Li Gang slapped his thigh and laughed. "Haha, no money needed. These tickets are not bicycle tickets, sewing machine tickets, radio tickets, or watch tickets. Besides, these tickets were originally given to me by the buyers when I sold grain. I didn't spend any money."

"Brother Chu, I didn't mention it before because I thought you didn't want it. After all, the things you brought can't be bought even with tickets."

"If you need any tickets in the future, just tell me directly. I don't have many tickets here today. There are only some meat tickets, grain tickets, soap tickets, and I think there are also biscuit tickets and cigarette tickets. Oh, anyway, these are all for you. You can use them for now. Next time, I will save some for you and give them to you then..."

As he said that, Li Gang stuffed all the tickets in his hand into Chu Tian's hands.

"Thank you, Brother Li Gang..."

Chu Tian glanced at the ticket in his hand and didn't say anything. After all, as Li Gang said, anyone who wants to buy things on the black market usually needs to bring some tickets.

Li Gang smiled and waved his hand, "Hi, you're welcome."

Then he thought of something and said hurriedly and seriously, "Oh, by the way, I've found out what you asked me to find out. I've also helped you talk to someone about it. He said..."

After speaking, he glanced at Sun Weiguo. Chu Tian understood what he meant and just smiled slightly. "Brother Li Gang, this is my brother and we are one family. If you have something to say, just say it directly!"

Li Gang smiled and said, "Then I'll just say it straight."

"They said that not a pound of grain can be missing, but he can help arrange for me to be an apprentice to a good master. If I want to become a regular employee in the future, he can also help put in a good word behind the scenes..."

Chu Tian pondered for a moment and nodded, "I accept the request for 200 kilograms of fine grain. I just need to trouble Brother Li Gang to confirm the time with the other party. I will prepare the food in advance when my brother-in-law goes to sign up."

"Okay, I understand."

Li Gang just nodded slightly to indicate that he understood.

Chu Tian saw that it was getting late and lunch time was almost over, so he hurriedly said goodbye to Sun Weiguo and Wu Ya.

Sun Weiguo drove the carriage and asked, "Brother Tian, ​​where are we going?"

Chu Tian held Wu Ya in his arms and answered loudly, "Let's go to the state-owned restaurant..."

Sun Weiguo paused in whipping the whip, and walked quietly towards the state-owned hotel without saying anything. The entire regiment was so small, so even though the snowy road was difficult to walk on, it didn't take long to reach the state-owned hotel.

"Sister, is there any food now?"

The waitress was knitting a sweater with her head down when she suddenly heard someone calling her "sister". There was a hint of anger and impatience on her face. She was about to get angry when she saw Chu Tian looking at her with a smile on his face. The anger and impatience on her face disappeared instantly. She quickly put down the sweater she was knitting and stood up with a smile on her face.

"Hey, big brother, are you coming to eat?"

Chu Tian put Wu Ya in his arms on the ground and said with a smile, "Sister, I brought my brother and daughter here for dinner. Is there any food now?"

The waitress smiled. "Oh, yes, yes, today's dishes are pretty good! Yesterday, the restaurant received a cow that was killed by wolves, and the chef braised the beef this morning. It's just finished and is piping hot!"

Chu Tian was surprised. "Braised beef? Oh, then I'm so lucky..."

Chu Tian wasn't surprised at all that the state-owned restaurant was selling beef that had been mauled to death. Livestock was very valuable these days. Cows had a longer growth cycle than pigs and sheep, and were the primary working animals for farm work. So, unless they died of old age, broke a leg, or were mauled to death by wild animals, they were rarely sold. After all, in this age of mechanization, cows and horses were both very valuable working animals...

The waitress laughed heartily, "Isn't it? There are three or four hundred kilograms of meat. Most of it was used for the braised meat, and there is still some beef brisket and other things left..."

After a pause, the waitress leaned close to Chu Tian and whispered, "The beef head meat made by our master chef is very delicious, but someone above has already made a reservation. But if you want, I can ask the master chef to cut some for you to try..."

Chu Tian's face was filled with joy and a hint of entanglement, "But, but will this be bad for Big Sister?"

The waitress waved her hand proudly, "Hey, it's just a small matter, what's there to be embarrassed about? Besides, who can be sure how much meat is on a bull's head? A little more, a little less, isn't it all up to us?"

Chu Tian nodded with a smile, "Then please help us cut some beef head meat, and we need four pounds of braised beef, two pounds of which I want to take away."

"By the way, what's the main course for today?"

The waitress frowned. "The restaurant has been selling out more fine grains lately than buying in. The chef doesn't dare to sell out too much every day, for fear that there will be no fine grains by the New Year. So today's staple food is only soup and rice and Erhe noodles."

Chu Tian, ​​"Then I'll need two bowls of rice soup and five two-wheat flour pancakes."

The waitress said "Hey", hurried into the kitchen to tell us what was needed, and came out with a smile on her face.

"Brother, I've made an agreement with the chef. He will cut a plate of meat from the best part of the cow's head for you."

Chu Tian handed her the banknote and said, "Thank you, big sister."

Then he took out four oranges from his pocket and placed them in front of her, "These are for Big Sister and the Master Chef..."

The waitress was surprised. "Brother, is this an orange?"

Chu Tian was stunned for a moment, "Yes, it's oranges. Someone I know brought them back from the south."

The waitress didn't dare to ask for such a rare fruit and quickly declined, "Brother, I can't have this..."

Chu Tian pushed it back without saying anything, "Big sister, please accept it quickly and don't be polite to me anymore. Just a few oranges are nothing compared to the ox head and braised beef that I will be able to eat soon. If it weren't for you, big sister, I might not be able to buy it even if I had money..."

When the waitress heard this and saw that Chu Tian was giving it to her sincerely, she stopped refusing and touched the orange peel lovingly.

"Then Big Sister will accept it."

She said embarrassedly, "To be honest, this is the second time I've met Orange. The first time was many years ago..."

"Sister, we will definitely have whatever fruits we want to eat in the future."

For a moment, Chu Tian couldn't understand why she reacted like that. It was just an orange, wasn't it?

But then Chu Tian understood that the Northwest today is very different from the Northwest a few decades later. At that time, all kinds of fruits from the south with developed logistics could be easily bought in the Northwest. Although the prices would be higher than those in southern cities, they were all available and there was no shortage.

Unlike now, you can’t buy fruits from the south even if you pay a high price. There is no way. The logistics are too slow now. Even if you take a train for more than 3,000 kilometers, it will take more than a week to arrive. This is when there are no delays. Sometimes, if the train is delayed, it is very likely that it will take more than ten days on the road to arrive...