Then, several people wandered into the livestock market, where pigs and lambs were being sold. The price for piglets was the same everywhere, fifty cents per pound, which was the same as the purchasing price for adult pigs. The price for lambs was slightly more expensive, at eighty cents per pound. Very few people bought them; it was expensive to feed large animals, and unlike pigs, lambs didn't grow fat easily. Even when they did grow up, they were lean, and mutton wasn't as valuable as pork, so everyone preferred to raise pigs over sheep.
Shen Yunfang didn't share this view; the value produced by the two kinds of livestock was different. If she had the money, she would raise both—one for meat and one for milk; how wonderful that would be.
However, she was short of money at the moment, and it was already cold. The wild vegetables on the mountain were running out. If she bought a pig or sheep now, she would have to feed them grain all winter long. She didn't even have enough to feed herself, let alone the animals. She would have to wait until next spring when the weather turned warm and the wild vegetables grew back before making any plans.
Next, the group made their way to the non-staple food section. On the surface, Shen Yunfang hadn't picked up anything, so she had to spend money to buy some things.
After the entire round, she had spent a total of five yuan and twenty cents, and later, she also bought some vermicelli.
"Why aren't they selling any grain?" Shen Yunfang felt somewhat frustrated. Throughout the whole market, the one thing she hoped to see wasn't there.
"How could they just sell grain like that?" Wang Jianjun's wife said.
Indeed, grain and pork weren't available in this marketplace; rather, it must be said that these two commodities weren't available in any market. The sale of these items was controlled by the state, and this was why they couldn't be seen here.
"Are you looking to exchange for some grain?" Shen Erzhu's wife asked hesitantly.
While it was not allowed for members of the commune to buy and sell grain privately, people still secretly exchanged grain. Some poor families would exchange the fine grains like rice they were allocated for a greater quantity of coarser grains. Those from wealthier households might exchange their surplus coarse grains for less fine grains. These practices suited both parties, so the idea of private grain exchange emerged amongst the members.
"I don't have any grain; I want to buy some," Shen Yunfang said, thinking the sisters-in-law were quite nice. She had kept a keen eye on the way, so she shared her real thoughts with them, also sensing that Shen Erzhu's wife seemed somewhat inclined, "Sister-in-law, do you have some spare rice in your home? If you do, sell some to me. I'll pay for it."
Shen Erzhu's wife glanced at her and then quietly walked to the side.
What did that mean, was she selling or not?
"Come on, didn't you come today to buy cotton and fabric? Let's go check that out first," Dashuan's wife quickly pulled Yunfang away. This silly girl, how could she discuss such matters here? If someone else were to overhear, it could lead to big trouble.
So, they stopped talking about it and went together to the supply and marketing cooperative.
This place was managed by a consignment store, not yet a real supply and marketing cooperative. Usually, it sold everyday items that the members frequently bought, like cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sewing notions like needles and thread.
After making a round, they found that the cotton had sold out, with the salesperson unable to say when it would be available again. However, there was still fabric, a red base with small white flowers. Shen Yunfang looked at it for a long time but ultimately couldn't bring herself to part with the money. Sigh, she was anyway going to the county supply and marketing cooperative to buy cotton, so she might as well buy the fabric there as well.
Shen Yunfang also wanted to buy some soy sauce and vinegar, as well as kerosene, but since she hadn't brought any bottles to carry them in, she had no choice but to leave them for next time.
She was delighted to see Clam Oil packed in seashells, which was very useful for moisturizing and protecting the skin, particularly in the winter to prevent chapping. Upon asking the price, which was only five cents a box, she quickly paid and bought two boxes.
"Why are you buying this stuff?" Wang Jianjun's wife disapproved.
"For my hands." What else would she use it for?
"Wasteful," the three sisters-in-law unanimously said.
She was still thinking about buying a box for wiping hands and another for wiping feet, but it seemed she couldn't mention it now.
Later, she also bought toothpaste and toothbrushes, as well as round ball fruit candies. She had originally wanted to buy a pound of biscuits, but the seller not only asked for twenty cents but also a pound of food coupons, which she didn't have. Neither did the three sisters-in-law beside her, so in the end, she had to give up.
She had spent eighty cents at the supply and marketing cooperative, a total of six yuan, which was the most among the four people. The other three sisters-in-law all bought a few bits and pieces, none of them spending more than a few cents, only she was the biggest spender.
On the way back, Shen Yunfang's enthusiasm for shopping faded, and she began to feel pain in her feet, as if they didn't belong to her anymore. Seeing her delicate state, the sisters-in-law volunteered to carry what she had bought for her. She just needed to walk properly on her own.
To accommodate Shen Yunfang, none of them walked too fast.
Since Shen Yunfang mentioned buying grains, Shen Erzhu's wife had been very quiet and even more so on the walk back, not saying a word, just trudging along. Finally, she raised her head as if she had made up her mind, moved closer to Shen Yunfang, and whispered, "Do you want paddy or rice? How much? One jin of rice for seventeen cents, one jin of paddy for ten cents."
After considering, she understood that the city grain stores sold one jin of rice for about fourteen cents, not quite fifteen, so adding two cents was already a fair markup. Considering the paddy could produce six liang of rice and taking into account the effort of milling, she had offered a discounted price.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunfang's eyes lit up. It was so cheap? She quickly did the math in her head, buying a hundred jin of rice would cost seventeen yuan, and buying a hundred jin of paddy would be ten yuan, then she'd spend an additional yuan on milling, yielding rice of sixty liang, which meant sixty jin of rice for eleven yuan, a hundred jin would be eighteen yuan four, but she would get forty jin of bran in the process, which was like spending one yuan four to get forty jin of bran, three and a half cents per jin of bran—wasn't that a deal?
Shen Yunfang wasn't familiar with the market price of bran, but she felt it was a good deal nonetheless.
"Sis, do you have any bran? What's the price?"
Shen Erzhu's wife was a bit surprised. How did the topic change so quickly? "You want bran? If you want it, let's say four cents per jin."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunfang's eyes narrowed with a smile, "Okay, sis, I'll buy a hundred jin of rice and two hundred jin of bran." This would be twenty-five yuan. Although it was a bit more money, it saved trouble.
"Why do you need so much bran?" Shen Erzhu's wife was skeptical.
"We don't have rice at home, and surely I can't feed the chickens with food meant for humans, so I'm buying bran to feed the chickens." These days, she'd been feeding the chickens with her own ration, which pained her.
"You won't need that much though," doubted Shen Erzhu's wife.
"I'm thinking of raising more chickens next year, so I might as well store it."
Shen Erzhu's wife thought for a moment and then said, "Alright, I'll bring it to your house tonight." And then she fell silent again.
The other two sisters-in-law consciously kept some distance during their conversation, showing their tact.
That night, when it was completely dark, Shen Erzhu and his wife delivered a hundred jin of rice and two hundred jin of bran to Shen Yunfang, who immediately handed over twenty-five yuan, thus completing the transaction.
That night, lying on the kang, Shen Yunfang began to do the math. She had spent six yuan at the fair, adding another twenty-five for the grains, out of the original sixty-some yuan in her possession, she had only twelve yuan five left.
She was consumed by distress. The money that was supposed to last a long time, she had almost spent it all within a month of being reborn. Without any income in sight, she was feeling uneasy.