Chapter 12: Joy Turns to Sorrow

The salesperson had been enthusiastically pitching for a while but received no positive response. Seeing Duan Chengliang lost in thought, his excitement gradually cooled, and disappointment showed on his face. He listlessly placed the newspaper back on the counter, preparing to attend to the next customer looking to buy fish.

At that moment, Duan Chengliang suddenly said, “Comrade, you haven’t told me how much the ribbonfish is per jin yet.”

“Ah? You want to buy some?”

“Yes, why else would I ask?”

The salesperson brightened up again and quickly said, “These are ribbonfish from Zhoushan. This grade is only 26 cents per jin, but you need to buy from head to tail.”

So cheap! Ribbonfish about four fingers wide were only 26 cents a jin. Duan Chengliang recalled hearing a price of 38 cents before, so it seemed the promotional price was indeed cheaper than later when everyone scrambled to buy them.

He immediately bought three ribbonfish, each about four fingers wide and roughly four jin, totaling about twelve to thirteen jin.

If he had enough money on him, he even considered buying the entire pile at the salesperson’s feet.

He thought, “Need to withdraw money, quickly withdraw money. Starting tomorrow, I’ll rush to buy ribbonfish and pork.”

The salesperson was very eager and found a piece of straw rope to tie up the fish for Duan Chengliang, making it easier for him to carry.

He also kindly asked, “Do you want me to write down the recipes from the People’s Daily for you?”

Duan Chengliang casually replied, “I have that newspaper. I came to the market looking for ribbonfish after reading the introduction in it. Thanks, comrade.”

An old man waiting nearby, curious, asked, “How are you going to cook that? What’s that white stuff on the fish? Is it fat or scales? It looks kind of off-putting.”

Duan Chengliang smiled and said, “You should ask the salesperson more. He showed me the People’s Daily with special features on cooking this fish. It’s great—several recipes to choose from, so you can cook it however you like: spicy, five-spice, sweet, sour. They say it tastes very good.”

The salesperson happily said to Duan Chengliang, “Buddy, come find me directly next time you buy something. I’ll save the good stuff for you. Thanks for supporting our work.”

Duan Chengliang left the grocery market cheerfully, holding the ribbonfish.

You see, where else could you reason with people? Buying good ribbonfish earned you goodwill. As long as you understand the market, you can always find good opportunities unknown to others.

Of course, he didn’t carry the three ribbonfish all the way home. After leaving the grocery market, he turned into a nearby alley, secretly storing the fish in his space, placing them in the storage room of his small bedroom.

After touring the grocery market today, he felt he had to quickly stock up on supplies while there were still choices. Except for vegetables, which were quite limited, there were still plenty of good things.

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Turning into Nanluogu Alley, the road became easier to walk on because after the snow stopped, the residents on both sides had promptly shoveled the snow, clearing the path. The alley was clean and dry, with no mud or water.

Duan Chengliang walked ahead with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, the sound of a bicycle bell rang behind him. He thought, “Could it be Xu Damao again? Today that guy can’t fall.”

The road was clean, not slippery.

He stepped aside, turning to see that the cyclist was actually Third Uncle Yan Bugui.

Seeing the basket hanging on his handlebars, it seemed Yan was also heading to the grocery market.

“Third Uncle, what did you buy?”

Yan Bugui proudly said, “I just came back from the grocery market—I bought a pork bone.”

“Oh, that means New Year is coming. You’ll get to taste some meat for a few days.”

Duan Chengliang teased, but Yan Bugui didn’t care. In his own calculations, a pork bone lasting two to three days was perfectly normal. Besides, he had spent 50 cents on it, so it wasn’t a loss.

The reason Yan bought the pork bone was that yesterday, his wife Yang Ruihua slipped in the snow and injured her arm. So he bought the bone to make nourishing soup to help her recover faster so she could get back to work. Otherwise, no one would handle the household chores, and that would surely worry him to death.

Yan Bugui rode ahead on his bike.

When Duan Chengliang returned to the courtyard and passed through the second gate, he heard the sound of bones being smashed coming from Yan Bugui’s house.

The pace was quick. Coming home and immediately busy—it showed urgency.

Just as he was about to enter his own room, he heard a loud bang and a cry of “Ouch” from Yan Bugui’s house.

Duan Chengliang stopped and glanced toward the west wing, thinking, “Could this be a case of joy turning to sorrow? If he chopped his own hand, that would be hilarious.”

Then, he heard Yan Bugui’s frustrated voice inside, “Oh no, what to do now? The knife handle broke.”

His wife, Yang Ruihua, also called from the other room, “I told you to have them cut it for you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Yan Bugui said, “You say that, but if I had someone else do it, there’d be bone fragments and meat scraps lost. Here at home, I can scoop everything into the pot, no waste at all.”

“Now there’s no waste, huh? The knife handle broke. How much does a knife cost? You didn’t think this through.”

“Sigh, don’t say anymore. I’m almost annoyed to death. There’s no blacksmith shop in Beijing now. Otherwise, I could take the knife there and get it fixed in a few minutes. Wouldn’t cost much either. Now, the knife handle broke and I have to get a new knife. I might as well just use the blade handle directly. Hmm, maybe I can put something behind the blade and hold the back to cut stuff.”

Yang Ruihua’s voice wasn’t heard again—probably speechless.

But just now, Yan Bugui mentioned looking for a blacksmith to fix the knife, which Duan Chengliang overheard.

He didn’t go back to his room but went directly to Yan Bugui’s door and knocked.

Yan Bugui opened the door, seeing Duan Chengliang. His mood was sour, so he responded without enthusiasm, “What do you want?”

“Third Uncle, I just heard you say your knife handle broke. Give it to me, I’ll fix it for you.”

Yan Bugui looked at him, thinking he was dreaming in the daytime. “You fix it? Oh right, I forgot—your family’s blacksmiths, like your uncle, have passed down the craft. But what will you use to fix it? You don’t have any tools. Besides, you came to Beijing when you were young. Did you learn the skills?”

He smirked and chuckled.

Duan Chengliang didn’t bother with small talk and said directly, “I’ll fix it and charge you 50 cents. If I can’t fix it, I’ll give you a kitchen knife to make up for it.”

Huh? Yan Bugui, who originally didn’t care and was teasing, looked surprised at Duan Chengliang.

After a moment of thought, he smiled, “Chengliang, that’s what you said yourself. Third Uncle’s not forcing you.”

“Yes, I said it. Fix it and you pay me 50 cents. If not, I’ll give you a kitchen knife.”

Yan Bugui frowned, seeming to calculate again, “50 cents is too expensive. How about 20 cents?”

Duan Chengliang nodded, “Okay, 20 cents it is.”

Actually, that was about the right price—asking high and settling low. The final price was roughly 20 cents.

“You know kitchen knives are essential. Don’t take too long. Hurry up.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have it ready by noon tomorrow at the latest.”