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

The brewery management also made a requirement that the pig must weigh over 160 jin (approximately 80 kg).

Actually, the standard for slaughtering pigs is 130 to 140 jin (55-60 kg), which is the sixth grade pig and also the lowest slaughter standard.

141 to 150 is the fifth class, 151 to 165 is the fourth class, 166 to 180 is the third class, 181 to 200 is the second class, and 201 and above is the first class!

The brewery has very strict standards, clearly requiring top-grade fourth-class pigs. Which commune would be willing to sell pigs weighing over 160 jin immediately?

Even when feeding them, we need to fatten them up to the third grade, otherwise it would be a huge loss.

When Wang Xingguo heard that the factory required the pigs to weigh over 160 jin (80 kg), he fell silent. Did these old men think pigs were so easy to raise?

If we didn't know that there would be a terrible food shortage next year and the year after, and that even the people of Beijing would go hungry to the point of being emaciated, who would be willing to exchange big fat pigs for their cheap grain?

But Wang Xingguo knew that the grandfathers in his clan also knew how much the nationwide food shortages affected them.

They've lived so many years longer. The Wang family migrated from the Big Pagoda Tree in Hongdong, Shanxi in the early Ming Dynasty and has survived to this day. How could they not know the implications?

Over the years, our ancestors have experienced countless famines, so when Wang Xingguo mentioned exchanging pigs for grain, no one objected. The discussion was all about how to get grain to help the Wang clan get through the crisis.

Wang Xingguo stood up. He had to speak. Although he made a profit from the price difference, he would not sell the grain; instead, he would keep it for his clansmen.

He knew he was young and his words carried little weight; if they wanted to monopolize the meat, poultry, and eggs that weren't part of the Wang family's plan, he would need to make some contributions.

The grain he collected wasn't meant to be sold when grain prices were highest, but rather to be given to his people at that time, so that they wouldn't go hungry and he could gain the status he deserved.

Although it was his scheme, how many members of the Wang family would have suffered health damage from starvation if he hadn't schemed?

To put it bluntly, it will shorten your lifespan by many years!

He's done so many things, and he's not a saint. It's perfectly natural for him to fight for his own interests. What's wrong with that?

Wang Xingguo shook his head and said to everyone, "I'm sorry, everyone's demands are too high. I cannot agree to your demands on behalf of the production brigade. Let's end this discussion here, and pretend I was never here."

After saying that, Wang Xingguo turned to leave. He knew that under the current circumstances, it was too difficult to raise a pig weighing more than 160 jin! Although he wanted the brewery's feed, he couldn't spoil them. There were three breweries in Beijing. If the first brewery didn't work out, he could go to the second brewery, or even the smallest third brewery, to discuss cooperation. There was no need to put all his eggs in one basket!

"Comrade Wang, wait a minute, let's discuss this further, don't be in such a hurry!"

"Yes, yes, stop Comrade Wang quickly! It's understandable to have disagreements, but let's not ruin the harmony. Let's discuss it slowly until we're satisfied!"

These leading cadres were all anxious, fearing that Wang Xingguo would really leave and then how would they manage to raise the pigs. So they all tried to stop him.

A slight smile appeared on Wang Xingguo's lips; he knew his tactic of feigning retreat had worked.

So someone ran over and pulled him back up, and he didn't struggle, but went with the flow and sat back down in his seat.

The group continued their discussion. It was now virtually impossible for one person to make the decisions in the factory, not even Director Liang. Everyone needed to reach a consensus before such a transaction could be executed.

After all, this kind of thing is called "workers and peasants are one family, helping each other" in a nice way, but it is also called "illegal operation" and "disrupting the market order of unified purchase and sale" in a harsh way.

Their brewery doesn't have the authority to purchase supplies from rural areas, so all of this is off-limits.

However, as long as it's not brought to the forefront, the various departments operate in much the same way behind the scenes, and as long as it's acceptable on the surface, it's fine.

The brewery leaders reached a consensus: the pigs should weigh over 151 jin (75 kg), and the grains should be calculated as 5 jin (2.5 kg) of barley, 2 jin (1 kg) of corn, and 2 jin (1 kg) of japonica rice.

These are raw materials used for brewing beer, so they have surplus inventory to use. Flour, however, is not so readily available; the amount of flour allocated to their unit is barely enough for the factory's needs.

Wang Xingguo himself understood this principle, so he never mentioned asking for flour.

Although barley porridge is not as filling as cornmeal, wheat flour, or rice porridge, it's good enough to have grains at all.

Most communes relied on sweet potatoes to get by during those times. Eating sweet potatoes caused heartburn, which made many people of this generation feel nauseous at the sight of sweet potatoes.

No one knows how many sweet potatoes they ate to survive those days, enduring heartburn and nausea, just to fill their stomachs...

Once the ratio was agreed upon, the leaders here didn't limit the quantity; as long as Wang Xingguo brought pigs, they would settle accounts with him according to this ratio.

Wang Xingguo left satisfied.

Nine catties of grain in exchange for one catty of live pig seems like a bad deal for the factory. In fact, grain is indeed expensive outside, but the grain allocation price for their brewery is not high, so the factory thinks it's a good deal, and Wang Xingguo also thinks it's a good deal.

He planned to finish the business with Master Niu and then start working on the brewery business.

The price of grain in the factory can never be equal to the price on the black market.

Because their bartering of grain for goods is already a semi-illegal operation, if we calculate the price based on black market rates, then every single one of them would be a criminal who resells state-owned assets.

Therefore, the price of grain produced in the factory cannot be used to align with the price of state-owned grain, let alone the price on the black market.

Having solved another major problem, Wang Xingguo was in high spirits. He rode his tricycle home. He didn't have much to do now, except to pick up his wife from get off work and take her home in the evening, and to go to the General Hospital of Liberation at eight o'clock to get fish to exchange for something.

When Wang Xingguo returned to the alley, he ran into Liu Chang'an, who was coming out. He quickly greeted him with a smile, "Brother Chang'an, are you busy with a case?"

Liu Chang'an nodded, then pulled Wang Xingguo aside and whispered, "Xingguo, my second brother's wedding has been changed to October 7th. Can you help with the ingredients?"

Wang Xingguo was stunned for a moment, then remembered that it seemed that the date was originally set for September 19th, but he had been busy at that time, and Liu Chang'an had not contacted him. He thought that Liu Chang'an had found a chef to get the ingredients, so he hadn't contacted him.

This is not surprising. Chefs have their own channels for sourcing ingredients, so if the chef provides both labor and ingredients, the homeowner does not need to worry about sourcing the ingredients.

Because chefs can pocket the difference in prices, they are quite willing to provide catering services on a contract basis, including both labor and materials.

Wang Xingguo asked, puzzled, "Brother Chang'an, why has Brother Liu postponed his wedding?"