Cannon Fodder Husband Ch.13-14

Chapter 13 – Making Money

The people who came here had sharp eyesight and immediately noticed. In no time, a woman approached quietly and asked, “How much are you selling this rice for, girl?”

Lu Xia cleared her throat and replied, “50 cents a catty.”

“What? 50 cents a catty?! Why don’t you just rob people? The supply and marketing cooperative sells it for a little over 10 cents, and the black market sells it for just over 20 cents. You’ve multiplied the price several times!”

Lu Xia remained calm despite the woman’s excitement. She felt a pang of regret herself because this rice was grown using spiritual spring water, 50 cents was practically giving it away. If it weren’t for the need to earn money, she wouldn’t even want to sell it.

Although the woman spoke softly due to being in the black market, her voice was not low. Many people around heard the commotion and were surprised when they learned the price. Some secretly helped negotiate for a lower price.

However, Lu Xia remained unmoved and said, “This is top-grade polished rice with high nutritional value, especially beneficial for the elderly and children’s health.”

But the woman didn’t believe her explanation at all. “Who hasn’t eaten rice? I’ve never heard that eating rice can improve your health. You’re demanding an outrageous price!”

Lu Xia was speechless. “It’s up to you if you don’t believe it, but my rice is indeed of high quality.”

Saying that, she slightly opened the mouth of the rice bag, allowing everyone to see it more clearly.

“I have meticulously cultivated this rice with good water and soil. It’s much better than ordinary polished rice. It doesn’t require tickets, and I don’t have much of it. This price is already not high. If it weren’t for the need to make some money, I wouldn’t even want to sell it.”

Upon closer inspection, others could indeed see that this rice looked much better than regular polished rice. Polished rice on the black market cost over 30 cents a catty, making many people tempted to buy.

The woman already knew that this rice was of good quality; otherwise, she wouldn’t have inquired about the price. Her son was a picky eater and didn’t consume coarse grains. Fortunately, she and her husband had jobs and could afford it. However, their monthly quota for refined grains was too small, so she had no choice but to secretly buy from the black market.

She was immediately drawn to the rice Lu Xia was selling, but she didn’t expect it to be so expensive. Initially, she considered giving up, but the aroma of the rice intrigued her. Now seeing others interested as well, she couldn’t resist.

“Even if your rice is good, it shouldn’t be this expensive. How about you lower the price? Sell it for 40 cents a catty, and I’ll buy it.”

But no matter what she said, Lu Xia remained firm. “No, it’s 50 cents. If I can’t sell it, then I won’t sell it at all.”

Hearing her resolute response, everyone realized she was telling the truth. It further emphasized that her rice was indeed worth that price. Otherwise, why would she refuse to sell or lower the price?

As a result, many people spoke up, expressing their intention to buy.

Those who could come to the black market to buy things mostly had surplus money at home and came to improve their lives. Although 50 cents a catty was expensive, they could afford it.

Soon, Lu Xia sold forty catties. With only ten catties left, the woman couldn’t hold back any longer and quickly spoke up, “Girl, that’s enough. Sell me the rest, and I’ll try it at home. If it tastes good, I’ll come back to buy more.”

Lu Xia smiled upon hearing this but didn’t say anything. She sold the remaining ten catties to the woman and left the black market directly.

This time, she only sold 50 catties and earned 25 yuan. It wasn’t much, but considering the prices in this era, she was already satisfied. It was just a trial after all.

She planned to bring another batch later to test the market.

However, before she could leave the black market, the same guard as before stopped her.

“Miss, do you have any more of that rice to sell?”

*

Chapter 14 – Dinner

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“What’s wrong?” Lu Xia asked cautiously, ready to run at any moment.

The man seemed to sense her wariness and went straight to the point, “I just wanted to ask if you have any excess goods. We can buy them directly from you.”

Lu Xia raised an eyebrow upon understanding his intention.

So they wanted to become secondary traders?

Of course, Lu Xia wanted to agree. If she sold directly to them, it would save her a lot of trouble. However, she couldn’t agree so quickly. She had no means to protect herself at the moment, and it wouldn’t be good if it turned out to be a trap.

So she carefully inquired about their leader, learning that he had some connections. His influence allowed the black market to operate on such a large scale.

Moreover, he was loyal and had helped many people.

Lu Xia was somewhat intrigued by this information. She thought for a moment and said, “Yes, I do have some goods. Not just rice, but also wheat and corn. They are all high-quality products with excellent taste. I can give you some to try first. If you agree, we can discuss further, but the price cannot be reduced.”

The man pondered for a moment and replied, “Alright, I will talk to the boss about this.”

Then Lu Xia found an excuse to go to a secluded place, took out a small amount of various grains, and returned to hand them over to the guard.

He took them and weighed them in his hand, estimating that it was about a catty each. Then he took out two yuan from his pocket and handed them to her.

Lu Xia smiled as she accepted the money. She hadn’t expected him to pay; she thought she would give the samples for free. It seemed that this person was quite reliable, and her trust in their leader increased.

After Lu Xia left this time, she carefully observed her surroundings and noticed that no one was following her before she could relax.

She trusted her own perceptiveness. Since obtaining the space, her mental power seemed to have improved due to her soul constantly entering the space. Although she didn’t have the extraordinary abilities described in novels to project her mental power, she felt that her sensitivity had increased a lot. Even her memory had improved, which was an unexpected surprise.

Although her current body had less mental power than before, it was still stronger than an average person.

So she returned home with peace of mind.

When she arrived home, Lu Xia’s parents had already finished their shift, her younger siblings had returned from school, and even her younger brother, Lu Chun, who had gone somewhere, had come back.

As soon as Lu Xia entered the house, her mother came in with the food. Upon seeing her, her mother instinctively frowned and reprimanded, “Where were you? Why didn’t you come back for lunch? What’s a young girl doing running around like this?”

Lu Xia had been silent since she entered the door, and now she replied, following the original host’s behavior, “I went out to clear my mind.”

Her words made her mother pause, opening her mouth to say something, but she seemed to think of something and didn’t continue scolding her.

Instead, she said, “Quick, have your meal. You must be hungry since you didn’t eat lunch.”

Lu Xia didn’t refuse. She was indeed hungry. Without ration coupons, even if she had money, she couldn’t eat at state-owned restaurants.

So she went straight to the dining table and sat down. Unlike before, she didn’t wait for everyone to sit down before starting to eat.

This action surprised everyone, but they knew she was upset and didn’t say anything.

For dinner, the Lu family had two dishes: stewed cabbage and stewed potatoes. Lu Xia could taste the flavor of dishwater in the food, but because she was so hungry, she endured and ate it.

The meal was relatively silent, with little conversation.

Younger brother Lu Dong quickly finished his bowl, as usual, and handed the empty bowl to Lu Xia.

“Sister, please give me another serving,” he said naturally.

Lu Xia paused for a moment, pretending not to hear, and continued eating on her own.

Lu Dong was taken aback and called out again, “Sister,” but Mother Lu intervened and took the bowl from him, saying, “Alright, Mom will serve you. There’s a little bit of food left, and I’ll give it all to you.”

Lu Dong didn’t care who served him; he just wanted to eat.

Meanwhile, Lu Chun and Lu Qiu secretly glanced at Lu Xia, but she paid no attention. She knew that the original host had been the family’s little maid, but she wasn’t. She wouldn’t spoil them just because they favored someone else.

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**TN

Tickets – to buy things, money is not enough, you also need to have tickets: meat tickets to buy meat, cloth tickets for clothes, bicycle tickets, sewing machine tickets, etc. Even when you order food in restaurants, you need tickets.