Chapter 41: Labor Protection Items from the Mine
"Okay! Niu Ge always gives a high price, I know that!
I won't say any more unnecessary things, the only thing I need to remind you about is the skin of this Gray Dog. When you slaughter it, you need to be a little careful.
When bleeding it by cutting below the neck, you must cut vertically, not horizontally, otherwise the appearance might be affected!" Yue Feng specifically reminded him.
"Don't worry! I understand this stuff! You'll know when you come to pick up the skins, it definitely won't affect you selling them!
Xiao Yue, your eagle is quite good, it can even catch so many Gray Dogs! The fur of this thing isn't cheap now!"
"Hehe, it's just good luck, don't look at the quantity, but these prey were caught by four or five of us together, so there isn't much left for each person!
Not to mention these Gray Dogs, to catch these few, we had to climb trees and use fire attacks, just earning some hard-earned money!"
"Haha, you don't need to worry about me being jealous, going up the mountain indeed earns hard-earned money! Here are today's accounts and receipts, take a look!"
Yesterday, Yue Feng basically didn't catch any Flying Dragons or Sand Grouse, these two types were mainly caught by Xiao Tao, his father, and the Zhang family brothers.
Because they caught this big rooster, the Zhang family brothers fed their eagles early, so their harvest yesterday was also average, only catching seven Sand Grouse plus 17 Flying Dragons,
On the purchase order issued by Master Niu, the unit price and quantity were written very clearly, the total value of the goods was 73 yuan.
"Just give me 70, let's round off the three yuan!" Yue Feng said generously while taking the money.
Niu Fusheng rarely shook his head: "Usually, I wouldn't be polite about rounding off, but today I won't round off this change. To be honest, the wild pheasants and Gray Dogs you sent really helped me out?"
"Ah? What happened?"
"It's the business competition between the Second Canteen and the First Canteen! I won't go into specifics, you just need to know that Brother owes you a favor! Count the money clearly and put it away.
Oh right, come with me, I also got you some labor protection items! The mine isn't short of this stuff, take it back and use it!"
Soon, Niu Fusheng brought Yue Feng to his office and pulled out a small cardboard box from under the desk.
Upon opening it, Yue Feng's mind was a bit stunned. It was a whole box of labor protection items, several dozen pairs of gloves, a stack of towels, and the most numerous items were greenish-blue pure cotton socks, which almost occupied about two-thirds of the space in the box.
"So many! Won't this cause you trouble?" Yue Feng glanced at Niu Fusheng with some concern.
"Put your heart at ease, it has leadership approval and was officially withdrawn from the warehouse!
Yesterday's hospitality made the big leader happy with the meal, our boss had face, so I took the opportunity to mention the issue of live Flying Dragons being difficult to transport and that we needed some socks, and then it was approved! I kept half for myself, and this half is yours!"
"Then I must thank you, Brother!"
"You're welcome, you're welcome!"
"Oh right, there's something else I need to tell Niu Ge, starting tomorrow, I'll be changing the delivery time to the evening. I'll bring you the wild game caught that day, saving me from rushing into the city in the morning and also delaying me from taking my eagle out early!"
"No problem, I'll tell Old Wang at the guardhouse later, you can come anytime before eight o'clock!"
"Okay, then I'll head back now! Whatever good stuff I catch, I'll save it for you!"
"Alright!"
...
After settling the accounts for today's wild game, Yue Feng dragged the sled, pulling a whole box of labor protection supplies, and left the coal mine's Second Canteen through the side door.
By the time he got home, it was already past seven o'clock. After entering the door, Yue Feng unloaded the box and carried it directly into the north room. He placed the box on the edge of the kang, turned around, left the room, lifted the pot lid, and began eating breakfast.
"Mom, I got some labor protection items from the mine, please take some time to count them and then distribute them to everyone!"
"This is... my good son, how are there so many gloves, socks, towels, and things? We can't do things like stealing from others!"
Meng Yulan opened the box and took a look. After finding the entire box was filled with labor protection items, she couldn't completely hold back and thought her son had found a way to steal them from the mine.
"What are you talking about? Where did your thoughts go? Didn't I mention that I didn't have enough torn socks for delivery before, so I just mentioned it to that Master Niu at the canteen, and he took it to heart and helped apply for some labor protection items! They were officially withdrawn from the warehouse, there's even a list inside!"
"Then, you plan to use these new socks to pack birds? Isn't that purely wasteful?"
In those years, industrial goods were in short supply, and basic products like socks, towels, and gloves were good things even in ordinary farming households. A pair of socks would be mended repeatedly and they would be reluctant to throw them away. Even if they couldn't be worn anymore, they would mostly be kept, waiting for new socks to wear out so pieces could be cut from the old ones for patches and such.
Now, it's good, my son brought back a whole box.
"If I don't use new socks to pack birds, then what should I use? Last time I was lazy and used wire, and Master Niu even commented on it!" Yue Feng muttered while holding a bowl of corn porridge and drinking.
"You don't need to worry about this, I'll take apart a few old clothes and go to the Secretary's house to make you an eagle binding vest! His family has a sewing machine, and these socks are only for wearing, no wasting!"
"Okay! I'll listen to you!" Yue Feng didn't fuss over such minor details. Whatever Mom wanted to do, she could do it, anyway, it was also the slack farming season now.
After eating and drinking his fill, Yue Feng also flattened his eagle and went up the mountain, while his mother, Meng Yulan, after rummaging through a few old clothes of various sizes from the kang cabinet and feeling like the material wasn't enough after bustling about, simply went to the front neighbor Li Wentong's house.
Li Wentong's wife, Chang Meijuan, also searched through her boxes and cabinets for a long time before reluctantly finding a few old children's clothes.
In those years, fabric was expensive, and buying fabric required fabric coupons. An item of clothing would be worn by the eldest, then passed down to the second child, and then to the youngest. If it tore, it would be mended. Even if the child couldn't wear it anymore in the end, people were reluctant to throw away old clothes. Those with nimble hands would take them apart, mix them with paste, and make shoe soles. Anyway, they would never be thrown away.
A small bird binding vest requires cloth pieces of at least about 15x25 centimeters. The two sisters roughly calculated after taking apart the old clothes, and they were still far short of the amount needed for the eagle vest!
At this moment, Meng Yulan's decisive side was revealed. With a resolve, she directly took out a large piece of light blue printed cotton cloth from the kang cabinet.
This cotton cloth was originally intended to be saved for Yue Feng's future marriage bedding, but now she couldn't worry about that anymore. Socks were more precious than cotton cloth, so she would use this cotton cloth first.
The two sisters busied themselves on the kang for a whole morning, cutting a thick stack of cotton cloth pieces. After lunch, they would carry them in a basket to Wang Jianguo's house, and with a sewing machine, it wouldn't take long to finish everything.
After lunch, Meng Yulan greeted Yue Lei, slung the basket over her arm, and went to Wang Jianguo's house.