pjbooks Chapter 23 Buying Pig Bones
Chapter 23 Buying Pig Bones
When they reached the intersection, Zhao Yuan saw Zhou Jiefang sitting alone next to a cart, scribbling something on the ground with a stick. He looked like a completely different person from the Zhou Jiefang he had seen yesterday.
"Let's go home, Liberation."
Zhao Yuan said.
"Brother Zhao, you're back. Let's go."
Zhou Jiefang dropped the stick in his hand, stood up, and patted the dirt off his backside.
The two pulled the cart toward home.
Passing by the township supply and marketing cooperative, Zhao Yuan stopped and went inside. The cooperative was out of meat; only a few unwanted bones lay piled on the cutting board. In rural areas during that era, these bones, with little meat, were disliked. They were considered offal, and although much cheaper, they were still unpopular with ordinary people. Most felt it was more worthwhile to spend a little more money on meat.
"Master Lu, I'll take all these pork bones."
Zhao Yuan said to Butcher Lu, who was standing in the butcher shop.
"Alright. Zhaoyuan, you've brought back the bamboo baskets from the XXX military factory again."
When Butcher Lu saw that it was Zhao Yuan and heard that he would buy all the pig offal, he was naturally happy. The village was only so big, and Zhao Yuan was a regular customer of the supply and marketing cooperative. He would come and visit every time he delivered bamboo baskets, so everyone became quite familiar with each other over time.
"Hmm. At this point, don't overcharge for these unwanted pig offal. Chop them all into pieces for me. My family doesn't have such nice equipment as yours; it won't do any good work if you take it back."
As he spoke, Zhao Yuan took out his pipe from his trouser pocket, began rolling tobacco, handed one to Butcher Lu, and lit a match to pass it on.
Lu the Butcher took the pipe, lit it with the fire Zhao Yuan had given him, took a puff, blew out a white smoke ring, then put the pipe in his mouth and used his free hand to chop bones.
"No problem, no problem. There's still plenty of meat on the bones today. Look here, there's meat all over here. You've hit the jackpot today."
As Lu the butcher spoke, he showed Zhao Yuan the remaining bones, proving they were genuine, unlike some butchers who cleaned the bones so thoroughly that even dogs would find them repulsive.
Zhao Yuan smiled in response to Lu the butcher's words, then rolled a pipe for himself, lit it, and stood aside watching Lu the butcher chop bones.
With a series of thumping sounds, the pork bones were broken into pieces, packaged, and weighed.
"Look, it's 4.4 jin (2.2 catties). Let me round it down to 4 jin. 8 jiao (0.8 yuan)."
As Butcher Lu weighed the item with an old-fashioned steelyard, he pointed it out to Zhao Yuan.
"Okay, comrade, weigh out another pound of red dates, a pound of brown sugar, a pound of candied sugar, and a can of malted milk powder for me."
Zhao Yuan walked to the counter next to him and spoke to a female sales clerk.
"Ok."
The saleswoman was eating sunflower seeds. She put down the seeds, clapped her hands, picked up a steelyard to weigh the red dates and other items for Zhaoyuan, and wrapped them in paper.
"Here you go, eight yuan and eight jiao in total."
The saleswoman packed all the pork bones and sugar and handed them to Zhaoyuan.
Zhao Yuan paid and took the items handed to him by the salesperson.
"Liberation, here, take this."
Zhao Yuan handed the paper-wrapped candy to Zhou Jiefang.
"Brother Zhao, no need, I don't want it."
Zhou Jiefang declined.
"Jiefang, here you go. Everyone has their difficulties sometimes, and if we all help each other out, it will get through. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to deliver so many bamboo baskets by myself today. Thank you for your hard work."
As he spoke, Zhao Yuan stuffed the paper-wrapped candy into Zhou Jiefang's cloth bag.
"Thank you so much, Brother Zhao. Look at me, you've been taking care of me all this time."
Zhou Jiefang stopped making excuses. Indeed, it was a time of scarcity, and his own family was already starving; life was far more important than saving face.
Zhao Yuan loaded the purchased items onto the cart, tied it up, and pulled the cart toward home.
Going back will be much easier; the car will be empty, and it'll all be downhill.
"Zhou Jiefang, what are you best at?"
Zhao Yuan asked.
"I don't have any particular talents. I've loved reading since I was little, and I had excellent grades."
Zhou Jiefang said.
How's your English?
Zhao Yuan asked.
“My father used to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his English is very good. When I was six or seven years old, I went to live in the Yellow Hair Country with my father for a year. At that time, my father was sent to the Yellow Hair Country to do diplomatic work. I studied there for a year and my English is still okay.”
Zhou Jiefang said.
"Really? Then your spoken English is very good. I have a translation job available. You can work with me. Would you like to do it?"
Zhao Yuan said.
"Yes, I'm willing, but I'm afraid the translation won't be good, since I rarely use spoken English after returning to China."
Zhou Jiefang said.
"It's okay, you can give it a try first. I brought back four documents to translate this time, and I've only finished translating one. Come to my house later and see if you can do this job."
Zhao Yuan said.
"Ok."
The two quickened their pace and walked home.
Zhao Yuan's home in Zhaojia Village.
Lin Fangfang was sitting at the door when she saw Zhaoyuan return. She stood up and greeted him with a smile.
“You’re back.”
Lin Fangfang said.
"Hmm, there's no meat left today, only bones. I bought them all, along with a pound of brown sugar and a pound of red dates. You can boil the red dates in brown sugar water; it's good for your health. I also bought a can of malted milk powder."
As Zhao Yuan spoke, he took the items off the cart. He handed the brown sugar, red dates, and malted milk powder to Lin Fangfang, and then took the bones into the kitchen.
"sister in law."
Zhou Jiefang greeted Lin Fangfang as he helped pack.
"Hey, Brother Zhou, you've had a hard day. Come in, have a cup of tea, and eat before you leave."
Lin Fangfang said.
Zhao Yuan opened the back door of the main room and went to the back garden to pick a white radish, two red radishes, and a cabbage. He quickly washed them, then cut the red and white radishes into chunks, separated a small portion of the bones, and put the rest into a pot to stew with the white and red radishes.
Lin Fangfang sat at the stove opening, tending the fire.
"Fangfang, I've already put the rice and vegetables in the pot. You stay here and watch over them. I'll stir-fry the cabbage before we eat. Jiefang and I have something to do. Call us when the food is ready."
Zhao Yuan said.
"Okay, you guys go ahead and get busy."
Lin Fangfang said.
Zhao Yuan moved the square table he usually used for meals to the courtyard.
Zhao Yuan took out the materials he needed to translate, took the chemistry book for himself, and handed Zhou Jiefang a book on agriculture and a book on hydropower.
"Take a look at these two books first, and see which one you want to translate. After you finish translating, I'll read it for you."
"Okay. Let me see if I can translate it."
Zhou Jiefang took the documents, moved a long bench over, and sat down to look through them.
Zhao Yuan began to work seriously, and the translation papers next to him slowly piled up into a tall stack.
Zhou Jiefang glanced at the two materials and was prepared to give it a try, but having no prior translation experience, he found himself stuck in many places. Therefore, he hesitated to begin, lacking confidence.
Zhou Jiefang looked up at Zhao Yuan and saw that Zhao Yuan was writing something with great concentration, and he was writing very fast.
Zhou Jiefang picked up the translated materials from Zhao Yuan's work and began to read. The handwriting was elegant, the pages neat, and it was very pleasing to the eye. Zhao Yuan was flipping through the book with one hand while writing rapidly with the other; to an outsider, it would look like he was copying from a textbook, not doing translation work at all.
Zhou Jiefang was very curious. Was he translating? How could he be so fast? He quietly stood behind Zhao Yuan and saw that he was translating chemistry. He could understand most of the content, but he knew very well that if he were to translate it, he would need to think about how to form sentences, would often get stuck, and would inevitably have to make corrections. He could never translate it as smoothly as Zhao Yuan, as if he were copying a book.
Zhou Jiefang was amazed by Zhao Yuan's translation skills; he hadn't expected that someone with such impressive English skills could exist in such a remote and impoverished place. He began to feel a great deal of curiosity about Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan was writing furiously, while Zhou Jiefang watched quietly.
......
The meal was ready, and the bone broth was stewed. Lin Fangfang came out of the kitchen and saw Zhao Yuan still writing without looking up, while Zhou Jiefang stood behind him, watching Zhao Yuan write intently. Neither of them noticed Lin Fangfang coming out, so Lin Fangfang didn't say anything or call out to Zhao Yuan.
She knew her man must be doing something very important, and all she could do was offer her silent support without disturbing him.
She changed Zhao Nana's diaper, fed her, and then sat on the bench in front of the door, quietly watching Zhao Yuan work.
Zhao Zhaodi and Zhao Laidi came home from school and saw their father writing diligently again. Not daring to disturb him, they moved a long bench to the yard in front of the pigsty, and each of them put a brick under their bottoms, using the bench as a table to do their homework.
Zhao Yuan stipulated that the first thing the two sisters had to do when they got home was to finish their homework, check it themselves first, and then do other things. Therefore, the two sisters never dared to neglect their homework.
The house was completely silent. The only sounds were the faint rustling of pages turning and writing, and the occasional soft whimpering of a baby.
......