The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 55: The changing situation and the black market

After receiving a thousand pairs of ordinary work gloves, Qian Jin prepared to continue his trip to the countryside on Sunday.

This time the mission to the countryside is very heavy!
He had to go to the black market to exchange tickets early in the morning before dawn.

Compared to the previous times, when he entered the black market today, he found that there were more people and the atmosphere was more relaxed.

Right at the entrance of the alley, someone was selling seafood in exchange for food coupons.

Then fishermen, smelling of fish, arrived carrying boxes.

The lid of the foam box was opened, and when the flashlight was shone inside, there were bright white hairtails.

"It's really fresh." People who know the business exclaimed.

The fisherman said proudly, "The boat just came back at two o'clock, how could it not be fresh?"

Someone chuckled, "Did they hide the hairtail in the fishing boat again?"

This matter cannot be exposed.

The fisherman went to ask the woman holding the food coupons, "How do I change them?"

The woman said, "One jin of national food coupons can be exchanged for two jin of hairtail!"

When the fisherman heard that it was national food coupons, he immediately cheered up and said, "Let me see it. I'm planning to visit relatives in the Northeast before winter comes."

The flashlight shone on the green receipt.

Corn, rice, wheat and other crops are arranged in a circle with the words "five catties" written on the corners.

The deal is done.

More and more people.

Qian Jin walked into the familiar dark alley.

A bald man in a gray cloth shirt emerged from the shadows, shining his flashlight on his chest. Hanging from his shirt was a badge that read "Patriotic Health Campaign."

"Comrade, there's a two-cent sanitation fee. Pay it and get your enamel badge."

As he spoke, he shook the handmade enamel plate in his hand, which was printed with "Five Speaks, Four Beauties and Three Loves".

Qian Jin frowned: "Why are you still charging sanitation fees?"

The man said, "It started at the beginning of this month. Now that it's safe here, there will definitely be more people. So we have to pay attention to hygiene."

Qian Jin asked again: "Safe? What does that mean?"

The man began to get impatient: "Are you going in or not? It's 2 cents if you go in, and you'll be fine. If you don't want to come in, you don't have to pay, so don't delay things."

Qian Jin was surprised.

This black market has started collecting protection fees?

He paid two cents, and the man handed him an enamel plate and went to look for other newcomers.

The alley has changed a lot.

The messy toilets and stoves are gone, replaced by stalls.

Lao Wei's position has not changed.

The money went in and he tapped the wardrobe that blocked half of the road. Suddenly, an old felt hat appeared from behind.

"Hey, comrade, you're here?"

Qian Jin asked in confusion, "I haven't been here for just a few days, why are there so many people in the black market now?"

Old Wei said with a smile, "Have you ever seen the river surface in the spring?"

"There's still ice on the river surface. It looks solid, but it's already thawed underneath."

Qian Jin quickly understood what he meant and asked in surprise, "Do ducks know first when the river water warms in spring?"

Old Wei was surprised: "Oh, you are quite cultured, that's what you mean!"

Qian Jin thought to himself that reform and opening up would not begin until next year. Could it be that the news had already been leaked in private?
This is impossible!

All the leading cadres he came into contact with knew nothing about it.

Lao Wei gave a clearer answer: "The city has a new leader, a man from the capital."

"He sympathized with the common people, saying that life was not easy for them, so he left a few loopholes so that the lower-class people could get something."

"On National Day, the public security and industrial and commercial units sent people to look around. They came in a police car, but the police car didn't stop. They circled around twice and left. They haven't come back in the past few days!"

Qian Jin thought thoughtfully: "It seems that the policy is going to be relaxed."

Old Wei smiled but said nothing.

After a few casual chats, the two continued their transaction.

Qian Jin lowered his voice and asked, "Can't we collect things like gold and antiques?"

Old Wei was helpless: "Who would bring this to the black market? Besides, who would dare to take antiques out nowadays?"

"I'll be honest with you. This is called a black market, but it's actually just a rural market. Since ancient times, have you ever seen anyone bring gold to the market?"

Qian Jin thought it was right.

Someone suddenly approached and asked, "Old Wei, did you get the rear wheel hub for the Phoenix bicycle?"

Lao Wei took out two bicycle wheels that had been polished with sandpaper from the cabinet and said, "They are definitely the rear wheels. There is nothing wrong with them at all."

After checking, the man took a few industrial coupons, put the wheel hub on his shoulder, and walked away quickly like Nezha.

Qian Jin was puzzled: "What's this for? Repairing the car?"

Old Wei smiled silently. "It's going to be converted into a fishing boat winch bearing. The Phoenix rear wheel hub uses the best steel. The winch made from it is even more durable than the imported parts from the Soviet revisionists!"

Qian Jin admired him.

The wisdom of working people.

Speaking of imported Soviet revisionist accessories, Lao Wei pulled out a wooden box and said, "You want old stuff? Then how about this?"

"The copper ship nails produced by the Baltic Shipyard are definitely hard currency that can be passed down for three generations."

When Qian Jin saw the big yellow nails in the alley, he thought they were golden nails.

The result is brass.

disappointment.

He shook his head in disdain: "Why do you need this?"

Lao Wei said: "It can be made into fine things by blacksmiths, and can be exchanged for sea cucumbers with fishermen at sea. One boat nail can be exchanged for eight dried sea cucumbers."

Qian Jin thought that he was going to see Huang Laotie today, so he exchanged the beef jerky for the box of copper ship nails.

It's very heavy, probably about 10 or 8 kilograms.

Picking up the box, Qian Jin thought to himself, "Hey, Old Tail, can you get a gun here?"

The robbers now have guns.

Fortunately, the last time he was robbed was at night, if it had been during the day he wouldn’t have been able to escape!

Lao Wei asked, "What kind do you want? I don't have it right now, but I can tinker with it." Qian Jin said, "The more powerful the better! The smaller the better!"

Lao Wei nodded: "I understand. Let's talk next time."

"By the way, can you find notebooks, pencils, pens, and other stationery?"

Qian Jin asked him sensitively: "What do you want this for?"

Lao Wei was vague: "Someone needs it. If you can get me a batch, I'll give you a good price."

This time he had exchanged various tickets in advance, and the two of them traded directly, saving time and effort.

Qian Jin put down his bag and began to count his things.

Lao Wei took out a ticket and pushed it to him: "You always say I don't have any good stuff here. Look, is this something good?"

Shine the flashlight.

Bike tickets!

Qian Jin was overjoyed.

This was indeed the supplies he urgently needed.

"How do I change it?" he asked while looking through the bicycle ticket.

The old man said, "This is a hot commodity. Normally, one might not come out in a month. I was able to get it this time..."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense." Qian Jin gave out the valuable goods.

A watch.

Old Wei nodded immediately.

Qian Jin said, "You have to give me 100 kilograms of grain coupons and 50 kilograms of meat coupons. If you don't have that many coupons, you have to pay more..."

Lao Wei accepted the conditions.

Watches and bicycles are equally sought-after items.

Count the goods and complete the transaction.

Since there is no need to exchange goods for tickets, the money comes in a little early.

Everything is still dark when we set out on the road now, and we are likely to encounter criminals again.

So he started wandering around the black market.

This trip was really fruitful.

A whole photo album, filled with a lot of stamps.

When Qian Jin saw that it was a stamp album, he immediately became interested.

The other party didn't ask for a high price, after all, there was no stamp collecting craze in those days.

He went up to ask with interest, "What kind of tickets are in here?"

The young man selling tickets shook his head: "Too many, I can't tell you."

Qian Jin asked, "Do you have any monkey stamps?"

The young man wondered, "What is a monkey stamp?"

Qian Jin didn't know much about stamps, so he could only give a brief introduction: "It's a stamp from the Year of the Monkey. There's a monkey squatting on a red background..."

The young man began to count on his fingers: "This year is the Year of the Snake. If it's the Year of the Monkey, we have to go back earlier - uh, 1968."

After he said this, Qian Jin knew that he had made a fool of himself.

The monkey stamps haven’t been released this year yet.

The young man naturally couldn't give him an answer: "There are stamps from 68, but I don't know if there are any monkey ones."

"Actually, these were all made by my uncle. He likes to collect these kinds of messy things."

Qian Jin's heart moved, and he asked, "What else does your uncle have collected?"

The young man looked at him warily: "What do you mean? If you want stamps, then exchange them with me. Don't talk nonsense first!"

Qian Jin asked him what he wanted to change.

When a young man wants to get married, the woman needs him to prepare three turns and one ring before she will enter the house.

Qian Jin was delighted: "You want to exchange this tattered stamp book for three turns and one gong?"

Bicycle, sewing machine, watch, radio, these are the three turning and one ring, the standard equipment for young people in cities to get married nowadays.

Although it is standard equipment, it is not something that an ordinary family can easily equip.

Just like in the 27s, the betrothal gifts and real estate that my cousins ​​from Jiangxi received when they got married were often in the hundreds of thousands of yuan, which was also not something that ordinary families could afford.

The young man quickly said, "I still have food coupons, meat coupons, oil coupons, and so on. As long as you have a three-turn and one-ring coupon, I can exchange them with you."

Coincidentally.

Qian Jin had a bicycle ticket, but he also had to buy a bicycle, so he couldn't exchange it.

He took off the watch on his wrist and handed it to the young man:
"You're taking advantage of me today. I just bought this watch a few days ago, it's only 180 yuan!"

It's all true.

The watch is indeed new and the price is indeed 27 yuan in 180 years.

This watch is the same as the one he gave to Liu Wangcai, a retro leader's head watch with large digital scales, a silver dial and gold hands, which is generous and trendy.

The young man was so happy after receiving it that he smiled widely: "Ah? Really? You're going to exchange it for your watch?"

"But is this a real watch? Will there be any problems?"

Qian Jin snatched it back: "Look at my watch for yourself, how nice it is!"

He fell to the ground all of a sudden, but the high-hardness glass watch face was not damaged at all, and the hands inside were running as usual. After all, this watch is drop-resistant and shock-resistant.

The young man was heartbroken when he saw this: "My watch!"

He picked it up, smeared it with saliva and rubbed it carefully. When he shone the flashlight on it, he found that it was indeed intact.

At the same time, the flashlight also illuminated the stainless steel case and chrome strap, which was shiny and eye-catching.

The young man put it on quickly. He pulled up his sleeves and adjusted his collar, letting the watch dangle outside.

Qian Jin put away the photo albums and various tickets.

The young man gave him his contact information and told him that if he had any other two turns or one ring, he could come to him to trade at any time.

Qian Jin continued to wander around and bought a few more items, but they were all for daily use and nothing valuable.

The sky is bright.

The black market is about to break up.

Qian Jin got on the bicycle and started pedaling hard.

(End of this chapter)