The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

The next day, Li Kaixin got up early as usual.

As for the reason, it was similar to yesterday: his younger brother, Li Kai, was calling him frantically from outside the door again. This made Li Kai feel like he wanted to pin the kid down and give him a good beating.

After dropping her younger siblings off at school, Li Kaixin rode her bicycle out of the school gate and headed to the alley where she had arranged to meet Zhao Yu the day before.

Along the way, he took two hens and two rabbits from the secret place and tied them to the back of his bicycle.

Upon arriving at the destination, seeing that Zhao Yu had not yet arrived, Li Kaixin leaned against the car and waited listlessly.

About fifteen minutes later, two figures appeared at the alley entrance.

One of them was Zhao Yu, and the other was a bit older, with a mustache and a shrewd look on his face.

The two quickly approached Li Kaixin, Zhao Yu beaming, "Big brother, you're here really early!"

Li Kaixin nodded, but didn't respond. His gaze fell on the middle-aged man with a mustache standing next to him.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu quickly introduced, "Brother, this is my cousin, Zhao Zhengping."

He leaned forward and lowered his voice, "My uncle also wants to buy some meat from you. Is it convenient for you to put it here?"

"Of course it's convenient! How could it not be convenient?" Li Kaixin replied with a smile.

Zhao Zhengping, who was standing to the side, immediately smiled and extended his hand: "Hello, young man."

His first words were delivered in standard old Beijing dialect, confirming he was indeed a remnant of the old regime.

"Hello!" Li Kaixin smiled and shook hands with Zhao Zhengping.

After they let go of each other's hands, Li Kaixin, still smiling, turned and pointed to the back seat of the bicycle: "I brought two hens and two rabbits today. What do you two think?"

Zhao Yu and Zhao Zhengping looked in the direction Li Kaixin was pointing and saw two hens and two rabbits tied to the back of the bicycle.

Zhao Yu immediately jogged forward, picked up a chicken and a rabbit, weighed them in his hands, and turned to Zhao Zhengping, shouting, "Uncle Zhengping, these chicken and rabbit are really plump!"

Zhao Zhengping was clearly much more composed. He simply nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Li Kaixin, his tone calm but probing: "Young man, besides these, do you have any other goods on hand? I have many siblings at home, and the required quantity is quite large."

Li Kaixin was secretly delighted, but on the surface she deliberately put on a troubled expression, hesitating to speak: "Yes, there is, but..."

"Really, brother? Where is it? Price is not a problem!" Zhao Yu interrupted hurriedly upon hearing this.

"Xiaoyu!" Zhao Zhengping gave Zhao Yu a slightly reproachful look. "Can you be a little more composed? Stop being so loud and boisterous."

Seeing his uncle's expression darken slightly, Zhao Yu immediately shrank back and covered his mouth.

Zhao Zhengping then turned to Li Kaixin, a polite smile returning to his face: "Young man, please excuse my rudeness. Young people often speak without thinking; what I said was just a joke."

Li Kaixin smiled but didn't reply.

He figured it out: Zhao Zhengping came along not just to buy meat, but also because he was worried that his nephew, lacking experience, might get ripped off.

Zhao Yu, with his foolish, landlord-son-like demeanor, was practically begging to be fleeced because he was rich.

Zhao Zhengping didn't continue the previous topic. He leaned forward and lowered his voice, "Young man, just tell me straight, what are your conditions?" After saying that, he kept his eyes on Li Kaixin.

After saying that, he kept his eyes on Li Kaixin.

Li Kaixin immediately put on that conflicted expression again.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke softly, as if he had made up his mind:

"I won't hide it from you. I got all these things from an older brother I know. He has a lot of things like chickens, ducks, and rabbits."

"Young man, could you introduce me? I'd like to get to know your older brother too." Zhao Zhengping's voice was calm, but his eyes still revealed a hint of barely concealed excitement.

He is indeed wealthy, and these things can sometimes be bought at the pigeon market and the black market, but the risks involved are extremely high.

You have to be wary of people who frequent the black market and pigeon market, and you also have to constantly avoid government officials.

His nephew Zhao Yu was so timid that he rarely dared to go to the black market or the pigeon market; money in his hands was like worthless paper.

Li Kaixin instantly feigned interest and smiled, "You really understand me, bro. How about this afternoon? I'll pass on a message to that guy, and we'll meet here again."

Standing to the side, Zhao Yu saw that Li Kaixin was calling him his cousin, and opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing that the two of them were not paying attention to him at all, he swallowed his words.

"Thank you, young man! If it really works out, I'll give you a big red envelope." Zhao Zhengping quickly replied, then pointed to the chicken and rabbit on the back of the bicycle: "By the way, what's the price of these rabbit and chicken?"

Zhao Yu finally couldn't help but interject: "Uncle Zhengping, didn't I tell you before that I discussed it with my brother and we agreed to go with the black market price?"

"Don't talk back." Zhao Zhengping glanced at his nephew, his tone somewhat reprimanding.

Seeing this, Li Kaixin smiled and smoothed things over: "Brother, just do as Zhao Yu said, follow the black market rates."

Hearing Li Kaixin's words, Zhao Zhengping's smile became even more genuine: "Alright, young man, you're a straightforward person!"

After a moment's thought, he said, "Right now, live chickens on the black market are generally six to eight yuan each, and rabbits are five to seven yuan each. Your two pairs are both of good quality, so let's go for the top price: eight yuan for the chicken and seven yuan for the rabbit, thirty yuan in total. Does that seem reasonable?"

"Okay, no problem, I'll do as you say, brother." Li Kaixin nodded in agreement.

This price is even higher than what he sells to people on the black market. It's not surprising, considering that people on the black market also have to take risks when buying his goods to resell.

"Young man, you're very generous," Zhao Zhengping said, immediately pulling out thirty-two yuan from his pocket.

Li Kaixin took the money that was handed to him, and the two extra yuan made him a little surprised.

Zhao Zhengping explained, "Young man, I'll give you your hard-earned money first. You'll have to take this matter seriously when you're looking for that big brother."

"No problem. Brother, I'll definitely do a great job for you." Li Kaixin put the money in his pocket and agreed with a smile.

"Then I'll leave it to you, young man." Zhao Zhengping said, gesturing to Zhao Yu, "Xiao Yu, let's go back first, don't delay your older brother's important business."

"Okay, Uncle Zhengping." Zhao Yu quickly replied, carrying a chicken in one hand and a rabbit in the other, and didn't forget to turn his head and grin at Li Kaixin: "Big brother, we'll be going now!"

"Take care, you two." Li Kaixin waved to them with a smile.

As he watched the uncle and nephew disappear into the alleyway, the smile on Li Kaixin's face faded.

He made things so complicated because he was thinking of using a fake identity to contact them in the future.

He will definitely have to deal with this group of people in the future, and it won't be safe for him to use his real identity anymore.