Ding Yun was truly hungry at this time.
She completely ignored how people around her were looking, and just kept eating cake scraps to fill her stomach.
Since feeling unwell, the original owner hadn't eaten much. She was drowsy on the train, and squeezed on in a daze. If you calculated it, she hadn't eaten for a full day and night, plus most of another day.
So it was normal for her to eat a little more.
Before long, all three pounds of cake scraps were gone. After finishing, she even let out a satisfied burp.
This disappointed several people who had been waiting to ask if they could trade if she didn't finish, and a few even vaguely regretted not speaking up sooner.
But it was too late to regret now.
They didn't think Ding Yun still had cake on her.
So, without Ding Yun's knowledge, her voracious appetite saved her some trouble.
It saved her from having to agonize over whether to trade or not.
Never mind what others thought, Ding Yun closed her eyes again after eating her fill. With half-closed eyes, the train wouldn't stop anytime soon, nor would it reach its destination. Instead of staring blankly or chatting with strangers, she might as well rest with her eyes closed.
Time flowed by slowly. More than three hours later, the train finally arrived at its final destination.
At this time, Ding Yun naturally got off with her big bags and small parcels, struggling with her belongings, and headed straight for the agency responsible for sending urban youths to the countryside.
There were differences in going to the countryside at this time.
Urban youths mainly had two destinations: either directly to the countryside, or to large farms.
Those who went to the countryside were generally called "xia xiang cha dui" (sent to the countryside to join production teams).
This group of people needed to participate in daily labor, earn work points, and so on. They were people whose lives would be very difficult without family subsidies, but would be relatively carefree with subsidies.
However, they were sometimes ostracized by the villagers.
After all, local resources were limited, and one more person meant one more person to share food with.
Those who went to farms might have an even tougher time.
But they had a salary, no less than that of workers.
Overall, one could only say that everything had its pros and cons.
But regardless of the type, there was a fixed date each year for everyone to depart together. Most of the time, this was the case, but the original owner was an exception. She had signed up herself before the time and date.
And she had actively requested to go immediately.
So the situation she faced would be different from others. She wouldn't see villagers waiting to pick her up as soon as she got off the train. She needed to report to the relevant agency herself.
Then, she would see how they allocated her.
The local department responsible for this, although not often encountering people like Ding Yun, still met a few each year, so they were not surprised. After receiving and recording her basic information, they assigned her a village.
Dawang Village in Fushui Town.
Of course, this wasn't a "Dawang Village" in the sense of a mountain bandit king. It was mainly because most of the villagers were surnamed Wang, and there was another village nearby where most people were also surnamed Wang.
But they were not from the same branch.
To differentiate, one village was called Dawang Village, and the other was called Xiaowang Village. It was said that the two villages had even fought a skirmish over which one would be called Dawang Village, and clearly, the current Dawang Village won.
After the specific village was assigned, the person in charge was too lazy to specifically go and send Ding Yun there. So in the end, he planned to give her a letter of introduction and let her go by herself.
In response, Ding Yun specifically stated that she was not familiar with the area and that she did not have all the things she needed. Therefore, she wanted to stay in the county town for two days to understand the situation.
Buy some things, and then go to the village to join the production team.
It was because of this explanation that Ding Yun successfully obtained a letter of introduction to stay at the guesthouse there for two days. Then, of course, she immediately took the letter of introduction to the guesthouse to check into a room and put away her luggage.
Immediately after, she quickly went out to look for the black market.
She intended to resell some items from the "near-expiration inventory sales network" to earn some money. She felt a little uneasy without money in her pocket.
The original owner had bought things in the black market quite a bit in the past.
Even if the cities were different, there were bound to be commonalities. So, before long, Ding Yun, based on the original owner's memory, successfully found the black market here and began to observe with great interest what everyone was selling, at what prices, and what items were selling well.
After observing for about ten minutes.
Ding Yun found a place to squat down. Ostensibly, she was taking things out of the bag she carried with her. In reality, she bought all the remaining nine yuan she had with her, three pounds for one yuan of inventory salted sausages. And using the posture of taking things out, she took out the sausages.
The description of the sausages stated that this batch had too much salt, the taste was too strong, and it was not as good as the reduced-salt sausages. The inventory had piled up too much, so it had to be cleared out at a low price.
There was still more than half a year until the expiration date.
And because of the excess salt, the evaluation result from the sales network was that it would not spoil for two to three years at room temperature.
It was precisely because of this that Ding Yun felt confident buying it.
As Ding Yun took out the sausages from her backpack, without any invitation, people nearby immediately gathered around, whispering to ask about the specific price.
"Little girl, how are you selling the sausages?"
"Are you looking for money, grain, or tickets?"
...
"Only money. One yuan per piece. Also, I want to tell you, the sausages have a little more salt in them when they were made, so they might be a bit salty. Only buy if you can accept it.
Cash on delivery!"
As long as she had money, Ding Yun could buy many unobtainable items from the near-expiration inventory sales network. So, she naturally stated that she only wanted money. But to be honest, she specifically reminded them about the flaw of the sausages.
However, what she considered a flaw.
People at this time didn't care at all.
"What's the big deal? Salty is good. Salty goes well with rice and keeps longer, less likely to spoil. Give me five!"
"That's right, that's right! I want five too!"
"I want ten!"
It could be said that the next second, people started buying enthusiastically, stuffing money into Ding Yun's arms desperately.
They were afraid that if they gave the money late, they wouldn't be able to buy it.
Because this price was truly not expensive, they could tell at a glance that each sausage Ding Yun took out weighed about half a pound. That meant two yuan a pound, and it was two yuan a pound without tickets.
One should know that pork was also sold at 80 cents a pound at this time, and you still needed a meat ticket. If you went late every day, you could only buy lean meat or rib bones, etc., and not the fatty parts. Generally speaking, fresh meat without tickets could sometimes sell for two yuan a pound. The most crucial thing wasn't the price, but the lack of places to buy it, it was hard to buy.
Not to mention dried meat, which shrunk compared to fresh meat, where one pound was equivalent to one and a half pounds, and it could be stored for a longer time.
If she hadn't brought so little money.
Or if she was afraid of buying it all and provoking public anger.
They probably would have bought more.
Ding Yun accepted all offers. As soon as she received the money, she counted out the corresponding sausages and handed them to the buyer. After selling all the sausages she had bought with her own money, she used the funds she had recouped to buy more and continued to sell them.
Until she had sold fifty pounds, and any more would make her bag look unscientific and unreasonable, she then declared she was out of stock, packed up her things, and left in a hurry.