Chapter 20 Village Chief Wang Asks for Help When Zhou Xuqiang saw his wife coming, he knew what was going on without any prompting. He quickly told the team leader and left work early and worked harder tomorrow. "Okay, go back!" For Zhou Yimin's sake, the captain would not stop this guy. Watching Zhou Xuqiang walk away with his wife, some people envied: "This guy is so lucky." "It must be back for a big meal." "Need I say more? In our village, only Uncle Sixteen can afford to eat meat, and he works in a steel factory." “If only I could work in a steel mill.” The captain glared at those people: "It's not even dark yet, what are you dreaming about? Hurry up and finish these, then go to the canteen after work, aren't you hungry?" When I think about going to the cafeteria, my stomach almost growls.
Sweet potatoes are really not good for hunger, but there is nothing we can do! They still have sweet potatoes to eat in Zhoujia Village, and I heard that Shangshui Village is already living on wild vegetable soup. In comparison, eating sweet potatoes is very blissful. Zhou Xuqiang smelled the fragrance before he even entered the door and immediately quickened his pace. His wife had just told him that Yimin had cooked rice, egg custard, fried bacon with garlic sprouts, and enough oil for stir-fried vegetables to last them for ten days. In short, the food during Chinese New Year is not that good. "Oh! Uncle, what kind of wine is this?" He saw the bottle of wine next to the old man and his eyes widened. "What do you care about my wine? You don't have any share. Yimin brought it back for me. If you want to drink, go and pour yourself half a bowl of sweet potato wine. If you don't want to drink, just eat." The old man said unhappily. Zhou Xuqiang's saliva was almost flowing out, and he looked eager. "Uncle, let me taste it!" he said, licking his face. Zhou Yimin couldn't bear to watch it any longer: "Grandpa, let him have a taste." After the eldest grandson spoke, the old man poured a little, just two small sips. However, Zhou Xuqiang was already very satisfied. He took a small sip carefully, smacked his lips a few times, and savored the taste. If I'm not mistaken, this is Moutai! I can brag to others in the future that I have drunk Moutai. "Grandma, eat more. This egg custard is delicious, nutritious and easy to digest." Zhou Yimin scooped a large spoonful of tender egg custard for his grandma. "Okay, okay! Grandma, eat." The old lady almost had sand in her eyes again. Her son had never picked up food for her, but she got to eat the food picked up by her grandson. Lai Fu and his friends only started eating when they saw the adults picking up their chopsticks, and they ate like the three little pigs. Although they really wanted to eat meat, their mother had warned them, so they didn't dare to take too much, and they were still quite polite when they picked up the dishes. Except Zhou Yimin, everyone enjoyed the meal very much.
Especially Lai Fu and his two siblings, with their bulging bellies, they thought, it would be great if they could eat so much every meal, the meat and eggs are so delicious. I hope my brother will come back to the village more often in the future. Only when the eldest brother comes back can they eat well. Everyone was digesting their food, only Third Aunt was cleaning up the dishes, but she had no complaints. When she went back, Zhou Yimin's grandmother gave her two bags of milk powder. "Yi Min feels sorry for his three cousins, so take this back and give it to Lai Fu and the others!" The old lady did not forget to tell the woman that this was given by her eldest grandson. Third Aunt couldn't help wiping away tears on the spot. "Okay, go back!" The old lady knew that her words had touched the other person's soul. At this time, the village canteen also opened for lunch. Several people from other villages came to Zhoujiazhuang, led by the village chief Wang from Shangshui Village. He heard that Zhoujiazhuang had got a batch of sweet potatoes from somewhere. Another person in their village starved to death today, so he had to come to Zhoujiazhuang with a thick face. However, when they were almost reaching the village canteen in Zhoujiazhuang, they were stopped. Village Chief Wang could already smell the sweet potatoes and maybe potatoes. The villagers who came with him couldn't help swallowing their saliva and their stomachs started to growl. I could have held on for a while, but when I smelled the food, my stomach started to rebel. "Where is your old party secretary? I have something to discuss with him." Village chief Wang said. "Wait a moment!" Someone ran to report. Not long after, the old branch secretary came and looked at Village Chief Wang, with whom he had a good relationship, with a wary look on his face: "Old Wang, what's the matter?" He must not be here to borrow grain. If so, then forget it. Zhoujiazhuang really didn't have any extra grain to give to others, not even sweet potatoes. He had to be responsible for the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang. Village Chief Wang frowned deeply, handed the old Party Secretary an economic cigarette, and sighed: "Alas! Another person starved to death today. I heard that your village got sweet potatoes, so I came to ask where you bought them." He brought all the money from the village. If we don’t get food quickly, some people may not be able to hold on tomorrow. What a damn world. The old branch secretary originally didn't want to reveal it, but after hearing this guy's miserable words, he remembered that Zhou Yimin had told him that catching the prey was equivalent to giving him performance, which was a mutual achievement. So he said, "I have someone in Zhoujiazhuang who works as a buyer at a steel mill. I can exchange food from the steel mill, but they don't want money. They want prey like wild boars." Village Chief Wang's eyes suddenly lit up. "Really?" "Why would I lie to you? There are tens of thousands of workers in the steel mill. If they leak some food, it would be enough for our village to eat. But don't make this public." When Village Chief Wang heard this, he thought it made sense. There are so many people eating at the steel mill, and if they save a few mouthfuls, it is enough for the whole village. It is not difficult to understand that they want prey instead of money. Is the steel mill short of money? No, they are short of meat.
I understand. Village Chief Wang suddenly understood everything. He immediately assured: "Old Zhou, don't worry, I won't leak the secret." Still leaking secrets? The more villages know about it, the harder it will be to exchange grain in the future. Isn't leaking secrets just digging a hole for your own village? In the future, it will be the people in your own village who will be buried. "By the way, how do I change it? How much?" "Daming, go call your sixteenth uncle over." The old branch secretary didn't dare to say anything nonsense. You know, 4000 kilograms of sweet potatoes was the price Yimin negotiated for Zhoujiazhuang. Other villages probably couldn't get that much, and it wouldn't be so favorable. Soon, Zhou Yimin received the news and followed. "Yimin, this is Village Chief Wang from Shangshui Village, whom you have met before." Zhou Yimin nodded: "Yes! I remember. Hello, Village Chief Wang!" "Hello, comrade! I came here today to talk to you about the food exchange. I'm ashamed! People are starving to death in the village." Village chief Wang started to play the victim again. "One hundred kilograms of meat for three thousand five hundred kilograms of sweet potatoes or potatoes, is that acceptable?" The old branch secretary was glad that he did not act on his own initiative, and was also grateful to Yimin for the benefits he had fought for the village. "Okay, no problem! Thank you so much, comrade." Village chief Wang agreed without much hesitation. He has a say in how hard it is to get food these days, and it's hard to buy food even at high prices on the black market. After hearing the news, Village Chief Wang did not stay any longer. The villagers were waiting for help, so he hurried back to organize people to go into the mountains to hunt. On the way back to the village, he told the people around him not to tell other villagers about exchanging grain with the steel plant. Hunting is only for selling money, and grain is bought with money. (End of this chapter)