The child’s elbow hit the ground, his face contorting in pain.
Someone from a neighboring stall sighed. "You fell? Get up quickly. These days, people can’t even get enough to eat; who would want that stuff anyway?"
Upon hearing this, Yunyi roughly understood what had happened. She watched as the boy endured the pain and got to his feet. With a despondent look, he picked up his cloth bag and staggered out of the black market.
Yunyi walked to where the entrance had been and asked the gatekeeper softly, "Do you buy wolf meat?"
The man frowned, staring at Yunyi. "How much do you have?"
I should test the waters first, Yunyi thought. "Around three hundred pounds."
Upon hearing ’three hundred pounds,’ the man’s eyes flashed with excitement, but he quickly composed himself. "Follow me."
After speaking, he waved someone over from the shadows to take his place.
The man led Yunyi into a courtyard. "Wait here for a moment."
Yunyi nodded and released her spiritual power to follow him. To her surprise, the man only appeared to enter the inner courtyard. In reality, he left through another door, turned into a different alley, and only then knocked on the door of a small courtyard there.
The distance was too great for her to hear what they were saying, but she saw the person inside the room stand up and leave with him.
Before long, the two men walked out, one after the other. The first man pointed to the middle-aged man who had come with him and introduced, "This is our boss."
The middle-aged man got straight to the point. "Do you have wolf meat?"
Yunyi didn’t speak but simply nodded.
Seeing Yunyi remain silent, the middle-aged man continued, "Where’s the meat?"
Yunyi deliberately lowered her voice. "It’s at a friend’s place."
She left the black market in a good mood. That black market boss isn’t too bad, she thought. I’ll come back next month; it’ll be a perfect time to bring the rest of the wolf meat and those two wild boars from my space. Before the New Year, I’ll make another trip to Boar Ridge and score big then!
She checked the time and decided to treat herself at the state-run restaurant. However, just as she turned a corner, she saw the boy she had encountered earlier in the black market. He was now squatting on the ground, drenched in sweat.
Yunyi walked over quickly. "What’s wrong?"
The boy lifted his head slightly to look at her and gently shook it. "It’s nothing. I just need to rest a bit."
Yunyi reached out, took his wrist, and checked his pulse. "How long has it been since you last ate?"
Hearing the question, the boy simply lowered his head.
Seeing him like this, Yunyi sighed inwardly. Using her back basket as cover, she took out two cornbread buns she had gotten from the cafeteria earlier. "Here, take these and eat."
The boy stared at the cornbread buns but didn’t reach out for them.

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