Reborn in 1977

Chapter 38: Storytelling

A table was set, with the five Yang brothers, Master Zhu and his three disciples, plus Liu Jujiang and Chen Fan, making exactly ten grown men.

Each person had a bowl of wine in front of them, except Chen Fan, who had a large sea bowl with a wine pot warming in hot water, and a small wine cup in his hand, which Yang Ju had thoughtfully prepared for him.

Master Zhu glanced at it and couldn't help but smile, "Little Chen must come from a refined family. My master used to say, 'Don't drink cold wine in autumn and winter, don't walk at night, and don't accept official silver when doing business, and you'll be free from illness and disaster all your life.' It's a pity that these old-fashioned ways haven't been seen in the last ten years."

If it had been before October of last year, he wouldn't have dared to say these words. However, after the bad guys were overthrown, he had to adhere to principles on important matters. On small matters, no one would gossip anymore. In just a few months, the social atmosphere had changed a lot.

For example, celebrating the New Year was something that could only be thought about behind closed doors in the past ten years, with at most a more lavish dinner on New Year's Eve.

But this year, the supply and marketing cooperative put up Spring Festival couplets and firecrackers on the shelves early, along with many other New Year goods, which is a big change.

When Chen Fan heard Master Zhu's words, he quickly chuckled, "I'm just weak and my stomach doesn't feel well when I drink cold wine. It's nothing else."

Master Zhu smiled slightly and didn't say much.

Captain Yang picked up his wine bowl and naturally changed the subject, "Today, we must thank Master Zhu and his two talented disciples for their help, and also thank Master Liu and Little Chen for their hard work. Come, let's have a drink."

Chen Fan, who had been promoted to Little Master, picked up his small wine cup, cheerfully clinked glasses with everyone's wine bowls, and took a small sip of wine. A warm current went down his throat, and his body quickly warmed up.

However, drinking on an empty stomach was indeed a bit uncomfortable, so Chen Fan prepared to eat some food to suppress it.

But before he could touch his chopsticks, he saw that no one at the table was moving their chopsticks, and they were all looking at Captain Yang.

What's the meaning of this?

After taking a sip of wine, Captain Yang put down his wine bowl and then spread out his hands, "Come, come, eat the food."

Liu Jujiang didn't speak, and the others wouldn't say a word. Only Master Zhu laughed, "The host first, the host first."

Captain Yang deliberately put on a stern face, "Master Zhu, don't be polite. How dare we move our chopsticks if you don't?"

Master Zhu continued to decline politely, "Captain Yang, you are the eldest brother, and we also have our Old Yang here, who is also an older brother. The older brothers should go first."

Captain Yang's eldest brother also joined the food-offering process, "Master Zhu, you are highly respected, you go, you go."

After pushing back and forth two or three times, Master Zhu finally picked up his chopsticks, grinned, and said, "Then I won't be polite!"

Captain Yang spread out his hands, "Come, come, try Master Liu and Little Chen's craftsmanship."

Only then did Master Zhu pick up a piece of fried pig liver and put it in his mouth. His eyes immediately lit up, and he gave Chen Fan a thumbs up, "Fresh, tender, and juicy, with no fishy smell. Little Master Chen, what a skill!"

Chen Fan grinned dryly, not knowing how to respond.

Damn it, even eating a piece of food is so troublesome, so tiring.

I didn't see so much red tape yesterday.

So, Captain Yang doesn't regard me as a guest?

After Master Zhu took the first bite, everyone else picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

Except for Chen Fan, the first dish that everyone else ate was not the scalding hot pig-slaughtering dish, but the three dishes fried by Chen Fan.

Blood sausage, stir-fried pig liver, and twice-cooked pork.

Unlike later generations, when people can sit at home and eat dishes from all over the world with their mobile phones, in this era, what you can eat is local cuisine. At most, when outsiders marry in or move their families, they bring new dishes.

So, no one present had eaten these dishes.

When they tasted them at this time, they immediately praised them repeatedly, their chopsticks moving non-stop and frequently raising their glasses.

Although Chen Fan really wanted to taste the familiar taste, he really couldn't compete with them, so he simply set his sights on the pig-slaughtering dish.

Master Liu's skills can't be said to be very good, just the level of an ordinary village banquet chef, but it's not bad either, stronger than the home-cooked dishes made by Aunt Yang.

A pot of pig offal and pork stewed until soft, blending with the juice of fresh cabbage, not greasy and with a suitable saltiness, whetting people's appetites.

After a few rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, everyone opened up their chatterboxes.

Of course, the most talked about was Master Zhu, the guest of honor today.

After Chen Fan had eaten his fill, he slowed down, carefully savoring the warm wine, drinking and eating, and listening to some "old stories" from this era.

Master Zhu had already taken off his cotton-padded jacket, wearing only an autumn shirt, with a broad build like a door god. He picked up his wine bowl, took a sip, ate a piece of meat, and began to tell the old stories that he had told countless times.

"In 1962, the higher-ups issued a notice that not only would they implement assigned purchases, requiring each household to raise pigs according to the number of people, and sell them to the food station, but they would also increase the purchase price of livestock pigs, and reward grain and industrial products to farmers who sold livestock pigs to the food station.

That was a good time. Raising a pig was as good as a strong laborer, and every household was naturally willing to raise pigs. I couldn't handle it alone, so I submitted a report to recruit people. The leaders agreed to assign two apprentices to each of our seven masters. My first batch of apprentices was also recruited at that time.

By the second year, the situation of not being able to collect pigs during the three-year period had completely changed, and 'negotiated purchase and sales' was added, allowing prices to fluctuate up and down. That year, we overfulfilled the task. I slaughtered more than a thousand pigs alone.

In 1965, a pilot program of advance payment for livestock pig purchases was implemented."

He turned to look at Chen Fan, who was listening attentively, and immediately regarded him as a confidant, explaining in detail, "What does it mean? It means that as long as the assigned purchase task is assigned to you, I will first give you the grain you deserve for selling pigs, and then when you bring the pigs to the food station to sell, we will make up for any shortages or surpluses based on the weight. This immediately aroused the enthusiasm of the people. In that year, the county purchased more than 100,000 livestock pigs, 100,000! How could we eat them all?"

Chen Fan blinked his eyes, silently calculating how many kilograms 100,000 pigs were.

The meat yield of pigs is generally between 70% and 80%. If we calculate it at 70%, the minimum standard for a pig is 120 kilograms, and the minimum meat yield is 84 kilograms. 100,000 pigs is 8.4 million kilograms?

At least 8.4 million kilograms?

Scary!

But calculating the per capita consumption, if a county has 300,000 people, the average annual consumption per person is only 28 kilograms? A little over two kilograms a month?

This is assuming that all the pork stays locally. In fact, most of the pork is supplied to large cities, and very little can stay locally!

Master Zhu took a gulp of wine and ate another piece of food.

Unfortunately, at this time, the meat dishes had been almost eaten, not to mention the dishes made by Chen Fan. He could only pick up two chopsticks of freshly picked cabbage and red cabbage moss to drink with.

Wiping his mouth, Master Zhu continued, "Where could we eat so many pigs? That year, most cities across the country canceled pork coupons and opened up the supply, but we still couldn't sell them all.

Why? Because most people couldn't afford it. More than a dollar for half a kilogram of pork, how many families could afford to eat it every day?

As a result, a lot of meat spoiled and was thrown away, which was a pity.

If we couldn't sell all the pork, then we certainly couldn't keep buying it openly, so we changed our method and came up with a method of 'visiting pigs at the door, issuing certificates if they are qualified, and scheduled and fixed-point, and scheduled purchases', which finally solved the problem of 'increased inventory'."

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but twitch his lips.

The problem of increased inventory was solved, but what about the production team members' families who invested costs and effort?

Master Zhu certainly didn't say, he couldn't control it, he just continued, "Later, in 1966, the policy changed, and the assigned purchase and reward sales methods were completely and thoroughly canceled. Now, that's good. Without assigned purchase tasks and no reward sales rewards, how many people are willing to raise pigs?"

He turned to look at Captain Yang, "At that time, how many people in our Lujiawan raised pigs?"

Captain Yang tilted his head and smiled, "How many percent? Basically, they all raised one to kill and eat for the New Year, and no pigs were raised to hand over for the task."

Master Zhu patted the table and turned to look at Chen Fan, "Look, look, the people are not fools. The purchase price of a live pig is 35 cents per kilogram, and in some places it doesn't exceed 45 cents at the highest. What is the market price of live pigs outside the task? 98 cents per kilogram!"

Chen Fan's eyes widened immediately, a price difference of 63 cents?

Master Zhu spread out his hands, "The price difference is so big, and the rewards are canceled. No grain is given and no tickets are given. Who is willing to raise them?

As a result, in 1968 and 1969, we couldn't collect 50,000 heads each year. They were all people who killed New Year pigs, kept half and sold half, which led to the re-emergence of pork coupons.

In 1973, we temporarily restored some reward sales and assigned purchases. Just as it was starting to have an effect, it was canceled again, until it was re-determined last year to restore it. That's when more people started raising pigs."