Lin Lan heard Little Douzi crying and turned to see Wu Shufen had already carried him into the courtyard.
Li Xiangyang squeezed Lin Lan’s hand. "Little Lan, we’ll go together this ti. Next ti, you can stay ho, and I’ll go by myself."
Lin Lan nodded, her voice soft. "Xiangyang, selling clothes and small appliances doesn’t require much skill. Right now, with the economy just opening up, it’s a quick way to make money. But in a few years, more and more shops will be selling the sa things. Our craft is our true foundation."
Li Xiangyang glanced over at her. "Don’t worry, I won’t give up the at stall or the pig farm. All the hams this year were made by and the old man together."
"I sent so to a few families, and they couldn’t even tell which ones I made and which ones the old man made. Uncle Da even said I’ve already mastered the old man’s skills."
Lin Lan gave him a thumbs-up. "I’m just waiting for the day the old man praises you as the student who surpassed the master."
Li Xiangyang said confidently, "I believe that in a few years, you’ll hear him praise ."
"I believe you can do it," Lin Lan said, then suddenly rembered sothing. "Now that the shop is opening, we’ll need to hire people to run it. But first, there’s sothing I need you to solve."
’In this day and age, there are no security caras or paynt scanners. We’ll have to find a few reliable people to help out.’
Li Xiangyang grinned. "At your service, my dear wife."
"Oh, get out of here!" Lin Lan laughed and nudged him. "The shop is ready to open. What about staff to run it?"
"Staff to run the shop?" Li Xiangyang thought for a mont. "Shuiqing’s two younger sisters should work. And the daughter of Uncle He from the pig farm... There are plenty of people. When we get back, I’ll have them co over, and you can teach them."
Lin Lan nodded. By the ti they reached the station, boarding had already begun. Liu Da, clutching a small bag under his arm, waved at them. "What took you two so long? I’ve been waiting for a while."
Li Xiangyang pulled Lin Lan into a light jog. "We tid our arrival perfectly."
Lin Lan smiled and greeted Liu Da. The three of them got in the back of the ticket-checking line, had their tickets punched, entered the station, and boarded the train. They found their seats—a row of three, which was perfect for them.
Li Xiangyang took off his backpack and put it on the luggage rack, then prepared to put Lin Lan’s backpack up as well.
Liu Da looked at their backpacks and smiled. "Those are nice bags. Make one for next ti."
Li Xiangyang placed a backpack on the small tray table and looked at him with a wide grin. "Nice, right? Little Lan made it from work cloth. As soon as you help buy that sewing machine, we’ll make one for you."
"Lin Lan’s handiwork is excellent!" Liu Da waited for Li Xiangyang to sit down, then said in a low voice, "Getting a sewing machine is easy. I’ll take you to buy one when we’re in Yangcheng City this ti."
Li Xiangyang asked him quietly, "What about the televisions and ovens?"
Liu Da leaned in close to his ear. "He has it all. I got in touch with a well-connected guy in June. His goods are cheaper than smuggled ones, and he says he can even get his hands on passenger cars."
Li Xiangyang shook his head. "Forget about the car. I want to bring back more electronics."
Liu Da nodded. "Right. We should make as much money as we can now, so we have enough to retire on when we’re old."
In Yangcheng City, the restrictions requiring ration tickets for purchases were practically nonexistent. All sorts of electronic products ca in from the outside. Large items included televisions, refrigerators, sewing machines, and cassette recorders, while smaller items included chanical and digital watches.
In secluded freight yards, you could find all kinds of "smuggled goods." Every day, boats brought in contraband from Hong Kong, despite customs controls.
But cats have their secret paths, and dogs have their own trails. Every scoundrel has their own thod, and soone would always find a way to get things into the port.
Not to ntion, those with connections could buy all sorts of goods from the customs inspection warehouses at even lower prices.
Back in June, he had followed soone to take a look around. Digital and chanical watches were piled up in boxes. Washing machines, televisions, and refrigerators were stacked like small mountains in a warehouse. If you had the money, you could even buy a passenger car.
The train arrived in the provincial capital. As the three of them exited the station, a skinny, half-grown boy ran up to Liu Da. "Uncle Da, my youngest uncle told to take you to get the tickets."
Liu Da nodded and pulled a handful of candy from his pocket, offering it to the boy. "Guoqing, where’s Dahai?"
The train to Yangcheng City was at 11:30. He had called ahead and asked Gu Dahai to get them three sleeper car tickets; they just needed to use their letters of introduction to pick them up.
The boy grinned as he took the candy. "He’s out making a delivery."
Ah, so he was Gu Dahai’s nephew. Lin Lan smiled and took a bag of pumpkin cakes from her basket, handing it to him. "Guoqing, Auntie made these herself. Have a taste."
Gu Guoqing accepted with a smile. "Thank you, Auntie!"
Gu Guoqing led the three of them into an alley, took their letters of introduction, accepted the money Liu Da gave him, and dashed off.
Li Xiangyang said to Liu Da, "The last ti we bought spices to take back, it was also Gu Dahai who saw us onto the train."
Liu Da said in a low voice, "Gu Guoqing is the son of Gu Dahai’s older brother. Gu Dahai’s father and older brother were both railway soldiers. They died building the railway from the provincial capital to Yun Province."
"Not long after Gu Dahai’s brother died, his sister-in-law ran off with another man, leaving Gu Guoqing behind with his blind, elderly mother. So Gu Dahai started picking up odd jobs at the station. The people there look out for him and turn a blind eye to his side hustles."
Only then did Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang understand how Gu Dahai could move so freely in and out of the train station and even know which platform each train would arrive at.
About ten minutes later, Gu Guoqing ran out of the station. He handed the tickets to the three of them and said with a smile, "Uncle Da, the tickets are bought. You should go get sothing to eat and then hurry back here. I’ll take you to the platform."
Liu Da took them with a smile and looked at the boy. "Guoqing, co eat with us."
Gu Guoqing shook his head. "I can’t. Another uncle is coming to get tickets. I have to wait here for him."
Liu Da nodded with a smile. "Alright then, we’ll be on our way."
The three of them left the alley, and Liu Da took them to a small restaurant where he often ate.
The restaurant sold douhua fan, stead pork ribs with rice flour, savory braised pork belly, sweet braised pork belly, and stews like pinto beans with pig’s trotters and braised pork intestines.
The owner saw Liu Da and said with a hearty laugh, "Brother Liu, the usual? Douhua fan and braised pork intestines?"
Liu Da smiled. "Let’s also get an order of the stead pork ribs with rice flour and the sweet braised pork belly. And give us a large order of the mixed pickles to go. We’ll eat it on the train."
"You got it!" The owner wiped the table a few tis and cheerfully headed to the back kitchen.
After the three of them sat down, Liu Da said, "The food on the train is terrible. If we get so pickles, we can just buy so rice on board to fill our stomachs."
Lin Lan pointed to her basket. "Uncle Da, I also brought so fernted bean curd and a small jar of at sauce." She knew from her past sourcing trips that the food on trains was awful, so she had packed a small bottle of fernted bean curd and so homade mushroom and pork sauce for the journey.
Liu Da laughed happily. "Great, great! With pickles, fernted bean curd, and at sauce, we’ll have plenty to eat on the train."
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