Chapter 595
In order to arrive early and avoid queuing, they agreed to meet at 8 o'clock the next morning.
In the morning, the father and daughter washed up and went downstairs, and saw Section Chief Chen already sitting in the same seat as yesterday waiting.
After learning about the situation yesterday, the father and daughter learned that after Section Chief Chen retired, he felt that he was still in his prime and should continue to contribute his remaining time to the revolution, so he went to the guesthouse office to help with some clerical work for free, and when he had nothing to do, he would read newspapers and drink tea in the lobby.
Su Yuanzheng went up to him and said politely, "Sorry, brother, we got up late."
"No, no, you are very punctual. I am old and sleep less, so I usually come very early." Section Chief Chen waved his hand indifferently.
The three of them walked out of the guesthouse together. Section Chief Chen pointed to a three-wheeled bicycle parked nearby and said:
"It's hard for you to take shortcuts with your car, and it's hard to park your car either. Just take my tricycle and I'll give you a ride."
Su Yuanzheng stepped forward and gently grasped the front of the car, saying:
"You show me the way, and I'll ride."
Section Chief Chen nodded and thought with satisfaction: This comrade is very perceptive. If only he had worked in their factory before, he would definitely have been promoted.
The tricycle traveled through the morning mist, passing by several steaming breakfast stalls, the aroma of food mixed in the cool air.
Su Yuan was about to invite Section Chief Chen to have breakfast, but he waved his hand and said, "Go buy some ham first. There will be more people around soon."
On the way, Section Chief Chen also told the father and daughter about the past and present of the Jinhua Ham Factory.
Its predecessor was Yongchang Leg Store, which was founded in 1947. Its founder, Jin Shihui, was from Dongyang County, Jinhua District.
Dongyang ham is the best ham produced in Jinhua area. Its production began in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and was listed as a tribute during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.
Jin Shihui first founded Yongchang Ham Shop in Hangzhou in the 1930s. His business was to buy hams from workshops in his hometown and transport them to Hangzhou for wholesale, which made him quite profitable.
Later, due to macro-environmental factors, prices soared in the Shanghai and Hangzhou areas, inflation occurred, and there was a shortage of supply in the Jinhua ham producing area. Yongchang Ham Shop could no longer survive, so it moved to Jinhua County.
At this point, it was renamed Yongchang Leg Store, with a shop in front and a workshop in the back, and it produced and sold its own products, and it quickly developed.
After liberation, the demand for Jinhua ham, as a local specialty, increased dramatically. In order to expand the scale of production, Jin Shihui initiated the establishment of the Jinlian Ham Production and Marketing Joint Venture by uniting private ham warehouses such as Yuansheng, Jintai, Yuanlong, and Hengfeng.
The merger was successful, but having multiple decision-makers in an organization is always complicated. Poor management and a major fire have put the company in a difficult situation.
In order to save the enterprise, the Joint Venture Office responded to the call in 1959 and took the lead in implementing public-private partnership in Jinhua area, changing its name to Jinhua Ham Factory.
Section Chief Chen coughed and continued:
"There are decades of complicated stories that followed, so I won't go into detail. Anyway, our factory's ham won a national gold medal and became famous both domestically and internationally. It was even often included in the gift lists given to foreign guests."
Su Miao couldn't get a word in and just kept nodding.
Section Chief Chen paused for a moment and added:
"Of course! It doesn't mean that only the ham from our factory is authentic Jinhua ham, but the quality of the ham produced by the factory is guaranteed. People like you who come from other places don't know how to choose, so buying the ham from the factory is the safest.
If you are an expert at choosing ham, then it doesn’t matter which store you buy it from, as long as it is good ham, it’s all the same.
As for the old brands they hang at the door, many of them are actually not that old. For those that really have a history of over a hundred years, I can recommend Xuefang Jiang.
However, I came from a ham factory, so I'll naturally take you to our factory first. If you want to try other time-honored brands, you can go buy something else."
Su Miao felt that what Section Chief Chen said was quite pertinent. When praising his own factory's ham, he did not say that the ham produced by other workshops was not good.
I just hope that tourists from other places can buy good ham, so that the name of "Jinhua Ham" will not be unfairly criticized because they buy products of varying quality.
At 8:20, they arrived at the store and sure enough, there was already a queue.
"So many people come to buy?" Su Miao said in surprise.
"Of course! These are products that are famous both at home and abroad, and they have limited production capacity, so sometimes they have to be limited in quantity!" Section Chief Chen said proudly.
Even though they were brought by Section Chief Chen, they still had to queue up.
However, shopping in a retail store doesn’t allow you to spend as long selecting as in a private store, and many of the customers are locals who come in to buy things in bulk by weight, so the queues move quickly and it’s their turn after waiting for about ten minutes.
The teller saw Section Chief Chen and said with a smile, "Section Chief Chen, are you bringing someone here again?"
"This is my cousin! He's helping me pick out the best ones to take home. He has a whole one."
The teller went to get the ham and turned around with a grin: "Every day, my cousin is different."
Su Miao saw a price tag written in chalk hanging behind the counter. The price of special grade was 24/kg, and it needed to be purchased with a ticket or foreign exchange coupon.
The first grade is 20/kg, the second grade is 16/kg, and the substandard grade is 10/kg.
"Uncle Chen, this special grade requires a ticket."
"Yes, the output is small. If the output increases in the future, we will probably be able to buy more of it. For your own consumption, just buy the first-grade ones."
Su Miao nodded. The price was about the same as what they bought yesterday.
The ham was taken out, and it was stamped with a quality inspection stamp. Section Chief Chen explained it to them. Originally, Su Miao and Su Yuanzheng really couldn't see any difference, but after Section Chief Chen's explanation, it seemed... they really could see a little difference.
Adhering to the principle of not coming for nothing, Su Yuanzheng bought the ham.
After paying the bill, Section Chief Chen asked the cashier for two packages of ham scraps, the oil paper wrappers still oozing with oil. "Take these home and cook porridge. They're ten times more delicious than MSG!"
Originally, Section Chief Chen was going to have breakfast with the father and daughter after finishing the work, but when he was about to leave, he met an old colleague, so he happily wanted to go with him to visit the factory, and then said goodbye to the father and daughter.
At the breakfast stall, Su Miao placed the ham on the shiny wooden table. The stall owner smiled and said:
"Wow! Such a big ham! You guys are from out of town, right? Take some home. We usually buy it in bulk."
"Yeah, yes. Our home is far away, so we bought a whole one from the state-owned ham factory."
When he heard about the state-owned ham factory, the stall owner covered his mouth and laughed: "Did Lao Chen take you there? He said their ham is the most authentic, right?"
"Ah...it was indeed Section Chief Chen who took us there. He said the factory's quality is guaranteed."
The stall owner's attitude left Su Miao and Su Yuanzheng confused.
What does that mean? Did I get ripped off? But the quality of state-owned factories should be pretty good, right?
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