60s: I have a store

Chapter 187: Business from the Neighboring Village

Because there is no shaking honey bucket, it is necessary to use the primitive method to extract honey, which is a little troublesome.

In later generations, it was easier for us to collect honey.

Just put the honeycomb into the honey shaker, shake the handle quickly, use centrifugal force to throw the honey on the honeycomb onto the barrel wall of the honey shaker, and then flow into the barrel. Finally, pour the honey out through the filter and it is ready to eat.

In fact, a honey bucket is not difficult to make, but it is designed for beehive frames and is not suitable for extracting honey from wild beehives.

Without a shaking honey barrel, Zhou Yimin had to use traditional methods to separate the honey.

He placed the honey comb on a clean gauze with a basin underneath, and then cut the honey comb into small pieces with a knife. When the honey in the hive had basically flowed out and dripped into the basin below, he squeezed it a few times.

All in one step, filtered at the same time.

The word "honey comb" may be unfamiliar to many people. In fact, it is the house built by bees to make honey.

This word appeared during the Tang Dynasty.

In Li Shangyin's poem "Girl Feelings", there is: Red dew on the flower buds and white honey on the spleen, yellow bees and purple butterflies are uneven. I had a romantic dream in the spring window, but my comrades did not know.

After separating and filtering the honey, Zhou Yimin put it into three jars.

"Grandma, keep this can at home. You and grandpa can drink some from time to time. It's good for your health." Zhou Yimin left the largest can at home.

Of course, Zhou Yimin also knew that some people cannot drink honey water.

For example, for babies, because honey is easily contaminated by botulism during the brewing and transportation process, and the immune system in the baby's body is not fully developed, eating honey will have adverse effects on the body.

There are also people with diabetes and cirrhosis.

Zhou Yimin's grandparents are not those three types of people, so they can drink some in moderation, which is indeed good for their health.

As for the other two cans, he planned to give one to his father-in-law's family and one to Aunt Li's family at the street office.

"Okay, grandma knows." The old lady smiled kindly.

Just at this time, someone came to tell him that Village Chief Wang from Shangshui Village was looking for him.

"Looking for me?" Zhou Yimin was a little surprised.

Ever since he exchanged sweet potatoes and potatoes, he has had no contact with Shangshui Village again.

Zhou Yimin also heard that Shangshui Village followed Zhoujiazhuang's example of making use of the dry riverbed. No one knew how they got the seeds, but they planted crops anyway.

"Uncle Sixteen, I think it's a good thing. Village Chief Wang and the Party Secretary are talking and laughing."

Zhou Yimin nodded: "Then I'll go take a look."

After saying that, he rushed towards the center of the village.

When I arrived, I saw that Village Chief Wang and the old Party Secretary were chatting and laughing, and there was no trace of the sadness they had when they first met. Now, the situation in both Zhoujiazhuang and Shangshui Village has improved, at least the villagers are no longer hungry.

"Yimin, are you here? Sit here." The old branch secretary waved and pointed to the stool next to him.

Village chief Wang also greeted with a smile, saying something like "I hope you are doing well."

"Village Chief Wang, do you have time to visit our Zhoujiazhuang?"

The old branch secretary pointed out: "He! He doesn't come to you for no reason. He comes to you for something."

However, that matter was also good for Yimin.

"Oh? Village Chief Wang, why don't you just say it straight? We are already acquaintances." Zhou Yimin asked him to get straight to the point.

In this case, Village Chief Wang did not beat around the bush and said, "We in Shangshui Village also grow some unplanned crops! We also want to sell them to the steel plant."

The steel mill's purchasing power is much stronger than that of the supply and marketing cooperative, so of course they also want to sell to the steel mill. After all, it is something outside the plan, and there is no hard and fast rule on how to deal with it. The village can decide freely. So, they definitely hope to sell it at a higher price, or in other words, to get more things in exchange.

When Zhou Yimin heard this, he thought, isn't this just giving him business?

It’s a good thing indeed!

So, he nodded without hesitation: "Okay, I will purchase it on a centralized basis and guarantee that the purchase price will be higher than that of the supply and marketing cooperative."

This may seem like stealing business from the supply and marketing cooperative, but the supply and marketing cooperative will not have any objection, and may even be happy to have some free time. The employees of the supply and marketing cooperative do not care about this, as they will still get their salary as usual, and the less work the better.

As the name suggests, the supply and marketing cooperatives are responsible for supplying salt, sugar, cloth and other daily necessities to farmers, and raw materials, agricultural products, etc. to cities.

On the other hand, it is about sales: selling tobacco, alcohol and non-staple food to rural areas, and selling evaporated milk and fruits to urban residents, ensuring that agricultural products go up and industrial products go down. It is an important bridge for urban and rural circulation and commercial transactions.

"Of course! Thank you!" Village Chief Wang was delighted.

That's what I want.

They come here just to sell to the steel mills at a higher price.

Not only are the prices offered by the supply and marketing cooperatives low, but their purchasing attitude is also very problematic. They beg them to buy the same thing, and the employees there are more arrogant than each other.

Whether buying or selling things, they always have an expression of "I can buy or not, I can sell or not".

If you don't buy or sell, people may be happier and don't have to worry too much.

“By the way, can large trucks enter your village? If not, you can only carry the agricultural products to the village entrance and load them onto the trucks,” Zhou Yimin asked.

I have been to Sheung Shui Village once before. The road leading into the village is not wide, and it is a bit difficult for trucks to pass through. I don’t know if it has improved now.

"You can go in. The road in our village has been expanded and is as wide as that in Zhoujiazhuang." Village chief Wang said quickly.

It would definitely be best if the trucks could go into the village to load the goods!

Although their village did not have a capable person like Zhou Yimin, they followed suit and learned what Zhoujiazhuang did, such as planting crops on the riverbed and building roads.

Of course, there are some things that they cannot learn in their village.

For example, the school in the village is still closed. If you want to study, you have to go to the school in the Red Star Commune.

For example, they can build greenhouses by covering them with plastic film. Their village doesn’t have the ability to do that!

However, they are still unaware of some measures, such as raising chickens and growing mushrooms.

"Well! That's good, then we can drive directly into the village to purchase."

Of course, the more supplies the better.

In addition to steel mills, Zhou Yimin can even get instant noodle factories, streets and research institutes involved, so there is no need to worry about not having enough food.

In fact, let alone Zhoujiazhuang and Shangshui Village, even if there were a few more villages, the steel plant could fully absorb the tens of thousands of workers.

Zhou Yimin was curious: "What are they?"

"Some vegetables, the most abundant of which are beans, can be harvested as early as next month," said Village Chief Wang.

In fact, there are also corn and other crops, but their village does not plan to sell those crops, and they feel more at ease keeping them.

As rural people, they are very sensitive to grain production. They predict that there will not be enough food in the second half of the year or even next year, so naturally they will not sell the grain.

Zhou Yimin nodded slightly. The growing period of beans is relatively short and they can be picked in about a month and a half, so they planted a lot in Zhoujiazhuang.

(End of this chapter)