Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

The next day, Chen Xueru contacted Pian Ye to ask about the house (don't consider the timeline, normally it would take a few years for Pian Ye to sell the house), while Zhao Shanhe went to find Li Huaide and Li Lianjie to discuss how to solve the problems encountered by the Purchasing Department.

Yan Bugui and He Jiecheng of the Yan family decided to go to work early in the morning, so the task of finding a matchmaker was handed over to the third aunt.

When Zhao Shanhe arrived at the factory and asked the two leaders, he realized that the matter was not so easy to resolve.

Li Huaide took out a pack of unopened Zhonghua cigarettes from the drawer, opened it, and handed one to Li Lianjie and Zhao Shanhe respectively. After they lit up the cigarettes, the deputy factory director spoke.

"We are in big trouble this time. I called Lao Ye last night, and he told me that the meat processing plant will not have any more pork in storage before mid-January next year. The meat in the cold storage now has to be kept for any emergencies. So if you want to provide meat to the factory, you can only rely on yourselves. You can forget about the supply from the city."

Zhao Shanhe knew this was no joke. The steel rolling mill had become a factory with tens of thousands of employees since the expansion of recruitment. Although he provided some fish and meat to Qiao Laoliu every month and had him deliver them to the factory, it was just a drop in the bucket. If the employees could only see a little oil occasionally for two months, it would be strange if they didn't make a fuss.

"Director Li, since the beginning of winter, the supplies available to the towns and villages surrounding Sijiu City have been reduced by more than half, and the purchase of meat is even more difficult. If there are problems with the planned supply again, the factory may be in chaos.

Moreover, not only is it difficult to procure unplanned meat, but even the vegetables and wild delicacies in the small kitchen are running out of supply. We can’t let the leaders only eat cabbage, radishes and potatoes for the whole winter, right?”

Li Lianjie had just taken the position of logistics director, and was afraid that he would be left out because of a failure to procure goods. He talked to Zhao Shanhe about the difficulties encountered by the logistics department. Finally, Li Huaide asked them to go back first. He had also figured it out, and since there was no other way, he could only call his father-in-law for help.

The call was made directly to the Ministry of First Machine Building. After the secretary transferred the call, Li Huaide spoke to the person on the other end of the line.

"Dad, I've encountered some difficulties at work here, and I have to ask you for help."

Otherwise, how can he be called a leader? After some communication on the phone, the deputy minister pointed out a clear way for Li Huaide. The other party also knew that the city could not purchase things and the whole Hebei Province was also hit by the disaster. So they could go farther away, for example, to the grassland to purchase some cattle and sheep.

As for the letter of introduction and items for exchange, it is even simpler. Just go to the Ministry of First Machine Building to get a note. There is a shortage of everything on the grassland except cattle and sheep. Food, cloth, and daily necessities can all be purchased from Sijiu City and shipped directly over.

After Li Huaide put down the phone, he called Li Lianjie and Zhao Shanhe back to the office. After explaining the situation to them, Li Lianjie sat on the sofa without saying a word, and decided that he would definitely not go on this field trip. Not to mention the long journey, it was winter, wouldn't it be better to sit in the office? Why bother to suffer this?

Zhao Shanhe’s idea was exactly the opposite of his. That was a grassland, a place he usually had no chance to go to even if he wanted to.

It has been a year since he got the small world, and the living creatures are still the same three: pheasant, native chicken and rabbit.

Although there are still four wild boars that can be used for inbreeding, the birth rate is too slow. Moreover, the consequences of inbreeding are high incidence of disease, poor resistance, and a growth rate more than twice slower than that of ordinary wild boars. Zhao Shanhe would never eat such wild boars even if he were beaten to death. Who knows if there will be any problems.

So when he heard that he could go to the grassland, he thought of the endless herds of yaks and sheep. He even thought about what to exchange for them. Seeing that Li Lianjie didn't say anything, Zhao Shanhe took the initiative to ask.

"Director, has the department said where we are going to trade cattle and sheep with the herders? Is it Hulunbuir or Xilin Gol?"

Li Huaide was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Lianjie's silence. Although it was hard to go out in such a cold weather, if he succeeded in doing this, he would be a hero of the factory. He could not say anything else, but he would definitely be the factory's advanced producer. If he worked hard, he might even become a municipal model worker.

But opportunities in life are like this. Sometimes it seems like a bad thing to you, but it is a good thing in the eyes of smart people. Seeing Zhao Shanhe asking, he put out the cigarette in his hand and replied.

"Hulunbuir is too far, a round trip of 4000 kilometers, so the Ministry of First Machinery Industry suggested going to Xilin Gol, which can save two-thirds of the journey by a round trip of more than kilometers.

The exchange materials have been considered by the Ministry. Xilin Gol does not produce rice, so you can bring some with you when you go there. The factory will also produce some ironware for daily use there. Finally, some thick cotton cloth will be enough. "

Zhao Shanhe listened to Li Huaide's explanation while calculating the things in his own little world.

It is impossible to trade living things. One reason is that there is no shortage of meat on the grassland. The other is that he has been supplying fish and meat to the factory through Qiao Laoliu for some time, and he does not have much left of his own.

There is a lot of grain, including the white horse tooth corn that cannot be traded, and a small amount of Jingxi rice. Unfortunately, this thing cannot be traded either, otherwise something bad would definitely happen.

Fortunately, he also planted some wheat and ordinary rice. He couldn't take out the excess of flour and rice, so a few tons would still be fine. In fact, he was overthinking it. Even if he could take it out, how many herders would have the courage to exchange it with him?

The rest are hard currency. Cabbage, cucumber, tomato, green pepper, carrot and other vegetables will definitely sell well on the grassland. Green vegetables have always been the most scarce thing for herders.

Finally, there are some fruits, which are even more powerful on the grassland. Even though Inner Mongolia produces apples, that place does not produce oranges. Once you take them out, you can definitely exchange them for some rare things on the grassland.

Zhao Shanhe is still not satisfied. It would have been great if he could have gone there last year. At that time, the sale of tea had not been banned yet and he could have bought several hundred kilograms and exchanged them for anything he wanted. Unfortunately, tea now has to be purchased with coupons, and you can only get one or two ounces a year. This is no joke.

Li Huaide waited for a while and saw that neither of them responded to his question. He thought that Zhao Shanhe didn't want to go either, so he spoke directly.

"We need a leader for this trip. Who of you two will go?"

Zhao Shanhe only realized after hearing what Li Huaide said that he was a little distracted, and hurriedly spoke.

"Director, the logistics department cannot do without Director Li. I'm still young and in good health, so I'll go on this field trip.

It just so happens that purchasing meat is also my job. Besides, Xilin Gol is not far away. If the department can make the arrangements, 10 days will be enough for the round trip.”

PS: It is 600 kilometers from Sijiucheng to Xilin Gol, and it only takes 8 hours to drive there in modern times, of course, there is a highway.

Considering that there were no decent roads in the 60s and that domestic cars were all products of the World War II era, running 30 kilometers per hour was considered extremely fast, and 40 kilometers was the limit, so forget about arriving quickly.