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

Liu Chang'an went back. Wang Xingguo cooked a lot of eel tonight, and his family was worried that he hadn't eaten enough while he was away, so they left him a lot.

So Liu Chang'an drank and ate quite a lot, and felt that the more he ate, the tastier it became, and he also became interested in this stuff.

As for whether or not eels are edible?

Liu Chang'an thought the problem was easy to solve. He had never eaten at a fancy restaurant, but the director had eaten there with his former boss!

Anyway, he ate it tonight and thought it was delicious.

I'll ask the director tomorrow if he knows about this. Also, since Xingguo is going to send eels, I'll definitely have to say a few good words for him so that his colleagues at the station remember his kindness and don't let him work for nothing.

Liu Chang'an knew perfectly well what Wang Xingguo was up to, but it didn't matter. It was a good thing, and everyone would be happy to know.

They work really hard. They work regular hours during the day and take turns leading patrols at night. If you ask them how many hours they work a day...

They work at least 15 or 16 hours a day, and are often dispatched on missions in case of emergencies. Working overtime all night and around the clock is common. You can imagine how hard it is.

So, nutritional deficiencies are a problem. People already have high workloads, and if they are also lacking in nutrition, their bodies will not be able to handle it.

After seeing Liu Chang'an off, Wang Xingbang asked Wang Xingguo, "Second brother, what exactly happened? I thought it was just our factory that was like this, but I didn't expect that even a unit like the police station would reduce the meat supply."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Xingguo replied, "Brother, are you perhaps saving some things for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day?"

Wang Xingbang was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "That makes sense, that should be it, otherwise it can't be explained."

Wang Xingguo asked with a gossipy look, "Big brother, how's it going with my future sister-in-law?"

Wang Xingbang blushed slightly, but because it was dark at night, Wang Xingguo didn't notice.

He coughed lightly and said, "It's fine, don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing. It's getting late, you should get some rest."

Wang Xingguo pursed his lips and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? I'm not an outsider."

Wang Xingbang pretended not to hear and turned to go into the room.

After washing the dishes, Wang Xingning said goodbye to Wang Xingguo and went to sleep in his room next door.

Wang Xingmin had already gone back to bed. Wang Xingguo closed the living room door and went back to his room. The fourth brother was already snoring away.

When Wang Xingguo woke up, it was already past seven o'clock the next morning. He got up, washed up quickly, and then, without even having breakfast, told his younger siblings that they didn't need to cook dinner for him before riding his tricycle out the door.

He had arranged to deliver the fish to the patient's family at Peking Union Medical College Hospital at 8 o'clock. He was a man of his word and couldn't be late.

People were already waiting even before the person arrived.

Actually, such a commotion is too big and it's quite easy for someone to see it, so it will be reported sooner or later.

But I can't worry about that now. After all, I've just started doing this. At worst, I can just do a magic trick and collect some of the fish from the bucket.

If it's just a few fish, and it's just an exchange, then there's not much of a problem, and we can't escalate it to the point of calling it speculation.

The leaders said that it was acceptable for small amounts of supplies to be exchanged among themselves, and that it was not considered speculation.

To be precise, only buying low and selling high, and engaging in large-scale trading of goods subject to unified purchase and distribution, can be considered speculative activity.

Although fish are also commodities subject to unified purchase and sale, the boundary between large and small quantities is rather blurred and difficult to define.

Therefore, by convention, it is not considered speculation if the amount is no more than three fish and it is not a monetary transaction.

But this is really messed up. Which one is considered a large quantity: five bitterlings or three large grass carp weighing seven or eight pounds? Which one is considered a small quantity?

The fish was quickly replaced. Wang Xingguo didn't reserve fish for everyone today, but instead mentioned to everyone who came that they should come back at eight o'clock in the morning three days later.

After he finishes delivering eels to the neighborhood office and police station, he'll have to make a trip to Gaobeidian. It's been so long, he should go and collect the chicken and duck eggs.

He pays slightly higher prices for chicken and duck eggs than the purchasing agents offer, which is also a way for him to maintain relationships with his fellow clansmen from his hometown.

Wang Xingguo was still thinking about the pigs that weren't part of their plan. He needed to maintain good relations with them so that he could buy a couple more pigs after they finished delivering their assigned pigs.

At that time, the price of pigs in the countryside was very low, and they dared not risk slaughtering pigs to sell in the city, as the risk was too great.

Therefore, pigs not included in the planned purchases are often bought up by purchasing agents or by supply and marketing cooperatives at a slightly higher price.

However, whether it's the supply and marketing cooperatives or the purchasing agents from those large factories, the prices they offer are very low. There's a tacit agreement between them that the price cannot exceed a certain standard.

If large factories offer high prices, supply and marketing cooperatives won't be able to buy many pigs. If the supply and marketing cooperatives are unhappy, they will also prevent large factories from buying pigs.

Anyway, this matter has been brought up several times, and eventually a tacit understanding was formed that everyone would refrain from setting unreasonable prices.

However, farmers do have a choice: smugglers on the black market. Although the prices they offer are not high, they are still one or two cents per kilogram higher than those offered by supply and marketing cooperatives and large factories.

So even during difficult times, there was still some pork circulating on the black market. It's just that back then, it was difficult to complete the task of raising pigs, so there were naturally fewer unplanned pigs, and consequently, less pork was circulating on the black market.

The Jiaodaokou Subdistrict Office has only fifteen staff members who are cadres. Of course, the cadre positions are limited to the director, deputy director, and the Party branch secretary. The remaining six are staff members in charge of various departments; they have cadre status, but do not hold cadre positions.

The rest are personnel added to prepare for the commune system. They are cadres directly assigned by the People's Committee. The subdistrict offices are currently operating under a "government-community integration" model, in preparation for the transition to people's communes next year.

There are also more than a dozen temporary staff members or staff members who have been seconded to the area. They do not have formal employment status and most of them are active members of the neighborhood or family members of neighborhood office staff.

This is not about abusing power for personal gain; it's just how things are at this time, allowing family members of workers to find employment.

For example, if a colleague is transferred to another location, it's common practice for their spouse to go with them and be given a temporary job, essentially a non-permanent position. If their spouse already has a permanent job, they will also be given a similar permanent position.

So the subdistrict office currently has more than 30 staff members. Wang Xingguo brought nearly 20 kilograms of eels to the subdistrict office courtyard.

After parking his car, Wang Xingguo carried a large wooden bucket filled with eels and walked inside. He didn't even need to go into Director Zhao's office; he was already in the courtyard assigning work to a staff member with some documents.