Rebirth of the Cannon Fodder in the Entertainment Circle-Chapter 624: Liu Ling was made the cannon fodder of life (9)

Wuya spread the threadbare bedding she was carrying.

With a look in her eyes that was a mix of confusion about the future and newfound expectation for the life ahead.

She couldn’t resist asking Luo Ning, "Sister, are we going to live by ourselves from now on?"

Luo Ning smiled and patted her head. "Yes, I’ll definitely make sure you live a good life."

"I just checked, and the kitchen stove is fine. Let’s gather some firewood later, and tonight we can roast sweet potatoes. Tomorrow I’ll go into town to buy some bowls, chopsticks, and daily necessities."

It was the 1960s, and five yuan still held some purchasing power.

Wuya nodded obediently, "Okay!"

The sisters tidied up and went to the nearby mountain to collect firewood.

The house was at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by few other homes, and each was spaced a distance apart, which was exactly to Luo Ning’s liking.

Otherwise, if they were in a place like the Luo Family’s, where the houses were clustered together, the smell of cooking would carry, and it wouldn’t be convenient to make whatever they wanted to eat.

In the evening, they lit the stove, boiled some water in a broken clay pot from the kitchen, and roasted sweet potatoes on the fire.

Both were hungry and ate several each.

After eating, Wuya’s face showed contentment, "It feels so good to be full."

Before, she and her sister could only share one small sweet potato or potato for dinner, never enough to be full— hunger would just mean drinking more water.

Seeing Wuya’s satisfied expression, Luo Ning felt a pang of sorrow.

She thought even worse of their parents back in town.

The body’s original father had the traits of a mama’s boy and was a sister-doting maniac, while her mother was an obsessive brother supporter, often secretly subsidizing her family at the expense of her daughters.

People say you shouldn’t marry a mama’s boy or a brother-doting maniac, nor should you marry a woman who’s obsessed with supporting her brother.

Luo Ning would say, also never be born into such a family, or else it’s quite tragic.

The sisters huddled together for sleep, and since the house was draft-free, it wasn’t so cold.

The next morning.

Wuya got up, washed, and went to work, which was cutting grass for the pigs.

Since it wasn’t too hard, Luo Ning didn’t stop her.

Luo Ning had fallen into a river previously, and Wuya had arranged for three days off work for her; she was still on leave today, so she didn’t go to work but went into town instead.

Everyone knew that after the sisters moved they had nothing, so no one thought it strange that Luo Ning was going into town.

On her way, Luo Ning received many sympathetic and pitiful looks.

She didn’t mind these looks since they were friendly.

Especially since the more people who sympathized with them, the worse the Luo Family’s reputation became.

It was a good distance from the county, requiring over an hour even at a brisk pace. Since everyone went to work, there were hardly any people on the road.

Thus, once Luo Ning left the village, she took an old-fashioned bicycle out of her space and rode it where no one could see her.

It had been placed in the space during the Republic era and looked a lot like the bicycles of today. If she happened to run into someone, it wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

Otherwise, she would’ve preferred to drive or ride an electric bike.

In that era, spies were severely dealt with. Even without surveillance equipment, one shouldn’t underestimate the power of people—Luo Ning was never careless in her actions.

As she neared the county, Luo Ning stowed the bicycle away.

She took out a set of men’s black cotton clothes to wear and used makeup to darken her face, hands, and any exposed skin on her neck, and donned a wig before entering the town.

First, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some spices and daily necessities like bowls and chopsticks, but she couldn’t buy a wok or cooking pot without production coupons, which she didn’t have.

She did have them in her space, but taking them out would certainly raise suspicion, so she could only bide her time.

After shopping at the cooperative, she observed around the county, following someone to find the black market.

First, Luo Ning found a secluded spot to put her things into her space, and then she took out a carrying basket before heading down the alley.

After studying for a moment, she quickly got the hang of the black market’s trading rules.

So she went to a corner, put down her basket, and grabbed some rice and a handful of noodles in her hand.

It was the year ’63, and the Great Famine had only just receded not long ago. Everywhere you looked, there was a shortage of grain, especially fine grain, which was hard to come by even with money and connections.

As soon as several people saw what Luo Ning had in her hands, they hurried over to ask.

Luo Ning demanded cash and food coupons, which turned some away, but still, a few people divided up the grain in her basket.

Among them, a middle-aged man in a Sun Yat-sen suit waited for the others to leave before leaning in with a low chuckle and asking, "Young brother, do you have any more of this fine grain?"

Luo Ning looked at him with feigned vigilance, "Why do you ask?"

Seeing her reaction, the man thought he had a chance, "My mother recently fell ill and was hospitalized. It’s difficult for her to digest coarse grains, so I’d like to buy more fine grain to take back."

"If you still have any, could you sell me some more?"

Had it not been for the other people earlier, he would have bought all the fine grain in her basket.

His family was not only composed of working parents, but both also held jobs at the factory and were part of the management tier. They had plenty of cash and food coupons, but what they lacked was food.

Luo Ning eyed his attire and demeanor, then, after appearing to ponder for a moment, she said, "I do have some goods on hand, but I can’t disclose them here. I’m afraid of getting marked."

She was the only one selling fine grain in the alley, and she noticed several people eyeing her from not too far away.

The middle-aged man could understand, thought it over, and then gave Luo Ning an address where she could find him.

Luo Ning agreed to meet with him in one hour, and the man took his leave.

Luo Ning waited a few minutes before she left and was soon able to shake off the people who were watching her.

Indeed, the black market was not an easy place to navigate; as soon as you brought out something good, you would be targeted.

However, she was not afraid given her abilities. The one thing she had plenty of in her space was grain. Therefore, she would need to frequent the black market to exchange some for cash and coupons.

In the following hour, Luo Ning was not idle; she wandered around everywhere with her basket on her back.

Upon encountering people who looked like they would shop and had honest faces, she’d approach and show them her goods.

Anyone who had previously shopped at the black market knew to immediately exchange glances, find a spot where no one was around, and conduct the transaction if the price was right.

After an hour of this, Luo Ning had earned twenty yuan, as well as a good number of grain coupons, fabric coupons, and industrial goods.

As for meat coupons, the city folk hardly had enough for themselves and wouldn’t trade them.

When it was about time, she went to find the middle-aged man.

The man was also very cautious, first making sure no one was following Luo Ning before emerging from an alley after a few minutes.

He was now pushing a bicycle with a briefcase hanging from it.

Luo Ning sold all the rice and noodles in her basket to him.

She also noticed, with sharp eyes, a factory logo on the corner of the man’s briefcase.

She had seen it in the memories of her original body. The original owner’s father had a similar bag, just not as upscale.

Her father had treasured it, hardly ever using it, even showing it off back home, saying it was custom-made by the factory to reward outstanding employees.

This suggested that the middle-aged man was also an employee at the Mechanical Factory, likely not just an ordinary worker.

So Luo Ning casually struck up a conversation while they traded.

The middle-aged man expressed his desire to continue buying fine grains from Luo Ning in the future, and if she had eggs and meat as well, that would be even better. Luo Ning was interested in making a connection with the man, so she agreed.

They arranged to meet again in three days at noon, at the same place.

Luo Ning watched the man ride away on his bicycle, a hint of a smile crossing her face.

The original owner had hoped the Luo Family and her parents would regret their actions, that revenge would be taken upon Luo Zhu, and that she could become someone successful.

Luo Ning had researched and found that the best approach to fulfilling these goals in this era was to start with the Mechanical Factory.

She had not expected her luck to be so good today to encounter someone from the Mechanical Factory right away.

After a few more transactions, she could inquire whether the factory was hiring.

On her way back, Luo Ning also rode a bicycle for part of the journey.

As she arrived at her home’s front gate, carrying her wares, she could hear a burst of scolding inside and Wuya’s suppressed sobs.

Listening carefully, Luo Ning recognized the voice as that of her original mother.

Her expression darkened, and she briskly pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in.