Chapter 116

The busiest time at the black market was the morning. It was already past noon now and many had already made their purchased and left.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Tong Xuelu lowered her straw hat that she had borrowed from Su Xiuying some more and looked for a place to stand.Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man rushed over to her and said in a low voice. “Do you have any snacks or cakes? Any dessert will do.”He had already asked a few others with no luck. The middle-aged man was sweating from anxiousness.From his neat appearance and scholarly look, Tong Xuelu figured that he was an office worker.She walked over to him and said, “What kind of snacks are you looking for, Comrade?”The middle-aged man, looking a little shy, said, “My wife is pregnant and can’t hold down any food. She suddenly craved snacks and sweets but there weren’t any at the CSMS so I thought I would give this place a try.”The two had been married for years with no children but his wife had gotten pregnant suddenly a month earlier. The couple was very delighted.But then the morning sickness and lack of appetite that followed was also very worrisome.Tong Xuelu paused a little and said, “I have three jin

of green bean cakes that were freshly made this morning. Do you want them?”The middle-aged men’s eyes beamed. He nodded his head like a chick eating rice from the ground. “Yes, yes. How much do you want for them?”Tong Xuelu did some mathematics in her head and said, “90 cents / jin. 80 cents if you have tickets.”The middle-aged felt that it was a bit on the expensive side, but he had to do it for his wife. “I’ll take them. Give me two jin. I have tickets too. Which ones do you want?”Tong Xuelu said, “Any kind will do.”The middle-aged man pulled out money and two industrial tickets and handed them over to her. Tong Xuelu divided out 2 jin of green bean cakes for him.The middle-aged man, with the green bean cakes in hand, could smell the fresh aroma from the green beans. He reflexively pinched of a small corner and tasted it.It was soft, fresh, and sweet. It tasted better than any green bean cakes he had in the past.The middle-aged man quickly changed his tune. “I’ll take the remaining 1 jin as well.”Tong Xuelu had yet to be able to say yes when someone shouted out loudly, “Run! The cops are here!”Oh brother!How was she so unfortunate to have run into a crackdown on her first time here?She turned and started running as fast as she could.After running out a little distance, she turned and saw the man who bought things from her still standing where he was, his face pale.“Comrade, why are you still standing there? Hurry up and run!”The man finally recollected himself and dashed toward her madly.Tong Xuelu almost passed out.A million different ways to go and he had to run in her direction?She didn’t even know what to say.Now was not the time to say anything anyway. She ran as fast as she could.She was that close to making out of the alleyway when a bicycle caught up to her and stopped in front of her, blocking her way.Tong Xuelu’s heart was pounding out of her chest, and she thought that she was done for. She was for sure done for this time.Lo and behold, a clear and low voice came from above her head, “Hop on quickly!”The voice….Tong Xuelu lifted up the rim of her hat and looked into Wen Rugui’s eyes that were dark like ink.Just what was he doing here?But now wasn’t the time to chitchat. She jumped onto the back of the bicycle and wrapped her arm around his waist. “I’m good. Let’s go!”Wen Rugui: But I’m not.With the soft arm around his waist, everywhere that the arm touched was tingling and he felt an electric current running through his entire body.Wen Rugui’s body stiffened up.Only that his heart was pounding out of his chest.