60s: I have a store

Chapter 503: Raid on Shangshui Village
Zhou Yimin thought about it. Director Zheng saw Zhou Yimin's embarrassment and felt very unsure. If Zhou Yimin couldn't help, he could not count on others.

"Director Zheng, how many vacancies are there in the factory?"

Director Zheng quickly said, "We still need 1,000 kilograms of pork!"

Zhou Yimin's eyes widened in shock: "Director Zheng, there is such a big difference. How much did the meat processing factory approve?"

Director Zheng was a little embarrassed: "It's less than 300 kilograms!"

“This is the amount for the entire quarter!”

Fortunately, Zhou Yimin did not drink the water, otherwise he would really spray out the water in his mouth.

“Is the meat processing plant also short of meat now?”

Director Zheng could only nod helplessly.

Zhou Yimin said: "One thousand kilograms is a bit too much. It may not be possible to get so much meat at one time."

"It can only be shipped back in two or three batches, Director Zheng, is this okay?"

Director Zheng didn't dare to have any objections as long as the meat could be transported back to the factory.

"Yes..very..yes."

"I don't know, when can it be shipped back? Do you need help?"

Zhou Yimin shook his head: "No need for help, how about this! It's a little late today, I'll bring a pig back tomorrow."

Director Zheng was even more excited: "Yimin, thank you so much!"

"Director Zheng, this is all for the service of the people," Zhou Yimin replied.

“Yes, it’s all for the service of the people.”

Zhou Dazhong quickly came to the transportation department and saw Zhou Dafu who was maintaining the car. He hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Dafu, you are so hardworking!"

Chow Tai Fook knew who the voice belonged to without even turning his head.

"Come here, do you want to help again?"

Chow Tai Fook knew that Chow Da-chung was the kind of person who would never come to his temple unless there was something important to do.

Zhou Dazhong smiled brightly: "Dafu, you still understand me. This time I have to go to Shangshui Village to buy vegetables. The quantity is a bit large, so Uncle Sixteen asked me to come and ask Captain Li for help."

Chow Tai Fook pointed but didn't say anything.

Zhou Dazhong was a little anxious: "Dafu, please say something."

Zhou Dafu was a little helpless: "Didn't I point you in the direction?"

Zhou Dazhong finally reacted: "Sorry!"

After saying that, he headed in the direction that Chow Tai Fook had just pointed.

Following the direction Zhou Dafu pointed, we soon saw Captain Li.

Captain Li was seen sitting on a chair with a cup of tea and some peanuts next to him.

Eat a few peanuts and drink some tea from time to time.

Zhou Dazhong went up to greet him: "Captain Li!"

Captain Li looked up and saw that it was Zhou Dazhong: "Dazhong, do you need a car again this time?"

Zhou Dazhong said: "Yes!"

Captain Li then stood up and drank the tea in the cup.

You know, tea is not cheap nowadays, so you can’t miss it.
Soon, he met with Zhou Dafu and Captain Li. The three of them packed up briefly and set off for Sheungshui Village.

Captain Li drove the steel plant's slightly worn-out but still sturdy truck out of the city and sped along the winding road.

This was not the first time that the three of them had been to Sheung Shui Village. They were very familiar with the route and did not need anyone to lead the way.

The car bumped along the dirt road, and in less than an hour, it stopped steadily at the entrance of Shangshui Village.

But Zhou Yimin was careless and forgot to greet the village chief Wang of Shangshui Village in advance.

Now that’s great, the village didn’t arrange anyone to pick vegetables at all.

However, the security team of Shangshui Village had sharp ears and could hear the rumbling sound of the truck's engine from a long distance away.

The security team members knew that it was most likely people from the steel plant who had arrived, so they ran to tell Village Chief Wang the news.

When Village Chief Wang heard this, his heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself that something was wrong.

But he was also a man who had seen the world, and he quickly calmed down. While shouting loudly to gather the village's labor force, he walked quickly towards the village entrance.

He knew clearly that Zhou Yimin and the steel plant were important customers for Shangshui Village, and he could not let the relationship become strained because of this negligence.

When they arrived at the entrance of the village, Captain Li drove the truck slowly into everyone's sight before long.

Village Chief Wang smiled and walked forward quickly, saying apologetically, "I'm so sorry, everyone! Our vegetables are still growing in the fields. We'll arrange for someone to pick them. Please wait for a moment."

As he spoke, he took out the cigarettes he had prepared in advance from his pocket and handed them to the three people enthusiastically.

When the security team members in the village saw that it was Daqianmen cigarettes, they were extremely envious. However, due to the usual majesty of Village Chief Wang, they could only watch Zhou Dazhong and the other two take the cigarettes, light them up skillfully, and start puffing away.

Captain Li smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Village Chief Wang, it's okay. We are so familiar with each other, this little thing is nothing."

After hearing this, Village Chief Wang felt relieved.

He quickly brought Zhou Dazhong and the other two to his home, offered them a seat and poured them tea, and arranged for them to rest first. He then went on to direct the villagers to pick vegetables.

In order to pick the vegetables as quickly as possible, Village Chief Wang spent a lot of money and mobilized almost all the labor force in Shangshui Village.

Suddenly, the fields were crowded with people, men, women, old and young, all joining in the action, and everyone was full of energy.

The fields were bustling with activity.

The strong men held hoes and with one digging motion they skillfully pulled cabbages, radishes and other vegetables out of the soil with their roots, with their movements being clean and neat.

The women followed behind, bending over, gently shaking off the dirt from the roots of the vegetables with their hands, and then carefully stacking them in a bamboo basket on the side, their eyes focused and serious.

The old men sat under the shade of the trees by the field. Although they were not as strong as the young people, they were not idle. They were responsible for the preliminary sorting of the vegetables in the bamboo baskets, picking out those with worm holes, those that were too small or those of poor quality, and they kept muttering to themselves, "We can't give the bad vegetables to our comrades in the steel plant."

After all, it took Village Chief Wang a lot of effort to establish this connection with Zhou Yimin, so he no longer has to sell vegetables to the commune.

You know, the price offered by the steel mill is much higher than that of the commune, and they are not as picky as the commune. However, in order to maintain the relationship, Village Chief Wang also made it clear that vegetables with poor appearance or worm holes must be picked out.

The villagers of Shangshui Village also knew the importance of selling the best vegetables to the steel plant, so they all did as the village chief Wang said.

At this time, Erdan, a notoriously naughty boy in the village, was competing with a few of his friends to see who could pick more fruits faster.

Erdan was seen jumping up and down in the vegetable field like a nimble little monkey, his eyes wide open, not missing any ripe vegetable.

He spotted a big, round cabbage, rushed over, grabbed the cabbage with both hands, and lifted it up with force.

But the cabbage had deep roots, and Erdan used too much force. His feet slipped, and he fell backwards. With a plop, he sat down in the mud, still holding the cabbage tightly in his hands.

The friends were startled by the sudden noise at first. They turned around and saw Erdan's disheveled appearance, his face covered with mud and his clothes dirty. They immediately burst into laughter.

Erdan, however, didn't care. He grinned, revealing his two missing front teeth, and raised the cabbage in his hand, shouting, "Look, my cabbage is the biggest, I win!"

His appearance made everyone laugh so hard that they fell over, and the originally busy and tense atmosphere of picking became relaxed and joyful.

With everyone's concerted efforts, it took about three hours, less than four hours, to pick all the ripe vegetables in the field.

With everyone's concerted efforts, it took about three hours, less than four hours, to pick all the ripe vegetables in the field.

After hearing the news, Village Chief Wang felt relieved. Fortunately, Captain Li and his team did not have to wait too long.

He looked at the sky and saw that the sun was already overhead, so he invited them, "Captain Li, it's getting late now. Why don't we have lunch in the village before we leave? The villagers have been busy all morning and are hungry. Only when they are full will they have the strength to load the truck, right?"

Captain Li was actually thinking about getting the vegetables back to the factory as soon as possible, but looking at the busy figures of the villagers in Shangshui Village, he really couldn't bear to refuse.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded and agreed to Village Chief Wang's invitation. It didn't matter what time it happened.

Everyone came to the big dining hall in Shangshui Village. Village chief Wang went to get food himself. After a while, he came back with several large bowls of food.

He said with a little guilt: "Captain Li, the conditions in the village are simple and we don't have anything good to offer you. Please don't be offended."

Captain Li took the bowl and said with a smile, "Village Chief Wang, you are too polite. Nowadays, having a stutter is already very good."

You know, in this era of extreme material scarcity, many people couldn't even get enough food to eat, and could only make a living by digging tree roots and gnawing on tree bark.

Not everyone can think of Zhoujiazhuang and have a Zhou Yimin.

Normally, whenever Zhoujiazhuang entertains important guests, they will invite them to Zhou Yimin's home.

There is no way, the home with the best food in Zhoujiazhuang is Zhou Yimin's home.

You have to know that having enough food is the most basic thing, and you can also eat meat, and the amount of meat is quite a lot.

Even milk powder and honey, which are very rare in the city, can be seen in Zhou Yimin's home.

From this we can see how powerful Zhou Yimin is.

After everyone hurriedly finished their lunch, Village Chief Wang began to arrange for the villagers to weigh and load the vegetables.

I saw that the villagers had a clear division of labor.

Several people work in a group, some are responsible for moving the weighed vegetables to the truck, while others stand inside the truck and stack the vegetables neatly.

A burly man picked up a large basket of cabbages in his arms. The basket seemed heavy in his arms, but he walked steadily and handed the basket of cabbages to the carriage with a "Hey!"

The people in the carriage hurriedly reached out to catch them, and then carefully arranged the cabbages in a row.

Next to them, several young girls were responsible for carrying bundles of green spinach. The veins on their slender arms were slightly visible, but they gritted their teeth and ran back and forth, with serious expressions on their faces.

Not far away, there were a few children helping. Since they were not very strong, they were responsible for picking up the scattered potatoes and putting them into small bamboo baskets, and then handing them over to the adults to load them into the car.

Everyone cooperated well and the loading site was in full swing. With people's shouts and work songs, baskets and bundles of vegetables were quickly piled up into a small hill in the truck compartment.

I can only say that there is strength in numbers. Thousands of kilograms of vegetables were loaded onto the truck in less than an hour.

After seeing that the truck was loaded, Captain Li took Zhou Dazhong and Zhou Dafu, said a brief goodbye to Village Chief Wang, started the truck, and slowly left Sheungshui Village.

Back at the steel mill, the workers saw trucks driving in from a distance.

The factory hadn’t distributed benefits for a long time recently, and everyone was craving for meat. When they saw the truck, someone shouted excitedly: “Look, is the meat coming back?”

In an instant, the workers who were busy in the workshop stopped their work and gathered around the truck, their eyes full of anticipation.

But when the truck stopped and the tailgate slowly dropped, revealing a truck full of fresh vegetables, a sigh of disappointment suddenly rang out among the crowd.

"Hey, why are they vegetables? I thought I could eat meat to improve the diet."

A young worker hung his head, looking disappointed. "That's right, I haven't tasted meat for a long time. These vegetables look good, but they are not as satisfying as meat."

An old master next to him couldn't help but shake his head.

However, some workers soon adjusted their mindsets. "It's good to have fresh vegetables, which is better than eating dry pickles."

A female worker smiled and comforted everyone.

Zhou Dazhong returned to the purchasing department with a whole truck of fresh vegetables.

Colleagues from the purchasing department were delighted to see this batch of vegetables of excellent quality.

"This vegetable is really delicious, much fresher than what you buy at the market. Where else can you find such good vegetables at the market?"

A brother from the purchasing department said this as he couldn't wait to pick up two or three pounds of tender green beans.

Other colleagues followed suit, and soon, many people were holding freshly bought vegetables in their hands.

"Now I can show off my cooking skills to my family when I get home. This fresh dish must taste delicious."

A young man said happily.

Everyone was filled with joy. After all, in this age of material scarcity, being able to buy such fresh vegetables was a rare pleasure.

Zhou Dazhong put all the remaining vegetables into the warehouse and then went to the finance office to collect the money.

He was holding a thick stack of money in his pocket, and he was very nervous. He really didn't dare to carry so much money by himself, for fear that someone would rob him on the way.

If that happened, he couldn't afford to pay for it. So he hurried to Zhou Yimin's office, handed over the money, and said, "Uncle Sixteen, please help me give this money to Village Chief Wang. I really don't dare to take so much money for fear of something going wrong."

Zhou Yimin looked at Zhou Dazhong's cautious look, smiled and shook his head, stretched out his hand to take the money, and said: "Okay, don't worry, I will definitely hand the money to Village Chief Wang. You have completed the task well this time, go back and have a good rest."

Zhou Dazhong felt relieved. After thanking him repeatedly, he turned and left.

(End of this chapter)