The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

As soon as Chen Zhigang left the educated youth settlement, Zhou Zhengping started clamoring for meat.

The male educated youth worked quickly, and in less than an hour, a large plate of braised soybeans with rats was on the table. The aroma was irresistible, and the people around the table were swallowing their saliva.

Zhu Yuan looked away. "I'm not eating."

Zhao Yiqing swallowed hard and said, "I won't eat either."

"We won't eat rats, but we'll eat soybeans; they're delicious." Yang Wenyu picked up a piece of rat meat for himself. "This tastes better than pheasant."

Zhao Jinbao: "Just think of them as long-tailed rabbits, wouldn't that be easier to accept?"

Zhou Zhengping: "It's good that they don't eat, so we can eat more."

Zhao Yiqing glared at Zhou Zhengping and said, "Why should I eat more just because you guys eat more?"

She picked up a piece, put it in her mouth without looking, and the next second, her eyes lit up. "It's really delicious, it smells wonderful."

Zhu Yuan seemed skeptical. "Really?"

"Really. You should try it quickly, or they'll eat it all." Zhao Yiqing's chopsticks moved incredibly fast.

The same goes for others.

Zhu Yuan didn't dare delay and joined in the grabbing, managing to snatch four or five pieces. After tasting the rat meat, she was filled with regret; she had been too late.

In the end, not even the soybeans were left; they were all distributed.

Yang Wenyu patted Zhao Jinbao on the shoulder, "Next time, make an appointment with Chen Zhi earlier. You'll get something good by following her."

Zhao Jinbao shook his head, "It's difficult. They're a fixed team now, and it's too hard for me to integrate."

The Chen family was also eating rat meat. Cai Meihong chewed on the meat and said, "Why don't you continue going up the mountain tomorrow and skip the trading market?"

The others nodded in agreement. "Yes, you'll go up the mountain to smoke out the rats. We don't expect you to bring twelve a day; four or five a day is fine too."

These past two nights I've had rat meat, and the taste is simply amazing, no worse than pork.

Chen Da shook his head. "Chen Zhi is going to the trading market. Without Chen Zhi, we wouldn't be able to find so many rats."

"Really?" Chen Da's family didn't believe it.

Chen Da: "Why don't you go and give it a try? Anyway, the rats in the mountains are fat right now."

Chen Da's younger brother didn't believe in superstitions. "Fine, let's go. All of us will go."

Chen Da had five brothers and cousins ​​in total. The next day, they went into the mountains with high spirits. After climbing several mountains, they came back in the evening with only two pitiful, skinny mice in their hands.

Chen Zhi slept in late because she was going to town today and didn't need to get up early. She was only woken up by the three pigs at home at dawn.

After she finished her housework, ate breakfast, and packed the things she was going to take to the market into her basket, Zhao Jinbao and the others happened to be calling her name from outside the fence.

As soon as she left the village, Chen Da and his group caught up with her.

"I went to your house but didn't see you, so I guessed you had already left." Chen Dadao said.

Chen Zhi felt inexplicably guilty. She seemed unaccustomed to taking the initiative. If others didn't speak up, she would usually go to town alone and find the trading market by herself.

Chen Xiaohong: "Do you think the town will be especially lively today? It feels like every household in our village has come out. I guess it's the same in other villages."

"It's going to be very lively." Chen Ergou's eyes were full of anticipation.

Chen Da: "Then we need to speed things up, otherwise all the good spots will be taken."

Starting from Sandong Village and arriving at the main road, I found groups of people walking along the road, which was even more lively than when I went to town to watch a movie during the Spring Festival.

When we arrived in town, it was packed with people.

"Following the flow of people should lead to a free market," Chen Dadao said.

Chen Peng stood protectively beside Chen Zhi, saying, "Everyone, stay close and don't get separated."

It's called a free market, but it's really just a large open space at the edge of town. Lines have been drawn with lime, and people can set up stalls within those lines without paying any stall fees.

Chen Zhi looked around and found that the seats were almost all occupied.

She pointed to a corner, "There's still room over there, let's go there and hurry up."

Chen Zhi took the lead and was about to rush over when she heard someone call out to her, "Sister-in-law, come here."

Chen Zhi turned her head and saw Sister-in-law Shi smiling and waving at her.

Next to Sister-in-law Shi were Uncle Shi, Aunt Shi, and Shi Yingying. The Shi family had a lot of things, and they occupied a large area of ​​the house.

Chen Zhi: "Sisters-in-law, you're here too!"

Sister-in-law Shi nodded. "Come over here quickly, I've saved you a spot."

Shijia's location is not far from the entrance and exit, making it one of the best locations with the highest foot traffic.

"Zhizhi, who is that?" Chen asked in a low voice.

"He's a relative of an older brother that Xi Lang knows," Chen Zhi said.

"Is it reliable?" Chen Da was not entirely at ease.

Chen Zhi nodded. "Her husband is Shi Xin, who delivers bricks and tiles for me and Xi Lang."

Chen Da was relieved. "Then you stay here. We'll go over there. If you sell out first, come find us. If we sell out first, we'll come find you."

Chen Zhi: "Okay."

Sister-in-law Shi had already cleared out a space for Chen Zhi and even brought her a small stool.

The ground is a lawn, and the weeds have already been cleared. You can just put your things on the ground.

"What did you bring with you?"

Sister-in-law Shi helped her organize the things in her basket, while Shi Yingying looked her over from the side. Her gaze went from Chen Zhi’s head to her toes and back again, showing a mixture of amazement and curiosity, which was not annoying.

Uncle Shi and Aunt Shi were busy, one looking at the goods and the other selling them. Apart from smiling and nodding to Chen Zhi at the beginning, they were so busy that they didn't even have time to talk to Chen Zhi.

The Shi family had such a complete selection of goods. They didn't dare to deal in large industrial products, but they had plenty of small, miscellaneous items, and they didn't require coupons. Everyone rushed to buy from them.

"I only brought some game and chestnuts. Sister-in-law, Aunt Shi is almost overwhelmed, please go and help. I don't have much stuff here, I can pack it myself."

"What game did you bring? Keep it for your sister-in-law, don't sell it." Sister-in-law Shi placed the order without even looking at it.

"It's nothing rare. My sister-in-law's family has already set aside some for us. It's a rabbit and two pheasants." Chen Zhi took two bags out of her basket and placed them at Sister Shi's feet. "There's also half a bag of chestnuts."

Sister-in-law Shi, the wife of a black market boss, didn't lack these things at home, but she was still happy to have someone thinking about her.

She looked at the prey, then at the chestnuts, and beamed. "This prey is so plump, it looks delicious. And these chestnuts, each one is so full and big. Zhizhi, did you pick out the best ones for your sister-in-law?"

"Of course, you should give the best to your own people." Chen Zhi didn't see anything wrong with it. "Chestnuts are especially fragrant when stewed with pheasant."

Sister-in-law Shi was even happier after being coaxed by her. "I'll try it when I get home tonight. By the way, stay for lunch at my house today."

Chen Zhi: "Maybe next time. This time I'm with my friends."

Sister-in-law Shi didn't insist, "Okay, then next time."

Chen Zhi brought three rabbits, two pheasants, and ten mice. Now that one rabbit and two pheasants have been given away, there are only two rabbits and ten mice left.

As soon as she put down her prey, someone came up to ask her questions.

"How much is the rabbit?" The man weighed the rabbit in his hands, then touched its fur and looked at its wounds.

"I caught it in the mountains yesterday. The temperature is low there, so it hasn't gone bad yet. It weighs about eight or nine pounds. No ration coupons needed, just ten yuan a day," Chen Zhi said.

The man frowned. "Too expensive. And it weighs at most six or seven pounds, less than eight. Would you sell it for seven yuan?"

Chen Zhi, with a calm expression, said to Sister Shi, "Sister-in-law, may I borrow your scale?"

Without saying a word, Sister Shi handed over the scale. Chen Zhi took it and handed it to the man, saying, "You can weigh yourself."

The man's face stiffened, but he still took the scale and weighed it himself. The weight stopped at ten jin, but the end was still sticking up, indicating that the rabbit weighed more than ten jin.

A hint of annoyance flashed across the man's face, but he still said, "Pork is only 80 cents a pound, but your rabbit costs a dollar a pound, and that's before the fur and internal organs have been removed. It's still too expensive."

Chen Zhi: "Rabbit fur can be used to make hats and shoes, and it's not cheap to sell alone. Besides, pork costs 80 cents a pound and requires meat coupons. If you have meat coupons, I can sell you this rabbit for five yuan."

The man didn't have any ration coupons, otherwise he wouldn't have come here to buy. "Nine yuan a day, take it or leave it?"

Just as Chen Zhi was about to speak, a voice interrupted, "Ten yuan, I'll take it."

Chen Zhi looked up and saw a familiar face. It was the man who had gone down into the reservoir to save the child before. Everyone called him Lao Bang.

Old Bang gave Chen Zhi a big smile, "We meet again."

Chen Zhi: "Yes, we meet again."

Upon seeing that Chen Zhi knew Lao Bang, the man carrying the rabbit immediately became anxious and threw ten yuan at Chen Zhi, saying, "I'll take the rabbit."

He grabbed the rabbit and ran off.

As soon as the man left, two more men came forward, each grabbing a rabbit.

Because Lao Bang greeted Chen Zhi, he missed out on the remaining two rabbits. The remaining two rabbits weighed eight jin and nine jin respectively, and were sold for eight yuan and nine yuan respectively.

"That rat—"

"I'll take all the rats," the old man said hastily.

The man looked at Chen Zhi with resentment, but Chen Zhi helplessly spread her hands, "First come, first served, he was here first."

After everyone else left, Chen Zhi looked at Lao Bang and asked, "You want all ten rats?"

"Yes, we'll take them all." Old Bang went to look at the rats, praising them as he looked. "Their fur is shiny and glossy; you can tell they're fat rats at a glance. Each one must weigh about a pound and a half, right?"

Chen Zhi: "Yes. They were caught in the mountains."

"The ones in the mountains are clean. Rat meat tastes better than rabbit meat. I'll give you twenty yuan for ten rats, okay?" The old man observed Chen Zhi's expression, and if Chen Zhi became unhappy, he would immediately raise the price again.

Chen Zhi shook her head, "No need for twenty, ten yuan will do."

Rat meat is delicious, but not everyone can accept it, so the price is lower.

The old man insisted and gave Chen Zhi twenty yuan, saying, "I think they're worth twenty yuan."

Helpless, Chen Zhi grabbed a large bag of chestnuts and said, "I can keep the money, this is just a bonus."

The bag of chestnuts weighed about 30 pounds. Chen Zhi hadn't figured out the market price yet, but since chestnuts could be a staple food and were sweet, she figured she could sell them for a few cents a pound.

Seeing so many chestnuts, the old man immediately threw out another five dollars, saying, "Then I'll give you another five dollars."

With that, he picked up the chestnuts and the rat and left, giving Chen Zhi no chance to return the money.