Chapter Nineteen: Buying a Bicycle (New Book—Please Support)

After leaving the state-run restaurant, Li Yi felt a weight pressing on his heart.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the policeman he had just met was named Wang Anguo, the captain of the county criminal police squad.

And if nothing changed, Wang Anguo would lose his life in an operation to apprehend a suspect within the next few days.

In his previous life, Li Yi had witnessed that chase firsthand. The fugitive was a notorious criminal who had committed crimes across several provinces, armed and dangerous.

Because they did not anticipate the fugitive was carrying a deadly weapon, and underestimated his alertness, the criminal police made a critical error during the pursuit, allowing the suspect to escape into a busy commercial area.

During the chase, Wang Anguo bravely led from the front. Just as he was about to catch the suspect, the fugitive fired a shot.

Wang Anguo was hit squarely in the chest and died a heroic death on the spot.

That day, Li Yi had come to the city on business and had witnessed the entire tragic event.

This time, meeting this courageous guardian of the people again, Li Yi truly did not want him to sacrifice his life for a worthless criminal like before.

Yet, Li Yi couldn’t simply tell him outright. All he could do was warn him subtly, slipping a coin into the spot where Wang Anguo would be wounded.

That was the only thing he could do, hoping to alter his fate.

At the same time, Li Yi was conducting an experiment. He wanted to see if recklessly changing one person’s destiny in this timeline would cause significant consequences.

After all, he was already trying to change Tang Xue’s fate, and would inevitably have to prevent her suicide.

So before proceeding, Li Yi needed to understand whether his actions might trigger unforeseen disasters.

With this uneasy feeling, Li Yi headed to the sugar factory.

As usual, the place was surrounded by workers eager to buy cold noodles.

Composing himself, Li Yi began setting up his stall for the day.

By 1:30 in the afternoon, the last portion of cold noodles was sold out. Li Yi promptly closed shop and made a beeline for the county supply and marketing cooperative to restock.

Actually, Li Yi planned to go to the supply store right after selling his mushrooms so that once his stall was closed, he could return directly to the village.

Unfortunately, although he wasn’t short on money, he lacked ration coupons.

Without ration coupons, the price of flour was roughly one-third higher. For 50 pounds, that meant spending about three extra yuan.

So he had to wait each day until after selling his goods to collect enough coupons before going to the supply store.

Though the back-and-forth was tiring, there was no alternative.

Arriving again outside the supply store, just as Li Yi was about to enter, he noticed someone waving at him across the street.

Looking closer, it was the ticket scalper he had met before.

After securing his mule cart, Li Yi strode over.

“Got business?” he asked.

The young man glanced around, then said, “Brother, I got the industrial coupons you asked me to find. There’s a bicycle coupon and a sewing machine coupon. Which do you want?”

Li Yi’s eyes lit up instantly. “I’ll take both!”

“Both… both?” the scalper echoed in surprise.

“Yes, both. Name your price!” Li Yi said confidently.

“Bicycle coupon’s ten yuan, sewing machine coupon’s eight. Does that work?” the scalper replied cautiously.

“Sure,” Li Yi said, pulling out two ten-yuan bills and handing them over.

The scalper, clearly experienced, took the money, checked it carefully, then pulled two coupons wrapped in a handkerchief from his inner pocket, returning two yuan change to Li Yi.

Li Yi examined the coupons and, seeing no issues, asked, “I also want a watch coupon and a radio coupon. Can you get those?”

“Watch coupon’s no problem, but the radio coupon’s tougher… you’ll have to pay extra,” the scalper warned.

Damn, that twist caught Li Yi off guard. It reminded him of a “money-increasing” fellow from his past life.

“Unknown for ten years, famous overnight when paying up!”

Could this kid also be someone reborn? But judging by how he was skulking around dealing in coupons, it seemed unlikely.

After all, a true time traveler wouldn’t risk themselves in such petty dealings when they could make a fortune through legitimate business.

“Money’s not an issue. Whenever you get the coupons, come find me here. I’m usually around every day,” Li Yi said.

“Alright, give me two days!” the scalper replied.

...

With coupons and cash in hand, Li Yi decided to buy a big-ticket item first.

He then walked straight into the supply store.

It was Sunday, so the place was crowded. Li Yi waited in a long queue before it was his turn.

The clerk was an old acquaintance. Seeing Li Yi, she smiled and asked, “Comrade, why do you come to the supply store every day? What are you buying today?”

“Haha, stocking up rice and flour for the unit, gotta come often!” Li Yi replied cheerfully.

Then he continued, “The usual — 60 jin of white flour, two jin of salt, five jin each of vinegar and soy sauce...”

After gathering all the supplies, Li Yi asked the clerk, “Do you have bicycles here?”

“Yes, we just got three delivered yesterday. Are you looking to buy one?”

“Yeah, I want one, but I’m not sure if I have enough money,” Li Yi said.

“The 28-inch model is 175 yuan, the 26-inch is 165,” the clerk answered.

Li Yi calculated: he had earned 131 yuan selling mushrooms, recovered about 65 yuan in capital and profit from selling cold noodles, and brought 10 yuan in change with him.

Subtracting the 18 yuan spent on supplies, 20 yuan on bicycle and sewing machine coupons, and one yuan for the coin he gave Wang Anguo, he still had 167 yuan left.

He was a bit short for the 28-inch bike, but had enough for the 26-inch women’s model.

Since he mainly wanted the bike for Tang Xue, he told the clerk, “I’ll take the 26-inch one.”

The clerk looked surprised. “You’re really buying it?”

Though owning a bicycle wasn’t as rare as in previous years, and the prestige of having one had declined, this was still a planned economy era.

Bicycles had to be purchased with coupons, which were limited in a small county like Qingshan, making buying one a surprising event.

More importantly, Li Yi seemed to decide without hesitation, as casually as if buying cabbage.

The clerk had no idea she was dealing with a financial mogul from decades in the future who had brokered hundreds of billion-yuan deals.

Would he hesitate over a mere hundred-yuan bicycle?

“Just enough money, so I’m buying it,” Li Yi said calmly.

“Alright then, pay first, and I’ll show you the bikes,” the clerk said.

“Okay.”

...