The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 24 Selling Fish
Most of the drivers these days are heavy smokers and alcoholics.

When you are out, smoking is a social activity. But drinking is really a personal need. If it is hot, drinking a little will make your body feel better. If it is cold, drivers in the south are better, but most drivers in the north will drink a sip of wine before going out.

After eating at the glass factory, the remaining half bottle of wine was given to Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng in the 21st century was not a good drinker, and he only drank a little more than a bottle of beer. The original owner of this body was from a rural family, and even when he joined the army, he only drank a little wine occasionally.

So when it comes to drinking, Jiang Cheng can only drink a small cup, not much. But the remaining wine should not be wasted, he still has river shrimps in his portable space, and he can cook the shrimps with white wine and stir-fry them with some other ingredients, the taste is amazing.

After having a good meal and a few drinks, Jiang Cheng parked the car in the position requested by the glass factory staff and sat down to rest. Loading and unloading had nothing to do with the driver. If Jiang Cheng was not treated well at noon and wanted to drive the car into the production workshop, he would not drive in even if he could, and would just park outside.

At noon, when others were unloading goods, Jiang Cheng just lay down in the car to rest. The people at the glass factory saw that Jiang Cheng was sweating but had no towel to wipe it, so they politely gave him a towel.

After a quick nap in the car, the delivery note was signed and stamped, and the equipment was debugged at around two o'clock. Jiang Cheng then returned to Changcheng with the technicians from the three machinery factories.

I returned to Changcheng around 5pm, but I didn't have any dinner. But today was pretty good, I got three packs of cigarettes, less than half a bottle of wine, a towel, and a good lunch. Plus, I got a 60-cent subsidy for driving in the city, and that's before I even bring goods for others.

However, if you are traveling long distances, it is okay to have someone riding with you, as they will definitely provide you with food and drinks. But if you don’t have anyone riding with you, you will have to bring your own dry food and so on.

Jiang Cheng drove the car directly into the parking lot of the transportation department. There were people on duty at the transportation station 24 hours a day. It was not that he deliberately waited for the driver to park the car back. Jiang Cheng could have driven the car home, but his yard had to pass through an alley, so the car could only be parked on the road outside.

There are people on duty at the transport station 24 hours a day to prevent people from stealing things. Even if they don't steal, it's a big deal if they damage some things.

Jiang Cheng put the cigarettes into the space. When he left the transportation department, he had a bag in his hand, and there were some more fish in the bag.

The bag was a small sack that Jiang Cheng had asked someone for from the glass factory. It was not worth much. There were not many fish in it, only about 20 kilograms.

After returning to Nanluoyuan, Jiang Cheng went back to his own home first, put the work clothes he was given on the bed, and then went to Zhu Lan's home with a small sack.

It's almost six o'clock now. Everyone is basically at home and has basically eaten.

"Sister Zhu, I'm busy."

"What are you busy with? Just cleaning up."

When he arrived at Zhu Lan's house, her door was open. She was packing things in the living room, so Jiang Cheng didn't have to knock on the door.

Putting the small sack on the ground, Jiang Cheng directly explained his purpose: "I went to Macheng today and brought back some fish. They are still fresh and can't be stored in the hot weather. Can you help me deal with them? If not, I will give them to the neighbors in the yard."

Hearing that Jiang Cheng brought the fish, Zhu Lan also hurried to the bag to check. It was indeed very fresh, and some of it was still alive. I don't know how Jiang Cheng got the fish from Macheng and it was still half alive.

Although you don't need a ticket to buy fish these days, the price is cheaper than meat, about 40 cents per pound. But just like eggs, there is no market for them. You can only buy some with a non-staple food certificate during festivals, but you can't buy them at other times. The weather is hot now, and this half-dead fish will definitely not survive. If you leave it at home without processing it, it may go bad the next day. But if you process it and pickle it, it will be fine for a few days.

Fish is a good thing these days. Zhu Lan thought about it for a while and said, "Jiang Cheng, let me handle the fish. It's 60 cents per pound. I'll pay you later, okay?"

"Okay, then I'll go over first." Jiang Cheng replied. He had a neighbor who worked as a salesman in the supply and marketing cooperative and was really good. He guaranteed to sell him more than 20 kilograms of fish right away.

What made Jiang Cheng feel relieved was that Zhu Lan did not ask him how he got the fish, which saved him a lot of trouble. If he sold it to the neighbors in the yard, many people would ask how he got it, and they would also have to bargain over the price.

The price of 60 cents per pound was already higher than the market price. But the key point was that 60 cents could not buy the several pounds of fish that Jiang Cheng brought.

Jiang Cheng didn't chat with Zhu Lan for too long, as he still had to go out to eat a bowl of noodles. In recent days, his body has been replenished with a lot of oil and water, so he doesn't get hungry so quickly, but he is still very hungry if he doesn't eat at night.

Zhu Lan kept one fish for herself and took the rest of the fish out. She knew a lot of people, so she randomly found a small leader in a unit with a canteen and sent the fish to the employees for snacks. She didn't find a unit with too many employees, because if there were too many factories and units, there would be too little fish.

She guaranteed that people would buy it, and would find someone to do a simple job overnight. If Zhu Lan asked for an extra five cents or ten cents, she could earn one or two dollars, which was enough for her day's salary, and people would owe her a favor.

The salespersons in the supply and marketing cooperatives of that time also had skills, and they were particular about being accurate and clear. Accurate means that when weighing things, they can know the approximate amount of the items when they hold the items in their hands, and the deviation will not be too much, so that when there are many people buying things during the Chinese New Year, they will not have to add the amount of items bit by bit.

"Speak clearly" does not mean that he speaks clearly, but that in those days there were no machines to scan the price barcodes of items, and the prices of all the things sold were basically memorized in his mind. No matter what you take at the supply and marketing cooperative, people will tell you the price directly.

Zhu Lan took Jiang Cheng's fish to handle. She could roughly estimate the weight of the thing in her hand without using a scale. The overall difference would not be too big, but there must be some error.

Jiang Cheng came back from eating noodles outside. It was dark. Before he went into the house to wash up, Zhu Lan came back and gave him the money from selling the fish.

The total weight was about twenty-three and a half pounds, and the price was fourteen yuan, including the money for the fish weighing more than two pounds that Zhu Lan kept for herself.

Jiang Cheng put the money in his portable space. There is no place safer than his portable space. This is the first money Jiang Cheng has earned since he came to this era. Fourteen yuan is enough for many workers to earn nearly half a month's salary.

After a quick wash, he sat outside and chatted with his neighbors. People always came up to him and chatted with him. However, Jiang Cheng found that there were no stars or moon in the sky tonight. This might be normal in the future. But in this era, the sky is full of stars almost every night.

Jiang Cheng felt that it was likely to rain tomorrow, and this month was the rainy season, so it was normal to rain. Today, the bus station had just distributed a set of raincoats and rain boots, which Jiang Cheng had put in his space, so he was not worried about the rain.

Others also saw that there were no stars in the sky. Some people hung their washed clothes in the yard in the afternoon, and hung their clothes under the eaves in advance so that they could be dry and worn the next morning.

(End of this chapter)