50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 132: Fighting in the Ghost City

One day when he was shopping at the market, he actually saw kelp and hairtail being sold without a ticket. From what they said, these were seafood specially purchased by the authorities to enrich the lives of the citizens.

He didn't know if this thing could be eaten during confinement, but he also bought more than a dozen. After returning, his mother-in-law praised him again, saying that it was nutritious, but it was a pity that it was not available every day in Beijing.

Then, the mother-in-law thought that there were too many of these things at the port to eat, so she asked Sun Zhiwei to send a telegram, asking his father-in-law to prepare a large amount of dried seafood and send it to her daughter for her confinement.

As for vegetables, there is no need to worry too much. We always have cabbage at home, and the small plot of land in the yard is always full of vegetables. There are only a few people in the family, so we can always provide enough.

The only thing that is a bit troublesome is meat. It is not a big problem in the first week because you need to eat less pork, but it will still be needed in the following weeks.

Although his space is sterile, time does not stand still, so he cannot preserve fresh meat for a long time, which is very troublesome.

This forced him to go to the market frequently, but there was very little meat in the market. As soon as the meat arrived, there would be long queues, and it was difficult to buy it even with meat coupons.

Finally, I found a channel in the ghost market in North City. Some fresh meat came out every few days. I guess it came from some factory.

He is not Lei Zi, so he naturally doesn't care about the source of the meat. As long as the meat is fresh, he will buy dozens of kilograms every time.

It is not a good idea for him to go to the ghost market almost every day. He will always encounter ghosts if he walks on the road at night too much, such as those who follow and rob. He has encountered them many times, which has increased the length of his space by another meter and a half.

On the last night of his leave, he bought some venison at the South City Ghost Market. He was feeling very happy when he heard a loud shout: "There's Lei Zi."

For a moment, the ghost market was in chaos and everyone began to run out through various passages.

Sun Zhiwei was also unwilling to be caught and taught a lesson, as this would destroy his image, so he followed the crowd and ran out.

As a result, even after changing two routes, there was a large group of people with red armbands blocking the intersection, and he even saw the reflection of a gun at the back.

Now he had to give up the idea of ​​forcing his way in and use the backup plan: tearing down the wall.

After carefully observing the blockade outside, he chose a direction with fewer people.

First, they would tear a hole half a person's height in the wall of a yard. After entering, they would quickly run to the other end of the yard, tear the hole again, and then run away.

Because the red armbands were blocking the entrance, there was no one in the alley in the middle. He even demolished the walls on both sides of the alley, then quickly crossed the alley and entered the next yard.

After three times of this, they finally left the encirclement.

He left behind a long passage that crossed three courtyards. It was estimated that he was discovered from behind and there was chaos again.

He appeared outside the encirclement, but it was still not safe here. There might be patrols outside looking for any fish that had slipped through the net.

He quickly took out his bicycle, pedaled with both feet, and rushed out. He reached the main road in a few minutes.

Only when he got here did he feel safe, and he rushed back home at lightning speed. It was just 12 o'clock, and his mother-in-law was awakened by the sound of his return and came to check.

Seeing him covered in dust and dirt, with a large piece of meat in his hand, I couldn't help but ask quickly, "What happened? Did you get robbed?"

"Where? We encountered a large army attacking the Ghost Market. They surrounded us from all sides. Luckily, I was alert and ran out in time."

"Oh, that was a close call. Otherwise, we should go there less often in the future. If we get caught, it will affect your work."

"I know, that's why I'm being extra careful. But don't worry too much. These days, ghost markets are a necessary part of regulating the market. Without them, many families without enough food would starve to death."

"This place is indispensable. The higher-ups can't crack down hard on it. We can only do it occasionally to control the scale and prevent them from getting too rampant."

"Also, I guess there's also the intention of collecting supplies. Otherwise, think about it, with such a large ghost market, where did all the supplies go?" "Indeed, it's very troublesome not to have a ghost market these days. As for the supplies, just keep it to yourself and don't spread rumors."

"I know, Mom. Look, what I brought back today." Sun Zhiwei said as he picked up the large piece of meat in his hand.

"What kind of meat is this? It feels very tender."

"The village hunters brought back some venison today. It's delicious and much more nutritious than pork. You can stew it tomorrow so everyone can have some."

"Let's leave it for Jia Jia to eat."

"Eat it all. There's so much. It's so hot, you can't keep it even if you want to."

"Don't worry about it. Your godmother and I will make arrangements tomorrow. Go wash up, change your clothes, and go to bed."

"Just throw your dirty clothes at the well, I'll wash them tomorrow."

"Thank you, Mom."

Sun Zhiwei went to the well and drew some well water to splash over his body. The cool well water immediately eliminated the sweat and he felt relaxed all over.

This well is also a good well. It produces sweet water, but no one else knows about it except my family.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were 1258 wells in the entire capital, of which 701 were inside the city and 557 were outside the city.
Most of these wells have bitter water, which is unpalatable. Only a small number of wells have sweet water that can be drunk directly, and there are less than 20 of them.

This made selling sweet water a business, and gave rise to the water tyrant, one of the four famous tyrants in the capital.

It is not known whether this sweet water well is one of the dozen or so sweet water wells. The well platform looks a bit old, so it is possible. However, he does not understand why no one knows about it.

However, it was the consensus of the whole family to keep the sweet water well at home a secret.

Once this thing is made public, my house will probably become a vegetable market and someone will have to fetch water every day.

Human hearts cannot withstand temptation. If we keep it secret, we can still be good neighbors. But once it is made public, conflicts will naturally arise.

Sun Zhiwei dried himself off, changed into clean clothes and returned to the study while daydreaming for a while.

The mother-in-law then came out again, hung the venison in a basket, and then hung it with a long rope at the bottom of the well, half a meter above the water.

This is an old method used by people who have wells at home to preserve food. The temperature underground is very low, and the preservation effect is significant.

The next day, Monday, Sun Zhiwei finished his vacation and returned to work.

Maybe it was holiday syndrome. He didn't recover the whole day and was always thinking about his children and Tong Jiajia at home.

During lunch, because the weather was hot, everyone was discussing ways to cool down their homes.

He got a piece of information from a conversation with his colleagues: saltpeter was sold in Chinese medicine stores, and many families bought it to make their own ice.

Thinking that Jia Jia's room must be very hot, and ice would probably make her feel more comfortable, he went straight to Tong Ren Tang after get off work. The products here are of good quality, and the purer the saltpeter, the better the ice making effect.

When he asked there, he found that there was indeed saltpeter for sale, but it was sold as a medicinal herb here, so he bought 20 kilograms and took it home.

(End of this chapter)