The woman took a form and a pencil off the wall and handed them to Xu An. She pointed to an old man and said, "All the ingredients are here. Take this form, check off the ones you like, and write down how many you want in pounds. Give it to the old man in the leather jacket, and he will pack the corresponding amount of ingredients for you."
After saying this, the woman went out to continue her work, while Xu An went to check the ingredients on the shelf closest to the door.
The shelf was filled with pork; at a glance, you could see all kinds of cuts, along with a considerable amount of pork offal. These ingredients were all packaged in red plastic bags and piled haphazardly on the shelf, with blood dripping down its sides.
Under the red light, the ingredients looked very fresh. But the smell in the air told Xu An that they had already begun to rot.
At this moment, someone filled out the form and handed it to the old man in the leather jacket. The old man took the form, put on his military overcoat, lifted the curtain behind him, opened a heavy door, and went inside.
Xu An then realized that the old man in the leather jacket was actually behind a cold storage room.
I walked behind a shelf near the person who had just picked up the goods, pretending to look for the items I wanted, while keeping an eye on the activity around me out of the corner of my eye.
Heavy footsteps approached, and an old man emerged from the cold storage carrying a large basket of goods. Even though he was wearing a military overcoat, he was still hissing from the cold.
The person picking up the goods casually picked up two bags of ingredients to check them, then suddenly shouted, "The dates are wrong! Didn't you say they were only six months past their expiration date? These are almost two years past their expiration date. They shouldn't be this price after two years. You have to give me a discount."
"This is frozen in a cold storage. Whether it's six months or two years past its expiration date makes no difference. If you're not satisfied, you can go elsewhere. You won't find a place cheaper than mine in the whole city."
"Boss, I'm not greedy, just give me another dollar off per pound."
"If you want something cheaper, we can get it too. See those on the shelf? They're only one yuan a pound. Take whatever you want."
"I've been a regular customer of yours for a long time, and you won't even give me this small discount?"
"At this price, we're practically doing charity; we're just earning a meager living. Look at how many workers there are outside; if we lower the price, we can't even afford to pay their wages."
"Okay, okay, pack it for me."
It turned out to be expired food; no wonder it was so cheap.
Xu An is not someone with an excessive sense of compassion, but he is not a heartless person either. He is just an ordinary, normal person with his own conscience.
Most of the workers on the construction site are the same age as his parents. If his parents were still alive, they would probably be among them.
Many of the people in the village who had helped his family were also working on the construction site. Xu An couldn't bring himself to buy the expired ingredients here, take them back to make boxed lunches, and then sell them to them.
At this moment, another person went to pick up the goods from the old man, and Xu An took this opportunity to leave.
It's easy to make money through dishonest means, but I still have a conscience and can't accept that kind of money. I just don't know where those ingredients will end up, what kind of food they'll be made into, and who will eat them.
On his way back, Xu An entered from the north entrance of the village, went to Xu Guosheng's house first, and then headed towards his home.
Xu Kang and Xu Le squatted outside the courtyard gate, looking longingly at the intersection in front of the house. When they saw Xu An, they immediately ran over and each grabbed one of Xu An's legs.
"Brother, the old witch and the old demon king have come to our house."
"Yes, they also said we were cute and gave us candy. Are they the kidnappers my brother always talks about?"
Old hag and old demon king, aren't these the monsters they dreamed of? How did they end up in their house?
Xu An peeked into the courtyard and saw seven or eight people inside, three of whom were sitting with their backs to the gate.
They all took off their left shoes and stepped barefoot onto the wooden benches. One hand rubbed their feet, while the other waved in the air. When they got excited, you could even see afterimages.
Only my aunt's family could have such a classic trio; my aunt, uncle, and mother-in-law all came to visit together.
Xu An carried the two little ones into the courtyard, politely greeted the three of them, and found a corner to sit down.
The time gap was too long, and Xu An only remembered that after the three of them had a debate in his previous life, he took Xu Kang and Xu Le away, but he didn't remember the specific details. Now it was a good time to relive it.
Xu Kang and Xu Le seemed to realize something. After entering the courtyard, they hid behind Xu An and poked out half of their fluffy little heads to look at their aunt and the other two.
Xu Le tugged at Xu An's clothes, signaling him to lower his head, and whispered to him, "The one with the full face of wrinkles is the old hag, and the tall and thin one is the old demon king."
Well, Xu An had always thought that the "old witch" and "old demon king" the two were talking about referred to his aunt and uncle, but he didn't expect them to be his uncle and his mother.
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