Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

the next day.

Ma Hongwei went to receive the supplies and also handed over 600 jin of wild Codonopsis pilosula to Liu Dong's people.

Xia Weiwei continued to work at the supply and marketing cooperative.

On his way back, Ma Hongwei bought some cold dishes from the town.

Now that it's hot, he doesn't want to eat any hot dishes at all.

A few cold dishes and some beer make for a very comfortable and refreshing meal.

"I'm back!"

Ma Hongwei carried his things and entered the large supply and marketing cooperative.

Xia Weiwei glanced at the bag in Ma Hongwei's hand and asked, "What did you buy this time?"

"I bought some cold dishes, both meat and vegetables, so we don't have to cook lunch!"

Ma Hongwei said slowly, "There's no air conditioner or fan in my kitchen. It's so hot, cooking is such a pain. Let's not cook today. I used to love eating these cold dishes when I was a kid."

When he was a child, he would be happy for a long time whenever his family bought cold dishes, even if they were just vegetarian dishes.

But now, I don't know if it's because I'm eating more or because there are fewer and fewer elders, but I don't have the same joy as when I was a child.

As he spoke, he moved a small folding table over and placed the cold dishes on it, spreading them out one by one.

I also got a few disposable plastic bowls and paper cups.

Ma Hongwei walked up to the beverage counter and asked, "Weiwei, what would you like to drink? A soft drink or beer?"

"Beer bar!"

Xia Weiwei said, "After drinking beer a few times, I found it to be quite delicious."

Ma Hongwei brought over two bottles of Snow Beer.

He knew that Xia Weiwei didn't like things that were too bitter, and this beer wasn't as bitter as Tsingtao beer, so many people didn't like to drink it, thinking it didn't have much flavor.

"Pop~"

Open the bottle and pour in the beer.

Ma Hongwei picked up a piece of preserved egg with disposable chopsticks.

The egg white was crystal clear with a slight yellow tinge, resembling jelly, while the yolk was golden yellow.

Of all the vegetarian cold dishes he ate as a child, preserved eggs were undoubtedly his favorite.

"What is this?"

Xia Weiwei asked curiously, "Why does it look like an egg?"

"This is called a preserved egg, it's made from eggs."

Ma Hongwei explained, "Take lime, pure alkali, sawdust, or rice husks, coat them with the mixture, and marinate them. They will be fresh, fragrant, chewy, and have a mild flavor."

"Isn't that just a preserved egg?"

Xia Weiwei picked up a piece of preserved egg and put it in her mouth. It did taste different; the alkaline taste didn't seem as strong.

"Of course they're not the same thing!"

Ma Hongwei said, "Preserved eggs are made from duck eggs, while century eggs are made from chicken eggs."

"Although lime and pure alkali are used in all cases, the wood ash and tea leaves used for preserved eggs in some places, and the traditional methods, also include the addition of lead oxide, which is used to fix the shape and prevent the egg white from turning into water, so that beautiful pine flowers can grow. Eating too much of it can also cause nausea and dizziness."

"But preserved eggs don't use wood ash or lead oxide, so they don't contain lead, and eating too many won't make you feel unwell."

"You're saying that preserved eggs contain lead?"

Xia Weiwei's expression changed.

She knew very well what lead was and that long-term consumption could lead to poisoning.

"Anyway, century eggs from your time were made with lead, but they definitely aren't made with lead in later generations."

Ma Hongwei said, "In the normal production of preserved eggs, copper sulfate or zinc sulfate are now used to replace lead oxide. No lead is added throughout the entire process, and there are even special lead-free processes."

"Of course, if it is still made according to the traditional folk methods, it may or may not contain lead, depending on whether the local folk methods require the use of lead."

The lead mentioned here refers to metallic lead, not pencil lead.

In fact, the lead in a pencil is made of graphite and clay.

As for the claim that biting pencil tips can cause poisoning, that's all a rumor. The pencil lead itself isn't as toxic as the paint coating on the outside.

After finishing the preserved egg, Xia Weiwei picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks.

"what?"

Suddenly, she let out a soft exclamation and said, "You actually put white fungus in your cold dishes?"

Xia Weiwei's gaze fell on the cold vegetarian dish and she noticed that there were quite a few white fungus pieces inside.

Immediately, she exclaimed, "You guys are really extravagant!"

"No way, is eating white fungus a luxury?"

Ma Hongwei asked, somewhat puzzled, "This dried white fungus only costs 50 yuan per jin (500g), it's not expensive at all, so why not just eat it whenever you want?"

"What? Only 50 yuan for a pound of white fungus?"

Xia Weiwei was stunned upon hearing this.

50 yuan is less than half a day's wages, and can't even buy 25 kilograms of rice.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing this, Ma Hongwei couldn't help but ask, "Is white fungus very expensive where you live?"

"Very expensive, extremely expensive!"

Xia Weiwei nodded and said, "Even in my family, we only buy good quality white fungus when we are sick. Normally, if we want to eat white fungus, we can only buy broken pieces and small pieces of inferior quality. Even broken pieces and inferior quality require 5 to 10 silver dollars to buy one pound."

Five silver dollars were equivalent to a month's wages for a worker in the Republic of China era.

Even workers in Beiping (Beijing) could not earn 10 silver dollars a month.

"hiss!"

Ma Hongwei gasped, "That's really expensive!"

The thought that a month's salary could only buy one pound of white fungus made him feel that it was incredibly expensive.

"If even the inferior quality is so expensive, then the average quality white fungus is even more expensive, requiring 12-20 silver dollars to buy a pound."

Xia Weiwei continued, "And top-quality white fungus costs 24-36 silver dollars per pound."

"I remember once my father gave a gift, which was a special top-grade white fungus that cost 60 silver dollars per catty. That was in 33."

"In our time, white fungus was a top-tier tonic, sold alongside ginseng and bird's nest!"

"After the Japanese invasion of China, the price of white fungus will definitely continue to skyrocket. Other goods have increased in price by 50%-100%, so white fungus must increase in price by at least 50%, right?"

If the price increases by 50%, that would be 90 silver dollars, equivalent to more than two years' wages for a worker in a large city.

After all, workers would no longer be paid in silver dollars, but in paper money that doesn't hold its value.

In fact, once Wuhan fell, the price of white fungus would rise directly to over 110 silver dollars, and that was the official price.

As for how much it can fetch on the black market, that remains to be seen.

"Oh, right!"

Xia Weiwei suddenly said, "So, does that mean we can hand over the silver ear fungus from this timeline to the leaders and let them arrange for its sale?"

"good!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Hongwei couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said with a smile, "My Weiwei is getting more and more into business now."

He thought this was indeed possible.

In later generations, you could buy any large silver ear fungus, and in the Republic of China era, that would be considered top-quality.

Most importantly, these white fungus were reserved for officials and capitalists, and were specifically used for conditioning and nourishing the body, as well as for gifting.

Officials who aspire to "promotion" would certainly be very willing to buy, or even exchange, guns and ammunition.

After all, as the Japanese army occupied more and more territory, they would get less and less silver ear fungus.

Tremella will become increasingly scarce and precious.

Guns and ammunition belong to the military, but silver ear fungus can genuinely earn them the favor of their superiors.