"It's tough, but as long as you're not like the other educated youth in the villages who do nothing but cause trouble all day, you won't have a problem making a fortune, but you'll definitely have enough to eat."

"We'll listen to you, sir."

"Eldest brother, you take the third brother and the others to get the stuff out, weigh it, and pick out the best parts for these three kids. It wasn't easy for them to come here for this."

"Okay, Dad."

"No need, Grandpa. Save the good stuff for you and Grandma."

"Alright, let's do as the old man says."

"Alright, we'll do as Grandpa Seven says. Grandpa Seven's pork is 70 cents a pound now, so 30 pounds would be 21 yuan. As for the 30 pounds, we didn't know if you wanted the tickets or the goods, so we brought both."

"It won't cost that much money. This meat is free. Grandpa Seven won't be polite. He'll charge you 60 cents a pound, or 18 cents for 30 pounds. As for whether you want a ticket or something else, it's up to your Grandma Seven."

"That won't do, Seventh Grandfather, how can we take advantage of you?"

"Fine, let's do as the old man says, as you see fit."

"Alright, Seventh Grandpa"

"Chen, old woman, can I take a look at what you brought? My son is getting married a few days before the New Year. If you have any of this, you won't have to go to the county town to buy it. Going to the county town to buy things is too much trouble."

"Sure, Seventh Grandma." Chen Enpeng said, taking the baskets that Chen Junjie and I were carrying and bringing them to us. He started taking out the things and arranging them one by one on the kang table. If the kang table couldn't hold them all, he put them directly on the kang.

I heard that it was for my child's wedding, so I brought mostly things that would be useful for the wedding, and I brought double portions of everything.

Things like enamel basins, enamel mugs, soap, fruit candies, towels, pillowcases, etc., and most importantly, I also brought two thermos flasks. When Grandma Qi's family saw this, their eyes widened, and not only them, but Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie were also surprised.

Chen Enpeng, disregarding the fact that they were still at someone else's house, asked, "Mianmian, where did you get this thermos?"

Hearing this, I realized that thermos flasks weren't common in the countryside, so I said, "Didn't they bring everything from their city home here before? They're using what they had before. These two were brought back from the county town last time. Aunt Zhou works at the county supply and marketing cooperative; she's the director. I went there to buy things, and she got these thermos flasks for me. They're defective and didn't require coupons. She figured Gu Qi-ge was getting married soon, and they'd definitely need these, so she brought them over. Anyway, they're just sitting there collecting dust; I don't really need them."

"Alright then, but do you have any more?"

"What's wrong"

"If you have any, prepare one for each of us."

"Oh, this is it? We happen to have two new ones at home that we haven't used yet. These things were brought back from the county town last time."

"Seventh Grandpa, Seventh Grandma, look, what do you need? Is this enough? If not, we'll give you more tickets, or if there's anything you don't need, we can exchange tickets for it," Chen Enpeng said after realizing what was happening.

Grandpa Qi looked at his wife, then at everyone, and said, “We’ll take all of these. How much will it cost? We’ll make up the difference if it’s not enough. Just take this thermos, for example. Even with a ration coupon, you might not be able to buy it in the county town.”

"Okay, Seventh Grandpa, Mianmian, these are the things you brought back from the county town. You know the price, so you can calculate it."

"Okay, these items don't require coupons, but the prices are the same as when coupons are needed. An enamel basin is 1.5 yuan, an enamel mug is 0.2 yuan, a bar of soap is 0.35 yuan, and a pound of fruit candy is 1.5 yuan. A towel is 0.38 yuan, a pillowcase is 1.23 yuan, and a thermos is 3.3 yuan... In the end, it comes to a total of 31.85 yuan."

"Old woman, give the child two yuan."

"No need, Seventh Grandpa. The extra is our way of showing our respect to you and Seventh Grandma."

"No way! You've come all the way from the city to the countryside, and we haven't helped you rob anything. How can we accept your 'filial piety money'?" Grandma Qi said angrily.

"No, Grandma, please take the money back!"

"No, you have to keep this money."

Chen Enpeng and Grandma Qi kept pushing the money back and forth, but in the end Grandpa Qi made the final decision: "Alright, old woman, stop pushing it back and forth, just put the money away. Eldest son, go and get three more pieces of meat for these kids."

"Seventh Grandfather?"

"Hurry up and go!"

"Okay, I'll go right now."

"You don't want money, but even if I give you meat, I won't give it to you. Besides, it's not that I'm not giving it to you; this is food that I'm giving to the three of you."

"Alright, Seventh Grandpa"

"Alright, it's getting late. Third and fourth sons, you two take the kids home."

"Then we'll be going now, Seventh Grandpa. We'll come back to chat with you again when we have time."

"Let's head back. It's getting cold, so it's always a good idea to go up the mountain and stock up on firewood."

"Sigh, we'll listen to you, sir."

Let's go back.

So the three of us carried over 60 pounds of meat back home. Grandpa Gu's older brother kindly asked how we planned to divide it. We said we'd split it equally, and he weighed it all out for us, saving us the trouble of preparing it ourselves at home. He was even worried we'd eat it all in the next few days, so he told us to either render lard or salt it and let it air dry in a well-ventilated place to eat later.

After we left, Grandma Gu was still sitting there asking her husband, "How do you think this child knows the director of the county supply and marketing cooperative?"

“Mother, I know this,” said Gu Zhengsong, the second son, who was sitting to the side.

"Second brother, do you know?"

"According to Zhenghua, this Li educated youth's parents were martyrs, and she was their only child."

"Everyone knows she was a martyr, but she was his only child? Didn't those two men in military uniforms who came a few months ago claim to be her brothers?" the third son's wife asked.

"Sister-in-law, you said you were wearing military uniforms. Her parents are also in military uniforms, so they can't be soldiers under their command, can they?"

"That's impossible," said Grandpa Seven.

"Why, Dad?" Gu Zhengsong asked, puzzled.

"Yes, Dad," others also asked.

"Old man, tell me about it."

"It's impossible for her to be one of her own soldiers; the military has strict discipline. It's more likely she's the child of a close comrade of her parents."

"Oh, I see," said Gu Zhenghuai, the fifth brother.

"What about the second brother? Did Zhenghua say anything else?"

“Zhenghua said that this Li Zhiqing knew the county public security bureau chief, and that his sister Cuicui’s job was arranged by Li Zhiqing to tell his father. He also said that his uncle went to the county public security bureau chief to find Cuicui before the job was settled.”

"Oh, I see. Old man, I understand now."

"Father, what have you figured out?" asked Gu Zhengliu, the sixth son.

"Isn't Cui Cui at the supply and marketing cooperative? Li, the educated youth, said her aunt also works there, and is some kind of director."