My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 99: Going to the Black Market

Even into the evening, the topic of conversation between Xu Damao and He Yuzhu remained heated.

Zhang Lei watched as the three women continued to chatter on and on, telling stories of love, hate, and grudges they had heard from the older women in the courtyard.

Indeed, a love of gossip is a major characteristic of the Chinese people.

Tonight, Ye Shuhua will stay up with Zhang Lei to help him fall asleep.

Before falling asleep, Ye Shuhua kept asking Zhang Lei about the details he had seen, and even asked him to describe Xu Damao and Shazhu's actions and expressions.

Looking at Ye Shuhua, Zhang Lei finally decided to give her a loving but firm lesson.

At one o'clock in the morning, Zhang Lei looked at Ye Shuhua, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms. She was obviously exhausted when she fell into a deep sleep.

Zhang Lei immediately found her extremely cute and couldn't help but lean down and kiss her again.

Seeing that Ye Shuhua did not react, Zhang Lei quietly got out of bed, found the night clothes he had prepared in advance, and changed into them.

He quietly left home and climbed over the wall to leave the courtyard.

Tonight, Zhang Lei wanted to see what the legendary black market was really like.

He had already found out the location of the nearest black market to this courtyard house.

Zhang Lei rode his bicycle to the vicinity of the black market and stored it in his personal space in a secluded corner.

Then, he wrapped himself up tightly again and headed towards the black market.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance to the black market, I saw two people standing there collecting fees.

Zhang Lei walked over, and one of the men asked, "Buy or sell?"

Zhang Lei said directly, "Buy it."

"Two cents to go in," the man replied.

This place is called a black market, but it's actually just a remote alleyway with a maze of interconnected passageways.

However, after looking around, Zhang Lei found that there were more buyers than sellers.

There were also many vendors selling antiques and calligraphy. Zhang Lei walked around and felt that there were very few vendors selling grain. Whenever there was one selling grain, it was quickly snatched up by someone else.

It seems that everyone is facing a severe food shortage right now.

Zhang Lei looked around but couldn't find what he wanted, so he decisively left the black market.

Upon reaching the entrance, he stared at one of the men and said, "I'm looking for your manager; I have something to discuss."

Upon hearing that the person was looking for the manager, the man paused for a moment, then said, "You wait here, I'll go report."

About seven or eight minutes later, the man returned, accompanied by several other people.

Zhang Lei wasn't afraid of this situation and followed the man directly.

After a few turns, we arrived at a small courtyard with two courtyards not far from the black market.

Soon, Zhang Lei met with the black market's administrators.

Zhang Lei looked at the other person's burly figure, who was sitting in the center of the living room.

He cupped his hands in a respectful greeting and asked, "May I ask how you are addressed?"

The man looked up at Zhang Lei and said frankly, "My friends in the underworld give me face and call me Brother Tiger."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lei also called out, "Brother Tiger."

Tiger stood up, gestured, and said, "My men told me you wanted to see me?"

Zhang Lei nodded and said, "That's right, I want to talk to Brother Hu about a business deal."

Upon hearing that business was being discussed, Tiger asked in confusion, "What kind of business?"

Zhang Lei said directly, "Grain and meat."

Upon hearing those three words, Tiger's eyes widened immediately. He exclaimed, "What? You're serious? You have food and meat?"

Zhang Lei nodded.

Tiger immediately beamed and said, "Please sit down, please sit down! May I ask your name?"

After a moment's thought, Zhang Lei said, "Just call me Sanshi."

Tiger was stunned when he heard the name San Shi. He didn't expect anyone to have such a name.

However, he didn't mind, since everyone needs an alias when traveling.

"Grain and meat are in short supply right now. I wonder how much you can provide?" Tiger leaned forward, his voice full of urgency.

Zhang Lei thought for a moment and then slowly said, "I can currently provide you with about 2 jin of meat and 4 jin of grain per month."

Upon hearing this number, Tiger was startled, his hands clenched so tightly they were sweating, and he quickly asked, "Are you serious?"

Zhang Lei looked calmly at Tiger Brother and said indifferently, "You think I'm joking?"

Seeing Zhang Lei's confident expression, Tiger felt relieved and leaned forward, saying, "Since you can offer so much, tell me your conditions."

Zhang Lei looked at Tiger and said bluntly, "I see that the price of grain on the black market is basically five times that outside. I only need you to give me three times the usual price."

Hearing Zhang Lei say this, Tiger frowned and said with some difficulty, "Aren't you asking for a bit too much? Given the current market..."

Zhang Lei interrupted, saying, "This is not much at all, and the situation will only get worse in the future, with even higher demands for food and meat."

The price will be even higher by then.

At this point, Zhang Lei stood up and continued, "Of course, if you feel the price is not right, I can find someone else."

Seeing Zhang Lei about to leave, Tiger quickly stopped him and said urgently, "Wait a minute, I agree."

Upon hearing that Brother Hu had agreed, Zhang Lei smiled and then made another request: "Since Brother Hu has agreed, let me explain the payment method."

Tiger Brother's face flashed with displeasure when he heard Zhang Lei bring up conditions again. He said in a deep voice, "How do you want to handle the payment?"

Zhang Lei looked at him and said calmly, "I only need antiques and calligraphy, or gold, nothing else."

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's request, Tiger said with some surprise, "Gold, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings—I need time to gather these things."

Zhang Lei replied, "Sure, I'll bring you food and meat whenever you've gathered enough."

Soon, the two parties agreed on the time and place for the next transaction.

After all, Zhang Lei possessed the magical item of a portable space, so he wasn't afraid of Tiger Brother betraying him.

To be honest, he was actually quite happy that the other party was playing a double-cross, so that he would have a reason to buy them all outright.

Soon, Zhang Lei left the two-courtyard house.

But not long after he started walking, Zhang Lei sensed that someone was following him.

After all, it was pitch black now, with no streetlights in the alley, only scattered moonlight shining on the ground.

Zhang Lei remained calm and composed, his steps unhurried, but he was already making plans in his mind.

As the footsteps drew closer, Zhang Lei decisively sprinted and disappeared around the corner.

The two men ran to the spot where Zhang Lei had disappeared, stomping their feet and cursing, "That kid ran fast. What a waste of all the money he had on him."

Another person tugged at the arm of the person next to him and said in a low voice, "Brother Dog, let's go."

He nervously added, "If Tiger finds out about this, he'll definitely not let us off the hook."

Er Gou shook off his hand and looked at the person next to him, shouting, "Da Mao, you're such a coward!"

He retorted, sticking his neck out, "Besides, we two snuck out, who would know? We finally found a fat sheep, it would be a waste not to rob him."