Chapter 188 Beef
He was a genuine farmer, and he hated to see good land being wasted.
Just like the crops in the field, even if people know that the harvest will be poor this year, no one will leave the field empty.
In the afternoon, when the sun was not so strong, Liu Yinyin went to the end of the village and picked a basket of vegetables.
She couldn't help but dig up a sweet potato plant and take a look. There were only two sweet potatoes hanging underneath, and they didn't look very big.
Although Liu Yinyin watered the plants diligently, the sweet potatoes were still affected by the drought.
The weather was too dry and the sweet potatoes did not grow very well.
In another month or so, the sweet potatoes probably won't grow much, so it goes without saying that the harvest won't be very good.
There are two fruit trees in the yard. They have grown fruits this year. Although they are small, they bear a lot of fruit.
I don’t know how the sweet potato field on the mountain is growing.
There were also the sweet potatoes she had planted with a net on the mountain. Liu Yinyin took a quick look and saw some sweet potato seedlings popping up, but not many.
It is impossible that other people in the village did not notice this, but after everyone was amazed, they just muttered a few words, wondering how sweet potatoes could inexplicably grow on the mountain.
I can’t say I’m very happy. After all, the weather is so abnormal, who knows whether the sweet potatoes can grow anything.
Liu Yinyin walked all the way to the end of the village, and someone in the village must have seen her.
After a while, someone came to fetch water.
"Yinyin, I think you should just leave the door open, otherwise we won't be able to get water." said a woman.
There is no water left to draw from the river, and the water from the public well... there are too many people queuing up to draw water every day.
In such hot weather, fetching water can be a life-threatening task.
Moreover, there are restrictions on carrying water. Each household can only carry half a bucket of water per day, which is enough for drinking.
There's no way. If there were no restrictions, the public water wells would have dried up by now.
Liu Yinyin didn't get angry after hearing this, she teased, "Auntie, this won't work. If the gate isn't closed, the next time I come back, you guys will have drained the well water."
Besides, there is a vegetable garden, and the chickens at home cannot be kept in the chicken coop all the time.
It still makes me sad when I think about it.
The auntie smiled awkwardly after hearing this and said, "Isn't it because you don't live at home?"
She thought that Liu Yinyin was lucky. If things in the village were not going well, she could just move to the county town.
Why bother with them about this well?
Liu Yinyin curled her lips and said, "Let's talk about it later."
This well was dug by her family at their own expense, so there is no reason to hold them morally hostage.
Seeing that Liu Yinyin's tone was indifferent, the aunt was not blind. She shut up at the right time and left with two buckets of water.
Fortunately, at this time, most people in the village went up the mountain to find food, and not many people came home to fetch water.
After Liu Yinyin finished cleaning up the vegetable garden, she locked all the doors of the house and returned to the Liu family carrying a basket.
On the way, he met Jiang Cuihua who was in a hurry to find Liu Yinyin.
Seeing the young lady, Jiang Cuihua hurriedly said, "Yinyin, I just heard that a cow died in the village. Do you want to go and exchange it for some beef?"
"......How did he die?" Liu Yinyin asked puzzledly.
These days, oxen for farming are not allowed to be slaughtered privately. She was worried that they might die of illness like the plague pigs before.
Jiang Cuihua groaned and explained, "Someone just came back from herding cattle. The cattle may not have eaten enough grass and had no strength. They accidentally fell into a ditch on the way and broke their legs. The injuries were very serious and they were afraid that they could not be cured, so the village chief had them killed."
If the disease cannot be cured, there is no point in keeping the cow.
In fact, it is not impossible to send beef to the supply and marketing cooperatives, which also purchase chicken, duck and fish from various villages.
But the price is quite low. With prices outside so high now, what good will it do to sell it for that little money?
Village chief Liu told everyone to hurry up and exchange beef for food, and any unexchanged beef had to be sent to the county town overnight to be exchanged for food.
Liu Yinyin suddenly realized and immediately said, "...Mom, I'll go back and get some food."
Of course she would be happy to change if there was fresh meat to eat, especially since it was beef. It's not easy to eat beef these days.
Liu Yinyin prepared to exchange for more beef. She went home and packed 30 kilograms of cornmeal, then hurried to the cafeteria carrying the basket.
The cattle were slaughtered in the cafeteria.
When Liu Yinyin arrived, there were a lot of people in the cafeteria. The villagers hadn't eaten meat for a long time, and they all wanted to eat some beef to satisfy their cravings.
Beef is not expensive at this time, and the price is about the same as pork.
However, most villagers exchanged wild vegetables for beef, but the amount they exchanged was not much, just two or three ounces of beef.
"Sister Yinyin, can you finish eating so much beef?" The butcher who was slaughtering cattle and cutting the meat couldn't help but ask when he heard Liu Yinyin say that she wanted to exchange the beef for 30 kilograms of cornmeal.
It's so hot, the beef won't last long.
It was indeed strange to exchange so much beef at once. Liu Yinyin said casually: "Well... I live in the county town now, so I have many neighbors. I will help them exchange some beef."
The butcher realized: "No wonder, they are all city dwellers who are willing to eat beef."
He didn't mean any other thing. Unlike the people in the country, the people in the city ate commodity grains and received wages, so they could indeed afford beef.
I can't blame anyone for this, I can only blame my bad luck.
The butcher smiled bitterly and asked, "All for beef?"
In addition to beef, there are also steaks, beef bones, and beef offal...
Liu Yinyin took a look and asked him, "How do I change these dirty underwear?"
The butcher said, "Three pounds of cornmeal can be exchanged for one pound of beef, and the internal organs are dirty... one pound of cornmeal can be exchanged for one pound of internal organs."
Just like pig offal, the dirt is definitely not as valuable as the pure meat.
Liu Yinyin thought about it and ordered seven pounds of beef and another nine pounds of cornmeal, all of which were exchanged for dirty things.
Beef tripe, beef throat, beef heart, beef liver, and a pair of beef intestines.
The butcher didn't know why she changed so much internal organs, but it could solve the problem of difficult-to-handle internal organs.
The butcher was very happy, and he even gave Liu Yinyin some cow bones.
Of course, the meat on the beef bones was cleanly removed without any meat residue.
Liu Yinyin didn't mind throwing it away. It was just right, she could take it home and make soup.
After returning to Liu's house, Liu Yinyin gave Jiang Cuihua two pounds of beef and two beef bones.
As for the rest...it's still early, if we go back now, we'll still have time to make dinner.
Liu Yinyin didn't stay in the Liu family for long. She packed up her things and took Gu Yanyan back to the county town.
She bought a lot of beef offal, which is difficult to marinate.
Liu Yinyin thought about it and prepared to make half of the internal organs into brined pork. Just like last time, the brined pork had to be boiled in a pot overnight.
That’s perfect. I’ll sell it to Aunt Li tomorrow morning.
The other half is beef offal, and Liu Yinyin wants to cook it into hot pot in the evening.
It’s not appropriate to eat hot pot in such a hot day, but the opportunity is rare and fresh beef is not available at all times.