Chapter 48: Buying a Bicycle

In Yue Feng's memory, a heavy-duty Yongjiu brand bicycle sold for about 180 yuan at the supply and marketing cooperative. Since it required coupons for purchase, it was considered a major luxury item at the time.

To put it this way, the sensation caused by riding a bicycle into a village in 1980 was roughly equivalent to driving a Rolls-Royce back to a village after the year 2020.

Among the six production teams of Xing'an Village and their hundreds of households, only the village secretary, Wang Jianguo, owned a bicycle. Even his bike had been allocated by the town; no one else could afford one. Even if an ordinary villager saved enough money, they had no way to obtain the necessary bicycle coupons.

Yue Feng was not the type of person who liked to show off, but he had to buy this bicycle. It was an essential means of transportation that directly affected his daily commuting efficiency—its importance ranked even higher than buying a gun or raising a dog.

Early the next morning, Yue Feng woke up at 4:30 again. This time, he didn't need to sell wild game, so he only carried an empty satchel as he strolled into town.

Because of his regular customers at the Second Canteen, Yue Feng hadn't visited the ghost market for several days. When he arrived today, he noticed that the market was significantly livelier than in previous days.

Bulky goods like grain, which people hadn't dared to display outside a few days ago, were now being ostentatiously laid out by the roadside. The bolder ones even dared to shout and hawk their wares.

Yue Feng wandered through the ghost market inconspicuously, getting a general sense of the current market prices for various goods, before approaching Wang Hu.

"Hey, comrade! Need grain coupons? I have both local and national coupons here. My prices are the lowest in the whole market!"

Before Yue Feng could even say hello, Wang Hu hit him with his familiar, practiced sales pitch.

"Brother Hu, it's me!" Yue Feng said with a slight smile.

"Oh, it's you! I haven't seen you for a few days; I was wondering what you were up to! I've managed to get those bicycle coupons for you, but you haven't come to pick them up!"

"You got them? Where are they?" Although Yue Feng was mentally prepared, hearing the news in person still gave him a small thrill.

"Did you bring the money?"

"I did!"

"Follow me!"

Wang Hu turned and headed out, crossing several main streets before finally stopping at the residential area of the Military Control Commission.

"Wait for me here a moment. I'll go home and get them. This stuff is too valuable to carry on me!"

"Alright!"

About five minutes later, Wang Hu emerged from an alley, clutching something against his chest.

"The bicycle coupons you wanted. Cash on delivery!"

Yue Feng didn't waste time either, pulling out five "Big Unity" ten-yuan notes that he had prepared in advance from his pocket.

"Fifty yuan. Count it!"

After confirming the amount, the bicycle coupons, still smelling faintly of fresh ink, were handed to Yue Feng.

"Brother Hu, you're the man!"

Yue Feng carefully tucked the coupons into his inner pocket and gave Wang Hu a thumbs-up.

"Heh heh, of course! Don't you know what kind of influence your big brother has? In the underworld, they call me the Little Prince of Coupons!!

Let me tell you, in this little corner of Fengcheng, as long as you have money, there isn't a coupon Wang Hu can't get!

Now that we've closed a big deal, we're friends. If you ever need grain coupons or anything else, I'll give you the lowest price!"

Wang Hu stuffed the ten-yuan notes into his pocket, looking extremely pleased.

Yue Feng nodded. "Sure! I'll find you if I need anything!"

Yue Feng didn't say anything else, but his understanding of Wang Hu deepened.

No wonder this guy could get hold of such highly sought-after coupons; it turned out he was connected to the Military Control Commission.

You could think of it as being similar to a local garrison unit.

Having secured the bicycle coupons, Yue Feng strolled toward the supply and marketing cooperative. Since it was still over an hour before opening time, he first went to the state-run restaurant to eat two large meat buns. After eating his fill, he rested for a while, and once the time was right, he arrived at the cooperative.

At that moment, the cooperative had only just opened, and the sales clerk was cleaning the counters.

"Hello, comrade. I'd like to ask, do you have any heavy-duty Yongjiu brand bicycles in stock?" Yue Feng asked very politely.

"A bicycle? We have them! 180 yuan, purchase with coupons!!"

The sales clerk had some impression of Yue Feng; he had come to buy things here a few days ago and had asked about the purchase prices for various mountain goods.

Later, after Yue Feng left with Xiao Tao, a saleswoman named Li Li had discussed it with her colleagues, speculating that Yue Feng was likely a hunter from the mountains. Thus, Li Li remembered him quite well.

After all, the supply and marketing cooperative had annual procurement quotas to meet. Other people didn't have any conflict of interest with the sales staff—even if a village secretary came, they wouldn't give him any special treatment.

But hunters were different. They might have very good goods to sell, and there was room for maneuvering within those procurement quotas. If one was bold and played the game well, one could make a profit from it.

"Where are they? Can I take a look first?" Yue Feng continued to ask.

"You can. They're in the back warehouse! I'll take you!" As she spoke, Li Li led Yue Feng to the warehouse in the back of the cooperative.

In the cooperatives of this era, goods were diverse and cluttered; many things that would seem completely unrelated to people in the future could be found here.

With so many items, it looked messy, but from a distance, the brand-new bicycle immediately caught Yue Feng's eye.

Its silhouette was unique, its structure was rational, and it was full of the mechanical beauty of industrial production. Even through the aesthetic lens of a modern person like Yue Feng, he could still feel the weight and stability of this Yongjiu bicycle.

Yue Feng gripped the handlebars and rang the bell twice, then glanced at the thickened spokes and the wheels, his eyes full of appreciation.

"I'll take this one! Please issue the invoice!" Yue Feng said decisively.

"You're really buying it? Okay!" Li Li had originally thought this handsome young hunter was just looking, but she hadn't expected him to be so decisive.

"Of course I'm buying it! Do I just push it out myself?"

"That definitely won't work. A bicycle is a major item; you need to sign an outgoing slip to remove it from the warehouse. Come back to the counter with me first. Once the invoice is issued, come here to exchange it for the outgoing slip!"

"Alright!"

Yue Feng went to the counter and handed the bicycle coupons and a thick stack of ten-yuan notes to the saleswoman.

Li Li worked briskly and quickly prepared the documents.

While verifying the coupons, Li Li habitually glanced at the stamp on the back of the bicycle coupon.

Seeing the text of the stamp, Li Li froze for a moment, her impression of Yue Feng improving even further.