jdhmnovel Chapter 109: Buying Things in the Dark Market
Chapter 109: Buying Things in the Dark Market
The stall owner frowned, thought for a moment and said, "I do have acquaintances, but the price is a bit higher than before. We are all taking risks to stock up, and it's not easy to save these salts."
"How much does it cost per pound?"
"Two hundred and fifty coins"
When Li Changli and the others heard this, they were stunned. Oh my God, this is ten times more expensive than before entering the mountain!
This is not eating salt, this is eating gold!
"We bought it for 100 wen a month ago." He Li was talking nearby.
At the same time, he secretly thanked himself for buying a little more in the dark market last time. He should have bought more earlier.
"You don't know, the price of salt is rising just like the price of grain. At least salt can be bought, but grain cannot be bought even if you have money." The stall owner said helplessly.
Li Changli tried to bargain with the stall owner, but the stall owner was very tough and there was no room for him to lower the price.
There was really no other way, so he could only grit his teeth and agree: "Okay, 250 coins is 250 coins, as long as we can collect 30 kilograms."
The stall owner asked them to wait where they were while he went to find someone he knew to help them get the required weight.
In order to save time, Li Changli asked He Lizheng and others to act separately to purchase the items they needed.
He Lizheng also agreed, and took into consideration that this was Li Changli and his friends' first time in the dark market, so he left Fang Yu to accompany them.
A quarter of an hour later, the stall owner came back with 15 kilograms of salt, and he started talking about how difficult it was for him.
"I had to ask several friends to collect these thirty kilograms."
Li Changli took the salt, checked it carefully, and paid after confirming that it was correct.
Everyone took the hard-earned salt and, under the leadership of Fang Yu, walked around the stalls in the dark market, looking for other urgently needed items.
Li Changli had been keeping an eye out for stalls selling cotton, but he hadn't found one.
Just when I was getting anxious, I saw a lonely cotton flower on a stall.
He guessed that this person must be selling cotton, so he walked over and asked in a low voice: "How much is this cotton?"
The stall owner looked up at him and whispered, "Two hundred and twenty coins a pound."
Li Changli took a deep breath and said, "It's so expensive! Can it be cheaper?"
If he remembered correctly, the price of cotton was 90 cents per pound before. How could the price of cotton have doubled?
The reason why the price didn't rise as wildly as salt is probably because there is no purchase limit and cotton is expensive to begin with. Few people bought it before the price increase, and now that the price has doubled, even fewer people buy it.
The stall owner shook his head: "I take a big risk when I bring cotton out of town to sell it. The price can't be any lower."
Li Changli looked embarrassed and turned to look at Fang Yu.
Fang Yu walked up and said, "Boss, the price is too high. Can you make it cheaper? We'll buy more."
The stall owner hesitated for a moment and said, "Then it's 200 wen per jin, no less."
"Why don't we look somewhere else?" Luo Dashan suggested softly.
Li Changli knew that he probably couldn't find any other stalls, as he had just checked carefully.
Before coming, Lin Wan also reminded me that if anyone was selling cotton, I must help buy it, even if the price was high, because if I didn't, the children would have nothing to wear in the winter.
Li Changli and Luo Dashan shook their heads slightly, then said to the boss, "Okay, two hundred coins is two hundred coins, how much do you have?"
"Only twenty pounds."
Li Changli thought about it and said, "We want both."
Fortunately, Lin Wan’s request to buy at least 20 kilograms was met.
After paying the money and carrying the two sacks of cotton, the group continued to look for other items in the dark market.
In fact, after solving the two urgent needs of salt and cotton, there is not much else to buy. After all, the prices of things here are ridiculously high.
If it's not an urgent need, people would not buy it if they can avoid it, so everyone just continues to shop with the mentality of trying their luck.
After a while, they found another stall selling needles and thread.
Every household needs needle and thread, so before going out, I would ask them to help buy some.
Li Changli walked over to ask the price, and the stall owner quoted 15 cents per set.
It’s twice as expensive as what my family told me, maybe because these items are easy to get.
The price increase was relatively small compared to salt and grain, so Li Changli bought ten sets.
After that, I bought some small items one after another, and the prices were almost two or three times more expensive than before.
As it was getting late, people in the dark market gradually began to disperse.
Fang Yu reminded: "It's almost time for us to go back, otherwise it will be troublesome if we are discovered.
They immediately found He Lizheng and his group who had just finished their purchases. The group hurriedly took the purchased items, avoided crowded places, and carefully walked towards the exit of the dark market.
Li Chongshan couldn't help but complain: "The price increase is too outrageous. I really don't know how I'm going to get by in the future."
"Don't think too much about it. It's not easy to buy these urgently needed things." He Lizheng comforted.
"Yes, let's go back first and leave here quickly." Li Changli agreed.
He felt that the dark market was a place of trouble after all, so it would be better for him to leave as soon as possible.
Before daybreak, they successfully left the Dark Market and started their journey home.
They hurried back. Luo Dashan noticed something was wrong behind him and whispered to everyone:
"Don't look back, there are several people following you."
Everyone's heart tightened, but they did not dare to pause for even a moment.
Li Chongshan lowered his voice and asked, "What should we do?"
Li Changli said calmly: "Don't panic yet, speed up and see if you can get rid of them."
They quickened their pace and took the more secluded paths.
However, the stalkers behind them did not seem to let them go easily and kept chasing them.
He Lizheng panted and said, "This is not a solution. We have to find a way to get rid of them."
"If it doesn't work, we have enough people, let's fight them!" Luo Dashan said angrily.
Li Changli hurriedly stopped them: "No, it's best not to have a conflict. We have so many things with us. If we lose one, it will be a big loss, and we may not be able to buy it again."
Fang Yu immediately suggested: "There is a dense forest ahead, let's go in and hide."
Everyone nodded, quickly went into the woods, and found a secluded place to hide.
After a while, the stalker chased to the edge of the woods, looked around, found no trace of them, and left cursing.
Only after making sure that the stalker had left did they come out of the woods and continue on their way, not daring to slack off even a little bit along the way.
After walking out of the forest and making sure it was safe, Li Changli asked, "Fang Yu, has this happened before?"
Fang Yu shook his head: "I haven't encountered this before."
Li Changli frowned and said, "This dark market seems to be getting less and less safe. Let's be as careful as possible on the way back."
"Yes, it's not easy to buy things successfully this time. We must not take it lightly next time." He Lizheng echoed.
Everyone silently quickened their pace, wishing they could return to the mountains immediately.
After a while, the sky became darker and darker, and I felt the wind picking up.
Li Changli looked up at the sky and said worriedly, "The weather is going to change. We need to speed up and keep an eye out for caves or other shelters along the way."
Everyone's expressions became more and more nervous, and their steps became more and more hurried.
Just then, a muffled thunder was heard in the distance, and raindrops as big as beans began to fall sparsely.
"Oh no, the rain is going to get heavier!" Luo Dashan shouted.
They held the things they bought to their chests and tried to cover them with their hands. Although the effect was limited, they still tried their best to avoid being wet by the rain.
Fang Yu ran in the front and looked around. He remembered there was a cave nearby. When he saw it, he immediately pointed forward:
"Hurry, let's go to that cave to take shelter from the rain."
Everyone hurriedly ran towards the cave, but as soon as they entered the cave, it was pouring rain outside.
Everyone looked at the rain outside the cave, hoping that the rain would stop soon so that they could return to their secluded cave as soon as possible.