Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Mid-Autumn Festival Shopping

In just a few days since these fruit trees were transplanted, the fruits had visibly grown much bigger, especially the pears—they’d be perfect for making frozen pears.

Gu Qinghuan thought for a moment and decided to leave the pears on two trees for her family to pick and eat whenever they wanted, and to harvest the rest to sell.

The hawthorn berries, which had been mouth-puckeringly sour and astringent before, had turned sweet-and-sour after a few days—delicious, though not something you should eat too much of.

She set aside enough for her own family, planning to make candied hawthorn skewers for the kids during the New Year—a festive treat.

There were only two jujube trees, and even after harvesting all the fruit, there were just about twenty-five jin in total—just enough for her family to eat and to give some away as gifts, with none left over to sell.

As for the wild grapes, she could sell half of them and use the rest to make wine.

The wild black fungus mushrooms growing so well on the logs—Gu Qinghuan planned to harvest and dry them all, saving them to eat slowly over the winter, and letting the logs keep producing more. They looked like a lot now, but once dried, there wouldn’t be much, so she wouldn’t bother selling them.

After putting all the items she planned to sell on the market, Gu Qinghuan went straight back to bed.

She didn’t know that as soon as her products were listed, the entire internet went wild, with everyone scrambling to buy them. Even though she’d put up a decent amount of goods this time, there were just too many people—there was no way everyone could get some. It all came down to speed, like a Double Eleven shopping frenzy.

People didn’t even have time to see what they’d managed to grab, nor did they care about the price—just as long as they got something.

Some people were repeat customers who’d already tasted the quality and loved it; some were just following the crowd—if others had it, they wanted it too; and some were simply curious.

In short, all of Gu Qinghuan’s products sold out within seconds of being listed.

Her cash box was suddenly stuffed with money.

—

The next morning, Gu Qinghuan got up before dawn.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and she planned to go to the commune to buy supplies for the holiday. Other than a bit of meat sauce, there was nothing left at home.

What’s a holiday without some meat?

“You’re not thinking of going to the black market for meat again, are you? It’s too dangerous. Maybe you’d better not go. It’s fine if we don’t eat meat,” Zhong Zijun said, knowing there was a secret market in the commune where people traded goods—everyone called it the “little black market.” She figured the meat Gu Qinghuan had gotten before must have come from there.

After all, without a meat ration ticket, you couldn’t buy meat unless you had connections at the meat processing plant—otherwise, the black market was the only option, and the prices were sky-high.

“Don’t worry, I know someone. There’s no danger,” Gu Qinghuan said, determined to get something good for the holiday.

The commune wasn’t far from Xujiatun—just a half-hour walk.

Xu Huaian heard the mother and daughter up and got up as well.

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, your leg still isn’t up for long walks, and I can’t move quickly if you come along. I’ll be back in two hours.” (Besides, if you come, how am I supposed to ‘buy’ things?)

Xu Huaian understood what she meant and didn’t insist.

“All right, just be careful. If anything goes wrong at the black market, just make sure you keep yourself safe. As long as you’re okay, we can always start over.”

He guessed she was making money by flipping goods on the black market, so he reminded her out of concern.

Gu Qinghuan knew he’d misunderstood, but didn’t bother to explain.

“I know.”

It was Mid-Autumn Festival, and while the able-bodied men were still out earning work points, the women and children were all happily heading to the commune to shop for the holiday and have some fun.

Gu Qinghuan left before dawn, but still ran into plenty of villagers on their way to the commune, chatting and laughing in small groups.

She walked quickly on her own, but was suddenly called out: “Hey, Huaian’s wife…”

She recognized the voice—it was Aunt Caihua.

“Aunt Caihua, what’s up?”

“Why are Chen Jianghe and your sister-in-law Meiling suddenly getting married?” Aunt Caihua asked in a low voice.

The other women nearby all pricked up their ears, afraid to miss a word.

“What? They’re getting married? Who told you that?” Gu Qinghuan hadn’t heard about this—how was this different from her previous life? Had her butterfly effect really changed things that much?

“Your mother-in-law! She came to my house before dawn, saying her youngest daughter was getting married soon and inviting us to the wedding banquet. By now, I bet the whole village knows. What, you didn’t know?”

“Whatever, it’s got nothing to do with me.”

Gu Qinghuan couldn’t be bothered with their drama.

The walk to the commune took about half an hour, or just twenty minutes if you hurried.

Taking advantage of the early hour and the small crowds, Gu Qinghuan first went to the supply and marketing cooperative, where she bought some kelp and steamed cakes that didn’t require ration tickets, as well as the day’s limited-supply mooncakes.

She was lucky—there were even seafood products for sale, probably because of the holiday.

Prawns were 0.4 yuan per jin, yellow croaker 0.35, ribbonfish 0.3, and salted fish 0.25 per jin.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t hesitate—she bought three jin of prawns and three jin of ribbonfish.

She also got three jin of salted fish, which keeps well and can be steamed to eat with porridge—salty, fragrant, and delicious.

She didn’t buy yellow croaker, since she had a fish pond in her space and could catch as many as she wanted for free.

Spend where you should, save where you can.

It was a pity she couldn’t take out the high-end seafood from her space, since there was no way such things would be available here—it would be too suspicious. But having prawns for today was already a treat.

As for meat, she didn’t need to buy any—she’d already taken out a three-jin pork leg and a two-jin chunk of beef brisket from her space to thaw, ready to take home.

Once she’d bought everything she needed, the supply co-op was packed. Gu Qinghuan squeezed out of the crowd, stuffed everything into the bag she’d brought, and carried it in her hand.

Of course, she’d already put the heavy stuff into her space—the bag only had a few light things left, just for show.

After all, she was supposed to be recovering from an injury and couldn’t carry heavy loads.

Before leaving, she’d promised Xu Huaian and Zhong Zijun she’d only buy a little, which was the only reason they’d let her go. Now, her “little” had turned into a lot—the bag was almost full.

She was about to go to the post office to check for mail, but remembered it was closed for the holiday—she’d have to wait.

Her younger brother, Gu Lanting, wrote to her regularly and sometimes sent things. Since it was Mid-Autumn Festival, he’d probably sent a letter already. Once the post office reopened, she’d send him some local specialties in return.

Before, the original Gu Qinghuan had been struggling herself and couldn’t spare anything for her brother, so she could only accept his help.

On her way back, she found a secluded spot and entered her space.

She grabbed a handy fishing net and, with one scoop, caught a perch—perfect for steaming.

The second scoop brought up two carp—just the right size for soup.

The third scoop netted a big mandarin fish—great for sweet-and-sour or braised dishes, both sweet and savory. A real treat.

That was probably enough for today.

She also caught a bunch of little river shrimp—probably swept in with the water when she’d collected it. Stir-fried, they’d be delicious, so she took those too."