Chapter 39 Sixteen Little Chickens
Gu Yuehuai was not discouraged. She regrouped and began to look for her next target. She had to sell the peppers in the basket before she could go home. Otherwise, wouldn’t her trip to the black market be in vain?
The daily supply of vegetables in state-owned vegetable stores is limited, and city dwellers have to queue up early in the morning if they want to eat fresh vegetables.
The peppers she had were produced in the Sumeru Space, so the quality was beyond reproach. However, vegetables were really cheap these days. A pound of peppers was only 2.5 cents in a state-owned vegetable store, and the peppers in her basket only weighed five pounds at most.
Therefore, even if she sold it at a higher price, by five cents or one cent more, she would only make a few cents.
However, no matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat, and given the historical context, it is not too little for her.
The sales of chili peppers went much more smoothly than she had expected. Nowadays, people only care about having enough to eat, not about eating well. They would buy chili peppers home and simply make chili sauce, wrap it in steamed buns, and their lunch would be solved.
Her peppers were of high quality and looked good, and she made enough money by selling a whole basket.
Gu Yuehuai was not in a hurry to leave, knowing that his family had run out of food, he bought five pounds of cornmeal on the black market, which cost ten cents per pound. When he was about to leave, he met a man selling chickens, all of which were slaughtered. A rooster was sixty-one cents per pound, and a hens was sixty-seven cents per pound.
She thought of Gu Zhifeng's sweaty appearance at work and Gu Tinghuai's injured hand, pursed her lips and bought half an old hen, preparing to go home and make soup for both of them. Half an old hen weighed two pounds and two ounces, and she spent one dollar and forty-seven cents without a ticket.
Gu Yuehuai put the chicken into the basket and was about to leave when he was stopped by the uncle selling chicken.
He seemed a little nervous, looking around for a while, and finally took off his hat and scratched the back of his head, and said in a low voice with a mysterious look: "Nier, do you want to raise a baby?"
Hearing this, Gu Yuehuai's eyes lit up: "You have it?"
Those years coincided with the "cutting off the capitalist tail" campaign, and family side businesses were not allowed. Members were not allowed to take the vegetables grown in their private plots in front of and behind their houses to the town to sell. If they were caught, they would be considered "taking the capitalist road."
Sometimes the production brigade would organize soldiers and civilians to guard the road leading to the commune town early in the morning. Once the vegetables were intercepted, the members would have to make a self-criticism, and even the vegetables would be confiscated.
When Gu Yuehuai came in the afternoon, she also watched for a while. She was lucky today as there were no militiamen guarding the crossing.
Raising chickens is also a family sideline and is prohibited. In the village, only the team has a chicken coop, which raises a dozen chickens. The eggs harvested every day are stored and distributed regularly to members as physical goods. Calculated per person, each person can get about three to four eggs per year.
However, if food is hard currency, then eggs are hot-selling products.
Eggs are a high-end commodity used in interpersonal exchanges during festivals and festivals, and can also be used to barter with fellow commune members. One egg can be exchanged for half a pound of salt. You can imagine how precious eggs are. In short, no one would refuse eggs these days.
She knew that livestock and poultry could be raised in the Sumeru Space, but unfortunately she had no way to get them.
Even if the hens in the brigade gave birth to chicks, it would be impossible to share them with her. She had originally thought of waiting for another two years when the country vigorously called for raising pigs, chickens, ducks and geese before thinking of a way to get chicks. But now, things have finally turned around.
The uncle selling chickens nodded and whispered, "The chickens at home have laid a dozen chicks. We dare not bring them to the black market for fear of making too much noise. They are hiding at home now. Do you want to go? If you want, go back and catch two."
Gu Yuehuai nodded: "Yes! Uncle, how much do you sell your chickens for?"
The uncle smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "How much can a chicken baby be worth? 1.5 cents each."
Gu Yuehuai quickly calculated the price in his mind and said, "Well, uncle, I want all your chicks. Can you give me a discount? They're not many. Can you give me a penny off each?"
Hearing this, the uncle was overjoyed and said hurriedly, "Okay! Okay!" After being happy, he hesitated again: "Do you really want all of them? If you get caught... you can't say you bought them from me."
Gu Yuehuai laughed: "Don't worry, uncle."
Having said this, the uncle didn’t say anything more. He happily closed the stall and took Gu Yuehuai home.
His home is in Baijia Hutong in the town, and all the buildings in this area are tube-shaped buildings.
The tube-shaped building is several stories high, and each floor has a long corridor connecting more than a dozen small rooms. The rooms are not large, with a maximum area of more than ten square meters. Every household has to accommodate seven, eight or even more than a dozen people.
Every household has a stove at the door. The whole building is filled with the fragrance of cooking, and the food is spread out in the open. Today he eats bacon, and tomorrow I eat eggs. The topic of "what to eat" has become a daily topic of conversation for the residents of the tube-shaped buildings.
Moreover, the washrooms and toilets in the tube-shaped building are shared, and there are crowds of people every morning when people get up to empty the urine pots.
Gu Yuehuai understood. No wonder the uncle was in a hurry to sell the chicks. The tube-shaped building was narrow and crowded, and the neighbors knew each other everywhere. It was troublesome enough to raise a few big chickens, let alone a dozen crying chicks.
The uncle lived on the first floor. When he took out the key and opened the door, a pungent smell hit his nose.
Gu Yuehuai followed him in. There was only an elderly woman picking vegetables in the house.
The uncle closed the door and said happily to the woman who was picking vegetables, "Mom, the chickens are sold."
The old lady was also delighted. She wiped her hands on her clothes and turned to look at Gu Yuehuai: "Ni'er, are you buying a chicken baby?"
Gu Yuehuai nodded: "Yes, Auntie, please take out the chicken so I can take a look."
As she spoke, she looked under the bed. When she entered the room, she heard a lot of chirping sounds coming from under the bed. The chicks were hiding under the bed and were about to suffocate.
"Hey hey!" The old lady hurriedly bent down to reach under the bed. After a long while, she dragged out a cardboard box in a panic. Gu Yuehuai looked down and saw a dozen yellow fluffy little chicks inside, clinging to each other for warmth.
There was some crushed corn scattered at the bottom of the box. The chicks were startled and their cries became louder.
"Hey, little ancestors, stop yelling!" The uncle was a little anxious and scolded in a low voice.
He said bitterly, "The chickens I sold were all live chickens given by the man to my daughter when she got married. They had more than 20 eggs. I didn't expect that I didn't take care of them later, so they started to lay eggs, leaving me with all these troubles."
After that, he couldn't help but urged: "Ni'er, if you want it, take it away quickly!"
Gu Yuehuai smiled slightly and handed over the remaining two dollars and twenty-four cents in his pocket.
A chick costs 1.4 cents, and there are 16 in the box now, which is this number, and it is also all the money she has. However, the chicks will grow up sooner or later, and it will be worthwhile to exchange them with the members of the brigade or collect the eggs.
Gu Yuehuai took the cardboard box, turned around and was about to leave the building without any further greetings.
The uncle looked at her and suddenly shouted, "Nier, wait."
Gu Yuehuai was puzzled and turned to look at him, only to see the uncle taking out a bag from the cabinet and handing it to her: "You came along for the trip, but I can't ask you to run in vain. Here are the leftover chicken offal from killing the chicken. I'll give it to you."
Gu Yuehuai was stunned for a moment, then his eyebrows curved and he smiled and thanked him.
She left Baijia Hutong carrying the box, and stopped for a moment when she turned a deserted corner. When she came out again, she was still holding the cardboard box in her arms, but there was no longer the sound of the chicks inside.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com