The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

Yang Dalin chatted with Captain Zhu for a while longer when someone came to the gate.

Yang Dalin also knew this person; he was Qu Mingui, the village accountant, who was a generation older than Yang Jinhai.

Yang Jinhai has to call him uncle, and Yang Dalin has to call him grandpa.

There was no other way; everyone in the village was shouting it that way, so I had to do it too.

The Qu surname ranks second in the village in terms of population, and the brigade leader's surname is Zhu, so the accountant definitely cannot be chosen from among those with the surname Zhu.

If most people in a village share the same surname, that's fine. But if it's a village with multiple surnames, we should definitely try to avoid situations where all the village officials share the same surname.

Otherwise, there would be a lot of shady dealings involved.

Just like the production team leaders below, they all tried to have one person from each family with different surnames.

Unless the number of people is too small.

People with the surname Yang are not numerous; the production team leader in their unit has a different surname.

This can be considered as a preliminary form of mutual supervision.

I greeted Qu Mingui. Qu Mingui also had a good relationship with Yang Dalin's family. In fact, it was because they lived nearby that their relationship was even better than Zhu Yuxiang's.

Yang Dalin also slipped a pack of cigarettes to Qu Mingui.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they went outside the village together with a few other people.

Yang Dalin used a flashlight to roughly inspect the fruit.

The fruit was packed in baskets lined with dry wheat straw and covered with straw mats.

It's too cold, and I'm afraid I'll freeze.

Yang Dalin also weighed the baskets in his hand to get a rough idea of ​​their weight.

You can roughly estimate the total weight without weighing each basket individually.

The pears weighed over 8,500 jin (approximately 4,250 kg), with the Ya pear being the most abundant, while the other varieties weighed around 1,000 jin (approximately 500 kg) each.

The apple variety is the old Guoguang variety; it's not very big and the color isn't very red.

It has not yet been replaced by the later Fuji variety.

It weighs over 2,200 jin (approximately 1,150 kg).

This is not all of the village; there is actually much more, but time was too short.

Zhu Yuxiang generously agreed to give 8,000 catties of pears and 2,000 catties of apples, with the rest considered as losses. If the losses were not that great, they would be given to Yang Dalin personally.

Whether he eats it himself or gives it away, they don't care.

There's no other way. Given the current conditions, the roads are too difficult to travel. If we transport it to other places ourselves, the losses will be much greater.

Yang Dalin didn't argue about these things. The commune would also calculate some losses when collecting fruit.

Moreover, each of the commune leaders had to take some home to eat.

Social etiquette is something everyone understands.

After checking the quality, it seemed fine. On the surface, all the fruits were good, with no wormholes or rotten ones.

However, it's normal for there to be a few bad ones below.

And it's possible that the item underneath is actually quite small.

People also tend to be a bit superficial.

Yang Dalin did a random check and the quality was acceptable.

They pulled Accountant Qu and Captain Zhu aside.

He asked Captain Zhu to hold up a flashlight while he reached into his satchel and took out money and a large handful of national grain coupons.

Both the money and the tickets were taken out of Yang Dalin's spatial storage, and the amount wasn't much more.

Yang Dalin calculated pears at three cents a pound and apples at four cents a pound.

This price is not low. Normally, when the commune brings the supply and marketing cooperative to buy pears, they pay 17 cents per pound, and that's only for first-grade fruit.

The purchase price for first-grade Guoguang apples is 27 cents per kilogram.

Yang Dalin didn't have everyone pick out the first-grade fruit in detail. Generally, fruits are divided into three levels: first-grade, second-grade, and third-grade.

There's a big difference between second-grade and first-grade fruit. For example, a second-grade pear might cost less than a penny.

The fruit was basically distributed to the team members.

They can't even sell them.

Don't mention this special era, and don't mention the prices on the black market. In this special era, if you dare to resell in large quantities, you'll definitely be arrested.

The supply and marketing cooperative appointed by the commune buys at this price, and they may not even buy all of it.

The price Yang Dalin offered was really not low.

Yang Dalin took out the money and coupons and said, "Uncle Yuxiang, Uncle Mingui, if we calculate it all in cash, the pears are 2400 yuan, the apples are 800 yuan, and the total is 3200 yuan. The national grain coupons are 4 yuan per jin on the black market in Beijing, and in some places they are even 5 yuan per jin."

It might be a bit cheaper here in my hometown, but I estimate it's about the same price.

How do you intend to calculate this?

The two men said in unison, "If you want all the grain coupons, we'll charge you four yuan per jin (500 grams) of grain coupons, and we'll calculate the rest later."

Actually, without the disaster, life in the Zhujiazhuang area should have been relatively comfortable.

But when a real disaster strikes, fruit production drops drastically, and ordinary farmers in the surrounding area can't afford to buy fruit. They can't transport it out of the area themselves, nor can they transport large quantities of fruit out of the area on their own.

Fruit production takes up part of the village's farmland, so there really isn't enough food to go around.

It's better than some places, but only by a small margin.

Otherwise, Yang Dalin's family wouldn't have gone out to escape famine.

Qu Mingui added, "Dalinzi, even if it's four yuan a jin of grain coupons, are you getting ripped off? You'll have trouble explaining yourself when you get back."

Yang Dalin smiled and comforted Qu Mingui: "Uncle Mingui, don't worry, it'll only cost four yuan."

This is the price on the black market in Beijing; calculating based on the black market price in Beijing is fine.

Don't forget that you can buy half an ounce of oil with one pound of national grain coupons.

Moreover, since the village has received so many national grain coupons, you should be careful when you go out to spend them. Spend them at different times and in different groups.

Don't let the higher-ups notice.

Both of them were sensible people, and they nodded repeatedly to indicate that they understood.

So Yang Dalin paid 500 jin of national grain coupons and 1,200 yuan.

The price thrilled the two of them.

This time, every household in the village will receive an extra ten yuan or so, plus more than two jin of grain coupons.

Yang Dalin told them to keep it a secret, and then left after they finished counting the money.

I'm waiting here alone for my colleague to come and load it up.

Yang Jinhai and his brother also left, and Yang Dalin planned to go for a bike ride later.

After everyone left, Yang Dalin observed his surroundings again, and after logging in for more than ten minutes, he finally stored all the fruit in his spatial warehouse.

Yang Dalin set a slightly high price today, but it was also to help his fellow villagers back home.

Once the disaster is over, the speed will definitely not be this high anymore.

The purchase price should be slightly higher than that of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Yang Dalin waited a while longer before going back to Yang Jinhai's house and riding his bicycle out.

After bidding farewell to his second grandmother's family, Yang Dalin only looked at his dilapidated house in the village from across the yard without going in.

There was nothing of value inside; it was completely dilapidated, and there was nothing worth keeping.

When I have the chance to come back again, I can spend some money to renovate it a bit, or even build a new one.

When I come back next time, I'll have a place to stay.

Zhu Yuxiang also said that this courtyard will be preserved for Yang Dalin indefinitely.

The village doesn't need his little bit of land.

Yang Dalin took one last look at the old mud house before getting on his bicycle and heading towards the commune's inn.

It's already past ten o'clock; it'll be too late if we don't go back soon.

I have to pick up Captain Zhu early tomorrow morning. After finishing the formalities, I need to hurry up and ride my bike to the braised chicken market.

That distance isn't short.