Chapter 13: You can only use privileges to buy meat
After walking for about half an hour, the mother and son finally arrived at the Dongdan Vegetable Market.
As soon as she arrived at the market, Jin Caifeng hurried to the butcher's shop. When she got close, she was annoyed:
"Oh my, it's only 7 o'clock and there are already so many people here. If I had known, I would have come earlier."
Lin Sanqi stretched his neck and took a closer look. It was a shabby business room on the outskirts of the market with a sign that read "Dongcheng District Food Company."
There were several staff members sitting inside, some were weighing, some were collecting tickets, some were collecting money, some were moving goods, and there were a few people who looked like managers sitting in the back chatting.
But the person cutting the meat was a big, strong bearded man, who was cursing at the top of his voice, and could be heard from far away:
"Now this is the rule. If you want to buy meat, you have to buy it with offal and bones. It's up to you whether you want to buy it or not!"
There was a man in a blue shirt and glasses who was clearly unconvinced:
"But you're giving me too much. I only bought a pound of meat, and you gave me half a pound of bones. Should I eat the meat or just gnaw on the bones? My family finally managed to scrape together a pound of meat coupons to celebrate my mother's birthday. How am I going to explain this to you when I get home?"
This remark resonated with the people in the queue, and they accused the food company of breaking the rules.
Those who could afford to buy meat in 1959 were not ordinary people. How could ordinary people have the tickets to buy meat?
However, this year, natural disasters are severe, not only has the grain production dropped significantly, but the pigs that need grain to be fed have also been passively reduced in production. After all, people are not able to eat enough, so where is the food to feed the pigs?
As a result, pork is extremely rare in the market and is sold out as soon as it is put on the market, with the price rising day by day.
The price of pork, which used to be 35 cents per pound, has risen to 87 cents. Moreover, you cannot buy pure meat. You need to buy it with scraps and bones, which is not acceptable.
It’s still relatively okay in places like Beijing. If you go to other cities, even if you have meat coupons, you may not be able to buy pork, and you can’t even see pork bones.
The butcher was upset, threw away the boning knife in his hand, pointed at the man with glasses and started to rant:
"Hmph, you can tell whoever you want to tell. I don't need to change it for you. Do you want to buy it? If not, get out of here!"
"How can you speak like that, comrade? Is this how you serve the people? I'm going to complain to your leaders about you!"
"Come on, come on, the boss is sitting right in the back. Director Zhang, this guy only wants the meat and doesn't want the bones. What do you think we should do?"
The two started arguing, and a middle-aged man in a Mao suit walked out of the store, holding a cup, and said slowly:
"Comrade, you're the one who wants to complain, right? Let me tell you, the country is in such a difficult situation right now, and pork is in such short supply. We're forced to sell meat with offal. We only have so little meat, and we've sold it all to you. What do you want the other comrades to do?"
As soon as the middle-aged manager said this, the situation immediately changed polarized, and the people in the queue started to persuade the man with glasses.
In the end, the man with glasses had no choice but to sulk and prepare to buy the meat and leave, thinking that he was unlucky.
Who knew that the butcher would not give up. He picked up his knife and cut a piece of lean meat and half of the bone, then looked at the man with glasses triumphantly.
The man with glasses was so angry that his hands were shaking for a long time. Finally, he was instigated by the people behind him and had to leave angrily.
Lin Sanqi had made a guide on Baidu and knew that people were seriously short of oil at that time, so they preferred to buy fatty meat, preferably lard. Anyone who bought lean meat would be very unlucky.
Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi pondered in his heart.
Others are short of meat, but since I have the ability to travel through time, I will never be short of meat. Not to mention a piece of fat meat, even if I ask him to take out a fat pig, it won’t be a problem.
I just can’t explain it. Is there any business opportunity here?
The experience of the man with glasses caused a lot of discussion among the people in the queue. Everyone was afraid that it would be their turn and they would also be served the combination of lean meat and bones, which would be a waste of time.
Everyone was anxious, but Jin Caifeng remained calm and composed. This made Lin Sanqi feel a little strange.
"Mom, why aren't you worried about people selling us lean meat?"
Jin Caifeng smiled gently: "You will know in a moment."
Half an hour later, it was the turn of the Lin family mother and son to come to the meat stall. Before Lin's mother could speak, the butcher greeted her with a smile:
"Oh, it's Mrs. Lin here. Which piece of meat do you like? I'll cut it for you."
Jin Caifeng looked at the meat on the butcher's stall and pointed at a piece of pork belly that was two-thirds fat. She said:
"Xiao Zhu, I want this one. Give me two pounds. My youngest son just came home, and we've pooled all our meat coupons to give him a good meal."
Butcher Zhu glanced at Lin Sanqi, congratulated him with a smile, and then he raised his knife and cut off a piece of high-quality pork belly.
"Mrs. Lin, come here. Two pounds is just right. Please take it!"
As soon as these words fell, the people behind him were dissatisfied:
"Hey, man, what's wrong with you? When others buy meat, you give them bones and even lean meat, but when it's her turn, not only can you choose her own, but you don't even have to give her the offal and don't even weigh it. Aren't you too blatant?"
"Exactly. Is there anyone selling meat like you? Is this your relative or your mother-in-law?"
"If you can't make a mark, I'll overturn your meat stall today!"
The people outside started arguing. The cadres inside were about to stand up when they saw Lin Sanqi and his mother sitting down again. It was obvious that they were not concerned.
Butcher Zhu threw the knife away again and started ranting without a trace of guilt:
"Do you know who she is? She's the lover of Dr. Lin Kushen from the Kuanjie Chinese Medicine Hospital. Do you know Dr. Lin? He's a famous doctor in our city. Every family has benefited from his kindness.
"What's wrong with Doctor Lin eating some meat? Only when he's full can he have the strength to serve the people! Besides, he gave me money and tickets, it's not free, why should you take it? Go away, if anyone makes trouble again, I won't sell you this meat today."
When the people in the queue heard that it was Doctor Lin Kucan's house, they suddenly realized what was going on and started to greet Jin Caifeng.
This made Lin Sanqi realize for the first time the status of a famous doctor in the minds of ordinary people. It was no exaggeration. Comrade Lin Kushen had already reached the point where he could make a living by showing off his reputation.
Lin Sanqi suspected that even if he didn't get the meat ticket today, he could still get the two kilograms of meat.
Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi began to fantasize. If he could get the most precious and authentic medicinal materials from this world by 2013, could his father also become a famous doctor in Huadu?
Then you can go to bars and nightclubs and use facial recognition to pay without paying?
Jin Caifeng placed the meat in the basket, thanked the butcher shop staff, and then expressed her gratitude to the citizens waiting in line. Then she squeezed out of the crowd and sighed.
"Hey, sonny, don't blame me for abusing my privilege and being out of touch with the people. Now I can't be polite. If I am polite, I won't be able to eat meat, and even the whole family will go hungry. I can only shamelessly use the back door..."
(End of this chapter)
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