It was midnight in the countryside.
Wu Gui tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
After learning that the job was worth a thousand yuan, he grew angrier with each passing thought. It felt as if something that belonged to him had been snatched away.
A thousand yuan!
With his cousin's monthly salary of just twenty - five yuan, it would take a full three years to earn that much.
With a thousand yuan in hand, who would still need to work?
He could live a life of pleasure!
No, he had to get that job back.
Wu Gui just couldn't get comfortable in bed.
His wife, who had been awakened by his restlessness, kicked him in the backside. "Can't you sleep in the middle of the night? Are you going to turn the world upside down!"
She covered the child's ears, careful not to wake the child she had just lulled to sleep.
Wu Gui ignored her.
After a while, he got up and went to the outhouse.
His wife didn't hear a sound from him for a long time.
The rural night was pitch - black, and the annoying calls of a few cuckoos echoed in the distance.
After an unknown amount of time, Wu Gui returned from the outhouse, reeking of feces. He lay in bed for a while, then suddenly seemed to make up his mind. "I'm going to the city tomorrow. Tell mom not to cook for me."
His wife was half - asleep and half - awake. She thought Wu Gui was talking nonsense.
When she woke up early in the morning, she found that her husband was already gone.
Wu Gui's wife rushed to her mother - in - law's room. "Mom, Wu Gui said he was going to the city last night. When I got up this morning, he was already gone."
As soon as Mother Wu heard this, she knew something was going wrong.
She slapped her thigh in frustration. "You're so irresponsible! Why didn't you stop him?"
"Come on, I was half - asleep. Who knew he'd really run off?"
Mother Wu sighed worriedly. "Forget it. He's probably gone to find Wu Li in the city. We can only call Wu Li and ask her to keep an eye on him."
It might even be a good thing. With her brother there, Xiaoli would surely pay more attention to Gui'er's job.
Thinking of this, Mother Wu stopped worrying.
She was looking forward to hearing the good news that her son had found a job in the city.
...
After work, Li Chuchu passed by the market.
The market was bustling with people. There were a lot of shoppers.
Shen Yanshan had given her a thousand yuan and some food and oil ration tickets yesterday. Coupled with the more than two hundred yuan she already had, she was now a bit of a wealthy woman.
Li Chuchu walked up to the meat stall. "Boss, how much is the meat?"
"Eight jiao a catty with a ticket, one yuan and one jiao without. It's all fresh meat butchered this morning."
So there was such a way to buy meat?
Li Chuchu found it novel.
"Okay, give me two catties of pork hind - leg meat."
She also bought a catty of potatoes, two corns, a Chinese cabbage, and two catties of rice.
There was nothing to eat at home, so she just bought whatever came to mind.
Li Chuchu struggled to carry the groceries home.
She noticed that the door to Shen Yanshan's room was ajar, and faint, uneven breathing came from inside.
Strange. Usually, Shen Yanshan would have already left by this time.
Li Chuchu tiptoed in and saw a figure lying in bed.
His features were cold and arrogant, his jawline extremely sharp. A faint coldness emanated from his furrowed brows, as if he could repel people from miles away. At the moment, his usually expressionless face was flushed an abnormal red.
"Shen Yanshan, what's wrong with you?"
Shen Yanshan lay in bed, his usually cold eyes tightly shut. His breathing was heavy, and his sword - like eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if covered with a layer of frost.
At the same time, a familiar "Ding!" sounded in Li Chuchu's head.
[Mission Target: The Sick Big Villain]
[Mission: Prepare Medicine for the Big Villain]
[Mission Reward: Love - Stricken Value +2, Money Value +100]
He probably caught a cold from getting caught in the rain last night.
Li Chuchu reached out and touched his forehead.
Ouch, it was so hot it could cook two dishes.
There was no cold medicine at home, so Li Chuchu turned around and went out to buy some.
Although Li Chuchu lived in an old and shabby house, it was quite close to the city center. Just a few steps outside the alley was a state - owned pharmacy.
Li Chuchu went in and asked the clerk if they had any fever - reducing medicine.
As soon as the clerk heard the word "fever", he reflexively took out a small paper - wrapped package from the drawer and threw it on the counter.
"Half a tablet for a child, one tablet for an adult. One jiao."
Li Chuchu took a closer look at the writing on the paper. It was Analgin.
The so - called "HP Limit -1, Health +∝" medicine.
This kind of medicine had been banned in modern times due to its severe side effects.
Li Chuchu silently withdrew her hand. She whispered, "Do you have any medicine with fewer side effects, or medicine from Hong Kong?"
At this time, domestic medicines were mostly antibiotics like Gentamicin. Although they were effective, they were harmful to health, and the human body could easily develop drug resistance if used for a long time.
The clerk sized Li Chuchu up. "Yes, but you need a military permit to buy that kind of medicine. Do you have one?"
It was the 1980s. There was no way an ordinary person could get special treatment.
Where could Li Chuchu get a military permit?
The clerk seemed to notice her embarrassment and casually whispered a reminder. "If you really need it urgently, you can go to the small market. It's a hundred meters to the right after you go out."
Li Chuchu was slightly stunned, then immediately realized that this was the clerk's kindness.
"Okay, thank you."
She left the pharmacy and walked in the direction the clerk had indicated.
Sure enough, before long, she saw the entrance to a market. There was a sign next to it—Songhu Market.
This was actually the largest black market in the city.
With the need for economic development, some cities had developed various free markets.
The goods here could be raised by farmers themselves or smuggled in by merchants from other places. The prices were a bit higher than those in the supply and marketing cooperatives, but there was a wide variety.
Most importantly, no ration tickets were needed.
Li Chuchu was full of wonder as she strolled around.
There were stalls selling meat, vegetables, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, cloth, and shoes. Li Chuchu searched several areas and finally found a stall selling various medicines.
"Do you have any fever - reducing medicine from Hong Kong?"
"Yes!"
The young man had been waiting all morning for his first customer. He took out two boxes of medicine from a black bag on his tricycle and showed them to Li Chuchu. "These are two yuan and fifty fen a box. Two boxes for four yuan and fifty fen."
He was afraid Li Chuchu would think it was too expensive, so he didn't dare to ask for a high price. But the purchase price of this stuff was originally high, and with the transportation costs from the south to the north, he really couldn't lower it. Any lower and he'd be making a loss.
This kind of medicine was hard to find. Li Chuchu was afraid she wouldn't be able to get it the next time she needed it, so she decided to buy two boxes to stock up.
"Okay, I'll take both."
"Sure thing."
The young man gave Li Chuchu the medicine. She gave him four yuan and fifty fen.
"Miss, miss, do you want this?"
Just as Li Chuchu had paid and was about to leave, she turned around and saw an old woman trying to sell her a bracelet.