Siheyuan: Bringing Warehouses to 1959

What does five dollars mean? Many people in the city can only earn four five-dollar bills a month.

Zeng Wangcai was once again labeled as "Ha'er" and laughed, "I'm just teasing you. If you don't want me to pay you back, you won't be able to buy this thing even if you have money."

When the lid of the pot was opened, the broth of the braised mixed fish was just right, with a rosy color and tempting aroma, indicating that this dish was a success.

Attracted by the aroma, Zhang Xiuzhi took a look at the pot and then sighed: "You don't know how to live. Anyone who eats like this will go bankrupt."

"Believe it or not, I can't do it. I have many ways to make money. These are nothing." Zeng Wangcai replied casually.

First, pick out the corn cakes and throw them into the colander in Zhang Xiuzhi's hand, then put a large pot of miscellaneous fish into the basin.

Zhang Xiuzhi helped silently, but finally couldn't help but speak: "Zeng Wangcai, I want to go to Sijiu City to work and support myself. Do you have any connections?"

This was a disguised way of telling Zeng Wangcai that she was not here to get married, nor was she here to eat free meals, but she wanted to support herself.

Grandma had said this this afternoon, and Zeng Wangcai was mentally prepared: "You can't make money doing odd jobs. You don't have a hukou, so it's impossible to find a good job. In fact, if you want to make money, you don't have to go to the old city to do odd jobs. Food and drink in the old city are tight right now. How about we start a business together?"

Zhang Xiuzhi looked at Zeng Wangcai as if he were a fool: "Now private businesses are not allowed, I understand!"

"We are not doing serious business, we don't make mistakes, we just deliver fish to some units in the city..."

Zeng Wangcai's plan unfolded slowly. He sold fish and some mountain products. As long as it had nothing to do with the production team, it wouldn't be a big problem.

There are rivers, ponds, and large bodies of water such as reservoirs here, so it is normal to catch fish. Zhang Xiuzhi caught fish in a wild pond in the afternoon.

"Okay, I'll make it and you'll sell it. How much do you want?"

"Money is easy to talk about. We'll figure it out later."

"That won't work. Brothers should settle accounts clearly..."

Zeng Wangcai had no choice but to promise to take Zhang Xiuzhi to Sijiu City to sell the goods and then discuss the money issue. It was not that he was pretentious and didn't want to talk about money, but that he didn't understand the market.

Fish generally costs about 40 cents per pound, but what about size? Is there no difference in price between small and large fish? There are other things, such as dried bamboo shoots.

The most critical thing is that the prices of food other than official ones on the market, especially meat, are getting more and more outrageous, and will be even more outrageous next year and the year after, and cannot be measured by normal prices.

For example, if a pound of meat is 78 cents at the food station, you can easily earn several times the price if you take it to the pigeon market.

After this was agreed upon, the two of them went out, one carrying a basin and the other carrying a dustpan. Zhang Xiuzhi smiled, as her worries were finally resolved. She was in a happy mood, and happiness inevitably shows on one's face.

Grandma saw Zhang Xiuzhi's expression and was very happy. She felt that her eldest grandson's marriage would have an 80% chance of success.

A large pot of braised fried fish was brought up and placed on a bamboo bed, immediately attracting most people's attention.

"Hey, Wangcai, when did you learn how to cook? This fish you cooked is... absolutely amazing."

"Wangcai is really capable, but... he put too much oil in it."

"As long as it tastes good, Wangcai bought the oil himself, and even if I give it to you, it won't stop you from eating it."

"I just feel bad for Wangcai spending money..."

The elder and younger aunts quarreled, and the elder aunt scolded the younger aunt for being talkative. In fact, everyone felt sorry for her because the oil used in one dish almost lasted a week.

Zeng Wangcai knew that changing their ideas would take time and effort, and that it would be useless to just talk about it; it had to be done step by step, so he did not explain.

Without further ado, they started eating. Zeng Youhuo did not drink any wine as expected. He picked up a cornmeal cake and handed it to his grandmother. Second aunt Ma Ping gave one to Zhang Xiuzhi first. They took care of both the elder and the outsider, and then the two children from Zeng Chunfang's family.

Zeng Wangcai was not idle either, and gave each of his three younger sisters a rice cake.

"Thank you, brother..."

Grandma looked at the harmonious family scene with a smile, opened her mouth and took a bite of the poop: "Delicious!"

There is no need to mention the braised mixed fish. Except for Xiaohuan who had some loaches and eels, everyone else picked up their chopsticks without even looking at the food they were eating.

What? Spitting?

How could I bear to spit it out? I just chewed it and swallowed it. It's not like I can't eat it. It would be a waste to spit out such delicious food.

Everyone was very satisfied with this unprecedented meal. In the end, they even drank the juice in the basin and ate it with the steamed bread. There was no need to wash the basin.

After the meal, Zeng Chunfang and her sister left the dried bamboo shoots and each took the cornmeal and some seasonings that Zeng Wangcai brought back.

A formation of bamboo beds was set up in the yard, with three maids sharing one bed. Zeng Wangcai and the brothers Xiaohu and Xiaobao were fiddling with their rifles, while grandma was sitting on a bamboo chair and talking to Zhang Xiuzhi.

"Xiuzhi, what do you think of Wangcai?" Grandma asked quietly, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.

Zhang Xiuzhi is carefree and not embarrassed in front of others, but not in front of her grandmother. She is very well-behaved. She feels from the bottom of her heart that her grandmother is good to her, even better than her own family.

"Grandma, didn't I tell you that I'm still young? We'll talk later..." Zhang Xiuzhi thought for a moment and couldn't help but say what she really thought, "Grandma, I told you not to be angry. He... doesn't know how to live."

Grandma understood that her daughter probably thought her eldest grandson's hands and feet were too big.

Grandma knows how to explain this kind of question: "So, we need to find him a strong wife who can control his hands and his mouth. Grandma thinks Xiuzhi is a good one."

"Grandma, you're talking about this again. I've already made an agreement with him to do business together."

"What kind of business is this? Don't be silly, kid. Doing business is illegal now. Erdan from the village secretly raised chickens and wanted to sell eggs. He was almost arrested. Grandma told him to go. Our family doesn't need a bite of food for you."

"Grandma is not like what you said. She said that catching some fish and shrimp and selling them to the established unit is not against the law."

"Not against the law? Go ahead and do whatever you want. Grandma is old and doesn't understand a lot of things in the city. Things change every day."

As she spoke, grandma leaned back in the bamboo lounge chair and slowly closed her eyes, as if she had fallen asleep.

Zhang Xiuzhi fanned her grandmother with a palm-leaf fan for a while and found that her grandmother's breathing was steady under the starlight and she seemed to be really asleep.

She got up, took a piece of cloth to cover her grandmother, went back to the room and closed the door. After a while, she came out having changed into clean clothes and walked out with a bamboo basket slung around her waist.

When they reached the gate, Zeng Wangcai called her: "Where are you going so late at night?"

"Catch the toad!"

Zhang Xiuzhi couldn't stay idle day or night. She thought that toad was such a delicious thing and city people would definitely like it.

Zeng Wangcai hurried back to the house, carried his tool bag and came out, grabbed a bamboo basket, and followed Zhang Xiuzhi.

The brothers, Little Tiger and Little Leopard, wanted to follow them immediately, but were stopped by their shrewd grandmother: "You two are everywhere, take a rest, I'm telling you, your big brother and Xiuzhi are going out alone, unless you are asked, you two should not follow them..."

If you catch frogs late at night, won't you be able to catch them all together?