Chapter 10: What is a Black Market?
In the morning, Su Juesheng said he wanted to eat chive pancakes, but there weren’t enough chives growing by the courtyard wall. They had more planted in their private plot, so Yu Juanfang decided to go cut some. When she got to the plot, however, she saw that the crops were all wilting. The land hadn’t been watered in days.
She carried a pair of plastic buckets to the Xichuan River, filled them using a ladle, and brought them back to the plot, evenly splashing the water over the dry earth.
She was only halfway done when she heard someone call her name. “Older Sister, I was just on my way to your house to find you.”
Yu Juanfang looked up and saw it was none other than her own younger brother, Yu Laowu. There were six siblings in her family, and Yu Laowu, at twenty-three and still unmarried, was the youngest and the most soft-spoken.
Yu Laowu didn’t quite know how to bring up the subject.
Seeing her brother’s troubled expression, Yu Juanfang’s face grew serious. Her family wouldn’t seek her out unless something was wrong. “What happened?”
“Yesterday morning, while Mom was drawing water from the well, she had a dizzy spell and fainted.”
Clang! The ladle slipped from Yu Juanfang’s hand and fell into the plastic bucket, splashing water everywhere. Her expression froze. “How is she now?!” she asked nervously.
“Older Sister, don’t worry, let me explain. Mom’s fine now. The doctor said it was anemia and recommended we buy her some nutritional supplements to build up her strength. But you know the situation at home…”
“How much money do you need?”
“About twenty yuan. More would be better, of course!”
Twenty yuan was no small sum. Yu Juanfang’s brow furrowed, but she still reassured her brother. “I understand. Don’t you worry about it. I’ll figure something out for the money.”
After Yu Laowu left, Yu Juanfang carried another two buckets of water from the river. Only after she finished watering the plot did she cut a bundle of chives. She had wanted to ask her brother to stay for a meal, but he was too embarrassed to eat at his sister’s home, and the roads were difficult to travel after dark. So, he left right after telling her the news.
…
Back home, Yu Juanfang washed the chives, chopped them, and put them in a large, clean basin. She added a little salt and pepper, then mixed in two spoonfuls of cornmeal to make a batter. Once the wok was hot, she greased it and began to fry the pancakes.
The chive pancakes would have been even better with an egg beaten into the batter, which also would have kept them from sticking. But the family’s eggs were all saved to be sold. The eggs collected each day were locked away in Old Madam Zhu’s room, waiting for market day. So Yu Juanfang didn’t even consider it, simply adding a little extra oil to the wok.
Dinner was chive pancakes, black bean and sorghum porridge, and pickled radishes. The pancakes were fragrant, soft, and slightly chewy. The salt and pepper gave them a savory flavor with a hint of spice. Every bite was satisfying.
After dinner, once the dishes and stove were cleaned, Yu Juanfang knocked on Old Madam Zhu’s door. “Mother, are you asleep?”
“Just about to turn in. Third Daughter-in-law, what is it?”
“I need to discuss something with you.” Yu Juanfang didn’t beat around the bush. “My mother fainted from anemia yesterday. She needs money for supplements. You know what a mess my parents’ finances are. I was hoping to borrow thirty yuan from you. I’ll have my brothers pool their money to pay you back later.”
Yu Juanfang knew that Old Madam Zhu had money. Su Huimin’s entire monthly salary was in her hands; she had probably saved up one or two hundred yuan.
Hearing this, Old Madam Zhu, who had been leaning against the head of the kang, immediately sat up straight, her voice full of concern. “How is she now? Is it serious?”
“Don’t worry, Mother. She’s alright now.” Yu Juanfang took a piece of paper from her pocket. “This is an IOU I wrote on behalf of my brothers. As soon as they have the money, they’ll pay you back.”
“This is a matter of life and death. We’re all family, let’s not talk about borrowing. Is thirty yuan enough?!”
Yu Juanfang pressed her lips together and nodded. “It’s enough.”
Old Madam Zhu took a key from her waist pouch, unlocked a drawer, and pulled out a pillow. She licked her index finger and counted out three “Big Unity” notes from inside the pillow, handing them to her. One “Big Unity” was worth ten yuan. She then neatly folded the IOU and tucked it back inside the pillow.
Yu Juanfang added the two or three yuan she had saved herself and took the money to her parents’ home.
…
In the south room, the children of the third branch were doing their homework on the kang. The first graders had been assigned to practice writing the characters for “sky” and “big.” Su Juexiao noticed that his younger siblings’ grips on their pens were a bit off and was correcting them.
With Su Huimin absent, Su Juesheng could finally breathe. He took out his wooden toy gun and aimed it at his brother and sister. “Freeze! Hands up!”
“Ah, I’ve been shot!” Su Juesheng clutched his chest and dramatically fell back onto the kang.
Su Juexiao rolled his eyes. “You’d better hurry up and memorize your lesson. If you can’t recite it tomorrow, I don’t think you’ll survive.”
Su Juesheng pulled a book from his bag. His head ached just looking at the dense text. “There’s a classmate of mine who brought a new set of comic books to class today. We all gathered around to read them. I asked him where he got them, and he whispered that his dad bought them at the black market when he went to the city.”
“What are comic books?” Tangtang had never heard of such a thing and her eyes widened with curiosity.
“They’re picture storybooks. They have lots of drawings, one after another, like watching a little movie. Each comic book tells a complete story.”
Su Juesheng had heard that there were even places near the city schools that rented out comic books, but at a village school like theirs, they almost never encountered such novelties.
“Then what is a black market?”
Su Juexiao explained, “A black market is a place where people secretly do things that aren’t allowed in the open. Private trading isn’t permitted right now, so some people take their own chickens, ducks, candy, or handwoven cloth to the black market to sell.”
“Oh, I see.” Tangtang listened intently and quickly understood. “Then we can also take things from our home to sell at the black market.”
Su Juesheng shrugged. “Yeah, but our family is dirt poor. We don’t have anything to sell.”
…
Yu Juanfang remembered that a handmade silver bangle had been part of her dowry. After searching through her elmwood chest for a long time, she finally found a silver bangle wrapped in a handkerchief.
It was a rather thin bangle, weighing only about 30 grams. The price of silver had dropped significantly over the years, and she wasn’t sure if it could even fetch 30 yuan.
The silver quality must have been good, and it had been well-preserved, so it hadn’t tarnished despite not being worn for a long time. Yu Juanfang struggled to slide the bangle onto her wrist. It had fit perfectly when she was younger, but years of manual labor had thickened her wrists, and now it was very tight.
Seeing the silver bangle with its design of a dragon and phoenix bringing good fortune on her coarse wrist, Yu Juanfang’s eyes stung. Twelve years had passed in a flash. Juesheng was already ten, Juexiao was eight, and Juesheng was seven. She had gone from a young maiden to a middle-aged woman.
Over the years of managing the household, her once slender, fair hands had become rough and thick, her palms covered in heavy calluses.
“Mom, what are you looking for?” Tangtang had just put her old clothes into the washbasin when she saw her mother standing in front of the chest.
Yu Juanfang hadn’t expected her to come in and quickly wiped her eyes. “Nothing, just looking for something small. I’ve found it. You can just leave the clothes by the door; I’ll wash them later. Go play with Wani and the others.”
Her parents’ family was in such a sorry state; there was no way they could repay the thirty yuan. But if she didn’t want to be looked down upon in the Su family, she had to repay the money as soon as possible. After thinking it over, the only thing she could come up with was her dowry bangle.
Tangtang’s eyes fell on the silver bangle in her mother’s hand. “Mom, a couple of days ago I heard my brothers talking about a place called the black market?”
“What about it?” Yu Juanfang asked, stroking the child’s head.
“Could we make tofu and sell it at the black market? The tofu you make is so delicious. And I remember you said that one catty of soybeans can make three or four catties of tofu. If we did that, we could improve our family’s situation.”
Tangtang’s words struck Yu Juanfang like a bolt of lightning. That’s right. The tofu she made was just as good as the tofu the cooperative got from the food processing plant—it was smooth and didn’t have a strong beany taste.
Besides, the cost was low. One catty of soybeans, which cost ten cents, could make three or four catties of tofu, which also sold for ten cents a catty. It wasn’t hard to make, and even if it didn’t sell, the financial loss would be minimal.
The more Yu Juanfang thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
“Tangtang, you’ve just helped your mother in a huge way.”
Yu Juanfang tucked the bangle back into the bottom of the chest. That evening after dinner, she gathered all the adults in Old Madam Zhu’s room and told them about her idea to make tofu to sell at the black market.
“What? Make tofu?” Zhang Guixiang let out a snort of laughter. She was already sleepy from a long day’s work and let out a yawn. “Third Sister-in-law, you must be joking. The black market is risky, and besides, how much money can you really make selling tofu?”
“Plus, you have to work in the fields during the day. Where are you going to find the time to grind the beans, filter the pulp, boil the milk, add the coagulant, and press the tofu?”
“It’s not the busy farming season. Work doesn’t start until eight-thirty. If I wake up at four to start, there’s enough time,” Yu Juanfang calculated. Sleeping at nine and waking at four would still give her enough rest.
Zhang Guixiang pursed her lips. “If you want to go to all that trouble, then go ahead. I’m certainly not doing it.”
Wu Fangmei nodded eagerly. “Third Sister-in-law, count me out too. You can just earn that money yourself!”