50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 396 Purchasing Goods at the Ghost Market
When the food was served, Sun Aiguo returned, and everyone was there to start the meal.

Seeing such a sumptuous dinner, the two little ones were overjoyed and enjoyed a hearty meal.

After dinner, the two children went to their room to do their homework, and Sun Zhiwei and his wife went to bed early.

After three hours of intense passion, late at night, Sun Zhiwei made sure Tong Jiajia and the two children were sound asleep before quietly getting up.

I haven't been to the Ghost Market for many years. Not long after the Ghost Market collapsed, someone rebuilt it.

In the past two years, many restrictions have been lifted, and business in the ghost market has become increasingly prosperous, with a constant stream of people every night.

After leaving home, Sun Zhiwei went straight to Dongchenggen. The place was the same as before, but the old Brother Long had disappeared. Now, Brother Hu was in charge of this ghost market.

The current Sun Zhiwei is not the same Sun Zhiwei as before. His spatial range has expanded so much that he can now cover the entire Ghost Market within his spatial range.

First, check out what's being sold in the market. They really have everything. Compared to years ago, the resources here are much more abundant.

Some people look like middlemen, the kind who have been in business for a long time.

Because of their boldness, most of them later became the first batch of self-employed individuals after the reform and opening up, and reaped the first benefits of the opening up.

Sun Zhiwei came here today to buy goods for his family, but he also knew that these people running the "ghost market" would definitely cause trouble, so he just had to wait.

He stored his bicycle in his spatial storage outside the ghost market, then went to a pork stall and bought the vendor's tricycle and 100 jin of pork fat.

Then he rode the tricycle he had just bought around the market, picking out ingredients that were usually hard to find, such as dried mushrooms, cured meat, candy, and canned goods, until the tricycle was full before turning around and going home.

As expected, seven or eight people chased after him when he left the alley of Dongchenggen Street.

He was too lazy to argue with them, so he simply made the eight burly men disappear physically and then turned around.

He didn't stop when he arrived at Wenjin Street. He remotely delivered the things he had just bought into the basement of his house, and then turned around and went to the north of the city.

That night, he visited all four major ghost markets in the city, buying a huge amount of staple food, side dishes, and snacks before he was done.

He was followed on his way back each time. He dealt with five or six groups of robbers, totaling 38, making a small contribution to the city's security.

He originally intended to take down a few organizers of the ghost markets, but then he thought that these ghost markets had actually contributed to the prosperity of the market.

If he manages to ruin all these ghost markets, then it will be difficult for ordinary families in the city to exchange goods, and the problem won't be completely eradicated.

In any case, these ghost markets are just a bunch of韭菜 (a metaphor for easily exploited people) to him; he just comes here to harvest them whenever he feels like it.

He worked hard until 3 a.m., finally filling up the family's inventory, before collapsing onto the bed to catch up on sleep.

The next day, he was woken up by Tong Jiajia.

"You went to the ghost market last night?"

"Oh, yes, what's wrong?"

"My goodness, you bought so much stuff, how are we going to finish it all?"

Tong Jiajia complained, but she was secretly very happy. It made a difference to have a man at home. Although her son looked grown up, he was still not as useful as her man.

"I'll save it and eat it slowly. I only buy food with a long shelf life."

"Oh right, I need to render the lard today, it doesn't keep long." Remembering that he had bought 100 jin of pork fat last night, he immediately woke up and quickly got up. In the morning, after having breakfast with Tong Jiajia and the two children, he spent three hours rendering the pork fat into lard and a large basin of cracklings after they left.

It was almost noon, so he simply made himself a bowl of rice with lard to fill his stomach. Then, he took a small jar of lard and a bag of candy and rode his bike out.

Yesterday he promised Tong Jiajia that he would find a nanny today, so he went to the village to take a look.

From the west side of Jingshan, walk south along the north-south long street, cross the overpass, exit Yongding Gate, and head towards Nanyuan.

He moved very quickly and soon arrived at the vicinity of Nanyuan Wetland Park, outside the Fourth Ring Road in what would later become known as the Fourth Ring Road. Now, there were hardly any parks here; instead, there were large areas of woodland and fields.

Every year, the brigade that delivers firewood to their family is located here. This village is called Yangjia'ao, and it is built at the foot of a small mountain.

It's called a mountain, but it's really just a dirt slope, not even as high as Jingshan Hill. Because it's far from the city, their brigade didn't get the chance to be vegetable farmers, so their situation wasn't very good.

It can only be said that under the emperor's nose, one can eat one's fill. However, due to the price scissors between industry and agriculture, it is really incomparable to the city a dozen miles away.

Sun Zhiwei rode his bicycle and found the brigade headquarters with familiarity with the area. The Party Secretary happened to be there and immediately came to greet him.

"Oh, Comrade Sun, it's been a long time since you've been here. Please have a seat."

Most of the villagers in Yangjia'ao are surnamed Yang, and the village secretary is also surnamed Yang; he is an old man in his sixties.

He led a village through war and up to the present day, and not a single person has ever starved to death. He is very flexible in his approach to things and is the one who has the final say in the village.

Sun Zhiwei has been coming to buy firewood alone since he was a teenager, and he has become a regular customer of their village, even developing a considerable dry firewood business because of it.

"Comrade Sun, is there a problem with the firewood? Don't worry, I'll definitely take care of it for you."

Although selling firewood doesn't bring in a lot of money, it happens every year and has now become a stable source of income for the village.

It has also solved the basic living problems of a number of impoverished households, and we can't let it go.

"No, no, the firewood is fine." Sun Zhiwei quickly denied it. The village was very honest; the firewood was always delivered on time, and there was never any shortage of weight.

"Old Party Secretary, I'm sorry to bother you. I actually came to ask for your help today."

"Comrade Sun, if there's anything we can help you with, just say the word. We country folk have plenty of strength."

It's no wonder people say these village Party secretaries are all cunning old foxes. They're practically saying, "We can lend a hand, but we can't help with anything else."

"That's right, there are four people in my family: my husband and I, plus two children who are in college."

"Because my husband and I both have to work, we leave early and come home late every day. We don't even have time to buy groceries, so we just make do every day."

“I’ll be going on a long business trip soon and won’t be home for an extended period, so the children’s meals will become a big problem.”

"So, I'd like to find a cook in our village to help out with our family."

"Every day it's just washing and cleaning, buying groceries, cooking, and tidying up the house. I wonder if you could introduce someone to our family in the village?"

The old Party Secretary's eyes lit up when he heard this. This was a great opportunity—to be a nanny for a city leader's family, a job he couldn't even dream of.

He heard that nannies in the city were well paid, and one nanny could support a whole family.

(End of this chapter)