Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

After teaching Qin Jingru how to ride a bicycle, Wang Feng told her he wouldn't be back for lunch and rode his bicycle to the steel rolling mill.

Today is his first day as deputy section chief, and he still has to hand over his duties to Li Huaiming.

Upon arriving at the office of the Purchasing Department III, everyone from the department was already there, including Deputy Department Chief Li Huaiming, who had arrived early.

"Good morning, everyone, Brother Li."

Wang Feng greeted everyone with a smile, then took out a Daqianmen cigarette and offered one to each person.

Li Huaiming took the cigarette and joked, "Wang Feng, you're something else! You've only been working for less than two months and you've already been promoted to deputy section chief. You should treat us to a meal this time, right?"

"Hehe, please, you absolutely must," Wang Feng said with a smile.

"Okay, you said it yourself, so we're all waiting for you."

"No problem, I'll treat everyone to a good drink when the festival ends this month."

After Wang Feng finished speaking, he looked at Li Huaiming and said, "Brother Li, you should have been promoted too, right?"

Li Huaiming took a deep drag on his cigarette and said, "As for me, it's practically a promotion in name only; I've been transferred to the logistics department to guard the warehouse."

"Brother Li, what's going on?" Wang Feng asked in a deep voice.

Li Huaiming gestured with his hand: "Don't rush. I applied to go to the warehouse myself. You know I'm Director Li's cousin, but I know my own limitations. Rather than occupying a position without doing anything, I'd rather go to a quiet place to retire, so that Director Li won't have to put up a hard job."

Upon hearing this, everyone understood.

"Wang Feng, come here. I'll finish handing over the duties to you and then report to the warehouse."

Wang Feng nodded and began the handover with Li Huaiming.

Twenty minutes later, after handing over the work to Li Huaiming and Li Huaiming leaving, Wang Feng chatted with the purchasing department staff for a few minutes before leaving the steel mill and riding his bicycle toward the Red Star Commune.

It took him three whole hours to cycle to Lujia Village, which is next to Qinjiazhuang. As soon as he entered the village, two armed militiamen stopped him.

"Stop right there, what are you doing?"

Wang Feng took out two Daqianmen cigarettes and handed them to the two militiamen, saying with a smile, "Comrades, I'm a purchasing agent from the steel rolling mill, don't misunderstand."

As he spoke, Wang Feng took out his letter of introduction and work ID and handed them over.

The militiaman took the ID and glanced at it, then quickly offered a cigarette and said with a smile, "So it's Comrade Wang Feng. Are you going to the village chief's house? I'll take you there right away."

"Thank you, comrade."

Upon arriving at the village chief's house, the militiamen shouted loudly:

"Village chief, the purchasing agent from the steel rolling mill is here."

Soon, the village chief came out of a mud-brick house.

The village chief, who looked to be in his fifties, approached Wang Feng and asked:

"Comrade, are you the purchasing agent from the steel rolling mill? Wasn't it always Wang Defa who came to our village to buy supplies?"

Wang Feng offered him a cigarette and nodded, saying, "Wang Defa is my father. He was killed by robbers while he was out shopping in the countryside a while ago. I'm taking over his job."

Upon hearing this, the village chief took the cigarette, patted Wang Feng on the shoulder, and comforted him, saying, "Please accept my condolences."

Wang Feng forced a smile and said, "Uncle Lu, my name is Wang Feng. I'm here to buy some things. Has anyone hunted any wild game in the village recently? I'll have to trouble you to ask around and see if anyone has anything to sell."

As he spoke, Wang Feng took out the purchase list and price list and handed them to the village chief, saying:

"Uncle Lu, I know everyone is having a tough time right now. This is the price our factory gives to our purchasing staff. Tell the villagers that I will buy from them at the factory's highest price."

The village chief took the list and saw that the price was indeed higher than usual, which made him very happy.

"Alright, alright, Wang Feng, you really are a straightforward person. You wait here, I'll go ask around for you right away."

After saying that, the village chief left in a hurry.

In less than five minutes, the villagers, carrying various mountain products, arrived one after another at the village chief's house.

"Dear purchasing agent, the village chief said you can buy our goods at the factory's highest price. Is that true?"

"Dear purchasing agent, how much is this pheasant per pound?"

Wang Feng gestured for the villagers to stop, and then said loudly, "Fellow villagers, I know you're all having a tough time right now. I guarantee you the highest price in the factory. I've already shown the purchase list to the village chief. If you don't believe me, you can compare the prices with the village chief's list."

"I trust the village chief. He wouldn't lie to us. I have dozens of eggs at home. I'll bring them over right now."

"Yes, we also believe in the village chief."

"Dear purchasing agent, how much is this pheasant per pound?"

Wang Feng took the pheasant, weighed it, and said, "The pheasant weighs 2.8 jin (1.4 kg), that's 0.8 yuan per jin, that's 2.24 yuan. Is that right?"

"Yes, yes, the pheasants I sold last time were only 75 cents a pound, this time they cost 5 cents more."

The villagers accepted the money with smiles and left happily.

"Purchaser, could you weigh this wild rabbit for me?"

王枫接过野兔一称，3斤6两，7毛一斤，2块5毛2。

Soon, Wang Feng found himself in a long queue. He spent a full half hour, spent over a hundred yuan, and collected a large amount of items.

There were pheasants and rabbits, cured meat, dried mushrooms, old hens and eggs, with eggs being the most collected, totaling more than 2 eggs.

Wang Feng sighed inwardly, thinking how miserable people were in this era, even reluctant to eat the eggs laid by the chickens.

However, he wouldn't be a pushover; giving them the factory's purchase price was already a fair deal.

Wang Feng packed everything into a sack, found the village chief, offered him a cigarette, and said with a smile, "Uncle Lu, have a smoke."

The village chief took the cigarette, lit it, and smiled.

"Wang Feng, you're a very honest man, even more honest than your father. From now on, all the mountain produce in our village will be yours."

Wang Feng smiled and nodded, then went straight to the point:

"Uncle Lu, could you get me some wheat and rice seeds? Also, do you have any piglets, calves, or lambs for sale in the village? I'd like to buy some, preferably both male and female."

"What do you need these for?" the village chief asked curiously.

"Hehe, Uncle Lu, it's like this, I have a relative in the Red Flag Commune, and he asked me to buy these."

The village chief pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "I can get you a few kilograms of seeds, and we also have a few piglets that I can give you, but regarding the price..."

"Uncle Lu, don't worry, I guarantee the highest price," Wang Feng assured him.

"Okay, then you wait here, I'll go get the seeds now."

After saying that, the village chief went back into the house, and soon came back carrying two bags.

"Here are 5 jin of wheat seeds and 5 jin of rice seeds. Do you think that's enough?"

"That's enough, that's enough, thank you Uncle Lu," Wang Feng said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll take you to our village's pigsty to see the piglets."

Soon, the two arrived at the pigpen, where the village chief pointed to a group of piglets and said, "How many do you want? Go and catch them yourself."

Wang Feng carefully examined the pigs in the pigpen. There were eight large, fat pigs, one sow, and ten piglets.

"Uncle Lu, are you planning to sell all the piglets? If so, I'll take them all."

Upon hearing this, the village chief waved his hands repeatedly: "How can that be? I can only give you four at most."

"Four heads it is, but I want one male and three females."

"become."

After discussing it with the village chief, Wang Feng didn't let him suffer a loss. At the highest price of 1.2 yuan per jin, the four piglets weighed a total of 96 jin, which was 115.2 yuan. Adding the cost of ten jin of seeds, the total was 119.7 yuan. Wang Feng generously gave the village chief 120 yuan.