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Chapter 41 Who deserves to eat this kind of wontons?
Ma Laowu and Accountant Zhao stood opposite each other around the team table, their four eyes fixed on the large pieces of pork on the table. Looking at their solemn expressions, the mouth-watering fatty pork looked like a bomb that could explode at any time.

Although the production team did not eat meat very often throughout the year, the two men could see clearly that the pork in front of them, weighing a total of 57 kilograms, was all taken from the fattiest part of the pig. This kind of meat is called rump meat in Zhongping, and it is impeccable first-class meat.

The production team distributed the meat by drawing lots, and only the members with the best luck would get a share. The good meat was enough to make others jealous for the whole year.

"Do you know how much first-grade meat like the buttocks costs now?" Ma Laowu took a puff of his pipe and looked at Accountant Zhao opposite him.

Although there were no state-owned stores in the countryside where meat could be purchased with coupons, production teams or communes that raised many pigs would occasionally kill one or two pigs and sell the meat for some income during the spring plowing and wheat harvest or when money was needed to purchase production materials.

"During the harvest season, Gaozhuangzi Team 7 killed a pig. I wanted to buy some pig blood, but I went too late. The cheap pig blood and other goods were all sold out. I remember that the third-grade meat was sold for 1.8 yuan per catty, the second-grade meat was 2.1 yuan, and the first-grade meat was 2.5 yuan." Accountant Zhao stared at the pork and said:
"If you're asking about the low-priced meat that's supplied by tickets and quotas in the county, it's cheaper. I went to the glass factory to inquire, and the meat processing factory gave them meat at 81 to 94 cents per pound for first-grade meat, 72 to 87 cents for second-grade meat, and 63 to 78 cents for third-grade meat."

"Based on the cheapest price of 80 cents a piece, 57 kilograms, the total is..." Ma Laowu muttered to himself, trying to calculate the value of the meat.

Accountant Zhao beside him has already spoken:
"I've already calculated it. Based on the cheapest price of 81 cents per pound, that would be 46.17 yuan, enough to buy most of a calf. If Hu San'er was caught with this much money, he would definitely not have gotten away for more than a decade. He's not a fool. I don't think he got it from fraud like he did before."

When Ma Laowu heard Accountant Zhao say that Xie Hushan was not stupid and that the meat could not have been obtained by fraud, his expression became more serious and he gently patted the meat skin on the table with his hand:

"How can he afford it? Even if he bought it with the 300-plus yuan his grandmother gave him to build a house and marry a wife, can you tell me where to buy it? This is not manure from a manure pit, this is first-class meat worth 800 yuan. You can't buy it even if you have money. I believe he can buy one or two pounds from any corner of the county town, but 57 pounds, even the county magistrate may not be able to buy it! How can he buy it?"

"It's hard to say. Maybe Damao can buy it. After all, he is a government employee and has a monthly pork ration." Accountant Zhao thought for a while and said to Ma Laowu.

Ma Laowu shook his head and snorted, "Forget it. If Xie Damao had that ability, he would have returned to the county long ago. The state only gives him one pound of pork a month. Fifty-seven pounds, how many years would it take him to save up?"

"What delicious meat..." Ma Laowu reluctantly withdrew his gaze, as if he had made up his mind:
"Prepare the money. When Hu San'er comes back, ask him where the meat came from. Return it to him. If you can't return it, buy it and slowly deduct it from his dividends. I can't just watch this bastard get arrested and then pretend that he didn't take advantage of me in the manure incident!"

Accountant Zhao also sighed: "I understand, I have already prepared it. Sigh...if the meat is not returned in the end..."

"Hurry up and sell it! The more money we can make, the better!" Ma Laowu said decisively: "Who are we? We are not the kind of family that wants to share such good meat with the production team during festivals. Are we waiting to be criticized and scolded for ruining the production team?"

Accountant Zhao also touched the meat on the table and forced a smile: "I just hope that Hu Saner will tell us that this meat was bought in a good way, not by a crooked way..."

"Fifth Uncle, Accountant Zhao! Where's the meat?" Before he even entered the door, Xie Hushan's voice rang out from outside.

Then the door curtain was lifted, and Xie Hushan walked in with sweat all over his face. Ma Laowu looked at the boy with complicated eyes, trying to slow down his tone: "Hu Saner, where did this meat come from?"

He said it lightly, but he clenched the copper pipe tightly in his hand. He had made up his mind that if this bastard dared to say that it was obtained from the same thing as manure, he would beat him up and would never show any mercy!

"This is the meat that the meat processing plant of the food company sold to my uncle's veterinary station, and the veterinary station then coordinated to give it to my sideline group. It came from the right source, not from scammers like the shit. Don't worry, you have to pay for it." Xie Hushan didn't care whether his hands were clean or not, and directly grabbed the pork on the table, feeling the pleasure of having his hands covered with grease. After traveling for so long, this was the first time he had seen so much pork.

Upon hearing Xie Hushan's righteous words, Ma Laowu breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed Xie Hushan's arm, slowly sat back in his seat, tilted his neck and let out two breaths.

No matter whether the right way is really right or not, with Xie Damao's veterinarian standing in front to support it, Xie Hushan will not make a mistake, and Xie Qimao will not agree to him making a mistake. Taking a step back, even if he makes a mistake, there is a chance to remedy it, which is nothing more than paying money to the veterinary station. At least the calf will not be caught.

"Uncle Wu, what's wrong?" Seeing Ma Laowu almost having a heart attack, Xie Hushan repeated:

"I'm not kidding you, this is really meat from my uncle's veterinary station, it's not against the law."

Then he told Ma Laowu and Accountant Zhao everything about what he had asked Xie Qimao for last night. The veterinary station would add a small canteen, and he wanted Aunt Wu from the sideline group to cook for the canteen, on the condition that the veterinary station would cooperate with his sideline group.

"Nothing~" After hearing Xie Hushan's explanation, Ma Laowu and Accountant Zhao looked at each other, suppressed their concerns and said nothing more:

"Well done! I just don't have your brain to think of these things!"

Both of them were thinking that as long as the meat had an owner, it would be fine. The meat from the veterinary station was used by Aunt Wu from the sideline group to cook for the veterinary station canteen, so it certainly couldn't be done in vain. Any leftover meat would be enough for the wonton stall to make more meat-filled wontons and help generate income for the production team.

"My uncle should have at least told me that the meat he sent is not good. It is of no use except for eating it myself." Xie Hushan was picking up the meat on the table and suddenly said this.

The two people who were about to praise Xie Hushan for his quick mind suddenly changed their expressions: "What!"

"Hu San'er, look carefully, this is first-rate meat!" Ma Laowu said with his eyes wide open.

Accountant Zhao also said, "Of course you did. How much effort did your uncle have to put in, and how much favor did he owe to others, to get more than 50 kilograms of first-class meat? You can't say such heartless words!"

"I didn't say my uncle was a bad person. I meant that after he settled the matter, he had to discuss it with me and ask me what kind of meat I needed. He couldn't just send it to me first-grade meat first. I wanted third-grade meat, but they only sent me first-grade meat. I have prepared money for the third-grade meat. How should I settle the bill then?" Xie Hushan said to Ma Laowu and Accountant Zhao with confidence.

Ma Laowu pointed at the meat and said to Xie Hushan:

"You are marrying a wife, and we are willing to do it. You have money but can't buy it! This is first-class meat. What do you know? If you sell this meat in the county store, there will be a long queue of dozens or even hundreds of people!"

Xie Hushan gave Ma Laowu a wry smile:
"Uncle Wu, I know this is good meat with fat almost an inch thick, but if I use first-class meat as stuffing to sell food at a stall, how much will it cost? Ask how many people at the market think they deserve to eat wontons made with first-class meat?"

(End of this chapter)