In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

After arriving at the destination on his tricycle, Wang Xingguo tied 200 jin (100 kg) of cornmeal to it and began pushing it towards the Gaobeidian brigade.

Wang Xingguo did not allow cash to be used to purchase eels, but instead required them to be exchanged for cornmeal.

This avoids the need for buying and selling, since it's not just about consulting with Captain Wang, but also about notifying other villagers with the surname Wang to catch eels.

At this point, the eel's status here was simply to be chopped up, cooked, and fed to pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese!

This is not a joke. Locals classify eels as "long worms" and don't know how to remove their slime. They also find them fishy when cooked and don't understand that they need to be stir-fried in oil. So they have no concept of eating them!

When Wang Xingguo arrived and pulled Captain Wang aside to say he wanted to exchange one pound of cornmeal for one pound of eel, Captain Wang looked at him like he was a fool.

Wang Xingguo quickly explained, "Grandpa Wang, these are for people to bleed alive for medicinal purposes, so we can only accept live eels, and only for members of the Wang family. I only brought two hundred catties of cornmeal, so I can only accept two hundred catties of live eels."

Captain Wang led Wang Xingguo to his tricycle. After looking at the cornmeal he had brought, he instructed someone to notify the Wang clan members to catch eels.

But the truth will eventually come out!

The fact that so many people from the Wang clan went to dig for eels quickly spread to people of other surnames!

So they surrounded Captain Wang, demanding an explanation: why didn't people with other surnames receive this benefit?

As more and more people arrived, Captain Wang could no longer contain the situation and looked to Wang Xingguo for help.

Wang Xingguo could only grit his teeth and say, "Fellow villagers, I promised to give these two hundred jin of cornmeal to my brothers and sisters with the same surname, and I can't go back on my word. But if you're willing to help me catch eels, I'll buy them for one mao per jin, which is about the same price as the cornmeal. What do you think?"

This caused an uproar at the Gaobeidian production brigade!

Wang Xingguo had no idea that the eels here grew very large because no one was specifically catching them!

The most common eels here are two or three ounces, and four or five ounces are not uncommon. Only those weighing six or seven ounces or more are truly rare.

The main reason is that although they don't eat this stuff, they know that catching it to feed chickens, ducks, and geese will increase their egg production, and feeding it to pigs will make them fatten up. So they will catch it when they come across it; it's not that they never catch it.

Wang Xingguo was completely stunned. In just half a day, he had already collected more than 700 jin of eels.

Two hundred jin were exchanged for cornmeal, and the remaining five hundred jin were paid for with fifty yuan.

He's already made four trips to haul away those eels!

However, even though he was numb, he did not stop making acquisitions!

The next day he started bringing over sweet potatoes to exchange for it. As long as you know how to cook it, the eel is actually a kind of meat!

It's worthless now, only good as a medicinal ingredient, but next year and the year after, once the recipe is given to major factories, this stuff will be in high demand.

There are only so many good sources of protein, what if you can't get them?

Of course, we should look for replacement items!

Coincidentally, it was only during a difficult period that people in Beijing discovered that eels were edible, and not bad at all!

This is all thanks to the Huaiyang cuisine restaurants in Beijing and the people in the south who eat eels. They proved with their actions that eels are edible and, when cooked properly, are especially delicious.

From then on, people in the capital city completely changed their view of eels and began to eat them.

Because he has few sweet potato seedlings, he doesn't grow many sweet potatoes, but people are still willing to catch two pounds of sweet potatoes and one pound of eel in exchange.

By the way, they didn't fish for eels back then; they just dug them up and caught them!

He wanted to keep some for breeding and also some to feed the pigs, so he made several trips and brought back seven or eight hundred catties of sweet potatoes. In addition, he paid in cash and also bought seven or eight hundred catties of eels.

However, the large-scale eel-catching operation only lasted two days before it came to an end.

Because of the drought this year, many crops need to be irrigated by carrying water, so Captain Wang called a halt to the work.

Wang Xingguo was quite understanding. After all, the most important thing in rural areas now is to manage the crops well, otherwise the harvest will be delayed, which would be too much trouble for them.

He was also very satisfied with the harvest; there were more eels than fish in the fishpond…

The key point is that over 90% of them are yellow eels weighing more than two ounces each, and there are very few small eels weighing less than two ounces each.

In the market of later generations, two to four ounces is considered a medium-grade eel, four to seven ounces is considered a large eel, and only those weighing more than seven ounces are considered top-grade old eels.

Although Wang Xingguo paid with grain and nearly one hundred yuan, he made a huge profit from the large quantity of eels and chicken and duck eggs he harvested.

Wang Xingguo specially selected some smaller eels, weighed them, and they totaled fifty-one jin (approximately 25.5 kg). He then took them to Uncle Niu's place.

Uncle Niu was dumbfounded. He really didn't expect that out of so many live eels, not a single one was dead.

He even quoted such an exorbitant price; now he wishes he could slap himself for his foul mouth and saying something like "thirty or fifty pounds"...

In reality, all they needed for the medicinal ingredient was four or five catties; he just got carried away after drinking and said he'd bring back thirty or fifty catties.

In reality, he also felt that this was unlikely to happen, which is why he made those bold statements...

But now that Wang Xingguo has brought the things back, he has no choice but to accept it reluctantly!

In this world, keeping your word is fundamental; breaking your promise is a major taboo. Forget about making a living in the underworld; if something happens, it's a minor issue if no one helps you. The most terrifying thing is that you might be kicked when you're down at any time!

Fifty-one jin, one hundred and fifty-three yuan. Although a little annoyed, Uncle Niu still paid the money readily.

He looked at Wang Xingguo meaningfully and said, "Little Wang, I underestimated you. Next time I need something, I'll have to ask you for help again!"

Wang Xingguo smiled and counted the money, then nodded and said, "No problem, Mr. Niu, you're too kind. If you need anything, just let me know, and I'll do my best to help."

After being away for two days, Wang Xingguo missed his family and his girlfriend.

Her little mouth was so sweet no matter how he kissed her, and he loved counting her heartbeats, even though her heartbeats were always so fast that he couldn't count them all.

So when Wang Xingguo left, it was already close to seven o'clock, and he went straight to the vegetable market.

Although a tricycle isn't fast, it's much faster than walking.

When he arrived at the market, everyone was cleaning and getting ready to leave, so Wang Xingguo didn't go in but waited for his girlfriend to come out of get off work at the gate.

After finishing her cigarette, Li Xiuping came out, waved goodbye to her several female colleagues with a smile, and then walked this way.

Wang Xingguo jumped off the tricycle and greeted him with a smile.

When Li Xiuping saw Wang Xingguo, her eyes lit up immediately. She ran over quickly, and although she wanted to be reserved, Wang Xingguo grabbed her and picked her up!

Li Xiuping pressed herself against Wang Xingguo. Feeling his passion, she shyly spat at him, only to be discovered by Wang Xingguo, who, seeing no one around, kissed her directly!