Chapter 101: The Trial

After paying the entrance fee as usual, Xiao Weiguo stepped inside. It felt as though he had entered another world; the place was quite crowded with people either setting up stalls or wandering about.

The only commonality here was the silence. When buyers and sellers communicated, they did so in hushed tones, or by reaching their hands into a sleeve to negotiate through subtle hand signals.

Xiao Weiguo had not visited in a long time and was unfamiliar with current market prices, so he strolled around aimlessly. His most pressing need was jade; as for other items, he intended to purchase various ration coupons whenever the opportunity arose. He also thought back to his idea from the night before regarding medicinal liquor. Large quantities of high-proof grain alcohol were urgently needed. After all, grain was soon to become as precious as gold; even the national distilleries were struggling to secure grain for production, let alone other brands. He also lacked the formulas for medicinal wine, though he could inquire about those at Tongrentang later.

Turning a corner, Xiao Weiguo spotted a vendor in the distance who looked remarkably like Zhou Xiaoming, the man he had met the night before. Zhou Xiaoming had a burlap sack in front of him, upon which sat two wild rabbits, their legs bound, kicking occasionally. He scanned the passing crowd with his eyes, hoping someone would buy his wares. Xiao Weiguo wondered if he had caught the rabbits himself or if he was acting as a middleman for people from the countryside. Seeing him sparked an idea: he didn't need to show his face himself. He could find agents to help him sell and buy various goods. As long as he offered enough of a commission, there were plenty of people willing to do the work.

Zhou Xiaoming seemed like a good candidate. From their interaction yesterday, Xiao Weiguo felt he had a handle on the man’s character—he was loyal, had a sense of justice, and was generally reliable. He could look into his background more thoroughly later.

Before long, someone bought Zhou Xiaoming’s two rabbits. He happily pocketed the money, picked up the burlap sack that had been underneath the rabbits, and walked over to a stall selling eggs, where he bought a dozen. He then headed to a grain stall and purchased some coarse grains. It appeared he was about to leave, so Xiao Weiguo followed behind, formulating his plan.

Once they were out of the Pigeon Market and had walked into a secluded alley, Xiao Weiguo saw a suitable spot, quickened his pace, and caught up to Zhou Xiaoming. Hearing footsteps, Zhou Xiaoming turned around quickly, instinctively moving the sack behind his back.

"Zhou Xiaoming, I thought it was you. Just coming from the Pigeon Market? I have something I'd like to ask your help with," Xiao Weiguo said.

Zhou Xiaoming recognized him as the friend he had met yesterday, and his guard lowered slightly, though it spiked again when he heard the request. "Ah, Brother Weiguo, what is it?"

Xiao Weiguo continued, "I saw you selling wild rabbits inside. The thing is, I have a few wild chickens and rabbits myself, but I’m hesitant to sell them personally. I’d like to entrust you to sell them for me. The commission will be one chicken. What do you think? Are you interested?"

Xiao Weiguo’s plan was to start with small tasks to test Zhou Xiaoming, while simultaneously offloading some supplies and establishing a sales channel in the black market. If Zhou Xiaoming proved untrustworthy, his loss would be minimal—just a few chickens and rabbits. If he passed this first test, Xiao Weiguo would gradually increase the scale of his operations until he was certain of Zhou Xiaoming as his agent. As for the risk that Zhou Xiaoming might discover his identity and potentially betray him later, Xiao Weiguo was not concerned; he had other plans in place for that.

Zhou Xiaoming’s eyes lit up at the prospect. "Where are the goods? How many are there? Of course I’m interested! A sale is a sale. Don't worry, I run fast—they never catch me." He spoke with a sense of pride.

Xiao Weiguo used his mind to retrieve two burlap sacks from his internal space, packed with six chickens and five rabbits, and moved them to a corner of a wall about ten meters away. "They are right there. Five chickens at 2.5 yuan each, five rabbits at 1.5 yuan each. The remaining chicken is your commission. You just need to give me 20 yuan in the end."

He led Zhou Xiaoming to the corner. Zhou Xiaoming inspected the goods, thought for a moment, and said, "It's a deal! But isn't your pricing a bit low? Even though they're dead, they look fresh and quite plump."

Because the chickens and rabbits in his space grew so rapidly, Xiao Weiguo had to slaughter them and store them in the thatched hut warehouse. He would have to test later whether the warehouse could store live animals.

"Look, if you can sell them for more, that’s even better," Xiao Weiguo replied. "Your commission is the one fixed chicken, so regardless of the sale price, you must bring me the full amount. Also, I need these sold today."

"Got it. Where should I find you once I've sold them, Weiguo?" Zhou Xiaoming asked as he picked up a sack in each hand, ready to leave.

Xiao Weiguo thought for a moment. "I will find you. Keep the money for now, and when I come looking for you, you can hand it over." He wanted to increase the pressure to see if Zhou Xiaoming would develop greed after holding onto twenty yuan for an extended period.

If, when the time came, Zhou Xiaoming did not produce the money immediately, he would simply look for someone else; the man would not be fit to be his agent.

"You got it!" Zhou Xiaoming, fueled with excitement, headed back toward the Pigeon Market, walking briskly with a sack in each hand.

Xiao Weiguo hadn’t bought anything yet. After Zhou Xiaoming was out of sight, he went back into the black market, lamenting the wasted ten-cent entrance fee. Once inside, he headed straight for a ticket scalper he had spotted earlier.

A young man with a shifty look was leaning against a wall, scanning the customers to see who might have the means to buy his goods. Xiao Weiguo walked straight up to him and said, "Hey, what kind of coupons do you have? I’m looking to buy."

The scalper, known as "Monkey," saw a customer and greeted him enthusiastically, launching into a pitch about his inventory. Xiao Weiguo listened and realized the man was well-connected; he had almost every type of coupon available on the market, some in significant quantities.

Upon hearing that he had national grain coupons, Xiao Weiguo asked curiously, "How many national grain coupons do you have, and how do you price them?"

He knew that during the next three years, national grain coupons would be the most sought-after currency. They were valid nationwide with no usage or time restrictions, remaining valuable even during the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside" movement. Furthermore, only national grain coupons could be used to purchase cooking oil in other regions. In reality, these coupons were as good as cash; in difficult times, their value exceeded that of the actual currency.

"Brother, you know how rare these are. Regular grain coupons are 1.2 mao per catty, but the national ones are 2 mao per catty. I have 100 catties here. How many do you want?" Monkey asked.

"I'll take them all," Xiao Weiguo decided. Twenty yuan for 100 catties of national grain coupons was a great bargain. He then proceeded to purchase a wide variety of other coupons from Monkey, including those for sugar, oil, meat, cloth, alcohol, and regular grain.