Chapter 2: The Priceless Rare Stamp Acquired

Tang Panpan was beside herself with excitement. “Girl, the private chat notification just popped up—you accepted my [Overseas Purchase: Sanitary Pads] task! And you even asked me to confirm the reward! Ahhh!”

She quickly typed, “Does this mean, Yun Xiaozhi, you really can get me the things I want from where you are?”

Yun Zhi, too, was a little breathless with anticipation. “I think so. Why don’t we give it a try? Who knows, maybe it’ll actually work!”

Yun Zhi understood perfectly well what it would mean if she truly could buy items on behalf of group members. Wouldn’t that make her a special kind of cross-world trading platform?

There were now new terms in the task commission system: for material procurement tasks, a traverser could only post one per month. Tasks involving doing errands were also limited to one per month.

Tang Panpan was a sent-down youth in the 1970s, with neither family nor relatives to support her. She was hopeless at farm work, toiling all day for four or five work points, and the grain she earned wasn’t even enough to fill her stomach. When it came to daily necessities, she lacked them all—food, clothing, everything.

Given the restrictions, whenever she could post a procurement task, she’d have to ask Yun Zhi to buy as much as possible.

“Girl, help me buy a batch of daily necessities. I’ll send you a detailed list later. Sanitary pads are absolutely essential—ten boxes to start with! What if I’m not allowed to post a procurement task next month? Better to stock up now, just in case!”

She hesitated. “Now, what should I offer as the reward?”

Money and ration coupons from the seventies were useless in the future, and she didn’t have much left anyway. The black market, so popular with heroines in period novels, was a place she’d only been to once—to buy things. Just her luck, that was the day the Red Armbands raided the place! Luckily, she’d been fast on her feet. She’d never dared go back.

There were no wild chickens or rabbits in the mountains, let alone rare ginseng. At best she could collect firewood, dig wild greens, and sometimes forage for mushrooms or berries.

Tang Panpan had transmigrated six months ago. In her memories, Yun Zhi had always been the little rich girl. Even though the economy had been in decline and the Yun family’s company was on the wane, Yun Zhi was never short on pocket money.

But she couldn’t let her friend work for nothing, especially since she was asking for so much.

She did have something valuable—just one thing, really, and she was loath to part with it. It was her most precious possession.

As she agonized over her decision, Yun Zhi was struggling on her end as well.

After a moment’s hesitation, Yun Zhi decided to lay everything on the table. After all, they’d been friends for years; there was nothing they couldn’t say to each other.

“Panpan, I won’t hide it from you. My family’s bankrupt. My mom is in a coma, my dad tried to kill himself—jumped off a building but survived, just with multiple fractures. Both of them are in the hospital. My dad owes thirty million, and I’m in the hole for over three hundred thousand in online loans. The cash I have on hand: 825.38.”

She didn’t elaborate further, but her predicament was plain to see. She could help with the procurement, but if the list was long, she simply couldn’t pay upfront—she didn’t even have enough for her rent due in a few days.

Tang Panpan was shocked.

She could picture how hard life must be now for Yun Zhi, once the darling of fate and a wealthy heiress, after such a catastrophe had befallen her family.

All hesitation vanished. Skipping over words of comfort, Tang Panpan revised her task: daily necessities, ten boxes of sanitary pads.

The reward: A “Whole Nation Is Red” commemorative postage stamp, first edition, unissued. Note: Your friend has prepaid the reward with a physical red envelope; it has been automatically deposited into your personal space.

Task duration: one year (the maximum allowable).

Task reward/penalty: Completion earns 100 points; failure deducts 100. If points go negative, no more tasks can be accepted.

Because of a printing error, the “Whole Nation Is Red” commemorative stamp had been recalled almost everywhere, with only a precious few ever released. It was the most valuable thing Tang Panpan owned, acquired through a lucky trade with a stamp-collecting friend—never used, perfectly preserved.

If Yun Zhi weren’t in such dire need of money, Tang Panpan would never part with it. In another twenty or thirty years, in the nineties, it would fetch tens of thousands at auction. In 2018, one such stamp even sold for 13.8 million!

Tang Panpan had arrived in 1972. She knew the college entrance examination would be reinstated in five years, and she knew more than a few ways to get rich—like joining the first wave of entrepreneurs after the reforms, or buying up property while prices were still low. There were plenty of ways to make money; waiting for a stamp to appreciate would take decades, and by then, she’d probably be a wealthy old lady with properties everywhere. One stamp wouldn’t matter much.

Besides, she needed Yun Zhi for something even more important than buying supplies. She wanted Yun Zhi’s help investigating the truth of her previous life’s death—who had pushed her off that cliff, and why?

But she wouldn’t bring that up yet. She’d wait until Yun Zhi had turned the stamp into cash and was no longer as desperate.

Yun Zhi, meanwhile, was jogging around the park with a big Samoyed.

When the dog finally tired, they sat together in the shade to rest. Yun Zhi checked her phone and saw the final task details, and the reward—sent in advance, even before any goods had been delivered. The deadline was the maximum, a full year. Tang Panpan was giving her plenty of time to sell the stamp.

Yun Zhi had read plenty of period novels; she knew exactly how valuable the “Whole Nation Is Red” stamp was. It had to be the most precious thing Tang Panpan owned.

Her eyes misted over.

She resolved not only to buy everything on Panpan’s list, but also to gather a selection of her favorite foods and download as many of her favorite novels as possible.

She replied, “No need for words between sisters—once sisters, sisters for life! When you get a chance, send me your wish list.”

After sending a flurry of “love you,” “hugs,” and “kisses” stickers, she opened her contacts and found Tao Qi.

During her family’s bankruptcy and liquidation, every valuable item in the house had been auctioned or sold off, and Yun Zhi had helped handle much of it. Tao Qi was someone she’d been introduced to at that time—a few years her senior, now running a pawnshop and working as a middleman.

Tao Qi was the illegitimate son of a third-rate wealthy family in Z City, not well regarded by his kin, but superbly connected—he knew everyone from the highest echelons down to the underworld. Through his channels, antiques, jewelry, collectibles, luxury goods—all could be sold for slightly higher prices than other brokers offered, and he always paid promptly and charged a fair commission.

She messaged him, “Boss Tao, you know the ‘Whole Nation Is Red’ stamp, right? First edition, authentic. Can you ask around if anyone’s interested, and what kind of price I might get?”

Tao Qi didn’t reply immediately, so Yun Zhi went back to walking the dog.

An hour later, after dropping the dog off at its owner’s place, she finally got a reply.

“Girl, you really have an original ‘Whole Nation Is Red’? What’s the condition? Can you send me a photo? If it’s genuine, you’ll have no trouble selling such a rare stamp! Given your situation, I’d suggest entering it in the Haicheng auction in half a month—I can make the introductions.”