Back to the past: Spring and Autumn Siheyuan

Chapter 13 Market
"Hey, Old Zheng, is there a market not far from the back wall where we stand?"

It was almost nine o'clock now, and the two played chess for more than two hours after eating. When they started to clean up, Li Heng remembered that he had never been to the ghost market.

"Huh? Erheng, do you want to go and have a look?"

Of course, Lao Zheng knew what kind of market he was asking about, if it was a formal daytime market, he didn't need to ask.

"Yeah, it's been 20 days since I haven't been back. I just heard that there is a bazaar. I haven't seen it yet. I plan to go to open my eyes."

"That's right, there is a market about a few hundred meters north of our backyard wall, but if you want to go, you must go there early. The stalls will be scattered after four o'clock in the morning. Another thing is that if you go, you must put Pack yourself tightly, it is best not to let others recognize you."

"Anyone else check?"

"Let me tell you this, if you just buy and sell some daily needs at home, nothing will happen. For example, if you sell the food that you can't finish at home, the price is the same as the store. It's absolutely nothing. But if it is specialized in selling those kinds of tickets, then someone will definitely check. Erheng, what are you going to sell in the past?"

"What are you selling? I just came back and I don't have anything to sell. I just want to go around and buy something if I can meet what I need."

He really didn't think about what to sell. Although he has a lot of various tickets on hand, those things are consumables, and they will be gone after use, especially those meat tickets. The office will distribute two taels to each household every month.

Erliang, what is this stuff enough for?

It's a pity that he doesn't know yet, but after another two years, every household will not be able to guarantee two taels a month, and they will be able to give Amitabha two taels a quarter and half a year.

"By the way, Old Zheng, what are the prices of those things sold in the market compared to normal ones?"

"What price?" Old Zheng was stumped by his question. He didn't know what to say, and after thinking for a while, he said, "If you plan to buy tickets, the prices of food stamps, meat stamps, and sugar stamps are basically the same as those in the store. It is one-to-one. Tickets for big items, such as bicycles, radios, watches, etc., are basically one-third to half of the store price.

There is no final conclusion on this thing, it's all a matter of your choice, anyway, it's pretty much the same. "

This old buddy is clear, this is, he can't just sell tickets, right?
Li Heng nodded thoughtfully, then stood up and helped move the chessboard and stool into the guard room.

"Thank you, Old Zheng, if I wake up in the morning, I'll go for a walk."

"Go if you want, but remember what I said, pack yourself tightly."

"Understood, you should rest early."

……

At two o'clock in the morning, he opened his eyes very punctually, put on a disguise and went out.

It was said to be a disguise, but in fact, he wore a large mask used by a hospital doctor, put on a military cap, and then put on a pair of flat glasses that he found out when he was helping to sort out the waste that day. The problem was fixed by him with adhesive tape, and it was barely usable.

In the guard room, upon hearing the sound of locking the door outside, Lao Zheng opened his glasses, slowly got up from the bed, walked to the window and took a look outside.

It was so dark outside that he couldn't see anything, so he turned on the light at the door and walked out of the guard room to look around, making sure he didn't find anything before returning to the guard room to turn off the light outside.

The yard was plunged into darkness again.

After 10 minutes or [-] minutes, the door of the guard room opened suddenly, and Lao Zheng came out with a flashlight. He stood at the door and smoked a cigarette, and then walked towards the station master's office, usually walking with a limp. legs, but at this time they behaved no differently from normal people.

After walking to the door of the office, he knocked on the door first, called Er Heng several times in a low voice, put his ear on the door and listened carefully for a while, and saw that there was really no movement inside, so he took out a key from his pocket Opened the door and walked in.

The display in the office was very simple, and he didn't move his desk, but went straight to the single bed and flashed a flashlight at a bag Li Heng put on the ground.

First, I carefully observed the outside with a flashlight, and after seeing that there was nothing tricky, I stretched out my hand and gently opened the zipper.

The bag was full of clothes. He reached in and touched it back and forth a few times. When he found a box underneath, he carefully took out the box.

After opening the box, when Lao Zheng saw clearly what was in it, he felt frightened for a while, and it contained a military medal.

This military medal is in the shape of a five-pointed star. The pattern on the front is a red star above, and the famous city gate building below.

On the back is the name of the medal, Order of So-and-so, Third Class, and the date [-].

Seeing this, Lao Zheng frowned and reached out to touch the bag twice, and when he came out again, he was holding two red books.

One of them is the certificate accompanying the medal, which contains a photo of Li Heng in military uniform, and then his name, the unit he belongs to, and the date of issuance of the certificate, steel seal, certificate number and other personal information.

The other red book is a discharge certificate, and the personal information recorded on it is exactly the same as that on the certificate.

Lao Zheng sighed and put the three things back into the bag, then zipped it up, carefully restored the bag to its previous appearance, and exited the office.

What he didn't notice was that the zipper pull on the bag used to be two teeth from the top, but now it has three teeth.

……

After Li Heng went out, he went around the back wall and continued to walk north along the path for a while.

He was indeed taken aback when he saw this bazaar.

Why is the ghost city that has always been mysterious in his heart not mysterious at all?

What's the difference between this and the day market?
Oh, no, there is still a difference. A normal house is in the daytime, but this one is in the middle of the night, and you have to use a flashlight. The voice of everyone communicating is also relatively soft. Basically, if you don’t get close to you, you can’t hear others clearly at all. What are you talking about.

This kind of ghost market has no organizers and managers, and it is formed spontaneously by ordinary people.

Basically, what is traded is something that is not allowed to be traded in the regular market during the day.

For example, food, such as those various bills, as well as chickens and eggs raised by nearby farmers, and even some people sell meat. It’s hard to say where the meat comes from, and it’s even more difficult to say if it will cause accidents if you eat it. Not allowed.

Li Heng actually didn't have anything he wanted to buy when he came here. He was simply curious about the ghost market and wanted to come and have a look around.

Basically, those who sell grain want to exchange it. They exchange their own fine grains for coarse grains at a ratio of one to two. These are the only choices that are made when there are too many people in the family.

(End of this chapter)