Chapter 42: Investigation

As expected of Third Uncle, Xiao Weiguo agreed readily, “Alright, you wait here.” With that, he picked up the various bags and walked to a secluded spot. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he silently restocked the goods with a thought, then returned to the stall and signaled to Third Uncle that he could start buying.

Third Uncle wasted no time. He reached into the bag and fumbled for a long while before finally pulling out, as expected, the fattest one of the lot. Delighted, Yan Bugui—the Third Uncle—couldn’t stop grinning.

“Uncle, why not buy a rabbit as well?” Xiao Weiguo, with nothing else to do, teased him.

“No, no. Rabbit meat is just not worth it—eat it and you’ll only lose weight. Young man, I see you don’t have a sign for your stall. Why don’t I write one for you? You can give me a little fee for my calligraphy, how about that?” Yan Bugui, ever scheming, tried another angle.

“Sure, I can give you a jin of sweet potatoes. Just write: Whole chicken, 2 yuan; whole rabbit, 1.5 yuan; mystery meat box, pick any size, no regrets after choosing.” Xiao Weiguo, realizing he needed to boost his sales speed, figured a sign would help, so he agreed to Third Uncle’s calculating offer.

The main reason was the chance to interact with characters from the original story, which left Xiao Weiguo with a strange sense of wonder. That was why he let Yan Bugui benefit here, though he had plenty of sweet potatoes anyway.

“Just watch, I promise you a perfect semi-cursive script,” Yan Bugui replied with the excitement of a bee finding honey.

After writing the sign, he hefted the hefty seven-jin fat hen and the jin of sweet potatoes as his calligraphy fee, and cheerfully set off for home.

And, it must be said, ever since the sign went up, business at Xiao Weiguo’s stall boomed—he restocked three times over. He also managed to sell a good amount of grain intermittently.

Seeing that sales were about done, Xiao Weiguo decided to finish with the current batch of customers, and then switch to buying up various supplies and ration coupons.

He had already scoped out the stalls, noting where the coupon sellers were. By now, the only thing drawing Xiao Weiguo to the black market was the ticket scalpers—the rest of the supplies were available at the supply co-op, and with coupons, he could buy anything there.

Of course, that was the situation now. In another six months, the black market’s main—and almost exclusive—purpose would be to buy grain, since the government would scarcely provide any surplus by then.

Xiao Weiguo found a ticket scalper and bought up almost all the coupons he had—sugar, oil, meat, cloth, alcohol, and grain tickets, among others.

“Brother, I’ve got a wristwatch coupon here—80 yuan and it’s yours,” the scalper said to him.

“The wristwatch coupon I don’t need for now, but if you have a bicycle coupon, save it for me,” Xiao Weiguo replied, thinking he’d like a new bike to ride, and the old one could stay at home.

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for you,” the scalper agreed readily.

Just then, a whistling sound echoed down the alley. At once, the scalpers nearby bolted deeper into the alley the moment they heard it. Some others in the crowd darted away as well.

Someone shouted, “The Bureau for the Prevention of Profiteering is here! Run, scatter!”

Xiao Weiguo instantly realized that the legendary anti-profiteering bureau had come to raid the black market. Getting caught would be disastrous—at best, a fine and a detention, at worst, losing one’s job, and for the ringleaders, perhaps even facing a firing squad.

He didn’t dwell on it, but quickly darted into another alley.

Halfway there, he saw bright lights ahead. A line of people, flashlights in hand, were making black marketeers squat on the ground.

He hurriedly changed direction, only to find the same scene in the next alley.

This was clearly a massive operation—they meant to catch everyone in one fell swoop.

Xiao Weiguo quickly slipped into a corner and vanished into his space.

He could only rely on his space to hide now. It was safe, but he had no way of knowing when the coast would be clear outside. If he emerged too soon and they were still around, it would be most embarrassing.

He wondered if Yan Bugui had made it home in time or had been caught—he couldn’t help but worry about Third Uncle.

With nothing better to do while hiding, Xiao Weiguo decided to tidy up his space a bit. There were more and more things, and the place was starting to feel cramped.

As time went on, he realized, this would only get worse.

There were two clues to expanding his space—jade and Taoist arts.

The first clue, jade, seemed feasible, but required a large amount and was very expensive, so it was on hold for now. He needed to figure out a way to get a batch of jade and give it a try.

The second clue would have to wait until he returned from the commune.

Having harvested the ripe crops, vegetables, chickens, and rabbits, Xiao Weiguo found himself with nothing else to do.

He turned his attention to the five new pigs he’d acquired. Both of the sows were now pregnant, so he quickly poured corn into their troughs for an extra meal.

While closely observing the pigs, he noticed that the soil beneath them had changed from black to white. He also realized that when the pigs nibbled at the soil, they only ate the black bits, never the white.

Curious, he compared the white and black soil up close and found that the white soil seemed to be black soil that had lost something.

Could it be that what was lost was spiritual energy? Both crops and animals grew ten times faster—perhaps they all drew on the spiritual energy in the soil.

He checked the chicken and rabbit pens and found white soil there too. In the cropland, there was none yet. However, the patch where he’d been constantly planting and harvesting vegetables had turned brown, no longer the pure black it once was.

This made Xiao Weiguo nervous. If his guess was right, then restoring or increasing the spiritual energy in his space would become his most urgent and important task.

Otherwise, he had a premonition: if all the soil turned white, he would lose this space.

For now, he pushed the worry aside. The crisis was still far off.

He calmed himself, took inventory of his black market haul, and found himself with over two hundred yuan and a variety of ration coupons.

It was enough to get home. When he left, he’d just stop by the supply co-op to make some purchases, then set off for the village.

When it seemed the people outside had mostly dispersed, Xiao Weiguo slipped out of his space, reappearing in the corner of the alley. He listened and looked carefully for any sign of movement.

It felt like the anti-profiteering agents had left after catching enough people, or perhaps some big fish.

Xiao Weiguo crept quietly to the mouth of the alley. Seeing no one on guard, he hurried back to his courtyard and, using the same trick as before, climbed over the wall and slipped inside.