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

The next day, around 7 a.m., Wang Xingguo brought the fish to the entrance of Xiehe Hospital. Not long after he arrived, people started coming to him to exchange their fish.

It was as if everyone already knew. Even when he secretly added fish to the bucket when no one was around, the fish were completely replaced before 8:10.

Because there were always people behind him, he couldn't secretly add fish to the bucket, so he had to give up.

While exchanging the fish, the person who came was notified that the fish would not be delivered for three days, and he needed to go to Gaobeidian.

I feel like all the things I got in exchange today could fetch at least 80 or 90 yuan on the black market.

Especially eels, many relatives from other provinces were scrambling for them, taking all sorts of things, including two pieces of cured meat.

Looking at the tempting color of the cured meat, Wang Xingguo recognized that it was not smoked but sun-dried, and guessed that the person who substituted the eel was from Guangzhou.

As far as he knew, the preserved meats sold in the four major wet markets in Guangzhou looked similar to this.

As the capital, Beijing truly offers a wide variety of delicious products from all over the country, including cured pork from Guangzhou, ham from Jinhua, beef jerky from Inner Mongolia, and black fungus from Northeast China, among others.

Good things from all over the country can be bought in Beijing.

However, these things are not cheap. In the past, you could buy them without any coupons, but now there are coupon restrictions for buying things.

For example, you can buy cured pork from Guangzhou, but you need a voucher and meat coupons to purchase it.

After putting his things away, Wang Xingguo rode his tricycle away from the hospital entrance, stopped in a secluded spot, stored everything in his spatial storage, and headed straight for Guang'anmen.

Wang Xingguo didn't know how the first and second places were ranked. In terms of production volume, the first place should have belonged to Beijing Brewery.

However, if we're talking about seniority, Shuanghesheng Five-Star Brewery is indeed number one.

Upon arriving, Wang Xingguo handed over a note. The security personnel seemed to have been informed beforehand; they glanced at the note and let him in, even assigning someone to guide him inside.

Following the security personnel around, they arrived at a small building. After the security personnel informed the people there and received permission, Wang Xingguo entered Jiang Jianhua's office.

Wang Xingguo was a little surprised because Jiang Jianhua looked to be at least forty years old, and he didn't expect that there was such a big age difference between him and Jiang Yue'e.

Jiang Jianhua greeted Wang Xingguo with a smile and a handshake. After they sat down, Jiang Jianhua asked, "Comrade Wang Xingguo, I heard from Yue'e that you can get some eels? I've also consulted experts about this, and it is indeed a very nutritious food. So our factory would like to get some to supplement the workers' meals and see if everyone likes it."

Wang Xingguo nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, Director Jiang, getting 600 catties of eels is no problem. But I need to ask first, do you know how to process eels?"

Jiang Jianhua smiled and explained, "Don't worry about that. We have colleagues from Guangzhou and Jiangsu in our factory who know how to process eels to remove the muddy taste, so you don't need to worry about that."

Wang Xingguo nodded, then couldn't help but ask, "I wonder how much the factory is prepared to pay per kilogram for the eels?"

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Jianhua said with some difficulty, "Well, I'm not really sure what to say. The main problem is that this product has never been sold in Beijing before, so it's difficult to set a price."

Wang Xingguo's eyes darted around, and an idea formed in his mind. He tentatively asked in a low voice, "Director Jiang, what do you think about me exchanging eels for barley, corn, and rice?"

Jiang Jianhua was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then laughed and said, "Oh... why do you think that? You should know that grain is subject to state purchase and distribution; buying and selling it casually is illegal."

Wang Xingguo knew that although barley used for brewing was considered a coarse grain, it could still be eaten as a staple food. It could be used to make barley porridge, or mixed with corn and wheat flour to make steamed buns.

Their brewery has no shortage of grain. Barley is the main raw material for brewing, while corn and rice are auxiliary raw materials. Because of losses, over time, the brewery actually has a surplus of grain.

Wang Xingguo quickly said, "Director Jiang, this isn't a business deal. It's the farmers supporting our workers by providing eels so they can better build socialism. Your brewery is just seeing how hard it is for the farmers to catch eels, so you're giving them some surplus grain as a subsidy. This is what we call 'workers and peasants are one family,' and there's not a single penny involved. It's really not a business deal."

Jiang Jianhua was both amused and exasperated, but he also found the young man in front of him quite interesting. After all, it was the first time he had ever seen someone who could lie so blatantly.

But it's not impossible, because they really do have surplus grain.

Many people don't know that the brewery did not reduce production during difficult times and continued to produce beer to supply the city's residents.

Although beer can't fill you up, it does provide energy.

When times are tough, a little alcohol can be quite helpful.

Jiang Jianhua asked Wang Xingguo to wait a moment, then left the office to discuss the matter with others.

The main issue is the price of eels. If they were purchased as fish, their company would be paying 1.2 yuan per jin (0.5 kg) for fish.

However, if they could exchange grain for eels, they could save the money, so they held a small meeting and agreed to exchange grain for eels.

However, they were unsure about the proportions, so they called Wang Xingguo over as well.

After some explanations and pleasantries, the people attending the meeting, besides Jiang Jianhua, the deputy factory director, included Director Liang, and two other deputy factory directors, one surnamed Mao and the other surnamed Zhang.

Deputy Factory Director Mao asked, "Comrade Wang Xingguo, in principle we agree to use the surplus grain to coordinate this batch of eels, but we need to discuss the proportion."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xingguo breathed a sigh of relief. After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about this: one pound of eel can be exchanged for five pounds of grain, with two pounds of rice and corn, and the rest can be supplemented with barley. What do you think, leaders?"

The group discussed it quietly. Since the price of grain was not high, it would actually be a good deal for them to exchange five catties of grain for one catty of eel.

Because their grain was allocated according to the plan, one jin of barley cost 6.2 fen, one jin of corn cost 6.8 fen, and one jin of japonica rice cost 11 cents.

This is the price given to the brewery, not the price sold by the grain store.

So, all things considered, they actually exchanged the eels for 36.4 cents.

The group unanimously approved the plan: one pound of rice, one pound of corn kernels, and three pounds of barley would be exchanged for one pound of eel.