out what to do with it when it grew up. As for leaving it here, it would be even more difficult for it to get enough food and drink. Raising a leopard was a joke.

"Why not put it in the woods?"

"At this size, it will definitely starve to death."

Li Feng was helpless. "Let's keep it for now. If it doesn't work out, take it home and raise it. When it grows up, we'll release it in the woods."

This is a little trouble. Li Feng kicked the little thing lightly, but he didn't expect the little guy to get even more excited.

"Dong dong dong."

"I'll go see if Mr. Li and the others are back."

Li Muxiao and Li Muchen went out shopping again, but they didn't expect that when they opened the door, they saw Gao Ju brothers and An Min and others driving two ox carts over.

"Is the furniture ready so quickly?"

"Isn't this a bit of work?"

"I see. Come in first, Anmin, come in and sit down."

Han Anmin and his friends were here for the first time and took a look at Li Feng's house in the county town.

"Brother Anmin, it's so big."

Antun whispered to himself, "There are five large tiled houses and two small tiled houses with yards in front and back. The place is large and the houses are big. How much does this cost?"

"Yeah, Brother Feng is really amazing."

"Okay, let's move the furniture in first."

Han Anmin muttered to himself, how many articles has this kid written and how does he make so much money? Look at this house, it's so big and spacious, and this is in the county town.

"Come into the house, and leave the furniture in the yard for now."

Li Feng invited everyone in and poured tea. "It just so happened that I ran into some people on my way to the city to buy mountain products. I bought two pheasants and stewed them for lunch."

"pheasant?"

After settling down for a few, he swallowed his saliva and thought, "It's better to follow Brother Feng. If you don't give me some furniture, I can even eat pheasants." There wasn't much furniture, just a few beds and a set of desks and bookshelves.

"Hey, this table too?"

"Yes."

Gao Jue whispered, "Captain Fuguo and I suggested we set up a furniture display area. This place is great, and Captain Fuguo thinks it's a good idea."

"Good boy, you are really good."

It was free furniture, but okay, Li Feng got the better deal, but the team didn't suffer any loss. "It just so happens that the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming in a few days, and I was thinking of inviting some writer friends to get together."

"Then we'll have to work overtime when we get back."

Gao Cheng said with a smile, "It's only a few days until August 15th."

"Then thank you for your hard work."

Li Feng was still a little happy to get a set of furniture for free.

At noon, Li Feng stewed pheasant, roasted fish fillets, and cooked rice. Han Anmin, Han Anton, and An Chun ate until their mouths were full of oil. "It smells so good, Brother Feng, how come you are so good at cooking?" Han Anton treated Li Feng like his own brother, even closer than a real brother.

"It's delicious. Eat more."

Li Feng scooped up a large piece of golden rice crust. The rice crust from the wood-fired pot was so fragrant. He soaked it in some fish soup. Don't mention it, the guy could eat it all.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

"what?"

Han Anmin was a little confused. "Fengzi, where did you get this little leopard cub?"

“I bought it on the roadside.”

Li Feng said with a wry smile. "I bought it as a kitten, but who knew it was actually a leopard cub? Aren't there many of these in the mountains?"

"some."

Han Anmin said, "But there were more of them when I was younger. Now there are only a few in the deep mountains. I'm afraid this little creature followed the big leopard out to hunt for food. Now the animals in the mountains are also hungry."

"The drought shows no sign of easing, and the animals in the mountains are suffering as well."

There was no food in the mountains, so the wild animals tried to come down to find food. However, the people down there were even more anxious. The militia transformed into hunting teams, and everything was beeping. When a wild animal encountered a hungry human, it would become nothing more than a meal.

"There's no way. People are almost starving. Who can take care of them?"

"What a pity! Our county doesn't even have a zoo. Otherwise, we could send this little creature to the zoo."

Li Feng kicked the little thing. Not only will this thing still be a treasure in later generations, but the golden leopard seemed to be almost extinct in the Dabie Mountains in later generations.

"What's the point of giving it as a gift? Just peel the skin and eat it."

"It's too small, not even two ounces of meat."

"That's true, but it doesn't taste very good."

Han Anmin said this, but thinking about the fact that Han Anmin had eaten tiger meat when he was a child, well, he didn't say anything. "Then what are you going to do? If you put it in the mountains, I'm afraid it will either starve to death or fill its stomach with something else."

"Keep it for now, and count it as luck."

Li Feng said, "Let's wait until they grow bigger before releasing them into the forest."

"You're the only one who has the leisure to do this."

The most important thing is to give it a bite if there's food. Ninety percent of the others will be skinned and eaten. Even if there are only a few mosquito legs, they're still meat. After lunch and packing up, the group headed back to Hanjiaba. Passing by the post office, Li Feng got off the bus to pick up some letters from readers.

"Hey, a magazine in the Magic City?"

Li Feng was a little surprised. Was it an assignment for a manuscript, or one that had already been circulated, scars. "It's still the Magic City. It's not afraid of anything that the capital dares not do." (End of this chapter)