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

When Wang Changshun heard Wang Xingguo say this and put the money on the table, he slapped his thigh and said, "Good! As expected of a descendant of the Wang family. Since Xingguo has put in so much effort, what else can we say! Here's the deal: our brigade should have 35 pigs this year that are not part of the planned pig quota, and 15 of them have already reached 150 jin or more. We'll give you 15 pigs first, and your money will be converted into cash. You can use that to help exchange for grain. As long as it's edible grain, you can exchange it for it! I'll start working on the matter of secretly disbanding the canteen in the next couple of days. Anyway, everyone is thinking about breaking up, so it's not a difficult thing."

Wang Xingguo was dumbfounded and said, "Twenty-first Master, didn't you say there were only twenty unplanned pigs?"

Wang Changshun said without batting an eye, "Plans can't keep up with changes. Isn't it a good thing that we have fifteen more heads?"

Wang Xingguo curled his lip. This old rascal was wicked. He probably didn't trust him, which was why he only told him about twenty heads last time.

But it doesn't matter, I'm not exactly a saint myself...

Because when Wang Xingguo negotiated with them, it was five and a half catties of grain for one catty of live pig, so he wasn't exactly a saint. He helped, but he didn't take a penny less of what he was entitled to.

Rural people are most sensitive to grain prices. Now, cornmeal has indeed risen to 20 cents a pound. Exchanging 5.5 pounds of grain for the price of one pound of live pig is definitely not a bad deal.

Their pig-raising costs aren't actually that high. The feed they use is all cut pigweed and what they grow themselves. After deducting all expenses, an adult laborer can only earn about 20 or 30 yuan a year.

If an adult laborer is fully responsible for gathering pig feed and feeding the pigs, one person can actually be responsible for raising seven or eight pigs.

So don't be fooled by the fact that rural people sell their assigned pigs to the commune for a very low price. In reality, they only pay for labor costs. They don't even need to pay for the piglets themselves, as they raise their own sows and boars to breed the piglets.

They agreed that six days later, on the evening of the 30th, Wang Xingguo would come to pick up the pigs again, and then he would exchange them for grain and deliver it over.

Wang Changshun arranged for Wang Xingguo to stay overnight at his house. Since everyone here sleeps on earthen beds, there was no need to arrange a bed for him or anything; he could just sleep with him.

Wang Xingguo lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), closed his eyes, dealt with the matters in the space, and then fell asleep.

The next morning, Wang Changshun and the others got up early. Wang Xingguo ate a bowl of mixed grain and vegetable porridge and then rode away on his tricycle.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to return to the city. Instead, he continued along the river, needing to prepare a large quantity of fish, whether it was miscellaneous fish to feed the eels or good fish to sell. He needed a lot more fish.

It can only be the Huohuo River, otherwise where would they get so much food to feed these eels?

Fortunately, these eels are quite comfortable in the muddy pond and don't run around. After all, they don't need to forage for food, as food falls from the sky every day.

...............

On September 28th, Wang Xingguo returned to the city. Today marks the fourth day since he left the city.

As soon as he returned to the city, Wang Xingguo went straight to Uncle Niu's place to discuss the grain matter. He didn't care how Uncle Niu arranged it, as long as the grain was moved to a remote place.

Uncle Niu asked with some doubt, "It's only the end of September. In rural areas, pigs usually don't start being ready for market until late November. Are you sure you can get fifteen qualified pigs right now?"

Wang Xingguo nodded repeatedly and assured him, "Brother Niu, is this something to joke about? As long as your grain arrives, I can bring the pigs back for you right away."

Old Niu said with a hint of helplessness, "Damn it, I can get my hands on over ten thousand catties of cornmeal, but what am I going to do with the pigs? We won't start using them until December, and you've brought them back so early, how am I supposed to take care of them...?"

Wang Xingguo asked, puzzled, "Uncle Niu, this pig will be slaughtered sooner or later. Why don't you slaughter it first and use your connections to store it in a freezer?"

Old Niu said helplessly, "Wang Er, it's easy for you to talk when you're not in my shoes. Cold storage isn't that easy to borrow. If you put fifteen pigs in, you don't even know if you'll get ten back. Who would want to do that kind of business?"

Wang Xingguo's eyes widened as he said, "Then what should we do? I can't just bring you a pig and then you don't want it, can I? Don't blame me for not getting you a pig; I have plenty of places to sell it."

After saying that, Wang Xingguo stood up, dusted himself off, and was about to leave.

Old Niu quickly pulled him back, looking speechless, and said, "What's the rush? Did I say I didn't want to?"

Wang Xingguo chuckled, sat down again, and said with a smile, "Brother Niu, I have an idea, but I won't tell you unless there's a benefit in it, hehe."

Seeing Wang Xingguo's smirking face, Master Niu felt a tightness in his chest and really wanted to slap that little bastard to death!

However, he held back and asked in a deep voice, "Then what benefits do you want?"

Wang Xingguo pointed to the cigarettes displayed on the counter and said with a smile, "Brother Niu, I've been eyeing those Zhonghua cigarettes for a long time. Give me two cartons, and I'll give you an idea that will solve your problem of how to store the pigs."

Old Niu frowned. Two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes cost a lot of money. Although they are sold cheaply on the surface, you can't actually get them without connections.

But even if it's expensive, it's still just a little money, nothing compared to the pigs. So he took two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and placed them in front of Wang Xingguo.

Wang Xingguo chuckled, tucked two packs of cigarettes under his arm, stood up, and whispered in Niu Ye's ear, "Niu Ye, you're too caught up in the situation to understand it. Just focus on giving the pigs to your backer. Why should you worry about what to do with them? It's the same old story—you hand them over every year, right? Doesn't that make sense?"

Niu Ye's eyes widened, and he reached out to snatch the two packs of cigarettes. Unfortunately, Wang Xingguo was prepared. He knew that once he said that, Niu Ye would definitely feel he had lost out and would snatch the cigarettes back.

So he ran off as soon as he finished speaking, and Old Niu's hand grasped at empty air. He was a little exasperated and said, "Wang Er, you bastard, you tricked me out of two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes with just one sentence. How can you be so shameless?"

Wang Xingguo laughed and said, "Uncle Niu, this is cigarettes I earned with my brains, what's there to be embarrassed about? Don't bother sending me any more, I'll send you a pig in two days, just tell me where to get it."

After saying that, Wang Xingguo opened the door and slipped away. This time, he took advantage of the fact that Master Niu was caught off guard and didn't realize what was happening. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to trick Master Niu out of those two packs of cigarettes.

Wang Xingguo was in high spirits as he rode away on his tricycle. He had finally gotten his revenge. After all, Niu Ye had been plotting something bad about the house last time, and if it weren't for Director Zhao's support, he probably would have suffered in silence.

Thinking about this, and considering it was only noon, Wang Xingguo decided to deliver something to Director Zhao to strengthen their relationship. So he changed direction and rode towards the street office.