Chapter 40
Zhen Zhen took some time to go to the county town. As the year was coming to an end, the supply and marketing cooperative was really crowded, and Zhao Meilan was busy like a mindless fly every day.
When she saw Zhen Zhen, Zhao Meilan's eyes lit up, "Sister, you came here now, do you have something good to give me?"
Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "I have some pork that I want to sell."
"How many?"
Zhen Zhen was thinking conservatively. The pigpen in the mountains was far away, and Meng Daguo and Dachuan had to work during the day and could only deliver food secretly at night. The ten pigs were much heavier than those raised by other families in the village, but they were far from catching up with the one at home.
Assuming that one hundred kilograms of pigs can produce sixty to seventy kilograms of meat, ten pigs can produce about eighteen hundred kilograms of pork.
Zhen Zhen planned to give Zhao Meilan a thousand kilograms of meat first and see how the situation would develop.
"We do have thousands of pounds, but we can't take them out all at once. As you know, things are tense recently, so we have to be more careful."
Zhao Meilan didn't show it on her face, but she was extremely surprised in her heart.
She had always believed that Zhen Zhen's supplies were withheld from the state-owned factories. This kind of thing happened frequently these days, where someone in the family was the head of a state-owned factory and took advantage of his position to resell the supplies to others.
But pork is different from other materials. It is a scarce commodity. Even if there is pork in the factory, there are so many eyes watching when the pigs are slaughtered. How is it possible to produce thousands of pounds of pork at once?
Only then did Zhao Meilan realize that she had underestimated Sister Zhen.
Being able to get so much pork in one go, it was obvious that this lady hid it even deeper than she did.
Zhao Meilan secretly thanked her luck that she had never offended her.
Not to mention that he is her golden thigh now, even when they met for the first time, when he was dressed simply and couldn't even take out a ticket, she didn't say anything offensive.
"Sister, I'm not hiding it from you. The investigation has been strict recently, and the black market has become more cautious. A stranger like you can't get in. But you don't have to worry about your safety because my man is with you. Even if someone is caught, they will insist that they killed their own pigs."
Zhen Zhen doesn't worry about this. He is afraid of everything and can't accomplish anything.
If she doesn't come forward, the probability of being caught is very small. Even if Zhao Meilan's husband is caught, he cannot give her up. Otherwise, he will be in jail for several years. Who will support his wife and children at home?
The more this happens, the more I dare not offend.
But it is better to be safe than sorry.
"Sister, you must leave some of this 1,000 kilograms of pork for me. My mother-in-law has been hospitalized again recently. She was under strict surveillance last month. My husband has not dared to go out to earn money, so he is counting on this pork from you for the New Year. Please lower the price a bit, and we will pay for it and deliver the goods. As for how the pork sells later, you don't need to worry about it. Even if it can't be sold and rots, you don't need to compensate."
How could pork not be sold at the end of the year? It was only 1,000 kilograms of pork, which would only last a day on a meat stall in the future.
"Okay, pork can be sold for more than a piece on the black market before the New Year. If you eat it all, I'll charge you 80 cents per pound."
This price is worth it.
Zhao Meilan immediately took Zhen Zhen to meet her husband. When her husband saw Zhen Zhen, he almost jumped off the bed. He was so enthusiastic that he infected Zhen Zhen.
The man also thought it was feasible. The couple wanted to eat up all the meat. Since Zhen Zhen gave it to them in batches, the money earned from the first batch of pork could be used to buy the second batch, and they could still eat it all.
For Zhen Zhen, this means earning less, but for the sake of security, one cannot pocket all the money, one must always let others have a share.
The two of them agreed on this, and she went to Zhao Meilan to buy five bags of peach cakes, a net bag of apples, a net bag of oranges, and two cakes.
"Sister, I specially saved this can of sugar water for you. I know you are willing to give good food to your child. This is what your child loves the most. You don't need to give me money, just think of it as me treating your child."
Canned peaches were a scarce commodity, and Zhao Meilan knew that Zhen Zhen was willing to spend money on the child, so she had planned to leave a bottle for him as a favor.
Zhen Zhen also appreciated it and put the can into the net bag.
The county theater was quite busy at the end of the year. Zhen Zhen took a look as he passed by, thinking that he might come back to sell melon seeds if he had the chance.
Just as I was about to leave, I saw a familiar figure in the distance.
"Meng Li."
Meng Li's eyes widened and she trotted over, "Auntie, why are you here?"
It was really Meng Li. She was wearing a fashionable little cotton jacket, her hair was tied up high, and she seemed to have lipstick on her lips. This is considered a high-end makeup look for young people on dates nowadays.
Meng Li is in trouble!
Zhen Zhen glanced amusedly at the tall and handsome Jiang Dongping beside her. The other party was very polite and greeted her generously.
"Hello, Auntie. Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Jiang Dongping."
Zhen Zhen has a better impression of Jiang Dongping than Zhou Changsheng.
Jiang Dongping seemed to be open and straightforward, a straightforward man who did not hide anything.
He dared to rush up to Meng Li just after she got divorced, which shows that he has no prejudice against divorced women. Just based on this point, Zhen Zhen has a good impression of him.
Jiang Dongping was also deeply impressed by Zhen Zhen. The two times Zhen Zhen went to Zhou's house, he was in the next room and paid attention to Meng Li, the rural relative.
When Meng Li's aunt scolded people, her voice was full of ups and downs and brilliance!
It was even more exciting than Chiang Dongping's speeches at work. Chiang Dongping was listening and clapping in his room. If he had a mother like this, he would not have been bullied like that since childhood.
Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "How long have you two been together? Why don't you tell me anything?"
Meng Li blushed, "Not long after. Wasn't it because I was afraid that you guys would laugh at me if I failed? I wanted to tell my family after the New Year, but who knew you would see me by chance."
Meng Li has been divorced for nearly half a year. It seems that she has listened to Zhen Zhen's words and is much more cautious than the first time she went on a blind date.
"You two are a talented man and a beautiful woman, how could we make a fool of ourselves? If you are engaged, bring her home as soon as possible to let your parents take notice." Zhen Zhen instructed.
Meng Li was a little uncomfortable. "People say that if a divorced daughter comes to celebrate the New Year, it will bring bad luck to her brother. Although my parents don't care, and my brother is not that kind of person, but after all, I have two sisters-in-law, so let's wait until after the New Year to talk about it."
There are a lot of messy taboos these days.
Zhen Zhen didn't know how to persuade her as she still had a lot of things to do at home, so she got in her bike and went back.
Jiang Dongping watched her leave, "Is your aunt satisfied with me, or dissatisfied?"
Meng Li was also a little nervous. Zhen Zhen was not her biological mother, but she still hoped that her aunt would approve of her judgment.
On the day of the pig killing, Mrs. Meng and Mr. Meng's family came over early to help. This is the top priority of the family. Dad Daguo is no longer here, so why don't they help?
The pigs had been castrated early in the morning, and were fat and strong without any fishy smell. The villagers had long been eyeing the Meng family's pig and gathered around to watch the excitement.
The process of killing the pig was a bit bloody. Daya couldn't bear to leave the old sow and cried and asked them not to kill her. Zhen Zhen asked Jiao Huilan to take her away to prevent her from suffering any psychological trauma.
When the pig skin was cut open and the layers of pork meat were clearly visible, the knowledgeable people in the village nodded their heads.
"This pig is good. It will definitely taste delicious."
"Look at this hind leg meat! How did the Meng family raise this pig? It's much stronger than the pigs in the commune!"
Meng Daguo held the knife and Meng Eryong held the scale. The two brothers arranged everything very clearly. Even Zhen Zhen, a bystander, couldn't be more satisfied.
These two working boys may not look outstanding at ordinary times, but they are very good at what they do. They are much better than their peers in the village. Even the cunning Meng Eryong can impress Zhen Zhen when he gets serious.
However, she still stood aside to take charge of the situation, for fear of causing unpleasantness and gossip when dividing the meat.
Neighbors usually get along well with each other. It would be a shame if they had a conflict over a few dollars.
This kind of thing has happened before.
When the brigade slaughtered pigs after the autumn harvest, Li Decheng gave each family a number and asked them to line up to get the pork.
As for the queue, some people came early and some came late. The people in the front got tenderloin and shank, and they were all smiling happily when they left. Although the people in the middle didn't get as good as the ones in the front, they felt relieved when they thought that it was better than the ones at the back.
Unfortunately, the old Sun family who lived behind the Meng family had bad luck and drew the last number. No one else had such good luck.
When it was finally his turn, the pig had been cut into pieces, with no fat left. Only a piece of lean meat was left, and it was attached to a large bone that was used to weigh it.
Batou Village was already poor. Each person in other villages could get two kilograms of meat, but each family in Batou Village only got two kilograms. Which family wouldn't want to fry some lard from the two kilograms of meat and store it for a few meals at home?
They are all divided into lean meat and bones, so what is there to eat?
The Sun family's daughter-in-law immediately became displeased and said that Li Decheng bullied her family because they were outsiders and deliberately gave her this title.
Li Decheng was also unhappy and said, "Who can you blame for your bad luck?"
It was Zhen Zhen who took a fancy to the lean meat and shank bones and gave her the fat in his hand, which made her wipe away her tears.
It is a science for rural people to handle things. Zhen Zhen was afraid that something like this would happen when selling pork this time, so he sorted out all the internal and external relationships early in the morning.
Gou Zi's mother and Zhang Cuihua's family had frequent dealings with her, so it was normal for them to give her an extra two taels of silver.
Li Decheng usually took good care of the Meng family and sent them an extra pound or two of meat.
The lady in red looked calm and collected, but she was actually Zhang Qiaohong's second aunt. She was a relative in some way, so she had to be polite to her.
Don't be fooled by the wrinkled face of the old man in the hat, he is a retired veteran. More than ten years ago, Meng Hua fell into the water while playing, and it was the old man who jumped into the river to save Meng Hua. It was not easy in the cold winter, and the old soldier also suffered from illness. For such a lifesaver, how could you say that you should not give a few more pounds of meat?
Others gave us an extra thumb-sized piece of fat meat, which wasn’t that expensive, but that was the idea, and everyone was happy to get a good deal.
Meng Daguo was young, how could he know so many tricks? Thanks to Zhen Zhen's reminder, he did not make any mistakes.
The pigs were being divided over there, and here a large iron pot was set up to boil water, and the pig heads, trotters and large intestines were cleaned.
The main process of removing the hair from pig heads and trotters is to remove the hair. Farmers have a perfect way of doing this.
The processing of pig large intestine is much more troublesome. It needs to be turned over to remove the residue and washed inside and out several times.
These were all taken care of by Mrs. Meng and several other daughters-in-law in the first house, so Zhen Zhen didn't have to worry about anything. She was mainly responsible for communicating with the old ladies in the village and handling "diplomatic" affairs.
I was busy from morning till late afternoon. As the sun was about to set, people in the village began to leave.
Meng's pigs are so good that people bought more than expected, and even ordered the pig heads.
There were still some large bones, large intestines, pig's trotters, and about ten pounds of minced meat left.
Zhen Zhen weighed two pounds of meat and took a few cleaned pig's trotters to Mrs. Meng.
"Shufen is about to give birth. Take this pig's trotter to eat during her confinement period."
Mrs. Meng was so happy that she kept saying, "I'll give you money."
"What money do you want? We are all family. Your family has helped a lot today. Take it back and use it to nourish the children!" Zhen Zhen said.
Zhou Shufen had been busy all day with a bulging belly. She had processed pig's trotters and cleaned the large intestines. She had also boiled hot water to wash away the pig's blood on the ground. Now that she had the pork and pig's trotters, she felt that her work was not in vain. She happily took the things and went back.
Zhen Zhen also took out a bag of peach cakes and distributed them to the eldest wife's children, so that no one came empty-handed.
In the evening, the family counted the bills and found that there was a total of 220 yuan!
One pig sold for so much, and there were ten more waiting. If they sold all of them, they could earn at least a thousand, right? Adding the money they made from selling melon seeds, the Meng family would soon have more than two thousand in savings!
What a concept!
The price of rice is only a little over ten cents, and the New Year's gift is only one or two cents. It's considered decent to give one dollar to someone's wedding, but their family has two or three thousand!
Not to mention Batou Village, they are among the best in the county. These days, we haven't heard of anyone with a net worth of 10,000 yuan, but they secretly have 2,000 or 3,000 yuan!
Meng Daguo and Meng Eryong became more motivated. The next day, Meng Daguo went to the pig farm to kill the pigs. One becomes attached to pigs after raising them for a long time, and Meng Daguo was a little reluctant to leave. This small pig farm had cost him more than half a year of hard work.
He has hardly slept a full night in the past six months.
He had to run back and forth carrying pig food every day, and had to run several times every night to feed the pigs. When he got home, he was often covered in the smell of pig manure. His mother even bought two bars of soap for him to take a bath.
But we have to give them up even though we are reluctant, because the whole family still depends on these pigs for food.
Meng Daguo dragged the pork to the connection point at night.
Meng Daguo knew that his mother had a contact in the county town and always thought that he was his mother's lover.
It was only during this meeting that I discovered that the man was only in his twenties, a little disabled, and called his mother "Sister Zhen". It was obvious that they were not in a relationship.
Meng Daguo exchanged secret signals with the other party, handed the pork to him, counted the money and put it in his pocket, went directly to the pig farm, and then killed the remaining pigs. He met with the man again and again, and sold all the 1,000 kilograms of pork as his mother had said.
It was four days later when I finished.
"How is it?" Jiao Huilan welcomed the person in.
Tao Aihong came out when she heard the noise. She couldn't let the first wife take even a penny more, so she had to keep an eye on her all the time.
"Brother, how are the pork sales?"
Meng Daguo said happily: "Mom still has a way. She found a buyer and sold all the meat to us. It's 80 cents per pound, so the total amount is 800 yuan."
Tao Aihong had never seen so much money in her life. Her eyes almost popped out of her head. It turned out that eight hundred yuan was such a thick stack.
Tao Aihong was very upset. She had 800 yuan. Would her mother be able to give them some for the New Year? Last year, she had set her sights on a piece of cloth and wanted to make a cotton jacket to show off at her parents' home.
Zhao Meilan's husband was efficient and sold all the meat in three days. Zhen Zhen did not give him the remaining pork and asked Meng Daguo to go to the black market again.
The last time Meng Daguo sold wild boar meat, he went to the black market and met several veterans there.
There is endless business to be done at the end of the year. As long as you have the supplies, money will come in like water. In addition, Meng Daguo knows how to behave. He brought the cigarettes bought by Zhen Zhen with him and gave a few to everyone he met. They were all high-quality foreign cigarettes, and many people had never smoked them in their lives. How could he not be happy?
No one gave him a hard time, and he quickly sold the remaining pork.
When the market was good, they could sell it for one yuan and two cents per pound, which showed that Zhao Meilan's husband made a lot of money.
At last, after counting the money, the ten pigs brought in a total of 1,600 yuan, plus the money from the sale of the pig at home, the total was 1,820 yuan.
Zhen Zhen suddenly remembered something, "What did you talk about with Dachuan? Didn't you give him any of the money?"
Meng Daguo smiled innocently and sat down. "Mom, Dachuan is timid. He was afraid of being caught and put in jail when he sold wild boar meat. I asked him to raise pigs with me, but he was afraid of responsibility and didn't want to join. I said I would give him 100 yuan and ask him to help me feed the pigs. If anything goes wrong, I will take the responsibility and will never drag him into it. I gave him the money yesterday, so you don't have to worry about it."
Zhen Zhen felt relieved that he had not treated the other party unfairly, and asked Meng Daguo to take some of the remaining pork and offal from home.
With this money, I can look forward to the coming year.
There was a lot of pork left at home, and as the Chinese New Year was approaching, Jiao Huilan started preparing fried meatballs.
Zhen Zhen took out the coal stove to make egg dumplings. He took a spoon and placed it on the volcano to roast it, poured egg liquid on it, and then wrapped some meat filling in it. The golden and fragrant egg dumplings were ready.
Daya sat on a stool beside them and ate each one Zhen Zhen made. In the end, she didn't even want to take the food with her hands and just opened her mouth and waited for Zhen Zhen to cool it down and put it into her mouth.
Zhen Zhen made the egg dumplings here and put them into her mouth there. It was just like an assembly line operation.
Jiao Huilan shook her head as she watched, "Mom, how can you love your child so much? You are too used to it."
Zhen Zhen thought to herself, God has mercy on her. How can she be accustomed to children? She is clearly caring for human cubs.
Years ago, Meng Li's affairs were discovered by Mrs. Meng.
It was said that Meng Li and Jiang Dongping were seen by villagers while shopping, and when they came back they told Mrs. Meng about it. After Mrs. Meng knew about it, she called the two of them home for dinner.
Originally, Zhou Shufen's family was a bit superstitious and muttered that a divorced girl coming to their house would ruin her brother's family's fortune, so Zhou Shufen pushed them back.
It's nothing else, her sister-in-law Meng Li is really nice to her.
She took home all the daily necessities distributed from the factory, gave the delicious food to her girls, and even got fabric to make clothes for her. How could she bear to drive away such a sister-in-law?
Besides, she has already passed her due date, so she would be very grateful if Meng Li could come back and help her with the confinement period.
Jiang Dongping's appearance is exactly the same as Zhou Changsheng's.
Zhou Changsheng has no beard and his face is too clean. Although Jiang Dongping is also fair and gentle, he is physically strong. He makes Meng Li feel safer standing next to him than Zhou Changsheng.
Mrs. Meng liked it immediately and said to Zhen Zhen:
"It's much better than Zhou Changsheng, but people say his mother is mentally ill and is afraid of strangers. She couldn't even visit her son when he got married. I'm afraid my daughter Meng Li will have a hard life if she marries him."
Zhen Zhen always felt that Jiang Dongping's mother was not mentally ill. Why did this sound a bit like what people in later generations call social phobia? It's just more serious than social phobia, fear of crowds and fear of socializing.
"We can wait and see. The young man is handsome and will be nice to Meng Li. After Meng Li marries him, she will be Zhou Changsheng's neighbor. Let the Zhou family regret it!" Zhen Zhen said.
Mrs. Meng felt relieved when she thought about it.
Old Lady Meng also liked Jiang Dongping's looks, so being good-looking is an advantage. In addition, Jiang Dongping was a very honest person. No matter how his two brothers, Old Lady Meng and Meng Li, tried to get him to drink, he would not refuse. He would drink one glass at a time and then two glasses at a time until he got himself drunk.
Zhen Zhen did not approve of the drinking culture at that time, but he had to say that Jiang Dongping's performance made the Meng family very satisfied.
In the evening, after Jiang Dongping sobered up, Meng Li sat beside him with a red face. He felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong.
"What...what happened? I didn't say anything impolite when I was drunk, did I?"
Zhen Zhen was steaming buns for Mrs. Meng and smiled, "Not really."
Jiang Dongping breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhen Zhen added: "But you knelt down before the boss, saying that you wanted to marry his daughter, paid fifty yuan as a betrothal gift, and set a wedding date, saying that you wanted to marry Meng Li right away."
Jiang Dongping could vaguely remember something and realized what he had done. But since the words had already been said, they might as well go with the flow. The two decided to get married in the spring.
Zhen Zhen was also surprised by the speed.
The Jiang family’s house was too small, so the two wanted to add some money and exchange houses with someone else.
"My mother told me to take the betrothal money back. I plan to move to a bigger house. Now I have three options, but I don't have much experience in buying houses. Auntie, please help me keep an eye out." Meng Li said.
Zhen Zhen didn't expect them to be so anxious.
"Don't you plan to wait a little longer? Maybe Jiang Dongping's unit will give you a house."
"I don't plan to wait. A 20-square-meter house with two rooms means we have to cook, eat, and sleep together. It's really too crowded."
Zhen Zhen can understand that, whether now or in the future, Chinese people are obsessed with houses. Who doesn't want to have a spacious and bright home? Living comfortably in it will also make you feel comfortable when you go out to work, right?
Housing is tight these days, houses are hard to sell, and few people are buying houses.
Although the situation is not so tense anymore, the housing prices are high again, and it is still not easy for young people to buy a house.
Jiang Dongping told Meng Li to make the decision and change whichever set she liked, and he had no opinion at all.
Meng Li took Zhen Zhen on a bicycle to see the houses. These three houses all have their own merits.
The first house belonged to an elderly couple who had lost their son. Their daughter had married and moved away, and their son had fallen into a river and drowned while trying to rescue someone two years ago. The couple had a house of more than 60 square meters, and if they wanted to exchange it with Jiang Dongping, they only had to pay 60 yuan.
The second one belonged to an old lady who ran a not-so-formal nursing home and wanted to sell the extra bungalow. Zhen Zhen was not very optimistic about this one.
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