Chapter 107: It’s All for the Sake of Meat

Chen Daliu: "I wouldn’t dare..."
"What’s there to be afraid of? Workers and peasants are one family. Comrade Weiguo is from Niuluo Village; all the more reason for us to treat each other as kin," the section chief Fang said, clasping Chen Daliu’s hand firmly, his face a mixture of helplessness and shame. "Brother Chen, you don’t know—these days, there isn’t a scrap of meat to be found in the city. Honestly, my mother is nearly sixty, and to save food rations for my three children, she’s collapsed from hunger several times, unable to get up for quite a while..."

"I truly fear that if I’m not careful this time, I might lose my mother forever."

His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Realizing his display of emotion might be inappropriate for a grown man, Fang hastily sniffed and continued, "I know our request is excessive. After all the hard work you’ve put in raising these animals for a year, you surely intended to slaughter one for a festive feast."

Chen Weiguo had mentioned once that Niuluo Village had eighty-six households, some with a dozen members, others just three or five. Dividing the meat among them wouldn’t amount to much.

Still, they had come all this way because they wanted to buy some meat. Otherwise, why endure such a long journey?

"How about this: you discuss with the villagers and see how much meat you’re willing to sell us. Whatever the amount, it will be help," Chen Daliu said after surveying the villagers and looking at Fang, pondering carefully.

"How much can you pay?" Chen Daliu asked. "To be honest, people in our village would like some money to buy cloth for their children and daughters-in-law. If the price is right, I believe no one would mind selling a little."

In front of Fang and the others, Chen Daliu wore a conflicted expression — reluctant to discuss with the villagers yet too embarrassed to refuse Fang outright. So he offered a response that left room for either acceptance or refusal.

"Well, we’ll pay whatever the black market price is," Fang said, though his tone was somewhat evasive.

But with food so scarce, the black market was virtually nonexistent. Besides, black market prices fluctuated wildly; no one could say what they were at this moment.

Chen Daliu looked at Fang without speaking.

Seeing this, Fang quickly added, "Brother Chen, we’re honest folk. We’re not trying to take advantage. In the grocery store, pork costs between 0.6 to 0.9 yuan per jin."

Chen Xiaocong chimed in from the side, "But the grocery store requires meat coupons, and city residents only get three or four liang worth per month."

"Of course. I’m not trying to fool anyone. I haven’t finished yet," Fang said, pointing to Chen Weiguo. "Comrade Weiguo is here as a go-between. Everyone can rest assured."

"What I mean is, since no one can use meat coupons anyway, let’s base it on the recent black market price: 3.5 yuan per jin. How does that sound?"

Though this price seemed outrageous, the last time Chen Daliu sold wild rabbit meat it was just 1.2 yuan per jin, and that required exchanging an equal weight in ration coupons. Fang’s offer didn’t require coupons, which meant Niuluo Village was actually at a disadvantage.

After Fang finished, he looked around expectantly.

To his surprise, some villagers hesitated, and others spoke up:

"I’d rather keep the meat for my own family."

"Same here."

It was clear Fang had hoped the villagers would urge Chen Daliu to divide the meat and send everyone home, so he reluctantly offered 3.5 yuan per jin, but no one seemed tempted.

"What good is money? Nowadays, even with money, you might not get any meat."

"Exactly. If meat were so easy to buy, why would city officials come all the way to our village to buy it?"

"That’s right!"

These were hard truths. Fang and his companions couldn’t argue. They turned to Chen Weiguo for help.

Chen Weiguo looked troubled and said to Chen Daliu, "Village chief, please find a way to help. It’s not easy for our section chief and colleagues to come all this way. They genuinely want to buy."

Chen Daliu nodded, appearing deep in thought.

Among the crowd, Bai Xi watched with amusement, unaware that the villagers were cooperating earnestly to put on a good show.

In the end, Fang bit the bullet and raised the price to 4 yuan per jin, regardless of quality. Chen Daliu, after many earnest pleadings from Chen Weiguo, reluctantly explained the situation to the villagers again. Fang cleverly pulled cash from his pocket, and the deal was smoothly struck.

Four yuan was expensive, but in high-end restaurants in the city, lamb dumplings cost over eight yuan per jin. This price ensured neither side would suffer a loss.

What Fang and his two companions didn’t know was that this agreement only came about because Bai Xi had nodded her approval.

One pig, plus a side of pork, excluding the head, offal, and intestines, totaled 354 jin.

The villagers of Niuluo refused to sell the pig’s head to Fang’s party. Without the head as weight, the three men were very grateful, unaware that the villagers reserved the heads for ancestral offerings in the shrine.

The total price came to 1,416 yuan.

Fang and his colleagues were stunned.

They gasped but did not retreat.

Having not brought so much money, they pooled what they had. Together with Chen Weiguo and his wife, they managed to raise just over 700 yuan.

This was thanks to some people at their workplace who, knowing they had come to the countryside, entrusted them with money to buy meat on their behalf.

"Brother Chen, don’t worry. I’ll take Comrade Weiguo and Comrade Xiao Li with me and carry this side of pork away first. Then we’ll gather the rest of the money and come back for the pig. How does that sound?"

Fang, afraid the meat might be lost, quickly added, "We’ll leave Comrade Xiao Zhou here as a guarantee. We’ll make sure to raise the money quickly and take the meat away. Is that okay?"

Comrade Xiao Zhou didn’t feel awkward at all about staying behind to guard the meat.

Chen Daliu coughed softly, holding back a remark. In his mind, this man was now less valuable than the pork itself. Rather than leaving a person as a pledge, it was more like leaving someone to watch the pork.

The villagers were still waiting to divide the meat, and having an outsider linger wasn’t convenient. Chen Daliu glanced toward Chen Weiguo.

Chen Weiguo quietly said, "Section chief, coming and going like this will take quite some time."

Indeed, this might not be sorted until well past midnight.

Realizing this, Fang quickly changed his approach and said to Chen Daliu, "Brother Chen, why don’t you take a few young men, hitch up the ox cart, and come with us to the city carrying the pork? Once there, I won’t take more than two hours to gather the money to pay you. How about that?"

Meat—that was meat!

After all the effort, they had one whole pig and a side of pork. One unit wanted the whole pig, and Fang Ya’s unit wanted the side of pork. It was barely enough for division, and there was no way to let the villagers of Niuluo back out now.