Back to 1984: I built a chicken farm on a barren mountain.

The small stage in Chenjiazhuang.

Aunt Zhao and her old friends were talking about the letter from the Queen Mother of the West.

Aunt Zhao, who is usually very loud, seemed listless and absent-minded today, like a wilted eggplant.

She originally wanted to stock up on more salt, but her daughter, a teacher at Chenjiazhuang Elementary School, gave her a severe scolding when she got home, warning her not to copy the text or buy salt.

She promised her daughter, but when she saw others buying salt by the pound or twenty pounds, she panicked and fear eventually overcame her reason.

She made up her mind that she could forgo copying the letter, but she had to buy some salt, even if it was just a little. But after she made up her mind, she could no longer buy any.

She had asked both the supply and marketing cooperative and the small shops. The supply and marketing cooperative was out of stock, and the small shops didn't sell it.

At this moment, the other women were all offering their advice:

"Aunt Zhao, don't worry, we didn't buy much either."

"I bought more, I'll share some with you."

"Yeah, why would we worry about something like this?"

"Don't worry, I heard that salt will be available in a couple of days; someone has gone out to buy it."

"I've heard about it too. Some people from our village have gone out to buy salt. Some say it's through Zhou Guangrong, others say it's through Han Laosi, there are all sorts of rumors..."

"No matter who it is, as long as they have the goods, we'll secretly stockpile some more."

"..."

After hearing what her old friends said, Aunt Zhao felt much better and decided to wait two more days.

Two days later.

Han Laosi secretly returned to the village with the salt.

He bought a lot of salt this time, and although it took some effort to get the amount he expected, he also paid a high price.

However, for him, the cost is ultimately borne by the consumer; if he buys at a high price, he can simply sell it at a higher price.

The lights in Han Laosi's house stayed on for most of the night.

The couple divided the coarse salt into simple pieces and repackaged it. They calculated the cost and profit, and although it couldn't completely make up for the previous loss of eggs, it was close enough.

Clang!

A noise came from the courtyard. Han Laosi went out of the house to check, only to hear a cat meow and see that the flowerpot by the door had fallen to the ground and broken.

The gate to the courtyard was ajar, not closed.

"Fuck his grandma!"

He cursed Li Dahua's carelessness in his heart, then closed the door. He picked up the flowerpot with a pained expression, examined it again and again, and then helplessly tossed it aside.

The Han couple worked until the early hours of the morning, and finally, unable to stay awake any longer, they went to sleep.

The next day, they were woken up by the village committee's broadcast.

Chen Youwei's powerful voice blared from the loudspeaker, reaching every corner of Chenjiazhuang.

"Comrades, comrades, given that everyone wants to buy salt, but the supply and marketing cooperative is out of stock, the village committee, acting in the name of the people, has purchased a batch of salt from the town's supply and marketing cooperative. Those who urgently need salt at home can come to the brigade headquarters to get some. We remind you again, comrades, not to be superstitious or to panic unnecessarily."

"Comrades, comrades, if anyone in your family urgently needs salt, please come to the brigade headquarters..."

Chen Shouyi was sweeping the yard when he heard the broadcast and ran into the house. He saw Wang Guizhi making breakfast and said:

"Did you hear that? We don't have to worry about running out of salt anymore."

Wang Guizhi rolled her eyes at Chen Shouyi and said:

"I'm never worried, you're just always in a rush."

"Let's go check out the village committee after we finish eating!"

Chen Shouyi picked up a broom and went out to continue sweeping. Aunt Zhang from across the street also came out and called out to Chen Shouyi:

"My family hasn't bought enough yet, but now we don't have to worry. I even heard yesterday that prices were going to go up!"

Aunt Zhao was feeling down on the kang (a heated brick bed). Although her old friends had comforted her, she was upset again when she heard that salt prices were going to rise. Then the broadcast reached her ears, and for the first time, she realized that the village chief's voice was really nice, almost like the warbling of orioles in the woods by the river north of the village!

She rolled over on the kang (a heated brick bed), straightening her back, and regained her usual fierceness.

Zhou Zhiming heard the broadcast at home and knew that the matter had been resolved. He wanted to go up the mountain to spread the news, so he got up and ran outside. Grandma Zhou called out:

"Have breakfast before you leave!"

"I'm going to eat up in the mountains. Brother Feng said we're having chicken blood and vermicelli soup today!"

Grandma Zhou watched her grandson run out with a smile, then suddenly wondered:

"Chicken blood and vermicelli soup? I've never heard of that before!"

Hou Laizi lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and listened to the broadcast carefully. He was still sleepy, having spent half the night watching over Han Laosi's house.

He discussed things with Chen Wenfeng until midnight, and only went to sleep when Chen Wenfeng returned to Jiming Mountain.

He had an important task to do today. Thinking of Chen Wenfeng's instructions, Hou Laizi got up slowly and ate breakfast calmly.

They strolled leisurely to Fatty's house. Fatty and he went to the small stage first, but there was no one there, so they wandered off to the village committee.

When we arrived at the village committee, there were many people standing in the courtyard.

Of course, none of these people were too embarrassed to say that they came to hoard salt to ward off disaster. Some said they were just browsing, some said they were there to get a stamp, and others said they ran out of salt while cooking at home and came to share some.

Interestingly, village chief Chen Youwei was not there. Accountant Wang said that the village chief had gone to a meeting in town and those who wanted salt would have to wait for him to return.

Perhaps sensing everyone's thoughts, Accountant Wang pointed to the conference room and said:

"The salt was in that room, but it was all bought by the village chief. I locked the door because I was afraid it would get stolen. The village chief went to a meeting in a hurry and didn't leave me a key."

When people heard what Accountant Wang said, they all ran to the meeting room window to look inside.

Through the glass, a pile of bags could be seen in the corner of the conference room, stacked high against the wall, taking up almost half the room with salt.

The inner bag was sealed, while the two outermost bags were open, revealing snow-white coarse salt grains.

The two open bags, one of which was slightly tilted, had spilled some of the large grains of salt onto the ground.

"So much salt!"

"Where are we going to eat all this?"

"I bet our village can live off this for years!"

Aunt Zhao suddenly spoke up and asked Accountant Wang:

"Accountant Wang, the price of salt hasn't gone up, has it?"

Surrounded by the crowd, Accountant Wang adjusted his glasses and said:

"Why raise prices? The village committee can't possibly make money off everyone!"

Aunt Zhao was finally relieved, and Accountant Wang gave her a thumbs up.

Hou Laizi, seeing that the time was almost right, said:

"Accountant Wang, did the village chief bring all this salt back? Is it all from our village?"

Accountant Wang glanced at Hou Laizi and explained:

"Yes, it's not even fair when people from other villages come."

Another murmur rippled through the crowd. Accountant Wang felt surrounded by their enthusiasm, and the stench of sweat made him uncomfortable. He said:

"Anyone who needs salt can register with me and pick it up when the village chief returns. Return it later when you have more salt. The village committee doesn't sell salt and doesn't make money from it."

After saying that, Accountant Wang broke free from the crowd and walked away.

Hou Laizi said in a very low but very clear voice:

"Since we're not short of salt, I don't see any need to stockpile it. We'll deal with it when we do need it; bringing it home so early just takes up space!"

As if a word had awakened them from a dream, people realized that this was actually possible, and they all agreed that the leper's method was quite good.