Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

There was no point in knocking on the door of a yard like this during the day, so the only option was to shout. After hitting a wall a few times in the past few months, Zhao Shanhe had learned to be smarter and stood outside the fence and shouted into the house.

"Is anyone home?"

The more you talk, the more mistakes you make. In the countryside, if you directly say that you are a purchasing agent from the city, you won't be able to buy anything. There are always those idle people who can't stand others doing better than they are. If someone sells too much, they will report to the commune.

After these words were shouted out, not long after, the door of the house was pushed open from the inside, and an old man whose age could not be determined came out. He was wearing a dog-skin hat and a khaki cotton coat. If he was dressed like this before liberation, he would be easily mistaken for a landlord. In fact, these were taken from the homes of real landlords when the land was distributed, and ordinary people could not afford them.

As for not being able to tell his age, it's because people in rural areas generally look old, and working hard in the fields is no joke. The old man went out and looked at Zhao Shanhe outside the fence, and then at the bicycle next to him, and he knew that he must be someone from the city, and most likely a purchaser.

At this time, those who came to the countryside on bicycles were either postmen in green or commune leaders in white shirts. As for Zhao Shanhe, who was wearing work clothes, not to mention the village chief, even the dogs in the village knew what he did. This was why the militia at the entrance of the village was so polite.

Purchasers don’t just use money to buy things. Sometimes the village is short of some tricky things, such as cloth, gloves, hoes, sickles, etc. Those resourceful purchasers can get them from the city and send them to the village. This not only solves the village’s problems, but also purchases things. Therefore, the relationship between purchasers and rural areas is mutually beneficial.

The old man looked around and saw that there were no people around, so he opened the gate and let Zhao Shanhe in. In the countryside this winter, few people had nothing to do but stroll around. This winter was not the warm winter of the 21st century, and temperatures of more than 20 degrees below zero were really common.

The old man asked after Zhao Shanhe entered the yard and put away his bicycle.

"Little comrade, which factory's buyer are you from? Are you here to buy eggs in our village as well?"

This statement comes from a veteran. That's right, since Yan Jiecheng knows that there are eggs in this village, then the buyers from other factories are not stupid. How could they not come here to purchase when they are well-informed?

When Zhao Shanhe saw that the other party didn't let him in, he knew that the other party was still on guard, so he took out his ID and handed it over and said.

"Are you the head of this village? I'm a purchaser for the Third Steel Rolling Mill. Here's my ID. The militia at the gate showed me the way, so I was able to find this place."

Seeing that the other party had finished looking at the ID, he took out a Pegasus cigarette from his pocket, handed it over and continued.

"I heard in the city that Wanglizhuang Village has many hens and eggs. This trip really opened my eyes. Every household raises chickens. It can be seen that this is all thanks to you. Come and smoke one."

The old man returned the ID, took the cigarette and saw that it was a Pegasus brand, and grinned.

"This is all the credit of the society. It has nothing to do with me. Hey, Pegasus cigarettes, are these cigarettes considered average? They cost 3 cents a pack."

Zhao Shanhe lit a cigarette for the old man. After the old man introduced himself, he found out that the other party was actually a relative. His name was Zhao Desheng. He had been the village chief of this village since liberation. After a chat, he gained some confidence in this purchase.

After all, at that time all the big factories in the city had buyers like him, and the more powerful ones were responsible for the purchase of collectives and villages. The big factories had money and tickets, which could be exchanged directly with the communes.

The Third Steel Rolling Mill is a factory that is not as good as the others but better than the others. Several villages are monopolized by them, but those are the trump cards controlled by Section Chief Li Lianjie. How can small buyers like them possibly touch them?

After smoking two cigarettes and revealing some secrets to each other, Village Chief Zhao let Zhao Shanhe into the house to drink some hot water. This was also a sign of advancement, meaning that I approve of you. Tell me what you want to buy.

Zhao Shanhe entered the main room, which was a place in the countryside for receiving guests. There were bedrooms on the left and right. If you went in there without the permission of the host, you would be looking for trouble. After three months of experience, he had some understanding of the rules in the countryside, so he did not do anything out of line.

After Village Chief Zhao poured him a bowl of hot water, he thanked him and then spoke.

"Village Chief Zhao, let's be frank. I want to buy some old hens from your village. If you don't have any, eggs will be fine too. Can you help me see what the village needs?"

After the previous mutual testing, the two of them roughly understood each other's bottom line. Zhao Desheng did not pretend to be weak. He took out a notebook from a small bamboo basket hanging on the wall, flipped through it and said.

"The village can give you two old hens, but they can't lay eggs. As for eggs, I have to ask every household to find out how many there are. But the family that gave you the two old hens said that they only want cloth coupons or cloth. They plan to make a new set of clothes for their children before the New Year."

Zhao Shanhe nodded in agreement as soon as he heard it. At that time, meat and cloth were both hard currencies, and no one would lose out by exchanging them.

"Village Chief, we both have the same surname, so I'll just call you Uncle Zhao. It'll be more comfortable this way. Maybe we were one family a few generations ago."

"Haha, whatever you want, call it whatever you feel comfortable with. Do you want this hen?"

Zhao Shanhe opened his messenger bag and took out two cloth coupons, one one foot long and one five feet long.

This one is from 1956. I couldn’t find the one from 59.

"Uncle Zhao, according to the current pigeon market price in the city, a hen that can't lay eggs is two yuan, and two is four yuan. I'll give you six feet of cloth coupons, plus two yuan. That should be enough, right?"

How could a village chief like Zhao Desheng not know the ticket price at the Pigeon Market in Sijiu City? Seeing that the price given by Zhao Shanhe was very fair, he nodded and replied.

"Okay, let's do it as you say. I'll go ask for eggs for you now. How many do you want?"

As for the village where he could buy eggs, Zhao Shanhe would like to get as many as possible, but he can't be too confident.

"Uncle Zhao, I'm going to need your help with this. The more the better. Don't worry, I will not let you work in vain."

This is also the rule of the purchasing industry. No village chief will work for you for free. Their surname is not Lei. In the end, you have to give them some benefits before they come back next time. As for how much advantage he takes from the villagers, that is not the purchaser's business.

Zhao Desheng didn't let Zhao Shanhe wait too long. He came back with a basket after more than half an hour. He went into the house and put the things on the only table in the room.

"You've made it this time, over 50 eggs, is that enough for you?"