Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 38 Talking about ancient times
The group settled down at the table: the five Yang brothers, Master Zhu and his two apprentices, plus Liu Jujiang and Chen Fan, making a total of ten grown men.

Everyone had a bowl of wine in front of them, except for Chen Fan, who had a large bowl in front of him, a wine pot simmering in hot water, and a small wine cup in his hand. Yang Ju had kindly prepared this for him.

Master Zhu glanced at it and couldn't help but laugh, "Young Chen must come from a family that values ​​tradition. My master once said, 'Don't drink cold wine in autumn and winter, don't walk at night, and don't accept government money when doing business. You'll be free from illness and disaster for the rest of your life.' It's a pity that I haven't seen these traditions of the older generation in the last ten years."

Before October of last year, he wouldn't have dared to say such things. However, after the bad guys were defeated, we still had to adhere to principles on important matters, but no one gossiped about minor things anymore. In just a few months, the social atmosphere has changed a lot.

Take the Lunar New Year, for example. For the first ten years, we could only think about it from the comfort of our homes, and at most, we could have a more elaborate meal on New Year's Eve.

This year, however, the supply and marketing cooperatives put Spring Festival couplets and firecrackers on the shelves early, along with many other New Year's goods, which is a big change.

Upon hearing Master Zhu's words, Chen Fan quickly chuckled and said, "I just have a weak constitution, and drinking cold wine makes my stomach uncomfortable. It's nothing else."

Master Zhu smiled slightly and didn't say much.

Captain Yang picked up his wine bowl and naturally changed the subject, "Today I want to thank Master Zhu and his two apprentices for their help, and also thank Master Liu and Master Chen for their hard work. Come on, let's have a drink."

Chen Fan, now a junior chef, picked up his small wine cup, clinked it with everyone's wine bowls with a grin, took a small sip of wine, and felt a warm current flow down his throat, quickly warming his body.

Drinking on an empty stomach was indeed quite uncomfortable, so Chen Fan decided to eat some food to calm down.

But before he could even touch his chopsticks, he saw that no one at the table had touched their chopsticks; instead, they were all looking at Captain Yang.

What do you mean?
After taking a sip of wine, Captain Yang put down his bowl and then spread his hands to indicate, "Come on, come on, have some food."

Liu Jujiang didn't speak, and the others didn't say a word either. Only Master Zhu chuckled and said, "Master, please go first. Master, please go first."

Captain Yang deliberately put on a stern face, "Master Zhu, please don't stand on ceremony. If you don't start eating, how dare we?"

Master Zhu continued to defer, saying, "Captain Yang, you are the eldest brother, and there is also our Boss Yang here, who is also the eldest brother. We brothers should go first."

Captain Yang's older brother also joined in the persuasion, saying, "Master Zhu, you are highly respected. You should come and have a turn."

After going back and forth like this two or three times, Master Zhu finally picked up his chopsticks, grinned widely, and said, "Then I won't be polite!"

Captain Yang spread his hands and said, "Come on, come on, try the cooking of Master Liu and Master Chen."

Master Zhu then picked up a piece of stir-fried pork liver and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up immediately, and he gave Chen Fan a thumbs up. "Tender and juicy, and without any fishy smell. Master Chen, you have excellent skills!"

Chen Fan grinned awkwardly, unsure how to react.

Damn, even eating a bite of food is so troublesome, it's exhausting.

I didn't see so many red tape yesterday.

So Captain Yang didn't treat me like a guest?

Master Zhu took the first bite, and everyone else picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

Apart from Chen Fan, the first thing everyone else ate wasn't the piping hot pork stew, but the three dishes Chen Fan had cooked.

Blood sausage, stir-fried pork liver, and twice-cooked pork.

Unlike later generations, where people can sit at home and enjoy food from all over the world with just their phones, in this day and age, the food we can eat is mostly local cuisine. At most, new dishes are brought in by people from other places marrying into the area or migrating with their families.

So none of the people present had ever eaten these dishes before.

Upon tasting it, he immediately gave it a thumbs up, his chopsticks never stopping as he frequently raised his glass.

Although Chen Fan really wanted to taste the familiar flavors, he couldn't compete with them, so he simply set his sights on the pork stew. Chef Liu's cooking skills weren't exactly top-notch, just average for a village banquet chef, but they weren't bad either, better than Aunt Yang's home-style dishes.

A pot of stewed pork offal, with the pork meat tender and soft, blends perfectly with fresh cabbage juice. It's not oily or greasy, and the saltiness is just right, making it very appetizing.

After several rounds of drinks and several dishes, everyone started to chat.

Of course, the one who talked the most was our host, Master Zhu.

After eating until he was about 70% full, Chen Fan slowed down, savoring the warm wine as he ate and drank, while listening to some "old stories" from that era.

Master Zhu had already taken off his cotton-padded coat, wearing only an autumn shirt. With his broad shoulders and thick waist, he looked like a door god. He picked up his wine bowl, took a sip, ate a bite of meat, and began to repeat the old sayings he had said countless times.

"In 62, the higher authorities issued a notice that not only was a purchase system implemented, requiring each household to raise pigs and sell them to the food station according to the number of people in the household, but also the purchase price of pigs was increased. For farmers who sold their pigs to the food station, they were rewarded with grain and industrial products."

Those were good times. Raising one pig was equivalent to raising a strong laborer, so every household was willing to raise pigs. I couldn't manage it all by myself, so I submitted a report to hire more people. Only then did the leaders agree to assign two apprentices to each of our seven masters. That's when I took on my first batch of apprentices.

By the second year, the situation of not being able to obtain pigs for three years had completely changed, and the "negotiated purchase and sale" policy was added, allowing prices to fluctuate. That year, the task was exceeded, and I slaughtered more than a thousand pigs by myself.

In 65, a pilot program was implemented to purchase pigs using a pre-payment reward system for grain sales.

He turned to Chen Fan, who was listening intently, and immediately recognized him as a kindred spirit. He explained in detail, "What does that mean? It means that as long as the purchasing task is assigned to you, I will first give you the grain you are entitled to for selling the pigs. When you bring the pigs to the food station to sell, the difference will be adjusted according to the weight. This immediately boosted the enthusiasm of the people. That year, the county purchased more than 10 pigs. 10 pigs! How could we possibly eat them all?"

Chen Fan blinked, silently calculating how many kilograms 10 pigs would weigh.
The meat yield of pigs is generally between 70% and 80%. Let's take 70% as an example. The minimum standard for a pig is 120 jin (60 catties), and the meat yield is at least 84 jin (42 kg). 100,000 pigs would yield 8.4 million jin (4.2 million kg).

At least 840 million jin?

That's scary!
However, if we calculate the per capita consumption, even if we assume a county has a population of 30, the average person's annual consumption is only 28 jin? That's a little over two jin per month?
This is still assuming that all pork stays locally. In reality, most pork is supplied to big cities, and very little pork can stay locally!

Master Zhu took a sip of wine and then ate a bite of food.

Unfortunately, by this time, they had almost finished eating all the meat and vegetables, not to mention the dishes Chen Fan had made. They could only pick up a couple of bites of freshly cooked cabbage and red mustard greens to go with their drinks.

Wiping his mouth, Master Zhu continued, "How can we possibly eat all these pigs? This year, most cities across the country abolished pork rationing and opened up the supply, but we still couldn't sell them all."

Why? Because most ordinary people can't afford it. A pound of pork costs more than a dollar. How many families can afford to eat it every day?
As a result, a lot of the meat went bad or had to be thrown away, what a pity.

Since the pork couldn't be sold out, they couldn't keep buying indiscriminately. So they changed their approach and implemented a system of "door-to-door inspection of pigs, issuance of certificates upon qualification, scheduled and fixed-point purchases," which finally solved the problem of "overstocking."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly.

The problem of overflowing inventory has been solved, but what about the families of the production team members who invested costs and effort?
Master Zhu, of course, didn't say anything, nor could he interfere. He simply continued, "Later, around 66, the policy changed, and the system of assigning purchase quotas and rewarding sales was completely abolished. Now, without purchase quotas or sales incentives, how many people would still be willing to raise pigs?"

He turned to Captain Yang and asked, "What percentage of the people in Lujiawan raised pigs back then?"

Captain Yang tilted his head and smiled, "How many? Basically, they raise one pig to slaughter and eat during the New Year, but they don't raise any pigs to complete their tasks."

Master Zhu slapped the table and turned to Chen Fan, “Look, look, the people aren’t stupid. The purchase price for a live pig is 35 cents a pound, and in some places it doesn’t exceed 45 cents. What’s the market price for live pigs outside the quota? 98 cents a pound!”

Chen Fan's eyes widened immediately. A price difference of 63 cents?

Master Zhu spread his hands and said, "The price difference is so huge, and they even canceled the bonus. They don't give us grain or ration coupons. Who would want to raise them?"

As a result, in 68 and 69, the annual yield was less than 5 pigs. In fact, people would slaughter their pigs for the New Year, keeping half and selling the other half, which led to the re-emergence of pork ration coupons.

In 73, the incentive-based sales and distribution programs were temporarily reinstated, but they were canceled again just as they were starting to take off. It wasn't until last year, when they were reinstated, that the number of pig farmers increased.

(End of this chapter)