Rebirth of the Forbidden City: The Troublemaker in the Courtyard

But today I didn’t meet an old man selling grain in bulk like last time.

Today, the vendors I met in the market were all carrying woven baskets filled with dozens of kilograms of grains they had ground themselves.

Yes, although the intensity of control has dropped sharply recently, it is okay to turn a blind eye to minor incidents. But if someone sells thousands of kilograms of grain like that old man did last time, he will be punished sooner or later!

Ning Yuan himself didn't know that his one-time large-scale stockpiling of food saved an old man who was originally on the verge of being reported.

(There is a prototype. I have read about this incident before in the ten-year memoirs of Bian Zuojun and Bian Sanye. The characters, time and place are basically the same, so I just wrote it down.)

However, with the mentality that even a little bit of effort makes a difference, and a little bit of effort adds up to a lot, Ning Yuan found an opportunity and stuffed two big winter melons and ten kilograms of mutton into an empty corner. He then bought thirty kilograms of rice and more than ten kilograms of flour in one go.

Little Ningwei likes to eat candied haws, so he also took two strings.

When he was about to leave the market, Ning Yuan saw that there was another stall next to the mutton stall, and there were a lot of people gathered around it.

Ning Yuan wondered if there were any scarce supplies, so he quickly squeezed over.

Seeing this, Ning Yuan was immediately happy. Wow, it turns out to be a candy seller!

He has been in this time and space for many days, and this is the first time he has seen candy. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the first time.

The candies on his stall were divided into two piles. One pile was larger, weighing what looked like more than 40 or 50 kilograms, and consisted of fruit-flavored hard candies wrapped in plastic wrap.

The other small pile was estimated to be less than 20 kilograms, but Ning Yuan was very familiar with it.

Because the words "White Rabbit" were written on the wrapping paper.

It is the famous White Rabbit Milk Candy.

White Rabbit Milk Candy is the earliest candy manufacturer in China. The original White Rabbit factory even existed before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In 1943, the ABC Candy Factory established in Shanghai was the predecessor of White Rabbit.

In 1950, it was nationalized and renamed "Ai Min Candy Factory"

However, the White Rabbit milk candy was not released and sold until 1959, when it was presented as a gift to celebrate the th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It received widespread acclaim from the market once it was launched, but although it tastes good, it is also really expensive!

Ning Yuan looked at the small pile of White Rabbit candies, then at the crowd that had gathered nearby. He decisively took action and said directly to the vendor, "I want all the White Rabbit candies you have. How much are they?"

"You want them all? Young comrade, these White Rabbit milk candies are not cheap!" The stall owner was a middle-aged man with a southern accent. After hearing such arrogant words, he immediately became interested and tested Zhong Yuemin.

"Just tell me the price. I want all these White Rabbit milk candies!" Ning Yuan said generously.

"I normally sell them for 1.5 yuan per pound. Since you want them all, I'll give you a discount. I still have 16 pounds here. You can take them all for 20 yuan!"

The stall owner was also very straightforward and spoke directly to Ning Yuan.

(This underground market was inherently more expensive than the goods sold at the supply and marketing cooperatives because they didn't require food stamps, sugar stamps, or other purchase documents. And scarce goods like White Rabbit Milk Candy were selling for between 80 cents and over a dollar per pound at the time.)

After listening to this, Ning Yuan didn't waste any words. He took out two ten-yuan notes and handed them to the stall owner. Then he took the small linen bag handed to him by the stall owner and put all the more than ten pounds of White Rabbit milk candies on the stall into it.

Then he turned around and squeezed out of the crowd. The people behind him were still cursing Ning Yuan for not following the first come first served principle. Ning Yuan heard that the cursing was really dirty, so he took out the triangular scraper from his military bag and pointed it at the crowd, and then the crowd quieted down.

However, Ning Yuan knew that he was in the wrong, so he didn't bother to argue and quickly left Xiao City.

After buying so many supplies, Ning Yuan calculated that he had only spent a little over 32 yuan.

After leaving Xiao City, Ning Yuan pushed his bicycle with two large bags of food on it and walked for a while. When there was no one on the road, he found a corner and put the food and candies into his space.

After riding back to the compound, Ning Yuan stuffed the candied haws into the hands of little Ning Wei, grabbed a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from the space and put them on the table, then turned around and went out to Zhong Yuemin's house.

As soon as he entered the yard, he saw two large rows of bicycles parked at the gate. Needless to say, it must be that these brothers came to Zhong Yuemin's house again to talk and eat and drink for free.

Sure enough, before Ning Yuan even entered the house, he saw seven or eight young men squatting or standing at the door of Zhong Yuemin's house, and the house was full of people sitting.

When everyone at the door saw Ning Yuan, they all stood up and greeted him. Ning Yuan responded to everyone and then entered the house. There was another round of noisy greetings.

This is a manifestation of status. Ning Yuan's status at this time is obviously no less than Zhong Yuemin.

Everyone also sincerely accepts Ning Yuan as the leader. He is a good fighter, has a wide network of contacts, and can often take everyone out to eat at Lao Mo's restaurant. Who can not accept him!

"Ning Yuan, why are you always missing in the morning? Tell the organization honestly what illegal activities you did so early in the morning!"

The fat boy Fan Xinhua went to Ning Yuan's house early in the morning, and when he saw that Ning Yuan was not at home, he came to Zhong Yuemin's house. When he saw Ning Yuan walking in, he hurriedly asked.

"Little fatty, I think you're itching to do something naughty again, aren't you?" Ning Yuan said as he stepped forward, grabbed Fan Xinhua and started to deal with him.

"Brothers, lend a hand!"

The more Fan Xinhua shouted, the harder Ning Yuan pressed his head, causing him to scream in pain.

Seeing that he had been howling for a long time but no one came to rescue him, Fatty Fan, who was very good at dealing with people, quickly changed from calling for help to begging for mercy.

"Brother Yuan, brother, I was wrong, wrong, wrong! Please loosen up, it hurts so much!"

Ning Yuan smiled and let go of his hand when he heard the boy give in.

Who would have thought that just after I let go of the little fat guy, he actually counterattacked and tried to avenge himself for being suppressed for half a day, muttering to himself.

"A real man lives between heaven and earth, how can he be depressed and live under others for long!"

Ning Yuan was caught off guard by the fat man and was thrown onto the sofa.

The crowd around was watching the two noisy people as if they were watching a show.

Less than two minutes later, Fan Xinhua's nasty voice rang out again: "Brother, brother, I really know I was wrong. Let me go, Brother Yuan, I was wrong!"

Zhong Yuemin, Zheng Tong, Yuan Jun and others couldn't help but burst into laughter when they saw Fan Xinhua being pressed on the sofa by Ning Yuan again!