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Chapter 41: Slaughtering Pigs for Feast, Is the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to Be Abolished?

The crowd erupted in commotion; they had never expected Lin Chuan to treat them to such a "pig-killing feast."

Their pig-slaughtering process involves hiring a butcher, with the host sending one or two people to help hold the pig down. After the slaughter, a table is set up for everyone to eat, but there's no concept of hosting a banquet.

Upon hearing that a feast was being held, the villagers displayed unprecedented enthusiasm.

"Brother, there are so many people, why are you treating us?"

Lin Feng pulled Lin Chuan aside and asked curiously.

"Four pigs, if we slaughter them ourselves, how long do you think it will take? We won't even be able to keep boiling water, and by the time we're done slaughtering, the meat might have spoiled."

Lin Chuan pointed to the enthusiastic villagers:

"But it's different when we're hosting a dinner party. Look, someone carries a stove to boil water, and someone else brings benches and planks to set up a platform. In less than two hours, without us having to lift a finger, the pig weighing about a thousand pounds can be slaughtered."

"Why not just call a few people? There are too many people. There are hundreds of people in the bay."

"Not everyone will come. It's just the people here. Thirty catties of meat is enough. Most people won't come. Didn't you see some people are already starting fires?"

In rural areas, most people value face. If they don't offer help, even if Lin Chuan asks, no one will come.

While others were slaughtering pigs, Lin Chuan led Lin Feng, Lin Xue, and Wang Yan outside.

"Brother, where are we going?"

"Buy some cigarettes and candy; we should treat them to something when they come to help us."

"Brother, is it really necessary to be so generous?"

"Xiao Feng, how long do you think they can keep going like this?"

"It will take several years to complete this."

"Do you remember what I told you before?"

"reputation?"

"Yes, reputation. It's very important. If you have it, people will think you were forced to do bad things."

I invited the whole village to dinner. Even if they didn't come, the news would definitely spread, and people would think we were going against the grain (similar to morality or loyalty).

Let's make things even better by buying some cigarettes, candy, and snacks so the kids can remember them. We're not short of money anyway.

However, don't be too generous to others in general, or you'll easily be taken advantage of, especially don't lend money to others.

"oh."

Lin Feng seemed lost in thought, silently following behind Lin Chuan. Lin Xue and Wang Yan eventually ended up on top of Lin Chuan, playing around with him from behind his head.

There was one more thing Lin Chuan didn't mention: even if he was really taken advantage of, he wouldn't care.

Rural areas are a society heavily reliant on personal relationships. If someone takes advantage of you, they will always remember your kindness. There are very few truly ungrateful people.

He doesn't care about money; he's willing to use it to make his family's life better.

It's similar to letting Lin Xue share snacks. Now Lin Xue has many more playmates than before. She plays wildly every day, and her personality is visibly more cheerful than before.

The village's supply and marketing cooperative is very close to Qiaotouwan, only a ten-minute walk away.

The supply and marketing cooperative wasn't actually located in the village; it was located by the roadside, in a ravine at a road corner.

The supply and marketing cooperative is surrounded by a wall, and inside is a large courtyard of several hundred square meters.

This is because their area is rich in persimmons and chestnuts.

When harvest season arrives, everyone brings their produce here to sell, as the space is too small to hold it all.

However, just this year, in September, a few days after Lin Chuan started school, this supply and marketing cooperative was shut down.

The harvest was carried out just as the chestnuts and persimmons were being picked, and it was done very abruptly. Lin Chuan didn't know what had happened; he only heard about it after he returned from his vacation.

I heard that the abolition of the supply and marketing cooperative caused a lot of losses to the farmers in this area, but some clever ones immediately started buying and selling, becoming middlemen and making a fortune in this way.

Lin Chuan looked around the courtyard. Now that he knew about this, he naturally had to make use of it.

He's thinking of taking over this place; it's the best location for doing business.

This was the original site of the supply and marketing cooperative, so people have a natural sense of trust in it. When buying or selling anything, this is the first place they think of.

"Hey, what are you all doing? What are you staring at?"

Lin Chuan and his friends wandered aimlessly around the courtyard, hesitating to go inside. The older woman from the supply and marketing cooperative inside couldn't stand it any longer and called out through the door:

"Hey, what are you all doing? What are you staring at?"

"Hey, sis, we're here to buy some things."

It's about 20 meters from the entrance to the shop inside. If he were to take over the business, he would have to move the shop to the entrance. Lin Chuan thought to himself as he walked.

It's a supply and marketing cooperative; otherwise, anyone who opened a shop like that would have gone out of business long ago.

"What do you want to buy?"

The older sister's attitude was neither good nor bad, but Lin Chuan didn't care. He put Lin Xue and Wang Yan down and looked around the store.

Glass counters, shelves, and portraits of great figures pasted on the wall behind—typical features of the era.

"Sister, give me two red and gold dragons."

Just as the eldest sister was getting impatient, Lin Chuan slowly spoke up. She took out two red and gold dragons, placed them on the counter, and stared at Lin Chuan, her meaning clear: Pay up.

"Sister, another five catties of corn candy and five catties of glutinous rice strips."

The older woman glanced at Lin Chuan with some surprise. She had previously assumed that the two young men with two children were just casually strolling around.

She hadn't expected them to be buying anything, but they were surprisingly generous; these kinds of things are usually hard to sell. Her tone warmed up a bit:

"We only have three jin of corn candy left, and two jin of glutinous rice strips. We also have sunflower seeds, small biscuits, hawthorn slices, and orange candy. Do you want these?"

"Yes, big sister, pack me five pounds of whatever you have. Do you have any soda? If so, give me some."

"Oh, is something going on at home? Is it a wedding? Young man, do you have a girlfriend yet? We have hawthorn soda, it's 50 cents a bottle, we'll refund 30 cents for the bottle, and it's 50 cents cheaper if you buy a dozen. Want a dozen?"

Good heavens, prices in the countryside are higher than in the county. He remembered that a bottle of soda cost 15 cents in the county, with a 5-cent refund for the bottle, but here it's double the price.

However, he didn't care about such a small amount of money. Lin Chuan ordered two dozen, twelve bottles per dozen.

Including cigarettes and candy, the total cost was 74.6, with the bulk of the expense being cigarettes, which cost 20 per carton.

"Sis, you're out of a lot of these things, why don't you restock?"

"Who knows? The stock we've been getting has been decreasing over the past few months. Whatever, we've been getting a lot of stuff but we still can't sell it."

The older sister cracked sunflower seeds and said nonchalantly, and Lin Chuan understood that she was hesitating about whether to retreat or not.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Lin Chuan led Lin Feng and the others back. The two little girls seemed to have a special fondness for Lin Chuan's shoulders, and wanted him to carry them as soon as they went out.

Lin Chuan held one in each hand, while the two girls were happily munching on snacks, occasionally feeding Lin Chuan a little.

It wasn't that they didn't want to feed Lin Feng; it was just that he was very aloof and said he wouldn't eat, without even opening his mouth.

They didn't cross the Wanzi Bridge on their way back; they took a side path.

Cross the river embankment, walk along a field ridge, then through a bamboo grove—the same bamboo grove where we previously cut down pine trees—and you'll be home. The route is about the same as crossing the bridge.

The reason we took the back path was, of course, to put some of the snacks away so that the two little girls could eat them slowly.

Just take a little and share it, that's enough. Lin Chuan isn't really stupid.