Reborn in the 1970s, Zhang Sanniu's new life

The next day, after breakfast, Zhang Laosan, Wang Cuihua, and Sanniu carried 15 chickens into town!

The two sisters, Da Niu and Er Niu, locked the door from the inside, and then began to learn to write!

The farmers of Wangjia Village, our Tianwangjia Village, heard that "Wang Dayong's family has a lot of cloth that doesn't require coupons, and they can even exchange it for chickens. What a great deal! They were afraid that if they arrived late, everyone would have already exchanged it all, so they brought their chickens and went to Wang Dayong's house early in the morning!"

Wang Dayong's house was packed with people early in the morning, all coming to exchange cloth. Each person also brought a basket of chickens!

Wang Dayong stood in the courtyard and shouted, "Don't make a fuss, come one by one, everyone can exchange. If you can't exchange this morning, come back this afternoon. There will still be cloth available this afternoon. Don't worry, everyone be quiet!"

"Alright, everyone line up properly. Don't grab anything, or we won't exchange it. We're only doing this for the sake of the villagers. Where else can you find such a good deal? After you exchange your cloth, don't do anything harmful or report us. Not only will we be arrested, but you won't be able to keep your cloth either. I'm reminding everyone, don't talk nonsense outside. Do you hear me?" Wang Dayong's wife said from the yard.

"Oh dear, Sister-in-law Dayong, don't worry! You're so kind to help us. If anyone dares to report you, we'll kick their whole family out of Wangjia Village. Our village won't keep such wicked people. Yes, yes, we won't interfere if someone does something bad," the people in the yard quickly said.

Soon the villagers were happy, taking the cloth they had exchanged and leaving. Some who hadn't gotten any left, "Dayong told them to come back in the afternoon, there would be plenty more cloth then, so they didn't have to worry about not getting any." Only then did everyone reluctantly head home, looking back every few steps.

Dayong and his wife quickly packed the chickens into two baskets, put the rest in the chicken coop to feed them, and then carried the chickens on their backs and hurried towards Zhangjia Village!

San Niu, Zhang Laosan, and Wang Cuihua entered the city and went straight to the family compound, to Grandma Wu's house!

The three stood outside the door. San Niu went to knock on the door, and soon the doorknob opened. It was Grandma Wu who opened the door. "Oh, it's you! Come in quickly!" Grandma Wu happily invited the three of them into the house!

"Hello Grandma Wu, Aunt Wu, Aunt Wu, you're here to greet us again! Zhang Laosan and the other two, hurry up and say hello!"

"I'm so happy you could come! You don't know, so many of our neighbors, knowing that we had chicken last time, came to ask me if I could help them buy one too. Isn't that great? It's just that you came today. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to prepare it," Grandma Wu said happily!

"That's wonderful! Aunt Wu, how many chickens do you want? We brought 15 chickens today," said Zhang Laosan.

“15? Then you keep 10. Weigh them all at once, and I’ll distribute them to them later,” Grandma Wu said.

Grandma Wu picked out 10 chickens. Zhang Laosan weighed them on a scale, and they totaled 56 jin. "Aunt Wu, it's 56 jin in total, so let's just count it as 56 jin. We won't count the half jin," Zhang Laosan said.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Grandma Wu said happily. She went into her room, took out the money, paid, and then added, "Please send ten more chickens in a few days. I'll arrange it in advance. You can come to my house again!"

Old Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Aunt Wu, how about this, if you help me find people to buy chickens in the future, I'll give you a discount of nine cents per pound. That way, you won't be working for nothing. Is that alright?"

"Great! This way our family can eat chicken more often!" Grandma Wu said happily!

"Oh, by the way, Aunt Wu, I still have a few pigs at home. They're all grown up, and I'd like to slaughter them myself and sell the pork. Do you think anyone here wants any?" Zhang Laosan said.

"Oh my, you even raise pigs! That's wonderful! We were worried about not having any meat for the New Year! Here's what we'll do: I'll ask around these next few days to see how much they need, and I'll keep track of it. I'll tell you next time you come," Grandma Wu said happily!

“Okay, Aunt Wu, then I’ll trouble you. Don’t worry, I’ll send you five catties of meat so you can make dumplings for the New Year,” Zhang Laosan said readily.

"Thank you so much! Don't worry, I'll definitely ask all my relatives and friends and help you sell more meat," Grandma Wu said happily!

Grandma Wu saw Zhang Laosan and the others off at the door, then happily turned around to find someone. Oh dear, helping out not only earns money, but also provides five catties of pork to eat. Just thinking about it makes me happy. Grandma Wu not only sold out, but also pre-ordered several hundred catties of pork!

After leaving Grandma Wu's house, Zhang Laosan and his group found another apartment building. San Niu stood at the gate, looked around, and saw several elderly men and women coming from a distance to buy groceries!

San Niu said, "Dad, quickly take the chicken out of the basket!"

Zhang Laosan quickly took the chickens out and put them on the ground. San Niu picked up two chickens and went to the old couple. "Grandpa, Grandma, do you want to buy chickens? These are chickens that we raise ourselves. Look how big and fat they are, and how delicious they are!" San Niu said.

"Let me see, an old lady quickly grabbed the chicken, probably because she couldn't buy it anymore. And another one, an old man, took it!"

"Hey, don't snatch it, little girl! Are there any more? We don't have any yet! Everyone else is getting anxious because two chickens have been taken away!"

"Don't rush, there are still three left! San Niu, quickly bring over the other three chickens and divide them among them. There are still two left to share!"

"Why didn't you bring more? We didn't get any," the other two said unhappily!

"Don't be upset, you two. We'll bring more tomorrow, and we promise to sell them to you first," Zhang Laosan said.

San Niu thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Grandpas and Grandmas, we not only raise chickens, but also several pigs! Do you want some pork? Pork dumplings are the most fragrant and delicious!"

"Oh, you even have pigs? That's great! My family needs 20 jin (10 catties). Please save some for me, and don't forget!" an old lady quickly raised her hand and said.

San Niu took out a notebook and pen from her pocket. "Don't rush, we'll have everything. I'll write down how much each person needs and bring it to them according to the ledger," San Niu said.

"Next, everyone quickly wrote down the quantities they needed for San Niu, reminding her several times in case she forgot!"

"Alright, everyone's noted down on the pork. Now let's weigh the chicken. Let's agree on this first: the chicken is one yuan per jin," San Niu said.

"We know, the neighbor bought it for one yuan a pound too, don't worry about the scale! We'll kill the chicken at noon and have some meat. Sigh, my grandson has been making a fuss for days," an old lady said.

Zhang Laosan quickly took out the scale to weigh the chicken, and Sanniu calculated the bill and collected the money. The weighing was done in no time, and the money was collected. A group of old men and women happily went home to slaughter the chicken!

"Dad, let's hurry to the store and buy some more cloth!" San Niu said.

The three went to the store and found Sister Liu and Zhang Laosan. Before Sister Liu could ask anything, they said, "Sister Liu, we would like to buy some more cloth today. Also, our pig needs to be slaughtered. We would like to ask your boss if he needs pork!"

"Oh dear, you still have pigs to buy! That's great! You'll have to save me extra meat, I need 60 jin. Don't forget, you go to the warehouse to pick out some fabric first, I'll go find the manager." Sister Liu said happily, then asked you to watch the counter for a moment before leaving.

Zhang Laosan and the others went to the warehouse on their own!

Upon arriving at the warehouse, Zhang Laosan said, "Big sister, we were sent here by Sister Liu to pick out fabric!"

"Oh, I know you. You were here yesterday. Do you still have chickens for sale? When will you sell me two more?" the warehouse guard said.

"Okay, we'll bring it to you tomorrow," Zhang Laosan agreed.

"That's great! I'll save some good fabric for you in the future and hide it so that others won't pick it all up," the older sister said as she led them inside.

"Thank you so much, sister!" Wang Cuihua said.

The eldest sister happily brought out the several bolts of cloth that she had hidden, saying, "These were originally meant for others, but you can have them first!"

When San Niu and the others saw it, it was true. There was none when they came yesterday. It seems that the good ones have all been hidden away. It's easier to get things done if you have connections!

"Big sister, in a couple of days, my family will be buying pork. I'll save some for you. And if you get any good cloth in the future, please save some for us!" Zhang Laosan said.

"That's great! Please save some meat for me. I have a daughter and a son, so please save me a few dozen kilograms, okay? Don't worry, brother, from now on, whenever this cloth goes into the warehouse, I'll save the best pieces for you," the older sister said.

"Okay, sister, I'll give you 50 jin of meat, is that alright?" Zhang Laosan said.

"Great! That's wonderful! Now we'll have meat to eat for the New Year!" said the eldest sister.

The older sister helped carry the cloth to the table by the warehouse entrance, so we could record the bill later!

Soon, Sister Liu arrived with the accountant and the store manager!

Sister Liu introduced, "Brother Zhang, this is our manager. He wants to discuss the pork matter with you!"

Zhang Laosan quickly said, "Hello, Manager!"

"Hello, Brother Zhang, how many pigs do you raise? Our store would like to buy more pork," the manager said.

Zhang Laosan thought for a moment, "My family, including my two older brothers' families, raises a total of 15 pigs. I wonder how many pigs the manager would like to take?" Zhang Laosan said.

"Then sell all 15 pigs to our store! You can slaughter and clean them, and we'll deliver them whole, at one yuan per jin (500g). No receipts needed. Is that okay?" The manager finished speaking and looked at Zhang Laosan.

After waiting for a while, Zhang Laosan finally spoke, "Alright, we'll do it your way. When do you need them, and how many do you need to deliver each day?"

"We'll deliver two a day for now. We'll increase the quantity in a few days, since it's almost Chinese New Year. I'll let you know in advance," the manager said.

“Alright, we’ll deliver it early tomorrow,” Zhang Laosan said.

After the matter was settled, the manager left, the accountant calculated the cost of the cloth, and Zhang Laosan and his family hurried home with the cloth on their backs!

When San Niu and the others arrived home, Wang Dayong and his wife were already waiting for them!

Zhang Laosan said, "Brother, sister-in-law, let's eat quickly! We'll have nothing else to do after we finish eating!"

Wang Dayong and his wife rushed to help, bringing out all the food. They started eating, having visited several places that day and were both tired and hungry. They were so focused on eating that no one spoke!

After finishing the meal, San Niu said, "Uncle, give me today's bill, I'll write it down!"

"All the fabric has been changed today. This is the account I kept. Please check it. Dayong, hand the account book to Sanniu!"

San Niu finished writing down the accounts and checked them again. The accounts were all correct. "Uncle, I don't have the money to pay you right now. I'll settle the accounts with you in a few days when I have the money," San Niu said.

"It's alright, we're family, we don't need the money," Auntie said.

San Niu continued, "Uncle, we made an agreement with the store manager today. We'll help them buy pigs from now on. We'll pay five yuan for each pig we slaughter and clean. Uncle, why don't you help us buy and slaughter the pigs? We don't want the wages, you can have them all. We're too busy to handle everything."

"Wow, this is such a good job! Five yuan for a pig! Let's do it!" Auntie exclaimed happily.

"It's because it's profitable that so many people are scrambling to do it. I only managed to get the job because my dad gave me two chickens," San Niu said. "The manager is offering four cents a pound for pigs."

"Wang Dayong quickly said, "Then these two chickens are ours. We can't make money while you have to pay for everything!"

“Look at what you’re saying, brother. When our family was poor, didn’t our kids often eat at your house? We’re family, we help each other out, there’s no need to be so calculating!”