After the New Year, Zhang Fangyuan hired a veterinarian and bought some folk remedies. The black horse, which ate well and slept well, recovered its legs and feet very quickly. In just over a month, the horse was wagging its tail and looking energetic.
After Zhang Fangyuan saw that there was no serious problem with the horse's legs, he hitched the cart. While every household was happily celebrating the New Year, wearing new clothes and visiting relatives and friends with gifts, he went to the neighboring village and bought a pig.
Prepare to do business earlier than anyone else!
Pork is a kind of meat with a reasonable price in the current meat market, and there are many things to pay attention to when buying and selling it.
When pigs are bought and sold, they are generally divided into three types: live pigs, hairy pigs and head pigs. A live pig refers to a whole pig that is still alive; a hair pig refers to a pig that has been slaughtered and weighed, including the internal organs; and a head pig refers to pork that has been simply processed, with the internal organs and head removed, leaving only the bones and meat, ready to be taken to the market.
The prices of live pigs, live pigs and head pigs are very different, and the prices increase in sequence, with live pigs being the cheapest and head pigs being the most expensive. Generally, villagers and butchers tacitly choose to trade live pigs, because live pigs are too wild to be weighed, so they have to be slaughtered and weighed. Moreover, the butcher slaughters the pigs at the owner's home, and the owner can keep a large basin of pig blood.
As for a pig, the butcher will not buy it because the price is too high and the butcher will not make much profit. This is the only way the villagers will do this if they want to sell the meat themselves.
Zhang Fangyuan planned to do butcher business in the future. He would not just slaughter pigs for others and collect money. After all, the profit would not be much. He would have to buy and sell the pigs himself to make big money.
Nowadays, the price of pork in the meat market ranges from twelve to thirty cents per pound, and the price of live pigs drops by five to ten cents within this range. The specific price depends on the butcher's appearance and size of the pig, and the two parties can only settle the price after some bargaining.
Zhang Fangyuan had planned to sell pork when he went from village to village. He went from village to village to get to know the market and scout out the area. When he went to the neighboring village to slaughter pigs, he came to this family to slaughter pigs. They had negotiated about the price early in the morning, so the price didn't take long to negotiate.
The owner's pig weighs about 200 pounds, which is considered fat and strong and is popular among the people. The basic minimum price of a live pig is set at ten cents. As for the final price, it depends on the heated debate between the two sides.
This family was considered honest and loyal, and the price they finally decided on was twelve cents, which was already the price for pork in the market. However, the pigs were fat, and when Zhang Fangyuan went to the market to sell the meat, the price would be much higher.
The live pig weighed 220 kilograms, and Zhang Fangyuan paid the owner 2,640 coins. He paid it all at once, and the owner was very happy because some butchers would only give half the money and the other half would be paid after selling the pork.
For this reason, Zhang Fangyuan proposed to borrow the space here to process the pigs and then transport them away. The owner readily agreed and even boiled a pot of hot water for him.
Zhang Fangyuan quickly processed the live pigs, loaded them onto a cart, covered them with a layer of cloth, and drove them back to the village. The next day, before daybreak, he drove a horse-drawn cart up to the city. When he arrived in the city, it was just dawn and the sky was gray.
At this time, the butchers in the meat market were still packing up their stalls. There was not much talking, only the sounds of moving things around.
Zhang Fangyuan tied his horse in the stable outside the meat market, threw two cents to the old man who was watching the stall, went in to wipe his stall, came back carrying half a side of pork on one shoulder and threw it on the stall.
Most of the people tending the stalls in the meat market were butchers. Their physiques and physical strength were no worse than those of ordinary people, but they couldn't help but look sideways when they saw the tall and energetic Zhang Fangyuan. The old lady who came to tend the stall for her husband was even more fascinated.
"New here?"
"You look unfamiliar, so you must be new here. I heard that he is a relative of Gouqi who manages the meat market stall. Gouqi even came to clean the young man's stall yesterday."
“Tsk tsk.”
The two burly women sighed a few times, and their eyes looked at Zhang Fangyuan with more spirit.
Zhang Fangyuan cut up half a pig's pork on the stall, took out a few pieces of fatty meat, poked a hole in the front with a knife, twisted fresh palm leaves into a rope to string the meat together, and hung it on the horizontal bar in front of the stall for an attractive display. He left the rest of the meat on the stall board.
In addition, pig offal such as large intestine, small intestine, heart and lungs were taken out from the basket and hung or displayed. After the stall was ready, a chopping board was brought out to make it convenient to cut the meat for customers at any time.
It was just the beginning of the morning when he finished his work. I bought four meat buns at the entrance of the meat market. There were not many people in the market, but I could see some women and young men carrying baskets out to buy vegetables.
The vegetables in the morning are the freshest and most diverse, so everyone likes to buy vegetables early, even meat.
Seeing people walking in one after another, the meat market suddenly became lively. The vendors would call people to their stalls to look at the meat and buy meat. If it was a stranger, it would be fine as they would just shout enthusiastically. But if it was a familiar customer, the butcher would take out the knife and gesture on the meat and ask how much to cut before the customer even approaches the stall. Some even directly take a piece and put it into the customer's basket.
Zhang Fangyuan was quite surprised by the scene. He stuffed the buns into his mouth in a few seconds and hurried back to his stall.
Thinking of how Xu He had shouted before, he also tried to sell his products: "Just slaughtered live pigs, the meat is plump! Don't miss it if you pass by!"
Even though it was a common hawking phrase, it was better than standing in front of the stall without attracting customers. It really worked. Young girls and boys did not dare to come forward to look at the meat because of his unfamiliar face and large stature. However, older women came over happily.
"Auntie, look at this meat. The live pig weighs more than 200 kilograms, and the fat is as thick as two fingers. I can cook it at home to satisfy my craving."
The woman pinched the meat hanging on the horizontal bar with two fingers, but her eyes traced back and forth between Zhang Fangyuan's high nose bridge and strong jawline: "How much is it?"
"Twenty cents."
The woman was shocked when she heard this: "Why is it so much more expensive than the one next door?"
"Then you have to take a look at the quality of the meat."
The woman then looked at the meat carefully. The thick layer of white fat was indeed very attractive. Ordinary people like to buy fatty pork, while those who prefer lean meat are rich people. Such families often do not know how to consume pork and prefer mutton or venison.
"Where are the pork ribs?"
"Just fifteen cents for the bones."
The woman lowered her head to look at the ribs on the chopping board and said, "I am not very strong, can you help me chop them?"
"It's a small matter. I'll make sure it's chopped properly for you."
The woman then asked, "Can you give me a pig bone? I can break it up and bring it back so that I can make some pork bone porridge for my grandson. Children who eat it will grow strong and tall, just like you, young man~"
Zhang Fangyuan said helplessly: "Okay, since you are the first customer, I will give you one."
After saying this, he did not give the woman time to regret. He quickly took the meat to the scale, rolled up his sleeves, sharpened the knife slightly, and with a few clangs, the ribs were cut into small cubes that were easy to cook.
The woman looked at the well-proportioned, slender and strong forearms under the thick winter coat, and the bulging blue veins when holding the knife. Her eyes were fixed on it: "Young man, your body... and knife skills are really good! Will you continue to set up a stall here in the summer?"
Zhang Fangyuan didn't know what the knife skills had to do with the seasons. Although the woman looked a little strange, he felt that she might become a regular customer, so he said enthusiastically, "Of course."
"That's great. I'll definitely come when the summer weather gets hot..."
With a dull thud, Zhang Fangyuan smashed the thigh bone with a knife, breaking it into half pieces. The woman shuddered and changed the subject: "Buy meat."
"OK!"
Zhang Fangyuan packed all the meat the woman wanted and handed it to her. The woman saw Zhang Fangyuan carrying a large bag of pork ribs in one hand and thought it was very light. When she took it, it was so heavy that she almost dropped it on the chopping board. Fortunately, she was quick to catch it.
She greeted Zhang Fangyuan with a smile, then walked out leisurely, twisting her waist.
"Oh, Widow Zeng bought so much meat today. She really is willing to spend money for the New Year."
As soon as the woman left, someone started making fun of her. Zhang Fangyuan ignored him and just threw the ten cents he received into the money box.
People are willing to spend money during the period between the end of the year and the beginning of the year. Zhang Fangyuan did not make it to the end of the year, but fortunately he made it to the beginning of the year. For example, at the end of the year, villagers usually raise pigs and have meat to eat, but people in the city are restricted by the location and have to buy meat in the market. Also, at the beginning of the year, when visiting relatives and friends, buying a piece of top-quality meat to give to relatives is considered very impressive.
Although it was a new stall, his business was pretty good due to the large flow of people. The fat pig that was slaughtered three to five days ago had almost been sold out.
"There's not much meat left on your stall."
"It's almost time to close the stall." Zhang Fangyuan threw a pig's trotter from the chopping board and said, "There's only this left. If my lady wants it, take it."
After setting up the stall for a few days, Zhang Fangyuan was able to do some small business.
The woman looked at the pig's trotter and the shoulder blade still attached. There was meat there. Since she was going to visit relatives in the countryside, it would have been more appropriate to buy a piece of fatty meat. However, the trotter was sold at a low price and her child loved to chew on bones, so after picking for a while she let the butcher pack it up.
"Do you want to chop it up?"
The woman thought about it and decided to chop it up. After all, they were going to have a meal in the countryside. Chopping it up and bringing it with them would be a thoughtful gesture. It would also be a good idea for the relatives to cook as a treat. It would be like killing two birds with one stone. "No extra charge, right?"
"Free help chopping."
The woman nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this. She looked at Zhang Fangyuan while he was chopping bones and thought that he looked familiar. However, she did not say any polite words. She only saw him skillfully wrapping the pig's trotter with oil paper in one go. It was obvious that this was not his first day in this business.
She took the tightly packed pig's trotters and shook them: "It's a good time to visit relatives in the village."
When Zhang Fangyuan collected the money, he took a closer look at the woman, whose face was flushed. He also felt that she looked very familiar: "But is it Liu Xiangmei, Aunt Liu?"
The woman's eyebrows moved: "Do you recognize me?"
Zhang Fangyuan actually didn't like to recognize acquaintances or distant relatives he hadn't seen for a long time, but this woman who looked 60% similar to Xu He's biased mother was hard for him not to recognize: "I am Zhang Fangyuan, the fifth child of the Zhang family in Jijiu Village."
The woman said bluntly: "It means death..."
Before she finished speaking, Liu Xiangmei sensed something was wrong and quickly said with a smile, "I remember, I remember, it was Fang Yuan! I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't remember his name for a moment. Look, he has grown into such a well-behaved young man."
The two chatted for a while. Liu Xiangmei was going to the village to visit her sister Liu Xianglan, and Zhang Fangyuan was also preparing to pack up his stall and return to the village. He had a horse-drawn cart, so he took Liu Xiangmei with him to the village.
Liu Xiangmei naturally did not refuse. Not only was the horse-drawn cart faster than an ox-drawn cart, but she also didn't have to pay since she was riding with an acquaintance.
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