Siheyuan, Me and the Yu Sisters

Lu Yong glanced at Sha Zhu and saw that he was still standing there stubbornly. He snorted coldly.

"Silly Zhu, this week you are responsible for unloading and cleaning the stove, and wiping the four windows in the back kitchen."

When Sha Zhu heard this, he got angry. Unloading was not an easy job. He had to move the food for thousands of people in the canteen from the main warehouse and cold storage to the canteen's own small warehouse. He also had to clean the stove and windows. Everyone knew that the oil on the stove and windows was the most difficult to clean. If Sha Zhu took this job, he would have no time to relax for a week. Sha Zhu retorted loudly:

"Lu Yong, are you seeking revenge? How can I do this on my own? You need to recruit more people for me."

Lu Yong sneered

"Everyone has work to do, who should I add to your team? You can find someone who is willing to help you. If the standards are not met, don't blame me for not telling you in advance."

After saying that, Lu Yong went out. Lu Yong understood the hint from Zhang Renkang's eyes. How could it be possible for Sha Zhu to take it easy in the kitchen?

Outside the cafeteria, Zhang Renkang told Lu Yong

"Don't overdo it, just follow the normal intensity schedule."

Lu Yong said angrily

"This idiot Zhu is really unrepentant. He was just saying in the kitchen that he was going to find something to hold against you."

Zhang Renkang sneered and said

"With his brain, he can commit the crime on his own without us having to target him."

"Then we can get rid of him legitimately."

Lu Yong nodded in agreement. Zhang Renkang told Lu Yong a few more things to do tomorrow and left. Zhang Renkang planned to find Li Huaide to tell him that he was going to the countryside tomorrow and open the letter of introduction. He had to find a few pigs for the space ranch. After all, pork was still the mainstream meat these days. Just as Zhang Renkang was walking towards the office building with his hands behind his back, he suddenly found Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai walking stealthily to a corner beside the workshop. Zhang Renkang followed them curiously.

Qin Huairu said in a wronged tone at the back corner of the workshop

"Uncle, you know that my three children are growing up and need to eat a lot, and my mother-in-law needs to take painkillers. I only have a ration for myself, and I have spent all my money. Now there is still a week before the shutdown, and I really have no food at home. Can you lend me five dollars to buy some food?"

Yi Zhonghai said slowly

"We are short of food. Sigh, given your family's situation, Zhuzi is now an apprentice and probably won't have the energy to help you much. But once he has established himself in the cafeteria, you will have lunch boxes."

"How about this, go to the cellar tonight and I'll get you some cornmeal."

Qin Huairu was not willing to listen to corn flour. She wanted money to buy some white flour and meat. There was still some corn flour at home. Jia Zhang and Bang Geng were making trouble at home and eating meat these days. Qin Huairu said coquettishly.

"Uncle, can you give me five dollars first? I'll buy some after get off work."

“There was no food at home at night”

Yi Zhonghai is not a fool. Although he doesn't know whether the Jia family is really out of food, he knows whether the Jia family has money. Looking at the charming Qin Huairu in front of him, the evil fire in Yi Zhonghai's heart suddenly came up. The idea that has been circling in his mind for a month has completely taken root. Yi Zhonghai said

"Where do I have the money? Your aunt is in charge of it at home. Wait until night, and I'll give it to you when we get to the cellar."

Qin Huairu had no doubts. Seeing Yi Zhonghai agree to pay, she nodded and said delicately:

"Uncle, thank you so much, otherwise your family would really be starving."

Zhang Renkang heard the conversation between the two and knew that Yi Zhonghai was going to the cellar to give Qin Huairu food at night. He couldn't help but think, why give some corn flour at night? This is not a very expensive thing, and it has to go to the cellar. What is Yi Zhonghai's plan? After they finished talking, Zhang Renkang quickly hid in another corner and watched them enter the workshop, then walked towards the office building with his hands behind his back.

Li Huaide saw that Zhang Renkang was going to the countryside, and he did not doubt it. He thought that they wanted to see Zhang Renkang for something, so he wrote a letter of introduction and said

"Renkang, if you come back with anything good, don't forget to let me know. We can eat it here, too."

Zhang Renkang knew that he had misunderstood, but he did not explain and responded with a few words, then took the letter of introduction and left.

The next morning, Zhang Renkang packed up and rode his bicycle to Changping. The road was full of potholes and almost broke Zhang Renkang. He saw a large village near a mountain in the distance and stopped. Zhang Renkang looked at his watch and saw that it was a little after 9:40 in the morning. It was about 50 to 60 miles away from Sijiucheng by bicycle, so he rode his bicycle to the village. After more than ten minutes, he crossed a bridge and arrived at the village.

As soon as he arrived at the village entrance, he was stopped by four militiamen on guard. Zhang Renkang took out his letter of introduction and handed it over. The militiamen were illiterate, so they asked one of them to call the secretary, while the other three raised their guns and looked at Zhang Renkang warily. Zhang Renkang smiled bitterly and said,

"I'm telling you, comrades, keep your guns down. It's bad if they go off accidentally. How can I be a spy dressed like this? Have you ever seen a spy ride around on a bike so brazenly?"

The three men saw that what he said made sense, and Zhang Renkang was wearing a brown Mao suit and trousers, wearing a watch and riding a bicycle. He really didn't look like a spy. Besides, there was nothing in his farm that would make the spy want to be interested in it. So they put down their guns and relaxed.

Zhang Renkang took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and handed them to the three of them. They lit one and smoked and started chatting. Zhang Renkang learned that this was Dujia Village, which was close to Yanshan Mountain and had a river running through it. The soil was fertile because it was backed by mountains and close to water. It was one of the larger villages in the surrounding area.

Soon the militiaman who had left came over with two strong men. When they saw Zhang Renkang, the older man handed back the letter of introduction and said,

"Hello, comrade. I am the secretary of this village. My name is Du Minshan, and this is my brother Du Minggang. May I ask what can I do for you?"

Zhang Renkang handed over three Daqianmen and said with a smile

"I am Zhang Renkang, deputy director of the kitchen at the Red Star Steel Mill in Sijiucheng. This is my work ID."

He handed his work ID to Du Minshan and continued

"As you know, our factory is really short of supplies right now, so I thought I'd come down to see if there's anything suitable to purchase."

Du Minshan looked at the ID and saw that it said, Zhang Renkang, 21 years old, deputy director of the canteen department of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, deputy section level. The scarlet steel stamp proved that it was a genuine ID. He handed back Zhang Renkang's work ID and thought in surprise that this young man was already a cadre at such a young age. You really can't judge a person by his appearance. He said with a smile:

"Chief Zhang welcomes you to our Dujia Village. Let's go in and talk."

Zhang Renkang followed Du Minshan and Du Mingang into the village brigade and arrived at Du Minshan's office. The three of them sat down and Du Minshan said with embarrassment

"Chief Zhang, we in Dujia Village do need to exchange some things with the workers, but we previously cooperated with the Thirteenth Machinery Factory in this city, so they may not be able to provide much."

Zhang Renkang said with a smile

"That won't affect anything. I want to buy some medicinal herbs or something like that. It would be best if I could get some vegetable seeds and fruit tree seedlings. That won't affect your transaction, right?"

Du Minshan and Du Mingang looked at each other, and Du Mingang said

"Chief Zhang, it's not difficult for you to have these things, but I don't know what you want them for?"

Zhang Renkang sighed and said

"It's getting harder and harder to buy things now. We have a lot of vacant land in the factory, so we plan to open up a few plots of land and try to grow crops in the spring. Wouldn't that solve part of the demand?"

"After all, the seed station is provided to the commune. If we go there, you should know."

Du Minggang nodded, glanced at Du Minshan and said

"That's easy. I'll ask the villagers to find some seeds for you. The price is this."

Zhang Renkang said with a smile

"The price is negotiable. How about 50 cents for half a pound of seeds? I'll charge one dollar for each fruit tree seedling. Just help me deliver it to the main road 20 miles south of the village."

Du Minshan continued

"Okay, we agree to this price. We only have apple, apricot and jujube trees. We can't dig up jujube trees, so I can only give you 15 apples and 15 apricots each. How about that?"

This price is actually quite a lot. How much can these seeds be worth? They are just common vegetables. As for the fruit trees, you can just go to the back mountain to dig them. Isn't it just a matter of effort to dig them out and send them twenty miles away? The thing that rural people have the most is labor.

Zhang Renkang then said with a smile

"If there are any wild delicacies like ginseng in the village, I want them too. If you have any other rare things, you can bring them to me, okay?"

Du Minshan nodded and said

"Minggang, go to the village and call someone to bring the things to the brigade, and let Section Chief Zhang pick them out."

Du Mingang nodded and stood up to go to the village to greet each household. Zhang Renkang took out a big front door from his pocket and handed it to Du Minshan and said

"Secretary Du, there's nothing good this first time. Please don't be polite. If you have anything good in the future, please save it for me and I'll come again."

Du Minshan felt embarrassed to see Zhang Renkang being so polite. This was the entire Daqianmen Street. When he went to the town for a meeting, the mayor was not so generous. He only smoked local tobacco and cigarettes. Du Minshan smiled so hard that his mouth split open and declined.

"How can Section Chief Zhang be so embarrassed?"

Zhang Renkang stuffed it into Du Minshan's desk drawer and said

"I will have to trouble Secretary Du in the future, so please don't be polite."

Du Minshan was very happy and promised to help Zhang Renkang keep an eye out for good things in the future. After a while, dozens of villagers arrived one after another. Zhang Renkang saw that most of them were young girls and old ladies. He thought that most of the strong laborers were working at this time. Zhang Renkang took an old ginseng handed over by the aunt in front of him and looked at it. It was about 30 years old. He said

"Ma'am, how much do you want to change?"

The old lady said happily

"This was dug up by the kid's father when he went hunting in the mountains. I don't know much about it. I want to exchange it for some food. You decide what to give."

Zhang Renkang thought for a moment and said

"How about I give you 20 kilograms of national food coupons and five dollars?"

In this day and age, wild ginseng is not worthless, but the villagers don't know how to use it. It's better to exchange it for some food. Of course, the old lady was happy to take the money and leave with a smile. In less than half an hour, Zhang Renkang exchanged more than a dozen old wild ginseng, one of which was more than a hundred years old. Zhang Renkang exchanged it for 20 yuan and 30 kilograms of food coupons.

He also exchanged ten kilograms of tiger bones, two porcelain bowls, and a jade pendant of unknown origin. Although Zhang Renkang didn't know much, he had a lot of money, so he exchanged it for fun. Zhang Renkang spent more than half an hour and spent 160 to 170 yuan, more than 80 kilograms of food coupons, and 20 feet of cloth coupons. Du Minshan and Du Minggang were stunned.