Chapter 39: Trust Needs Strengthening
After chatting about old times, they chatted about current affairs.
Master Zhu lifted his clothes and wiped his sweat, his double chin quivering.
This made Chen Fan suddenly think of a saying, "A flower in the department store, a double chin in the food station." So that's what it meant?!
The fat-headed, big-eared Master Zhu turned to look at Captain Yang and said with a smile, "There shouldn't be any substandard pigs in the team this year, right?"
"Mmm, mmm."
Captain Yang swallowed the food in his mouth, nodding and smiling. "The standard of 120 jin is still relatively easy to meet."
Master Zhu grinned. "Easy to meet? Do you know where that standard came from?"
Captain Yang's expression froze, staring at him intently. "Where did it come from?"
This question really hit him. As the production team leader, the qualified pig rate was also an important indicator. If the standard was set high, it would definitely not be easy to meet. If the standard was set low, then his work would be easier to complete, so he naturally paid close attention to it.
Not only him, but also Liu Jujiang and the other four Yang brothers were staring straight at Master Zhu.
Master Zhu stretched out two fingers, his hand oily and smooth, with a thick layer of grease, thicker than the soup in the pig slaughter dishes.
He looked around at the crowd and said mysteriously, "When setting the standard at the meeting, the county initially set it at 138 jin, which was higher than last year's (calculated according to the lunar calendar, it was 1975) 135 jin. Even one jin less wouldn't do, because if the pig was small, there definitely wouldn't be enough lard.
As a result, the directors of the food stations in all 13 communes in the county disagreed. Why? If the standard was set so high, what would they do if they couldn't complete the task?
Last year, because they canceled the rewards, they almost didn't complete the task. Our director came back and was very angry, calling the acquisition staff over and scolding them, saying that they usually took advantage of people, resulting in the acquisition volume almost not meeting the standard, so we definitely can't do that this year. Finally, after bargaining, we set the standard at 120 jin."
Then he turned to look at Chen Fan. "Whether the acquisition standard is high or low is related to whether ordinary people can make a profit from raising pigs. If they meet the standard, they can earn a little. If they don't meet the standard, the extra meat can only be sold to the production team. The production team takes a cut, and in the end, it still flows to the food station. How big of a loss do you think the ordinary people will suffer!"
Chen Fan opened his mouth, looking as if he had gained a lot of insight.
Oh, my goodness, can they play like this?
...
After the wine was drunk and the ears were hot, Captain Yang finally remembered that Chen Fan still had to go to Lujiawan Team 5 to teach how to cook soft-shelled turtle, and Master Zhu also had to rush back to the commune for something, so they finished eating and broke up.
When Master Zhu was leaving, he grabbed Chen Fan's arm. "Young man, not bad. Next time you go to the commune, come to the food station and find me. I'll buy you a drink."
It was rare to have someone willing to listen to him tell those old stories. Today, he had said everything he wanted to say and drank to his heart's content. This young man was worth making friends with.
Of course, if he could show off two more dishes next time they met, that would be even better.
That twice-cooked pork really suited his taste. The stir-fried pig liver was also delicious, and the blood sausage was also very good. The food station didn't have anything else, just a lot of pork, especially pig offal, which he was tired of eating every day. He had to find a way to learn these two dishes. All those offal had been wasted in the past!
Chen Fan naturally agreed, smiling broadly and agreeing.
From Captain Yang's flattery of Master Zhu, he knew that this pig slaughtering master was no ordinary person.
When he was watching the pig slaughtering earlier, Jiang Lili had also secretly told him that the food station was a threshold. Whether a pig assigned for purchase weighed a few jin more or a few jin less was controlled by the acquisition staff on their steelyard. If they padded the steelyard with their little finger, the pig would pass. If they pressed down on the steelyard , even if it met the standard, it would have to be taken back.
So people who worked at the food station were considered a generation higher in the production team. When ordinary commune members saw them, regardless of age, they had to call them uncle. It wasn't surprising to see people in their forties and fifties calling young people in their twenties and thirties uncle or even grandpa.
Even the production team leader and the brigade leader had to call them brother in person; otherwise, they wouldn't know where they had offended them. They would have them go back and say a few strange words, and they would press down on your team's steelyard. It wouldn't matter if you went to the commune director.
Because the food station and the commune weren't on the same line, just like the supply and marketing cooperative director, who was so awesome that he could wag his tail in front of the leaders of the prefectural committee.
Since you couldn't control them but you had to ask them for things, you had to carefully hold them.
Although Master Zhu wasn't an acquisition staff member, he was one of the veterans of the food station. Everyone from top to bottom gave him some face. Maintaining a good relationship with such a person was a hundred times better for people living in the countryside than connecting with a county-level leader.
Of course, Chen Fan was happy to befriend such a person, so he immediately agreed and said that he would make him sliced beef and offal in chili sauce, stir-fried pig heart with soy sauce, stir-fried pig lungs with hot peppers, dry pot fat intestines, stir-fried kidney flowers....
Master Zhu seemed to be hungry again and was about to leave.
Captain Yang laughed loudly on the side. Seeing that he was about to leave, he quickly grabbed him, took out four packs of cigarettes and two yuan, and took the four pig trotters and a piece of pork tied with a rope from Aunt Yang's hand and stuffed them into Master Zhu's hands. "You've worked hard today. Come over when you have time another day and have a good drink."
Master Zhu wasn't polite, putting the money in his pocket and the cigarettes in his pocket, and gave the pig trotters and pork to his apprentice to hold. Then he grabbed Captain Yang's hand and said, "It's really too busy today. I have to go back to slaughter pigs. I'll come again next time and taste the soft-shelled turtle meat you mentioned earlier."
Captain Yang immediately pointed to Chen Fan. "Then you have to find him. He's the expert at making soft-shelled turtle."
Chen Fan still agreed, making Master Zhu laugh.
After politely sending off the pig slaughtering master, Chen Fan turned back to Captain Yang and said, "Captain, look at me, I'm full of alcohol. Should I go back and wash my face before going to Team 5?"
Captain Yang nodded. "It's only 12 o'clock. Go back and rest for a while. Anyway, Team 5 is close, only half an hour away. It's fine to go there at one or two o'clock."
Chen Fan waved his hand. "Well, Captain, I'll go back first."
Captain Yang waved to Jiang Lili. "Keep an eye on him."
Jiang Lili quickly nodded. "Okay, okay."
The two came out of Captain Yang's house. Chen Fan opened his cotton coat and strode back, with Jiang Lili following beside him, watching him carefully, afraid that he would stumble and fall.
Seeing Jiang Lili's appearance, Chen Fan laughed. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
After a pause, he looked back and said mysteriously, "The alcohol content will decrease after the wine is warmed. I also poured a little wine into the hot water in the sea bowl while they weren't paying attention. It looks like I have a lot of alcohol on me, but I didn't actually drink much."
"Ah?"
Jiang Lili was first surprised, then lowered her head and couldn't help but laugh, pursing her lips.
She didn't expect Chen Fan to have this trick. She estimated that no one else had thought of it either. In this era, people only complained that they didn't have enough wine to drink. Who would waste wine?
Chen Fan opened his coat, feeling relaxed.
Today, he had gained a lot in half a day.
First, he helped build the stove and assisted with the work, gaining 11 points of housework experience. Then, he watched Master Zhu slaughter pigs, activating the Butchering Skill. Next, he taught them how to make blood sausage, twice-cooked pork, and stir-fried pig liver, gaining 10 points of teaching experience and 5 points of cooking experience.
Finally, he ate and drank, not only filling his stomach but also slightly increasing his constitution by 0.2 and his strength by 0.3.
The current attribute panel was:
Constitution: 8.2/10
Strength: 6.3/10
Agility: 7/10
Intelligence: 9/10
Spirit: 9/10
SKILLS:
Housework LV3 (20/100)
Beast Language LV1 (4/10)
Cooking LV4 (20/200)
Teaching Skill LV2 (20/50)
Butchering Skill LV2 (5/50)
Compared to the weak white newbie from the day before yesterday, he had made rapid progress.
Chen Fan was now full of hope for the future.
Walking on the road, he suddenly thought of the two yuan and the piece of meat that Captain Yang had given to Master Zhu. He couldn't help but ask, "Master Zhu and the others are people from the public sector. Did they receive money for slaughtering pigs privately or publicly?"
Hearing this question, Jiang Lili was silent. After a long while, she said softly, "I...I don't know either."
Hearing this, Chen Fan understood. He turned to look at her and said with a smile, "Look, I'm telling you everything, but you're still hiding things from me. The trust between us needs to be strengthened."
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Post a Comment