Go back to the past to plant trees

The four of them spent an afternoon and did a little more than half of the work. If they work another day tomorrow, they'll be able to finish it.

"Brother Feng, I brought two fish with me. Let's make sauerkraut fish later!"

After finishing work and returning to the camp, Zhao Jinquan took out two carp weighing about one pound each.

"Okay, then let's make sauerkraut fish."

"Besides the fish, I also brought three pounds of beans. We'll make tofu when we have time."

After the stone mill was finished, Zhao Jinquan had been wanting to make tofu, but unfortunately there were no beans in the camp, so he couldn't make it even if he wanted to. On this trip back, he managed to get three catties of beans. He heard from the tofu makers in the team that one catty of beans can make three catties of tofu. His three catties of beans can make nine catties of tofu. If they eat it sparingly, it can feed the two of them for three or four meals.

Zhang Jinquan completely ignored Zheng Erqiang and Zhao Jinshui. He had paid for the beans, so he couldn't let these two get away with it.

"Fourth Brother, let's make tofu tomorrow, I want to eat some too."

Knowing that Zhao Jinquan bought the beans to make tofu, Zhao Jinshui chimed in, licking his lips as he spoke.

"You...you're dreaming. I paid for it. If you want to eat it, go buy it yourself."

Zhao Jinquan showed no respect for his cousin at all, even taking advantage of him, leaving him with nothing but leftover soybean dregs.

"Fourth Brother, didn't you want to buy more beans? I know where to buy them. You make tofu for me, and I'll tell you where to buy them," Zhao Jinshui said temptingly.

Zhao Jinquan curled his lip. "You? What place would you know? It's not the pigeon market, is it!"

Zhao Jinshui nodded. "Yes, it's the pigeon market."

"Is it really the pigeon market? It's reopened?" Zhao Jinshui's answer surprised Zhao Jinquan.

This pigeon market used to be a trading market, or a fair. When Zhao Jinquan was a child, his family often went there to exchange things. Later, it was closed and shut down. I heard that it was later opened at night to avoid inspection, but it was still discovered by the authorities and shut down again, and many people were arrested.

During these difficult times, everyone said that if the pigeon market were still there, at least they could buy some food and people wouldn't starve.

Hearing Zhao Jinshui say that the pigeon market had reopened, how could Zhao Jinquan not be surprised?

Zhao Jinshui said, "It's open, but only around 2 a.m., and only for two hours. It closes at 4 a.m."

"Open at midnight?"

Zhao Jinquan understood somewhat. It was better to do it secretly. I said I hadn't heard any news that the pigeon market was going to open.

"The black market? I wouldn't dare go there. If I get caught, I'll be in big trouble."

"It's the middle of the night, who would investigate? Besides, this black market hasn't been open for long, and many people don't even know about it. There are hardly any people in the team who know about it, let alone the officials."

Seeing that his fourth brother wasn't interested, Zhao Jinshui became anxious. He still wanted to take advantage of his brother, but since his fourth brother wasn't interested, he couldn't continue the conversation. If he didn't continue, how could he get any advantage?

Zhao Jinquan wasn't interested, but Feng Cheng, who was listening nearby, became interested and asked:

"Jinshui, where is this black market? Is it far from here?"

"Brother Feng, are you going? The black market isn't far, it's right here on the dam, it should take two or three hours to get there."

Feng Cheng continued, "How do you know about this place? Have you been there?"

Zhao Jinshui shook his head, "I've never been there. I just heard it from others. Old Jiang from our team heard it from his relatives when he went to visit them."

“Old Jiang’s relatives live not far from that black market, so he knows that place. Besides, Old Jiang rarely boasts; what he says is usually quite reliable,” Zhao Jinshui quickly explained, afraid that Feng Cheng wouldn’t believe him.

Feng Cheng nodded thoughtfully.

"Brother Feng, you don't really want to go to this black market, do you?"

Seeing that Feng Cheng was somewhat interested, Zhao Jinquan was also a little worried. "The local government won't allow it. What if you get arrested if you go? You're a forestry bureau employee. If you get caught on the black market, you'll be fired!"

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? Didn't you hear that this black market hasn't been open for very long? Besides, this isn't in the county town, it's down below the dam, more than ten kilometers away from the county town. I guess some powerful person set this up just to buy some grain to sell in the city."

Feng Cheng knew immediately what the black market manager was up to, given the current situation. If there was any surplus grain, it would have to be in the countryside. Although the countryside was also struggling, it was still a place where grain was produced, so some surplus was possible.

With the Spring Festival approaching and supplies still tight in the city, if a batch of grain could be smuggled in at this time, it would definitely be a way to make a fortune.

Anyone capable of doing this must be incredibly resourceful, so the black market can still be considered relatively safe.

Of course, this is just Feng Cheng's guess. It might just be a black market that spontaneously formed by farmers, but the possibility of that is close to zero.

"Jinshui, tell me about this black market, be detailed, and I'll get you some tofu to eat the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll tell you everything I know."

"This black market is a place for exchanging things, but you have to pay 5 cents to get in. You can buy and exchange things inside. I heard there are people who specialize in buying grain. They'll take money, tickets, or even gold bars. Many people sell their grain there because it's much more expensive than outside."

"They kick people out there at a certain time; they won't let you stay. If you don't leave, they'll beat you up, so if you go too late, you won't be able to find them."

Feng Cheng seemed to be deep in thought. It seemed that the managers of this black market were quite security-conscious. They only operated for two hours, did not allow farmers to linger, and operated in the middle of the night for a short period of time, which greatly ensured the safety of the black market.

There's only one road down from the dam to the county town. If you just have someone keep watch on the road, the black market people will know immediately if someone comes to arrest them.

Feng Cheng was somewhat interested in the black market, but he hadn't decided whether to go or not. Since the people there were mostly farmers, he would only be exchanging grain for food. Feng Cheng didn't lack grain or money, so the black market was somewhat of a no-go for him. What Feng Cheng was interested in was that they sold receipts there. If he could buy receipts there, it would be much safer than buying them in the county town, since there were too many people and too many police officers there.

Let's wait until after winter. If the black market is still there next spring, I'll take a look when I have time. If not, then forget it.

It's about to snow, and the temperature will drop below zero tonight. Feng Cheng has no interest in walking dozens of kilometers to the black market down the dam in the middle of the night.

Putting aside whether we can buy the goods, people will definitely freeze to death first.