Siheyuan: I earned foreign exchange in the heyday

On the way home, I brought some peach cakes for my two sisters. They were 6 cents a pound. It was better to eat meat at this price. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a meat ticket. Besides, being a meat seller in the yard meant asking for trouble. Either someone would come to my door to ask for meat, or I would have to attend a meeting, and I might even be reported. If I had nothing else to do, I might as well buy some pig head meat.

Then let’s order three pounds of peach cakes first and take them home.

Taking advantage of the fact that Yan Fugui, the door god, was away, he went straight into the house and saw his two sisters making cornmeal porridge with pickles.

The two sisters stopped shouting and stared straight at the peach cake in Chen Changan's hand.

Chen Changan put the peach cake on the table, smiled and said, "Eat it, I bought it for you. My eldest brother reported to the steel mill today, so I bought you some snacks to celebrate."

Looking at his two younger sisters happily eating peach cakes, Chen Changan thought that it was already 1957, and when he had time he would buy a few large vats for the family. By 1958, he would need to store more food. He could catch some fish and keep the live ones in the vats.

After watching his sisters finish eating and packing up the remaining snacks, Chen Changan planned to go see what fishing rods were like in this era in the afternoon, buy a fishing rod, and then make some bait himself to prepare for fishing for silver carp and bighead carp. All anglers in later generations know that you need to use floating fishing to fish for silver carp and bighead carp, and use atomized bait as bait. If you can't buy it, you can make it yourself.

Those who fish by the Yongding River fish for earthworms every day. These silver carp and bighead carp have never been caught by anyone. I wonder if there will be a lot of catches when I go there tomorrow.

I did it as soon as I thought of it. I got up and went out to buy a fishing rod.

After going out for a while, I was dumbfounded. The fishing rod I had bought fell into the river and I didn't know where to buy it. I went around a few markets and found that this crudely made broken fishing rod cost me three dollars?

After thinking about it, Chen Changan ran to the river to find Uncle Xiao. He saw Uncle Xiao smoking happily by the river from a distance. He walked to the bucket and saw it. He shouted, "Hey, Uncle Xiao, you are a fast learner. The two fish are not small." He picked them up and saw a black fish and a catfish. He gave a thumbs up and said, "Great, Uncle Xiao, you are a fast learner."

"That's right. Don't you see who I am? Fishing is just like that."

Seeing Uncle Xiao's arrogant expression, Chen Changan also laughed. He said, "Uncle Xiao, I'm going to go fishing tomorrow, but I don't have a suitable fishing rod. I think your fishing rod is good, where did you buy it? I'll buy one too and show you how to do it tomorrow."

"It's not easy to buy my fishing rod. It was given to you by someone else. How about this, I'll give you a fishing rod tomorrow, but let's make a deal, you can keep one, but you can't keep the rest." Grandpa Xiao said with a smile.

"Okay, you want to learn all my fishing skills, then I will come tomorrow morning, and I can bring my own things. You need to make me a set of fishing rods according to the one you are using now."

Uncle Xiao agreed nonchalantly.

"Then you go ahead, I have to go prepare something else."

After discussing the issue of the fishing rod, it was already past three o'clock. Chen Changan hurried to the market and bought a few pounds of wheat bran, tofu dregs, corn flour, and garlic.

After you get home, steam it first and then add garlic. If you don’t have stinky tofu and silver carp and bighead carp like the sour and smelly smell, then add some sauerkraut soup and put it outside to dry.

It was already past four o'clock when Chen Changan finished his work. The eldest sister came back and started cooking directly.

Seeing corn paste again, I suddenly remembered that there was no vegetables at home. If I didn't buy them, my sisters would be reluctant to buy them. It seems that I have to buy some vegetables next time I go out. I took out the peach cakes left over from lunch. We sat down together and started eating.

"Brother, how did the work discussion go when you went to Aunt Wang's place today?" Xiujuan asked Chen Pingan during the meal.

Chen Pingan, who was eating corn paste and peach cakes, said, "I found Aunt Wang today and arranged a job at the steel mill. I found Deputy Director Li of the steel mill and finally arranged it to the third purchasing department. From now on, your brother will be a purchaser at the steel mill. The salary for an eighth-level clerk during the internship period is 33."

When they heard about the salary of 33, the two little sisters' eyes lit up. It was such a high salary. Xiuhua thought that her elder brother might buy her a new dress during the Chinese New Year. Xiujuan thought that she could eat delicious food in the future. It would be great if she could eat meat every day instead of once a week. Xiuying was not like her sisters. She nodded and continued, "So, should we go and thank Aunt Wang when the time comes?"

"You don't need to worry about these. I still have to hand in purchasing tasks to the factory every month. I will have to go to the countryside or go fishing frequently to complete the tasks. When I find something good, I will send some to Aunt Wang's home."

Seeing that her elder brother had made all the arrangements, Xiuying nodded to show that she understood.

I don’t know if it’s because Chen Changan started working and getting paid or because they had snacks today, but the two sisters were particularly noisy at home tonight, running around the house screaming.

Looking at this heartwarming scene, Chen Changan felt that the burden on him had become heavier.