Reborn with a Space: Building a Fortune Amidst Famine-Chapter 143 return journey

After leaving the space, she wondered whether to go out and take a look.

Fully dressed, they locked the door and headed out, each carrying a bag filled with essentials, without any fear of theft.

Walking down the street, Su Yuanyuan suddenly regretted it but soon felt relieved, thankful that she had wrapped herself tightly. Otherwise, her condition would starkly differ from the majority of people.

This year she had grown taller and gained some weight, having just checked herself in a mirror in the space. Her skin was fair and rosy, a rarity even for city folks, let alone rural people, in this era.

She was extremely grateful for being at the farm, where few people noticed her; otherwise, such changes might become a topic of gossip.

Su Yuanyuan aimlessly wandered the streets, which were nearly deserted in the chilling weather, as people preferred staying in to reduce food consumption.

She roamed to a building, where relatively more people were.

Su Yuanyuan went inside but found nothing she needed to buy, so she merely watched the lively scene.

The supply was indeed too limited. After making a round, she left, having gotten a sense of the situation.

The quality of life for the Chinese people was dire, and this was just the first year of famine. Next year would be the worst, and who knows what absurdity might happen then.

Yet the common folks were just hoping to eat their fill and stay warm.

She then went to the supply and marketing cooperative, which catered to people’s needs, but found it empty with only the scent of soy sauce and vinegar lingering.

After leaving, she headed to the post office. There she bought stamps, envelopes, and paper. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

She thought of writing a letter to Hu Chunhua, wondering how things were back home.

With this thought, Su Yuanyuan took out a pen and began writing in the post office, starting with a description of life on the farm, saying it was passable, without mentioning how much she earned.

Then she asked about the situation at home, inquiring if it had rained there.

She wrote extensively across two large sheets, placed them in an envelope, affixed a stamp, and dropped it into the mailbox.

She estimated that Hu Chunhua would not receive the letter until early spring.

Leaving the post office, she found that no other places were open. Indeed, it was the third day of the Lunar New Year, and people should be at home celebrating.

Feeling cold, she returned to the hotel.

Tan Shaoting had already come back, but realizing Su Yuanyuan was not there, he had waited for half an hour and started to worry.

Tan Shaoting felt like an old father, constantly worrying about that girl, who was quite a handful.

Seeing her return, he let out a sigh of relief.

"How is it outside?"

Su Yuanyuan shook her head, "I hardly saw anyone."

The two chatted as they returned to their room.

"I’ve made the arrangements: grains for twenty-five cents a pound and meat for two dollars. They said they’d take as much as we have."

"Can they manage that much?"

"Of course, with food, anything goes now."

"Then just arrange it. If it can be exchanged for gold bars, all the better."

Su Yuanyuan knew that now even banks were buying gold, offering over seven dollars per tael.

"I told them, and they said part of it could be arranged, but the price is eight dollars a tael."

"Oh, they’re raising the price, are they? Fine, eight dollars then."

"I promised to deliver tonight. I’ll go borrow a vehicle now."

"A donkey cart?"

Tan Shaoting shook his head, "A handcart."

Su Yuanyuan nodded in understanding.

The two discussed and decided to deliver a thousand pounds of grain and two hundred pounds of pork today.

The wild boar meat in the space had all been loaded by Hu Wenzheng onto a train for the border; what was left in the space were farm-bred pigs. Two hundred pounds wouldn’t even take a full pig.

Tan Shaoting went out to borrow a cart, and after dinner, around nine, they set out. The hotel staff warned them that if they didn’t return by ten, the door wouldn’t be opened for them.

Su Yuanyuan nearly lost her temper.

It was Tan Shaoting who spoke kindly and gave her a piece of fried dough twist, which smoothed things over.

The handcart was hidden outside. They walked close to the agreed place before unloading the grain and meat.

The agreed spot was at a private residence. Su Yuanyuan confirmed it before knocking on the door.

The people inside had been waiting. They quickly came to open the door.

Three men came out to help Tan Shaoting pull the handcart into the courtyard.

"Xiao Tan, pull it directly into the house; it’s warm and there’s light there."

Su Yuanyuan followed them inside, noting the doorway was indeed wide enough to pull the handcart right in.

Inside were three more people who excitedly gathered around the cart when they saw its contents.

"Xiao Tan, you really have skills."

"Brother Xing, it’s just good timing. Take a look."

Pulling back the straw covering, a fat pig was the first thing they saw.

Su Yuanyuan heard a gasp. Then they swiftly unloaded the pig and dragged down a woven bag.

Opening it, they grabbed a handful of full grains to inspect.

"Great, great, Xiao Tan, is it all the same?"

Tan Shaoting shook his head, "There are also five bags of corn, all at the same price."

"Understood. Dewang, come weigh it."

Su Yuanyuan said nothing, just stood by observing.

They had already weighed everything back at the hotel and knew the weight, so there was no need to argue.

Perhaps these people were genuinely honest or wanted ongoing cooperation, as the weights matched those they had weighed: 250 for the grain and 400 for the meat, totaling 650.

"Brother Xing, exchange this money for gold."

"Sure, I’ll go get it."

The five people in the room just stared at the cart with silly grins.

This Brother Xing might have been prepared; it wasn’t long before he returned.

He placed a cloth bundle on the table, opened it, and said, "Here it all is, take a look."

Both immediately saw that the gold’s purity wasn’t very high.

Su Yuanyuan frowned, but it was Tan Shaoting who spoke, "Brother Xing, this gold wouldn’t fetch seven dollars at the bank."

"Xiao Tan, all I have is this quality."

Tan Shaoting smiled, "All right, Brother Xing, let it be."

Brother Xing relaxed seeing Tan Shaoting accept the gold.

"Xiao Tan, will there be more tomorrow?"

"Brother Xing. You’re insincere. There’s none left."

"Come on, Xiao Tan, let’s discuss this."

Tan Shaoting laughed and shook his head; he wouldn’t deal with insincere people.

Brother Xing regretted it, "Xiao Tan, don’t be like that. I’ll add another half a pound, so it’s seven dollars a tael, just like the bank."

"Brother Xing, what’s the point of this kind of cooperation?"

"All right, all right, I give in. I’ll give you a total of ten pounds, okay?"

"If Brother Xing were this straightforward from the start, we wouldn’t have needed to fuss," Tan Shaoting said, still smiling.

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