Chapter 32: Being Discovered

After that first woman made a purchase, several others began picking through the fish, all worried that the big ones would be snatched up.

Times were different now compared to later generations; everyone picked the largest ones because meat was in short supply.

After the first five or six people had picked their fish, the people behind them grew dissatisfied

"You've left nothing but the small ones! If you keep selling at that price, we'll be losing money!"

"Exactly! The sizes are all different. The big ones were already taken, yet you want us to pay the same price..."

Li Long looked at the remaining fish. Indeed, everything over two and a half kilograms had been picked through. He smiled and said

"Alright, don't panic, everyone. For the remaining fish, it's one yuan and fifty cents per fish. How does that sound? Each one is at least two kilograms. At one-fifty a fish, that's only seventy cents per kilo—cheaper than mutton!"

"What about the silver carp?"

"Silver carp are one yuan!"

The others immediately began picking through them as well. Although the department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives sold fish in winter, those were hairtails brought in from the coast; they were expensive and in short supply.

Who wouldn't want a large carp stewed on their table during the New Year to bring good luck? Besides, fish could be kept through the winter, so buying one meant it would last a long time.

Once this group finished, only one elderly person, around sixty years old, remained. Looking at the small fish, the elder asked

"How much for these small crucian carp?"

"These four large crucian carp are seventy cents each. The remaining small ones are one yuan for fifteen, but you can't pick and choose," Li Long said.

Though called "small," there was still a range of sizes—some were three or four *liang*, while the smallest were less than one *liang*.

"Give me two yuan's worth of the small ones," the elderly person said cheerfully. "They don't know how to eat properly; these small crucian carp are the real good stuff! By the way, young man, can you get any loaches?"

"No loaches, but I have pond loaches. They look quite similar."

"Those are called highland loaches, a type of loach—can you get them?"

"Not in the dead of winter. The water is too deep and they hide at the bottom. Maybe in the summer."

"Sigh, alright then." The elderly person took a cloth bag, and Li Long packed thirty fish for them, collecting two yuan in vehicle coupons. This kind of thing would be worth a lot in later generations; it was a pity this one was a bit old.

Seeing that no one else was approaching, Li Long told Tao Daqiang, who was collecting the money, to tally it up.

"Six two-yuan ones, eight one-fifty ones—that includes the silver carp. Two one-yuan ones, plus this last two-yuan one, total..." Tao Daqiang couldn't calculate it and started counting manually.

Li Long was quick at mental math and said

"That's twenty-eight yuan."

"That much!" Tao Daqiang was stunned, lost his count, and had to start over.

It was indeed twenty-eight.

They had sold just over half the fish.

"If we sell the rest, won't it be over fifty yuan?" Tao Daqiang said excitedly.

People nearby looked over.

"It won't happen," Li Long waved him off. "I doubt the rest will sell. Can't you see the crowd is already dispersing?"

Tao Daqiang turned around and realized there weren't many people left in the black market. People were starting to pack up their stalls; there were currently more sellers than buyers.

"Then... what do we do?"

"Just keep the price the same for now. Give me the money; I'm going to go check the prices of some other goods."

Li Long had noticed earlier that this place wasn't just for selling goods, but also for exchanging grain coupons, oil coupons, and so on. He walked over, and the person there looked at him warily.

"Hey man, do you have a bicycle permit?"

"I do. Fifty yuan for one."

So expensive!

"What about a sewing machine permit?"

"Twenty."

Li Long was speechless. "What about vegetable oil coupons?"

"Twenty cents for half a kilo."

Greedy! Truly greedy!

But there was no choice; if you didn't have connections, this was the only way to trade.

"Give me ten jin worth of vegetable oil coupons." Li Long didn't haggle; he knew this person had plenty of coupons and figured he would come back when he needed more.

As long as they had the coupons!

Though the man seemed slightly dissatisfied, Li Long had completed a transaction after all. He counted out ten jin worth of vegetable oil coupons, and Li Long handed over two yuan. Money and coupons were exchanged.

Walking around, Li Long saw people selling grain and pork. The pork was one yuan and seventy cents per kilo, but there wasn't much fat left; it seemed the fatty cuts had already been taken.

He bought two pieces of pork belly—one over two kilograms and one over three kilograms—for ten yuan.

As he walked back, Tao Daqiang handed him three yuan with a grin

"Brother Long, we sold a 'splendid' chicken!"

"Not bad, not bad!" Li Long smiled. "Alright, let's go. There's no one left."

"But these fish..." Tao Daqiang felt somewhat reluctant.

"Pack them up first. Let's wander around." Seeing that others were packing up, Li Long knew they couldn't stay, so he quickly packed their things and left.

When they had walked about five hundred meters, they saw people wearing red armbands heading toward the black market.

The market was already empty.

Both sides remained peaceful.

The two men pulled their sled, and Li Long led the way toward the state-run canteen.

Li Long remembered this place was often called the "Big Meat Canteen." "Big meat" referred to pork, and as the name suggested, it served Han-style cuisine, with meat buns as its specialty.

"Come on, let's go buy some buns." At the thought of meat buns, Li Long felt a bit hungry. Since his rebirth, although he had eaten well these past two days, it was still a bit bland compared to later generations. These meat buns were the real deal—they wouldn't grind up scraps like skin or lymph to stuff inside; it was genuine pork belly with cabbage and green onions.

"Brother Long, I'm not hungry..."

"Eat first, talk later." Li Long told Tao Daqiang to wait outside while he went in to buy four large buns.

They were the size of a palm, thirty cents each, steaming hot, and a great value!

Of course, he didn't tell Tao Daqiang the price; the boy would surely complain they were expensive.

The two of them had one each, finishing them in a few bites. Tao Daqiang ate until his mouth was greasy, even licking his fingers clean.

Li Long felt a bit awkward and turned his head away.

After finishing the buns and wiping his mouth, Tao Daqiang felt warmed through and asked

"Brother Long, what's next..."

"Right here." Li Long pointed to a woman approaching from not far away. "I'll go ask. Keep an eye out; when someone comes over, we'll ask them."

As he spoke, he stepped forward. The woman looked at him suspiciously.

"Hello, sister! We're from the village. We caught some fish yesterday. Would you like some? They're very fresh and very cheap! Big fish, one yuan a piece—better value than meat..."

The woman's interest was piqued. She asked

"Where are they?"

Li Long hurried over and pulled a fish out of a urea bag on the sled

"Look, this is a carp, and we also have grass carp, silver carp, black carp... and crucian carp..."

"One yuan? Can you make it cheaper?" The woman saw the fish were indeed good and asked.

"I can't go any lower. These aren't small; it works out to less than sixty cents per kilo," Li Long said, holding it out for her to see. "We're working hard for this money. It wasn't easy pulling these out of the freezing water."

"Alright then, I'll buy... two. One carp and one black carp."

Li Long quickly got the fish out for her. The woman looked somewhat dissatisfied

"This black carp is a bit small."

"It tastes great! Black carp grow up eating fish; the flavor is much better than carp. I'll throw in two crucian carp for you, how about that?"

"Fine... fine." The woman was satisfied.

Watching Li Long's practiced manner, Tao Daqiang felt he had a lot to learn.

And he wasn't even sure he could learn it.