Yan Jiecheng's Leisurely Life in Siheyuan

Chapter 123 Trip to the Black Market
Zheng Lei remained as enthusiastic as ever upon seeing Yan Jiecheng.

After exchanging pleasantries, Yan Jiecheng revealed his purpose.

"Old Zheng, I heard that the head of the propaganda department has been sent to a farm. Have you heard anything about it?"

Upon hearing Yan Jiecheng mention this matter, Zheng Lei immediately got up, closed the office door, and then lowered his voice to speak.

"Brother, you should keep this to yourself and not spread it around."

"Brother, please remind me a few things so I can be more careful and avoid following in his footsteps."

"Brother, you're one of Director Li's favorites. No one will touch you, so you can rest assured."

Yan Jiecheng shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Brother, with such significant changes in the management of the steel rolling mill lately, who can guarantee they won't be next?"

Upon hearing Yan Jiecheng's words, Zheng Lei's mood also sank considerably. After a moment of silence, he sighed helplessly and said...

"You little rascal, I'm impressed, but you better not go around telling anyone."

"That guy was originally Yang Dechang's man, but the director had something on him, so he had no choice but to side with the director."

"Originally, the director didn't intend to do anything to him, but this guy has no sense of propriety and actually spread the news everywhere. After hearing about this, Director Li had no choice but to send him to the farm."

Are you kidding me? Who would be so brainless as to publicize something like this? It's highly likely they've been framed.

Wait a minute, wasn't Xu Damao the deputy head of the propaganda department before?
If that's the case, then everything makes sense.

As long as Li Huaide doesn't discard him after he's served his purpose, it has nothing to do with him, since he's not familiar with the head of the propaganda department anyway.

Thinking of this, Yan Jiecheng lost interest in staying with Zheng Lei any longer.

After saying goodbye to Zheng Lei, Yan Jiecheng took his leave.

……

In the following days, the patrol team remained very active.

Their frequent actions revitalized the abandoned warehouse, bringing Yan Jiecheng considerable benefits.

Seeing the mountain of personal space, Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to hurry up and deal with the supplies in the space.

That day, after finishing dinner, Yan Jiecheng quietly left home.

Yan Jiecheng turned left and right through the alley and soon arrived at a secluded place.

Yan Jiecheng hid in a corner, disguised himself, and then set off on his journey again with a bamboo basket on his back.

After walking for about half an hour, Yan Jiecheng arrived at an abandoned courtyard.

Yan Jiecheng arrived at the courtyard gate and knocked three times. The dilapidated gate opened, and a burly middle-aged man walked out.

The other party scrutinized Yan Jiecheng carefully before speaking after a long while.

"To buy or to sell?"

Yan Jiecheng said upon hearing this.

"We need to both buy and sell."

"Two cents."

Yan Jiecheng quickly took out the two cents he had prepared beforehand from his pocket and handed them to the other person.

After taking the money, the other party stepped aside to make way.

After entering the courtyard, Yan Jiecheng discovered that the abandoned courtyard was much larger than he had imagined.

In the open space of the courtyard, there were many masked people setting up stalls.

These vendors didn't shout out their wares; they just squatted there quietly.

There weren't many customers in the black market; Yan Jiecheng could only see about ten people by the moonlight.

After a brief observation, Yan Jie began to wander around the black market.

Soon, Yan Jiecheng stopped in front of a vendor.

Yan Jiecheng squatted down, picked up a large yellow croaker, weighed it in his hand, and asked.

"Boss, are your large yellow croakers authentic?"

Upon hearing this, the vendor couldn't help but laugh.

"These days, do you think there's any need to counterfeit?" That's true. These days, such things are the root of trouble, and who would dare to keep them?

Thinking of this, Yan Jiecheng scratched the large yellow croaker heavily with his fingernail, and only after he felt that there should be no problem did he speak to the vendor.

"Boss, how did you change it?"

"Twenty jin of grain coupons per stick, and five jin of meat coupons will suffice."

"How much is it per stick if I pay?"

The other party glanced at Yan Jiecheng and said in an annoyed tone.

"If you pay, it's thirty yuan a stick."

It was obvious that the other party was not very willing for Yan Jiecheng to use money to make a deal.

After all, money isn't as important as people think these days.

Yan Jiecheng pointed to the five large yellow croakers displayed by the vendor.

"Boss, wrap all of these up for me."

After Yan Jiecheng finished speaking, he took out fifteen large black ten bills from his pocket and handed them to the other party.

After taking the money, the vendor reluctantly handed the five large yellow croakers on the ground to Yan Jiecheng.

"What are you wrapping up? I'm not selling this wrapping cloth."

Come to think of it, fabric isn't cheap these days.

After putting the five large yellow croakers into the bamboo basket behind him, Yan Jiecheng continued his stroll.

And you know what? There are quite a few good things in this black market.

All sorts of precious medicinal herbs, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jade and gemstones were on display, leaving Yan Jiecheng dazzled by the sight.

Unfortunately, it was getting dark, and Yan Jiecheng knew nothing about antiques or medicinal herbs, so he could only sigh in vain.

However, Yan Jiecheng did not come away empty-handed. On the way, he saw another vendor selling large yellow croakers.

The price offered by the other party was similar to the price of the one Yan Jiecheng had previously purchased.

Yan Jiecheng spent 300 yuan to buy all the other party's large yellow croakers.

Seeing that there was nothing he needed to buy, Yan Jiecheng picked up his bamboo basket and prepared to leave.

But when Yan Jiecheng was halfway there, he suddenly stopped. He saw that the vendor who had bought the large yellow croaker from him for the first time was still there.

Yan Jiecheng approached the vendor in surprise, squatted down, and said.

"Boss, I didn't expect you to have quite a lot of inventory?"

The vendor glanced at Yan Jiecheng and said.

"If you want to buy more, I won't take your money. You can either exchange it for receipts or, if you don't have receipts, you can bring grain in exchange."

After listening to the vendor's words, Yan Jiecheng said with a face full of doubt.

"Boss, I don't understand what you're saying. Isn't it so convenient to just take money? What can't you buy with money?"

The vendor looked at Yan Jiecheng with disdain and said.

"Dude, is this your first time in the black market?"

Yan Jiecheng nodded, without denying it.

The vendor smiled and said this upon seeing this.

"You just took a walk around, didn't you notice any difference in the price of grain here?"

To be honest, Yan Jiecheng didn't really care about the price of grain here, since he didn't buy any grain.

However, since the other party said so, the price of grain here must be more expensive than I imagined, and by a considerable amount.

This is also why the other party is unwilling to accept the money.

Yan Jiecheng pointed to the bamboo basket behind him and said.

"Boss, how many large yellow croakers do you have left? I'll buy them all."

"I'll offer you some grain in exchange for some cash. How does that sound?"

(End of this chapter)