The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 27 - Dad Takes Me to the Black Market

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Dad Takes Me to the Black Market

Chapter 27 -27: Dad Takes Me to the Black Market

The journey from Capital City to the county town below North City and on to Ten-miles Village covered over three hundred kilometers. The roads were rough, and Lu Xianrun dared not drive too fast. After reaching North City, they found a hostel to rest for the night.

Although Ten-miles Village was a village in Northern Province, Jingqiu had never visited North City in the three years she’d been there.

Her father said he would take them to a place for a stroll in the morning, so he woke her and her mother up at just past four o’clock.

They didn’t drive but walked under the pitch-black night sky, crossing two intersections to reach a hidden alley.

Looking at the dilapidated place bordered by walls on both sides, Zhou Lanping asked in confusion, “Aren’t we here for breakfast?”

Lu Xianrun smiled mysteriously and led them through a gap into the alley.

Only when they looked up did they realize that this place was a hidden gem.

Jingqiu was even more surprised that her dad had brought them to the Black Market.

Zhou Lanping saw a long narrow street with stalls on both sides, each lit by a kerosene lamp, and exclaimed in amazement, “This…”

Jingqiu was equally puzzled, “Dad, how did you know about the Black Market here?”

Lu Xianrun said, “I was here on official duty a few years back, stayed for a couple of months, and then a friend brought me here. I only remembered it after we settled down last night, and it’s quite close. It was pure chance that we came today, and I didn’t expect it to still be here—and busier than it was a few years ago.

I guessed both you and your mother have never been to such a place, so I wanted to show you around today. Here you can buy things with money instead of tickets. Let’s go have a look.”

Zhou Lanping had never been to such a place, and seeing so many things for the first time was indeed a novelty.

Although it was dim, the faint lighting created an exceptionally lively atmosphere.

Zhou Lanping immediately took a liking to a wild boar meat stall not far away, joyfully pulling her daughter over to ask for the price. Though it was more expensive than outside, there was no need for tickets. She said sadly, “The meat is good, but the weather is too hot, and we can’t take it back. Your Aunt Wei would definitely love it.”

Lu Xianrun ran to a nearby noodle stall and spent a yuan to buy seven or eight big Meat Buns for the two women to fill their stomachs.

Jingqiu and her mother visited each stall one by one and took a fancy to a stall selling rice and flour, spending five yuan to buy several pounds of millet, planning to make millet porridge for her mother back home since it’s easy to digest.

Zhou Lanping also wanted to buy more grain, but Lu Xianrun stopped her, “We’ll swing by here again when we head back. It’s not easy to carry if we buy too much now.”

Zhou Lanping thought it made sense but Jingqiu still bought some candies and pastries, not knowing when she’d see her comrades from Educated Youth Spot again; she planned to bring them some pastries to try.

When leaving, Zhou Lanping spotted a clothing stall. This stall had two lamps lit to allow customers to see the merchandise more clearly.

The clothes were being sold by a young man with a quick tongue. Seeing them linger at the stall, he eagerly called out, “Take a look at these clothes, ladies, they are all fine foreign goods.” Holding a blouse, he said, “You won’t easily find this style in the marketplace, and the material is top-notch too. And this coat, made of wool, is the only one.”

Zhou Lanping held a skirt up to Jingqiu to see how it looked and asked, “How much for this one?”

The young man responded, “Auntie, you’ve got a good eye. This one is twenty-five.”

Jingqiu instinctively pulled at Zhou Lanping, “Mom, I don’t want it.”

Zhou Lanping, however, was enamored with its appearance; she lacked the time to alter clothes herself and liked the idea of seeing her daughter looking pretty in front of her.

“Young comrade, that’s a bit expensive. Let’s settle for twenty, and I’ll take it. If not, never mind.”

The young man thought for a moment with the clothing in hand and agreed without much fuss. Jingqiu, seeing this, immediately felt she’d been taken advantage of.

“Mom, the material of the clothes isn’t very nice; I don’t really want it.”

Zhou Lanping felt the fabric and frowned, then addressed the young man, “Comrade, this clothing material is too flimsy.”

“Auntie, this fabric is really hard to get hold of, it’s silk smooth or something, and it’s printed too. I can’t name exactly what it is, but it’s top-notch, for sure. If you don’t believe me, just wait for my buddy to come over and they can tell you,” the young man said.

Zhou Lanping shook her head, “No need, didn’t you just say that the coat was one hundred? Alright, one hundred, two coats.”

“This…”

“You’re trying to sell autumn clothes at this time of the year; who’s going to buy them? I’d bet that these coats won’t sell easily. Rather than being stuck with unsold inventory, it’s better to sell them cheap and make less profit than to have them sitting around, not circulating, right, Comrade?”

The young guy chuckled, “You’re right about that.” And then he looked around and said, “I can tell you’re well-off, auntie. It’s not easy for you to bring your family here, is it? I don’t have these goods every day. We’ve got women’s and men’s. This uncle here has a good build; maybe he could try on one of our men’s coats too?”

Zhou Lanping glanced at Lu Xianrun who was standing behind her. In all their years of marriage, apart from his uniform, she’d never really seen him in an overcoat. She paused, then turned and said, “Give it a try.”

The coat was nice. Had it been earlier, Lu Jingqiu would have been willing to buy it, but now she just thought it was too expensive. She had wanted to ask her dad to convince her mom, but to her surprise, her dad even cooperated with her mom in trying on the clothes.

It became a two-voice play, making her seem a bit redundant.

As it turned out, they spent three hundred yuan on four pieces of clothing.

When they left, seeing the joyful smile on her mom’s face, Lu Jingqiu stopped fretting.

“Let me tell you, these clothes are worth the price. Last winter, your Aunt Wei’s husband bought her a set from a foreign exchange store, which cost over two hundred, but it wasn’t as nice looking as these,” she said.

Lu Xianrun felt the fabric of the coat, which was similar to that of a coat an older leader had: “Such good fabric, and selling so cheaply, aren’t they at a loss?”

Lu Jingqiu rolled her eyes at her dad and said helplessly, “Dad, these aren’t genuine imports. It’s obviously a local imitation. Our local producers copy it themselves, and the cost is at most thirty yuan.”

Lu Xianrun was startled, “That so, they really are making a profit.”

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

Zhou Lanping nodded and agreed.

Although it was an imitation, the tailor had added their own ideas to the clothing. The big lapel and the lack of a cinched waist gave it a proper silhouette, reminiscent of classic styles from Pickled Vegetable Country.

..

Black Market

As the young man was happily counting his money, a shadow loomed behind him: “What are you laughing at?”

“Brother Yan, you’re back? Look.” The young man presented the money to him.

Brother Yan, at first startled by the sight of the money, quickly snatched it away and whispered with a low laugh, “You’re not bad, kid. You sold this much while I was in the outhouse? Not bad, not bad.”

The young man proudly said, “Came across a family of three. By their dress, they seemed to be rich. With my silver tongue, I got them to buy four pieces in no time.”

Brother Yan’s counting paused, and the smile on his face froze, “What, four pieces?”

The young man nodded, “Yes, one skirt and three coats.”

“What, three coats?”

The young man didn’t notice the change in his brother’s expression. Before he could bask in his pride, he was met with a slap: “Are you stupid? We charge two hundred for one coat. Did you forget what I said? Do you want to bankrupt me?”

The young man quickly covered his head in pain and grimaced, “Ow, Brother Yan, I know the bottom price. Even though it’s not the price you set, I didn’t sell at a loss. That woman Xia Lin said not to go below two hundred, but she was not considering the current season. We’ve had these clothes out for half a month and sold only one piece. She made just two of each, and it’s hard to find someone with the right size and money to buy. We couldn’t miss this chance. Besides, selling cheap is better than being stuck with them. Now we can use this money to invest in grain.”

Brother Yan, thinking it over, found it reasonable. That woman sold the coats to him for eighty yuan each, with a guarantee that they would sell. Damn it, they would sell, but it took too long. With the time it took to sell them, he could have made a tidy profit on other deals.