The Game of Life-Chapter 715 - 714: Business Trip (Part 2)

Chapter 715: Chapter 714: Business Trip (Part 2)

Zhang Chu, holding his son who was wailing loudly, ran swiftly as if he weren’t holding his son but a ticking time bomb. When he arrived at the production brigade leader’s home, the leader’s family was having dinner. Eight people crowded around a small square table, not including the children who were running around outside, their meal status unknown—it was certainly a bustling household.

Seeing Zhang Chu arrive, the production brigade leader’s wife put down her chopsticks and stood up. As a result, Zhang Chu managed to soothe the little one, Zhang Chiyuan, with a couple of pats, stopping his cries, though his face still bore tear streaks and his nose bubbles of snot. To the unaware, it might have seemed he had just been thrashed by his own father.

“Auntie, I really must trouble you; I don’t know what’s gotten into this boy of mine. As soon as Guixiang entered the room to tidy things up, he started crying, and I couldn’t calm him down no matter what I did.” Zhang Chu, the main cause of the trouble, didn’t even know why his son was crying.

The production brigade leader’s wife, holding the child, laughed, “You men don’t understand child care. This one’s your first, and you’ve had no elders to teach you. You’ll learn in time.”

“Guixiang is packing our belongings, and once she’s finished, she’ll bring over Chiyuan’s clothes,” explained Zhang Chu.

“No worries, no rush. By the way, Zhang, there is something I need to ask you for help with. Come inside with me, and I’ll give you something,” said the production brigade leader’s wife, carrying the child into the room where Zhang Chu had previously spoken with the brigade leader.

Zhang Chu, somewhat confused, glanced subconsciously at the brigade leader. The leader nodded at him, prompting Zhang to follow.

After entering the room, the production brigade leader’s wife placed the child on the bed and unlocked a cabinet, from which she took out a tin box on the top shelf. Inside the box was a cloth-wrapped bundle. Upon lifting the cloth, it revealed money of various denominations, among which Jiang Feng even spotted a ten-yuan note, although most were coins of smaller value.

Ignoring the coins, she drew out a two-yuan and a one-yuan banknote, closed the cloth, placed it back in the box, re-secured it in the cabinet, and then handed the money to Zhang Chu.

“Zhang, aren’t you going to the Longkou Production Brigade later to exchange labor? Their brigade will definitely have a household slaughtering a pig in the next couple of days. Keep a lookout for me, and buy a few pounds of pork, as much as you can get. I’m not picky about the cuts, but the fattier the better. Keep the change for yourself; consider it a little token of my appreciation,” she said.

Zhang Chu did not refuse and clutched the money in his hand, “Slaughtering a pig? Without it being a festive season, why would they be slaughtering a pig?”

The production brigade leader’s wife replied softly, “Accountant Liu’s son is turning ten in a couple of days. You might not be familiar with their situation, but Accountant Liu’s family treasures this only son immensely. They didn’t dare to have celebrations for his full-month or first birthday for fear of attracting misfortune. Tsk, tsk, why am I speaking of such things to you, an educated youth? Anyway, Accountant Liu’s family has been raising a pig especially for their son’s tenth birthday this year. You know how it is these days—people struggle to feed themselves, and there’s not much surplus to feed pigs. Raising pigs is hard and ungrateful work; feed them too little, and they don’t gain weight. At best, a pig might reach two hundred pounds after a year of careful rearing, and still, there might not be much lard. A few years ago, someone in our brigade might still be willing to raise pigs, but this year, even chicken owners are few, and the ones raised don’t lay eggs or are too precious to slaughter.”

“In any case, keep an eye out when you go there. If they slaughter the pig, get in there quickly to buy some meat. I appreciate the effort,” she added.

“No problem, please rest assured,” said Zhang Chu, licking his lips, as if he had already had a taste of the pork.

As Zhang Chu left, Cao Guixiang arrived just in time with their luggage. After handing over the small cloth bag containing Zhang Chiyuan’s clothes to the production brigade leader’s wife, the couple hastily headed toward the village entrance, fearing they would miss the tractor and have to walk more than a dozen extra miles.

Because there was no telephone communication, it was all reliant on running and shouting, the Longkou Production Brigade had always assumed they were only getting Zhang Chu for the labor exchange. When the accountant saw that a couple had arrived instead of just one person, he was momentarily stunned before becoming overjoyed—originally expecting a two-for-one trade, it now turned into a one-for-one exchange, and the accountant felt he had at least earned a pig’s trotter.

Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang’s accommodations and meals were taken care of by the accountant’s family. Initially, Jiang Feng thought from what the brigade leader’s wife had said that the accountant’s family only had a son and the rest were daughters, but upon meeting them, he realized that there was indeed only one son.

The only child.

A small, skinny child that appeared clean and well-kept, gave the impression that he hardly ever played with mud, no wonder his parents were concerned about raising him.

In the rural areas during this era, when family planning had not yet become widespread, a ten-year-old only child was exceptionally rare. It was no wonder that they made a big deal out of his tenth birthday, even raising a pig specifically to slaughter for the occasion.

The dinner was quite lavish—sweet potatoes, white rice, stir-fried vegetables, and even a bowl of egg-drop soup.

After dinner, Zhang Chu had no work to do. He had only done half a day’s labor but received a full day’s work points, effectively earning at least a pig’s tail. The accountant took Zhang Chu to inspect the farming tools he would be repairing in the future, which were all common wooden tools such as hoes and plows used for tilling the land. The more challenging tasks included the barn doors and a foot-operated grain thresher—the workload was substantial, explaining why the exchange was for a whole week.

After looking at the tools, the accountant then took Zhang Chu to meet the village’s leaders, the brigade leader, and the party secretary. After getting acquainted, he took Zhang Chu back home, where, by the time Zhang Chu returned, Cao Guixiang was already teaching the accountant’s wife how to make the most delicious egg-drop soup with the fewest eggs.

In the countryside, bedtime comes early. With no electricity and kerosene being precious, there were hardly any recreational activities once it was completely dark. Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu didn’t want to waste the accountant’s family’s kerosene, so they simply cleaned up and went to bed.

“I just went out back to check on their pigs,” Cao Guixiang said suddenly as Jiang Feng, not having the habit of watching others sleep, was about to leave through the wall. He immediately stopped in his tracks.

Zhang Chu: ?

“I noticed that Accountant Liu’s pig is really well raised, it’s got to weigh at least two hundred pounds,” Cao Guixiang mused, “If we could get a piece of Wuhua pork to cook, it would definitely be delicious.”

Zhang Chu: ???

“Didn’t you say we have no seasonings at noon?” Zhang Chu asked, as if his soul was inquiring.

“I said our house doesn’t have any. Just now when I entered their kitchen, I saw everything. Not only do they have soy sauce, but they also have vinegar, the kind bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. I even saw star anise and bay leaves; I bet there are other seasonings in the cabinet too,” Cao Guixiang smacked her lips, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen star anise and bay leaves.”

“A household of means,” Zhang Chu remarked. “Guixiang, did you notice that their table leg needs fixing?”

Close to the village entrance, Zhang Chu stealthily gave Cao Guixiang the three yuan the production brigade leader’s wife had given him.

Cao Guixiang, seeing the substantial sum, was stunned and promptly asked, “Where did you get this money from?”

“Auntie just gave it to me. She said that the Longkou Production Brigade is going to slaughter a pig in the next couple of days and asked me to buy some pork for her. The leftover change is our fee for running the errand,” explained Zhang Chu, his face full of longing, “It’s just a shame we don’t have the money; I haven’t had braised pork in so long. Guixiang, do you think if I took on some private work in the evenings, tinkering with some furniture or making a cabinet, I could save up enough for a plate of braised pork in a week?”

Cao Guixiang chuckled, “Repair farm tools during the day, private work at night, don’t you plan to sleep? Plus, braised pork? You’d be lucky to save enough for a plate of braised pig’s trotters.”

Zhang Chu couldn’t resist licking his lips again, as if he had already devoured the braised pig’s trotters, “Braised pig’s trotters wouldn’t be bad at all. If that’s not possible, even braised pig offal would do. After all, everything you cook is delicious.”

“Are you dreaming? You think we’re still in Beiping, with you at Yonghe House, where you can use any seasoning you want? Have you seen our home besides salt and oil, do we have any other seasonings? We don’t even have chili and have to pick cornel to substitute. When stir-frying vegetables, we can use fermented black beans as a replacement for soy sauce, but for cooking meat, what’s the alternative? And vinegar, are we supposed to borrow white vinegar from Accountant Liu again? Their vinegar is also homemade from rice; we can’t just keep borrowing it,” Cao Guixiang complained, “Pig offal is out of the question without star anise to offset the smell, how could you eat it?”

Zhang Chu could only sigh, “I should have asked Qin to stop sending us powdered milk, malted milk powder, and biscuits, all that expensive stuff. It would be better to send some soy sauce, vinegar, chili, star anise—anything would be stronger than those.”

“How would Qin know that we’re now so poor we can’t even afford soy sauce? If he found out, he’d surely clean out his store’s seasonings and send them all to us, then what would we do? Normally we just eat corn, sweet potatoes, and vegetables; we hardly have the opportunity to need any seasonings. Instead of spending time thinking about offal, you’d be better off figuring out where to get some fine flour to make some cabbage dumplings—that’s more practical,” said Cao Guixiang with a smile.

Zhang Chu began to ponder seriously about who in the village might have some fine flour to make dumplings.

The couple only had the chance to chat during their walk to the tractor. Once on the tractor, it was so bumpy and noisy, not only could you vomit the food you ate the day before, but the roar of the old diesel tractor alone would block out all other sounds. Even if you used a megaphone across the way, you might not be heard clearly.

Although the tractor was bumpy and loud, it was still better than walking the harrowing route ‘Eleven’ on foot. Had Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang been traveling for personal reasons and not to exchange labor, they wouldn’t have been able to catch a ride on the tractor at all.

After hitching a ride for more than ten miles on a convenient tractor, Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang walked for several hours on a dirt road. Along the way, they nearly took a wrong turn due to unfamiliarity with the path but managed to ask an old farmer by the roadside for directions to get back on track. By the time the two arrived at the legendary Longkou Production Brigade, it was already time for dinner. The people of Longkou Production Brigade had all finished work for the day, and each household had smoke rising from cooking fires. At the entrance to the village, a child with a look of utter dejection on his face was playing with mud. When he saw Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang carrying their belongings, he quickly ran up to greet them.

The boy was probably too lonely playing with mud by himself and was eager to go home for dinner. Upon seeing Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang, he immediately took them to the home of the Longkou Production Brigade’s accountant, where there was an empty room for Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang to stay for the coming week.

Cao Guixiang nodded, “I noticed it during dinner; the table is a bit crooked.”

“I think they have too few chairs,” Zhang Chu said.

“The cabinet I saw in the kitchen also seemed a bit old,” Cao Guixiang added.

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“They have only one son and no toys for him, no wonder.”

“Right, they must have toys,” the couple echoed each other.

Jiang Feng: ??????

Isn’t it absurd?