Age: My Small World

Early that morning.

Just as Yang Jun was about to get up, he heard his little fish beside him mumble sleepily, "Remember to wear the scarf I sewed for you when you go out, it's cold outside."

He mentioned going to the black market before going to bed, and I didn't expect this girl to be so thoughtful as to remember it.

As he got up, Xiaoyuer also woke up.

"Brother Xiaoshan, would you like something to eat before you go? I'll steam some leftover steamed buns from yesterday for you."

She was afraid he would be hungry in the middle of the night.

Yang Jun pinched her little cheek: "Alright, I'm just going out to exchange some food coupons and stuff. Don't worry, I'll bring you some good food when I come back later. Don't get up early to eat breakfast later."

"Okay, you can go back to sleep."

Looking into his loving eyes, the little girl felt a sense of security and drifted back into sleep.

Yang Jun, on the other hand, sneaked out the door.

"crunch~"

As soon as the door closed, he felt a gust of cold wind. He quickly tightened the scarf around his neck, which indeed brought some warmth.

Actually, given his constitution, he wasn't afraid of the cold; he was just used to keeping warm.

A gust of cold wind blew as he stepped onto the thick snow. Under the moonlight, a clear row of footprints quickly appeared in the snow.

Yang Jun's cold figure walked on the deserted street. Only the occasional bark of a dog added some noise. Otherwise, it felt like all was quiet, quite different from the brightly lit capital city decades later.

However, it was precisely this kind of weather that made him somewhat enjoy the solitude.

"I should have continued writing a long time ago. Even if I don't publish it, it would be good to keep it in my little world." Yang Jun felt that it was because he had been having too many emotions lately and needed a place to vent. Writing was a good way to do that.

Everyone has moments of extreme mood, even Yang Jun is no exception.

At this point, a solution is needed.

Some people find solace in constant smoking, others in drinking to drown their sorrows, and still others in spending time with women. Yang Jun, however, found none of these methods particularly enjoyable. Only when writing did he find true joy and clarity in his heart.

It's probably related to his life experiences. After all, he has too many secrets and can't explain them to anyone, so writing is the only way he can find solace.

"No wonder I haven't been able to create a move or two of my own boxing techniques lately; it's probably related to my mood."

This trip back to the countryside might be a good opportunity to relax a bit.

Soon, Yang Jun arrived at Biandan Hutong in the Dongsi area, which was not far from Maxian Hutong.

Since they were all old acquaintances, he didn't think much of it and stepped into the black market street.

Elsewhere, people are asleep at this hour, but the black market is bustling with activity.

The figures of people moving about were one after another, indicating that more people had come to the black market recently.

This made Yang Jun frown.

After observing for a while, he saw many people around selling old items, and he finally understood that the trend had finally reached some people.

It's likely that there will be more and more people like this in the coming period of time.

Although Yang Jun never lacked food, food was the eternal hard currency and a necessity in the black market. Many people still lacked food and had to sell some old items to exchange for it.

This is also related to the current state of fertility. Many people believe that having more children brings more happiness, so the desire to have more children seems endless. Sometimes, a wife has just finished her postpartum confinement period when, wow, she gets pregnant again. It's like a seamless transition, which makes things even more difficult for many families.

Even working-class families can't afford to have four or five boys eating their fill. You know, boys can eat their parents out of house and home. It's not easy to raise even one child, let alone several together. It's truly terrifying. Yang Jun, who has experience from a young age, couldn't help but shake his head. If the plan for eugenics and good parenting started now, the situation might be better.

However, these are all wishful thinking on his part. National affairs are always considered from the perspective of everyone, not just one family or one person.

Yang Jun honestly found the local bully in the black market for carrying poles, and then tried to sell all the tens of thousands of kilograms of grain he had by following his example.

Unfortunately, this time the guy was more cautious and actually reported it to his superiors, which attracted Du Quan's attention.

"This guy is way too cautious. It's just selling some grain, why is he being so careful?!"

Yang Jun had already left the black market.

As an old acquaintance, Du Quan was someone Du Quan didn't want to know that he had the ability to obtain so much grain; who knew if this guy would report him directly to the office?

He had no choice but to temporarily switch to another black market.

After hurrying to the next black market, Yang Jun was finally able to sell his wares with peace of mind.

Tens of thousands of kilograms of grain were exchanged for several thousand yuan, which was enough for a short time.

He exchanged some more national grain coupons and meat coupons, and he also asked the ticket scalpers to get him more bicycle coupons and the like, he never thought he had too many of those.

When my brother-in-law comes to Beijing in the future, I can get him a bicycle or something.

However, he can't be too blatant. After all, his status is different now. If people think he's done something wrong, it would be troublesome to go through an investigation.

"Forget it, why should a little kid ride a bicycle? We can just use Xiaoyuer's old one from now on."

He quickly set out his brother-in-law's future cycling route.

However, since he was going back anyway, Yang Jun took the opportunity to buy some candy and other things that didn't require tickets.

You need coupons to buy candy from the supply and marketing cooperative, but some people make their own candy and sell it on the black market, and those things don't require coupons.

The packaging of these candies is rather casual, but as long as they're edible, that's fine. No child would care about the quality of the packaging; as long as they taste good, that's all that matters.

He also got a nice set of clothes to take with him. He hadn't brought anything good for Master Yan Wu when he went back several times, so this time he had to be more prepared.

The purchase, made with utmost sincerity, came to an end, and the sky in the distance seemed to brighten considerably.

We went to two black markets, which definitely took up a lot of time; it's almost six o'clock now.

He went to a breakfast stall and bought some fried dough sticks and steamed buns before returning.

Back home, Little Fish indeed listened to him and got up without eating breakfast.

He then handed her a steamed bun and a fried dough stick.

My mother started eating, saying she would finish the leftover steamed buns from last night, along with some pickled vegetables and rice porridge.

"Mother, you should eat too."

Little Fish traded her steamed bun for her mother's bread, and then she ate the rest of the bread herself.

Li Xiaohua just smiled, and after showing more gentleness towards her daughter-in-law, she asked Yang Jun, "Xiaoshan, when are you going back?"

She also knew that Yang Jun had gone to change things last night.

Yang Jun was quite content, with a steamed bun in one hand and a fried dough stick in the other.

"Go early and come back early, let's do it tomorrow." (End of Chapter)