Siheyuan: Becoming a cadre after graduating from technical secondary school

(If you see the names Lin Chaosheng, Lin Qing, etc. in the book, please remind me, these are the names of the protagonists of the author's other books.)

Sister Qin's meaningful words did not scare Lin Zongxuan, but frightened Xu Menghua so much that he almost could not sleep all night.

Early the next morning, Xu Menghua woke up Lin Zongxuan and took the supply and marketing cooperative's weight to the branch secretary's house.

Qin Sanshan, the party secretary of Qinjia Village, is over 60 years old and is wearing a patched Zhongshan suit. As soon as they met, he started to complain to Lin Zongxuan.

"Team Leader Lin, Cadre Lin, when we were setting up the commune a few years ago, everything was collective and the quantity was large. You said the purchase price was a bit lower, but now everything is personal, so the price has to go up a bit."

"It's just like eggs. They were 3.5 yuan a few years ago. They are still 3.5 yuan now. People in our village are not willing to sell them."

Lin Zongxuan glanced at Xu Menghua calmly, and smiled bitterly: "Secretary Qin, this is the price given by the factory. If we want to raise the price, we have to make up for it ourselves. Who dares to do this these days?"

It has to be said that in this era, anyone who can make it from the countryside to the city and own a house and a car (bicycle) is quite capable. The egg factory buys eggs at a price of 5 cents each, but Xu Menghua was able to get it down to cents. That's his own ability, and Lin Zongxuan can't say anything.

Qin Sanshan was just complaining out of habit, but when he saw that he couldn't persuade Lin Zongxuan, he gave up and quickly notified all the villagers through the village committee's loudspeaker.

"The buyers from the city are here. The buyers from the city are here. Every household should be prepared. Bring your goods and gather at the village committee compound in half an hour."

"By the way, don't take the 'Purple Tai Sui' from Qin Jingdong's house. He doesn't want it because he thinks it's fake."

You know what, it looks pretty good.

The two men borrowed a few large sacks from the village chief's house and set up a chat at the entrance of the village committee. After a while, someone came to the door.

The man was holding a basket of eggs in his left hand and an old hen with a red string tied to its foot in his right hand. He asked very skillfully right away, "Will you take this chicken for 2 yuan?"

Xu Menghua took the old hen and weighed it in his hand. He estimated the weight without even putting it on the scale: "Less than three pounds, about 1 yuan."

"I say, Officer Xu, are you accurate? If not, weigh it. It's definitely over three kilograms."

Xu Menghua did not refute, but smiled and said: "Sister, if you want to weigh it, we will weigh it, and we will not talk after we weigh it."

After saying that, he put the old hen on the scale, attached the weights to it, lifted it up high and took a look. Sure enough, it weighed 2 pounds and 13 ounces.

（59年之前我国一斤是16两，59年6月25日开始改成1斤等于10两，但是考虑到我奶奶说7.80年代还在用16两的老秤，所以本文在这一段剧情还是用16两。）

The lady saw that it was less than three pounds, so she took the pile of colorful banknotes and left.

Just like that, soon a long queue formed in front of the village committee. Xu Menghua was responsible for weighing and bargaining, while Lin Zongxuan was responsible for paying and keeping accounts. The two had a clear division of labor and did their work efficiently.

This trip also allowed Lin Zongxuan to truly broaden his horizons. Although they went to the countryside to purchase mainly food, Xu Menghua would accept anything from wild boar trotters to a ball of chicken feathers.

At noon, when the two were about to close the stall, a timid voice came over: "What's the price of the gray rabbit?"

Lin Zongxuan was sorting things out of a sack, and without even looking up he said, "A live one is 2 yuan, regardless of male or female, and a dead one is 5 yuan."

After she finished speaking, he felt that the voice seemed familiar. He stood up and saw Qin Jingru, who was wearing a red scarf, standing beside him, holding two fat gray rabbits in her hands.

The little girl sniffed her red nose from the cold and it looked like she had been waiting in line for a long time.

"These two are a pair. How about 6 dollars for them together?"

"Okay, why not?"

Xu Menghua chuckled and agreed without paying attention to Lin Zongxuan's surprised look.

After the girl left, Xu Menghua raised his shoulder and bumped Lin Zongxuan with a teasing look on his face: "Yesterday I saw you looking at the girl several times. If you like her, just settle on her first."

Lin Zongxuan shook his head in silence. He didn't expect that Xu Menghua would misunderstand him for looking at him a few more times yesterday. After all, he really didn't mean that.

This is also because he does not understand the difference between the current views on marriage and love and those in the future.

Decades later, no one would be interested in a little girl who was still in junior high school. However, in the 60s, although the legal marriage age for women was not less than 18 years old, it was common for girls in rural areas to get married at the age of 16.7 or .

People like Shazhu in the Siheyuan who are still unmarried in their 30s are called old widower, a rare species.

After the two of them sorted out their things, Xu Menghua produced two small sacks from nowhere and gave one to Lin Zongxuan. He pointed to a pile of things that had not yet been accounted for and whispered, "Let's divide them up. You pick up what you want first."

Lin Zongxuan understood and picked up some light and easy-to-carry things, leaving the rest to Xu Menghua. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Can you get a box of Lekoufu malted milk?"

(It should have been renamed "Shanghai Brand" Malted Milk by this time, but I didn't want to have this kind of place name appear, so I kept the old name.)

"What do you want that big iron box for?" Xu Menghua asked curiously, his hands moving.

Comrade Xiaolin said calmly: "Make a pen holder for my sister."

,,,,,,

At two or three in the afternoon, after the two arrived in the city, Lin Zongxuan took his things and went home first.

When he walked to the alley in front of his house, he saw that everything was quiet around him. He suddenly disappeared for a while. When he appeared again, he had two large carps with scales removed and a can of malted milk in his hands.