My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 100 The sow postpartum care exchange group came to Maya Commune

"I bought two piglets and got a letter of introduction from the production brigade. Damn, the commune pig farm is really awesome." Li Feng thought to himself, what a stupid letter of introduction. I bought the piglets to make roast suckling pig. Now you need a letter of introduction. How can I eat these piglets?

If I don't raise the pigs well, I'll have to accept criticism from the production team and the commune pig farm. I might even have to hold a meeting to share my failed pig farming experience, which is inconsistent with my personality. The higher-ups might send pig farm experts and technicians down to exchange ideas in the next few days.

Since they couldn't buy piglets from the commune's pig farm, Li Feng had no choice but to tell Gao Jue that they could go to the market first to see if they could buy one or two piglets that the commune members were secretly selling. Pork was hard to come by, but piglets seemed easier to buy.

The commune pig farm requires a letter of introduction, but private transactions by members don't require that. Who knows if they'll buy, eat, or kill? "One dollar and one pound, that's really not cheap. The commune pig farm only charges one dollar and two ounces, and they even issue a receipt."

There were advantages to having invoices. When buying feed like wheat bran, you could use the commune pig farm invoice as a credit reference. "If members bought privately, they would have to go back to the production team for an invoice. Not only would that be troublesome, but if too many piglets died, Uncle Fuguo would definitely get into trouble with me."

A ten-pound piglet cost eleven or twelve yuan. If they were to steal it and die, they'd die. If they were to eat it, they'd eat it. If Han Fuguo found out about this, he'd definitely punish Li Feng. These days, a piglet is a big draw. The manure can be exchanged for pig feed tickets, and the fattened pigs can help the production team complete its task of raising pigs for the public.

There are many benefits, especially with next year's action against monkeys in the south. Pig mane is a strategic commodity. Han Fuguo recently discussed pig farming at a commune meeting. Hanjiaba is very backward in pig farming; the brigade pig farm established a few years ago is practically non-existent.

The number of pigs raised privately by each family was not that large, and less than half of the families in the entire brigade raised pigs. It was conceivable that whether Li Feng bought piglets from the production team's pig farm or bought piglets from the commune's pig farm with a letter of introduction, he would probably be watched closely by Han Fuguo and Han Futian.

If he really died of an illness, that would be fine, but if he died because of Li Feng's desire to eat meat, this guy would probably really smoke his pipe. "Fuck, why is it so hard to get some pork?" Pork coupons were gone, and the educated youth could only send some national food coupons, which was considered good.

Meat tickets are usually issued by different regions and are time-sensitive. Others want to send meat tickets to Li Feng but fail. They cannot be used in other places, there are few local educated youth, and the channels are not as good as those in the capital and Shanghai. I am afraid that they have not yet come into contact with "Scars".

"Piglet?"

Gao didn't understand at first. "Okay, I'll go take a look. I'm afraid it's not cheap."

"Let's not talk about whether it's cheap or not, let's buy two of them first."

Li Feng took out three big unity notes and stuffed them into Gao Ju's pockets. According to the current price of piglets, the commune pig farm charges one yuan and two cents. The private transaction price is not higher than that of the commune pig farm, and it can even be lowered.

After all, raising pigs requires buying feed. The invoices issued by the commune pig farm can be used as a letter of introduction to buy feed, which is better than buying it privately. Li Feng handed the money to Gao Ju and the stall to Gao Cheng, leaving himself with nothing to do.

After taking a few photos, I thought Wu Shengnan would leave early, but she was still waiting at the street corner. "I forgot to tell you, there are some letters for you at the post office. They just arrived today. Xiaofeng said she'd deliver them to you this afternoon. She happened to run into you, so why don't you take them back later so she doesn't have to make another trip."

"Row."

Anyway, when they arrived at the post office, Bai Jie glanced at Li Feng and was a little evasive. This was the celebrity of Maya Commune recently. Not only did he receive condolences from the leaders, but he also received dozens of letters from readers every day, most of which were from Shanghai and even the capital. It was obvious that this man was very capable and wrote good articles.

"Just in time."

Huang Xiaoli said with a smile, "Yang Ming, this is the great writer you've been thinking about, Comrade Li Feng."

"Comrade Li Feng, I'm glad to finally meet you." Yang Ming grabbed Li Feng's hand and shook it. "I've heard a lot about you. Your poems are really good."

"what?"

Poetry, are you sure you're not being sarcastic? "Facing the Sea, Spring Blossoms" was rejected, and you still say poetry is good. Are you a black man? "No, no, it's just average. I just randomly mumbled a few lines. It can't be considered poetry."

Well, Li Feng thinks that modern poetry is basically shit, and is similar to the memes of later internet celebrities.

"too humble."

Yang Ming read Li Feng's reply letter to readers yesterday. The poems there were as good as those in the poetry magazines he had read. He was afraid that if he submitted them to the poetry magazine, they would be accepted. However, he never expected that Comrade Li Feng would be so humble.

What was really unexpected was that Yang Ming admired him even more. When he thought of some ordinary people in the county who didn't have much ability but were quite arrogant and looked down on him as a movie projectionist, he felt that Li Feng was to his taste even more.

So, Li Feng was actually pulled by Yang Ming to chat for a while. Li Feng also knew what Yang Ming did. When he heard that he was showing movies, he thought it was a good job. Apart from anything else, the courtyard where Li Feng went specifically to see it had a movie showing.

He has no worries about food and drink, and has a lot of women around him. He is simply a role model for our generation. Who wouldn't envy him? Regardless of Huang Xiaoli's appearance, this Yang Ming is definitely worth dating. Brother, Li Feng looked at Yang Ming and thought he was a half-brother sent by God.

As for his brother's wife, Li Feng is not that kind of person, but if Brother Yang really needs him, he can take care of her. After all, he is a writer. According to the general concept these days, the older a writer is, the more people he has to take care of, especially women.

You see, as a great writer, if you don’t have a few female confidantes, are you still a writer? Without the fragrance of women by your side, how can you write good articles? This led to the fact that in the 1970s and 1980s, when people attached great importance to relationships between men and women, they were very tolerant of writers.

If you marry a wife and have three or five girlfriends, it means that you are a well-known writer with a great demeanor. If you only marry a wife and don't have any girlfriends or confidants, then you are probably not a good writer and you will definitely not become a great writer. You don't have the bearing and style of a great person.

After all, if he can't even take care of a few more women, how can he write earth-shattering articles? He is definitely useless, a poor scholar. Great people cannot lack women, and romantic writers cannot lack women. A writer without women is not a good writer, not a great writer.

This view is now in its infancy. If you are not romantic, how can you write romantic articles? If you are not dissolute, how can you write about the beauty of a woman?

Of course, Li Feng is a serious person. He can only copy a few articles and cannot be considered a writer. However, he does not need to help anyone take care of his brother's wife, sister-in-law, or his beloved. "Brother Yang, it's a pity that we met too late. Come to my house at noon and have a drink."

"No, come to my house at noon."

The two of them were arguing with each other and almost gave up their own homes. Yang Ming almost pulled Huang Xiaoli and said, "Brother, my wife is your wife, my home is your home, why are you being polite to me?"

"Time to spare, time to spare."

In the end, the meal didn't happen. Yang Ming had to go to the countryside to show a movie that afternoon, and Li Feng had to rush back to cook dinner. There were still ten or so people at home who needed to eat. "Brother Li, don't worry. I'll definitely be there on the day of the beam raising ceremony and pick out a few good movies."

"Thank you very much, Brother Yang."

This is a good relationship. I'm afraid that the whole people in the dam will look up to me a little bit. After all, I have never heard of anyone hiring a projectionist to show movies when they raise the beam. After leaving the post office, Li Feng had more than ten letters in his hands, two or three of which were special registered letters.

“I don’t know what kind of tickets they are.”

I didn't see any ticket exchange at this fair, but there were a few rural people who wanted to exchange their national food coupons, and they had to go to the county. Many people were on business trips or going to school, so they might be able to exchange them in a short time, or give them to speculators who traded in tickets.

Fortunately, it wasn't without reward. Gao Jue finally managed to get two piglets. The price wasn't too high, 1.1 yuan per pound, and two weighed 25 pounds. "I'm going to make a roast suckling pig when I get home. I brought all the seasonings. I was thinking of going into the mountains to hunt some game and barbecue it. Now I can finally enjoy roast suckling pig."

Two piglets, tender at first glance, top-notch roast suckling pig embryos. "Put them in the baskets first." Only two or three bamboo baskets, baskets, and bamboo plaques were sold, including the one Wu Shengnan bought. Rural areas don't use these small-asset bamboo baskets that look beautiful and delicate but aren't sturdy or durable enough. These baskets would probably have to be sold at the county level at the very least, or even in the prefecture level. At fifty cents a basket, compared to the one or two cents for a rough basket, the price was high and rural residents didn't like them. "It's so delicate and small, and it's a mistake."

There was no place to complain, and Li Feng was helpless. On the way back, he gave the wheelbarrow to Gao Jue to push and Gao Cheng to pull. Li Feng was enjoying himself, leaning on the wheelbarrow. Although it was a bit bumpy, it was still more comfortable than the two brothers Gao Jia.

It was almost midnight when we got back to Hanjiaba. Luckily, Daya and Zhang Wenjuan were there. They had steamed buns, two stir-fried vegetables, and some bacon that Li Feng had ordered. "Not bad. I'll just fry an egg and we'll have dinner."

The eggs were exchanged at the market with RMB, of course it was a barter. In addition to the eggs, a wild rabbit was also exchanged. This guy spent a lot of money on the trip to the commune, and Li Feng now has little money in his pocket.

I bought another fifty kilograms of rice and flour, all rice and flour. I had the food coupons, so I'd be stupid not to use them. "I need to steam some rice. I can't get enough of just steamed cornbread."

"Make some egg drop soup."

Zhang Wenjuan was stunned by the sight of more than twenty eggs. What surprised her most was that they also bought a large black pot. This was a new iron pot, which was not cheap. In addition, there were two little piglets. Daya and Erya were also very happy to see them.

The pigpen at home was left behind by their father before he left. It is a bit dilapidated now and needs to be cleaned up later. Now that the house is being built, it will be easy to repair the pigpen as the materials are available.

"We'll fix the pigsty later."

These two little piglets might be eaten in a few days, and it would be a waste of time to repair the pigpen. "Da Ya, Er Ya, don't tell outsiders about buying little piglets at home."

"Ah."

The two girls didn't know why, but since their father told them not to, they kept quiet. "Good girl, beat a few more eggs and fry them. You haven't had eggs in days."

"Ah."

Erya counted on her fingers and realized that she hadn't eaten eggs for almost three days.

"How pitiful! I haven't eaten eggs for almost three days. I must eat some today, otherwise I will lose weight."

Erya has been doing very well recently, and her little face has become a little rosy. However, if Han Fuguo heard what she said, he would probably spit in Li Feng's face. It would be pitiful if she didn't eat eggs for three days. Then the whole Hanjiaba would be full of poor creatures. Other families would be lucky if they could eat eggs once or twice a month.

Most people can only eat meat a few times a year, but you don't eat eggs for three days, but eat chicken and bacon. This is really pathetic. Others are lucky if they eat meat twice in three days, but you eat meat twice a day.

Scrambled eggs, bacon with chili peppers, eggplant, stir-fried lard with bok choy, vermicelli soup with egg and bok choy, steamed cornmeal buns, and a huge pot of rice. It was such a feast that An You, An Yu, and An Cheng, who had only been there a few days, were practically drooling.

This delicious meal is just like the New Year’s Eve. Other families only have one meal during the New Year, but Li Feng’s family celebrates the New Year every day.

"Daya, go call in the guys lying outside the yard."

There was nothing else, but there was some steamed bun with an egg and a piece of bacon. This guy kept asking his sister-in-law and several other families to work for him. Li Feng was not a stingy person.

"What do you mean?"

Seeing that their own children could actually eat meat, although they looked embarrassed, they were very happy in their hearts. They were afraid that they would have to work a little harder in the afternoon, otherwise they would not be worthy of the meal.

"You're welcome, there are so many dishes here."

At noon, I used a new iron pot, which I had just wiped with lard. The rice crust was quite thick, not to mention the rice crust baked in a wood-fired pot. "Just make some big bone soup, it's absolutely delicious with the rice crust."

"No."

Gao Jue said with a smile, "The instant noodles we brought are the perfect match for the bone soup."

"No."

I have to find time to go to the commune again. Unfortunately, Master Guo has something to do recently, and the meat at the butcher stall has been changed. It’s not easy to give him money. If he encounters someone who is picky, something might happen again. Wu Shengnan is currently staking out the stall.

Why is it so hard to eat some meat? I have to get a whole pig every day. I eat it every day.

"Who is talking about me?"

After lunch, Li Feng returned the wheelbarrow to the team. He wanted to ask if there were any piglets at the team's pig farm so that he could buy one or half a pig for himself.

"No, okay."

"Alas, I have been thinking about raising pigs these days. I used to think I was good at raising pigs." Li Feng was talking nonsense. Otherwise, the expert who was communicating with others, the pig-raising expert, was here. What could he say? He knew nothing about raising pigs.

“Can you raise pigs?”

"Yes, I must have raised sows and piglets for quite some time."

Although Li Feng looked young, he was in his thirties. He was probably one of the first batch of educated youth. It was normal for him to have spent more than ten years raising pigs or doing something else. "Did you remember anything?"

"I can't think of anything specific, but I'm thinking about raising sows."

"Even if you have been raising sows for quite some time, how could you not think about getting a wife but think about sows every day?"

Han Futian laughed and joked, but he didn't think about how good and capable Li Feng was at raising sows.

"What are you talking about? Who are you looking for to discuss postpartum care for sows?"

When the operator from the commune came to report, Han Anjun was completely confused. What kind of exchange and study group was this? The place they were going to was Hanjiaba, to exchange and learn about postpartum care for sows, and the person they were looking for was totally unexpected to him.

(End of this chapter)