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

Zhang Laosan and his family bought cloth from the store and hurried home without stopping!

When we got home, Da Niu and Er Niu had already prepared dinner. Da Niu was a pretty good cook; she made mixed grain pancakes, stir-fried a whole pot of cabbage and pig's blood, and also cooked sweet potato porridge. The whole family gathered around to eat!

Not long after the meal, Wang Dayong and his wife, along with their son, arrived. Wang Dayong brought two pigs, while his wife and son brought two more.

Everyone quickly helped push the car into the yard, and Da Niu quickly helped pour them water!

"Brothers, you all need to sit down and rest. It's alright, it's not late, no rush!" Zhang Laosan said.

San Niu took out the account book and said, "Uncle, give me all the accounts for today!"

Wang Dayong took out the ledger and said, "The cloth from yesterday has all been replaced, and the chickens are all at home. I'll bring them to you tomorrow morning. Also, we received four pigs today, two for each family. One family received 520 jin, and the other received 532 jin. I told them I'd pay them a couple of days later!"

San Niu carefully wrote down and calculated all the accounts, then put them aside for now, thinking she would have money tomorrow!

Zhang Laosan spoke up, "Brother, how many pig farmers are there in your village? How many pigs can we possibly collect? We slaughter at least four pigs a day now, and we might have to increase that in a couple of days. Brother, do you think your village has enough pigs?"

"Do we need this much? Let me calculate," Wang Dayong said.

“Our village has over seventy households, with about 15 head of livestock. If we have the money to settle accounts tomorrow, they will definitely be willing to sell to us. If it's not enough, I'll have my dad go to other villages to collect more,” Wang Dayong said.

“Alright, let’s do it this way for now. Tell your father to buy five pigs a day. If anyone is willing, they can pay a deposit first and place an order. Don’t delay later,” Zhang Laosan said.

San Niu thought for a moment, then took out 50 yuan. "Uncle, take this 50 yuan first to pay the deposit. Also, here's 208 yuan. You can pay that family for the 520 jin first, otherwise they won't believe us. Also, when you buy the pigs tomorrow, tell them that you can pay them in two days at most. Try to buy as many as possible in the next few days," San Niu said.

After finishing the business, everyone started preparing to slaughter the pig. Today, with more experience, it was even faster than yesterday!

Before it got dark, all four pigs were slaughtered and prepared!

Wang Dayong and his family of three, fearing there wouldn't be enough room at home, didn't even eat before taking a basin of pig offal back with them!

Wang Cuihua quickly boiled the pig's blood and cooked the remaining pig offal. That evening, the family enjoyed another delicious meal of pig offal soup!

"Oh, if only we could eat like this every day!" Erniu exclaimed.

"Don't worry! There will be plenty for you to eat in the future, at least enough to last until the New Year," Wang Cuihua said!

"That's great!" Erniu said happily!

San Niu looked at Er Niu and said, "Second Sister, don't tell anyone about us eating meat or about our family slaughtering a pig, or they'll arrest us all!" San Niu said with a serious expression.

"I know. I won't tell anyone about our family matters. Besides, my older sister and I stay home and take care of the house every day now. We don't go out to play anymore, so you can rest assured!" Erniu said.

Although Erniu is playful and a bit lively, she is actually quite smart, so everyone is quite at ease with her!

After the whole family had eaten their fill, they quickly went to bed, as they had to get up early the next day!

The next day, before dawn, the whole family got up. After eating, San Niu and her two friends pulled two carts, four pigs, and two baskets of chickens into the city!

There were a lot of pigs today, so we split them into two carts. Zhang Laosan pulled one himself, and Wang Cuihua and San Niu pulled the other two!

The three of them pulled the cart to the city, and even in the dead of winter, they were sweating profusely from exhaustion!

The manager and his men were waiting. "You guys take a break, I'll have them carry it." The manager saw that the three of them were exhausted, so he had others carry the pig to the scale. San Niu quickly followed them!

Soon the two pigs were weighed, and San Niu wrote down the bill and came out!

Zhang Laosan said, "Manager, we brought a lot of pigs today. Which one do you want? I'll butcher it for you!"

The manager thought for a moment, then said, "How about you cut it in half for me?"

Zhang Laosan took the meat and started cutting it. After cutting it, he carried it to the store to be weighed. Their scale was too small to weigh this much. The manager's meat was weighed and weighed 110 jin. The manager paid and had someone carry the meat away for him!

Zhang Laosan and his men weighed the whole pig that the old man wanted at the store, and San Niu recorded it in the ledger!

After weighing the pig, Sanniu said, "Dad, let's settle the bill when we get back! It's not safe to keep the money on us!"

After hearing what San Niu said, Zhang Laosan and the others, without settling the money at the store, parked another vehicle at the warehouse entrance. The older woman in the warehouse watched over them, and then they pulled the pig towards the family building, to the old man's house!

When Zhang Laosan and his group arrived at the old man's house, a large crowd had gathered. When the old man saw them arrive, he quickly told them to push their car into the yard, let everyone in, and then closed the door behind them.

Old Zhang said, "Uncle, let me put this pig down for you first, in case there are too many people and they all want it!"

The old man nodded in satisfaction and had Zhang Laosan carry it to the table in the living room!

As soon as Zhang Laosan came out, he started buying meat and chicken. San Niu started keeping track of the expenses and quickly finished buying all the remaining chicken and pork!

After everyone who had bought their things left, the old man spoke up, "How much is my pig, by weight?"

San Niu pulled out the bill she had written down. "Grandpa, look, you wanted a whole pig, but our scale can't weigh it. The scale we used at the store weighed 222, so we'll give you 220 jin. You can just give us 330 yuan!"

The old man was delighted and paid the money, saying, "Bring me another pig and 10 chickens tomorrow!"

Zhang Laosan said happily, "Okay, I'll deliver it to the store tomorrow, weigh it, and bring it to you. If any of your friends want it, we can deliver it to their homes, saving you the trouble!"

The old man was very pleased to hear this and said, "Then how about tomorrow, I'll wait for you at the store entrance, and we'll just tell him we're going home!"

"Alright, sir, that's settled then. We'll be going now," said Zhang Laosan.

Zhang Laosan and his family happily went to the store. Once there, they bought a lot of cloth, calculated the cost of the pig and the fabric, paid the bill, and got the money. San Niu sat on the cart pulled by Zhang Laosan, and the family of three hurried home!

San Niu took out her account book while sitting in the car. Wang Cuihua even sewed a handbag for San Niu to carry the account book and money!

San Niu finished calculating the accounts and said happily, "Dad, today we made 263 yuan from four pigs and chickens. We can pay back the money we earned from the pigs when we get home today. If we sell pigs again tomorrow, we won't have to owe any money anymore. We'll have money to buy pigs next time!"

Zhang Laosan was also happy and asked Sanniu, "Then you calculate how much money we've made in the past few days!"

"Dad, I can tell you without even calculating it, it's about 1200 yuan, plus a lot of cloth and a lot of chickens that haven't been counted!" San Niu said softly.

When Zhang Laosan and Wang Cuihua heard that there was 1200 yuan, they were both shocked. "Mom, so much money! You've only worked for a few days and you've already earned so much money. If you keep working until the end of the year, you'll be rich!" Knowing that they were outside, Zhang Laosan and Wang Cuihua didn't dare to say anything. They happily pulled the cart and hurried home. They didn't feel tired at all and even walked faster than usual!

The smiles on Zhang Laosan and Wang Cuihua's faces didn't fade even after they got home!

When they arrived home, Da Niu and Er Niu quickly served rice and dishes. The family happily ate their meal and then sat down at the doorway to rest, waiting for Wang Dayong and the others!

Soon Wang Dayong and his family brought the pigs over. They brought four pigs today. They all quickly helped push the truck into the yard and close the gate. Luckily, their house was near the edge of the village, where there were few other people, so it was convenient!

Zhang Laosan quickly asked them to sit down and rest, and to have some water. San Niu then took out the account book. "Uncle, give me the account book, I'll do the accounting," San Niu said.

Wang Dayong took out the account book and handed it to Sanniu, saying, "Now people from other villages are also coming to exchange cloth. Every day, as soon as the cloth is taken back, it's all exchanged the next day. Brother-in-law, why don't you buy some more cloth tomorrow?"

“Alright, if we have money tomorrow, we’ll buy more,” Zhang Laosan said.

After calculating the accounts, San Niu said, "Uncle, here's 1100 yuan, which is just enough for the pigs from these three families. Starting tomorrow, you won't have to owe any money. From now on, you can be bold and buy more pigs. Today, we contacted someone else, and we might need to sell a few more pigs. Uncle, you should buy more recently!"

"Really? Then I don't need to worry anymore. Uncle, carefully pack the money away. Don't worry, several families came today wanting to sell pigs! They were just afraid they didn't have the money to pay us. Now that's great, we're giving them cash, they'll definitely be eager to sell to us!" Wang Dayong said happily.

After finishing speaking, he quickly started slaughtering the pig. He was getting better and better at it, and he did it even faster today than yesterday!

After slaughtering the pig, Wang Dayong put the cloth and a basin of pig offal in the car, and the three of them went home. Wang Dayong and his family were overjoyed. Now they could earn twenty or thirty yuan a day, and they had pig offal to eat every day. Ah, this life is wonderful, so happy!

After seeing the person off, Wang Cuihua started cooking. Today, she's having pork offal soup again!

During dinner, Sanniu said, "Dad, Mom, let's not have pork offal soup tomorrow. We're getting tired of it. Let's sell it and keep a few pounds of pork belly. Let's have dumplings instead!"

“Alright, then let’s save a few pounds of meat for ourselves tomorrow, to help us all recover. San Niu has been so thin lately from overwork,” Zhang Laosan said.

"Great! I've never had pork dumplings before! Pork dumplings must be delicious!" Erniu said happily.

“We’ll make a lot of dumplings and two pots of steamed buns so you can eat for two days. We don’t need to wait until tomorrow. Dad, take the knife and go cut some pork belly now. I’ll chop it tonight, and Da Niu and Er Niu can make the buns at home tomorrow,” Wang Cuihua said. Zhang Laosan took the knife and went out. A little while later, he came back with a large piece of meat!

Now that we can earn money, we don't need to save any extra. We can eat well and replenish our bodies. Besides, we were poor before, and the children, even at this age, had never eaten pork! Now that we have the means, we should eat better and enjoy ourselves!

The family ate pork offal soup, and tomorrow we'll have dumplings too! Just thinking about it makes me happy; I'll be smiling in my sleep!

The next day, before dawn, everyone got up again. These past two days, San Niu hasn't needed to be woken up; she wakes up on time!

San Niu and her two friends set off with four pigs and two baskets of chickens in tow!

Once they arrived in town, they weighed the two pigs in the shop first, and after they were weighed, the old man came looking for them!

San Niu finished writing down the accounts and came out. Seeing this, she greeted, "Grandpa, you're here! Wait a moment, I'll have my dad carry the pig. We'll weigh it here so you can take a look. That way, we can talk things over more easily."

Hearing what San Niu said, the old man praised her, "You little girl, you're not only smart, but you're also very eloquent. You're so talented, you must be very capable!"

Zhang Laosan came out just in time to hear the old man's words. "Grandpa, don't underestimate Sanniu just because she's only five years old. She's very good at accounting. I have to have her help me with the accounts every day!" Zhang Laosan said.

“Oh, I knew it! I’ve been seeing her keeping accounts and collecting money these past few days. She’s really capable. She’s only five years old, but she’s even better than my grandson,” the old man said.

Zhang Laosan and Wang Cuihua carried the pig into the store, with the old man following behind, while Sanniu watched the things outside!

The pig was weighed quickly and brought out again. Zhang Laosan put the pig down and said, "San Niu, this pig weighs 215 jin. Make a note of it. Don't forget. I'll take this empty cart to the warehouse." After saying that, Zhang Laosan pushed the cart away!

After San Niu finished keeping the accounts, Zhang Laosan returned, and the whole family followed behind the old man, carrying pork and chicken!

When they arrived, they were surprised to see a small villa with its own courtyard and detached house. San Niu was right; the old man was not only capable, but the people he knew were also capable!

The old man knocked on the door, and soon an old woman came out. Seeing them, she said happily, "Brother Liu, you've gone to so much trouble, bringing this all the way to our home! Please come in!"

“Sister, Brother Zhang is an honest man. He was worried we wouldn’t be able to handle it, so he insisted on bringing it over. Doesn’t this make things easier for us?” Old Liu said.

"Yes, we really couldn't handle such a big pig back home," the old lady said.

Old Liu continued, "This pig weighed 215 jin (147.5 catties) just now on the scale in the store. The chicken hasn't been weighed yet, but they brought a scale, so they can weigh it now!"

Old Zhang quickly took out the chickens and said, "Auntie, take a look at these chickens, are they alright? We brought a lot of chickens, you can choose first!"

The old lady happily picked out 10 chickens. Zhang Laosan weighed them three times, and they totaled 56 jin (28 catties). San Niu wrote down the bill and calculated the total. The pork was 215 jin (14.75 catties), at 1.5 yuan per jin, which was 322.5 yuan. Adding the cost of the chickens, it was 56 yuan, for a total of 378.5 yuan. San Niu finished calculating and said, "Grandma, let me show you the bill. The chickens were 1 yuan per jin, so 56 jin is 56 yuan. The pork was 215 jin, at 1.5 yuan per jin, which was 322.5 yuan. The two together are 378.5 yuan. You ordered more, so please give me 375 yuan!"

After reviewing the accounts, the old lady said happily, "This young lady is not only good at accounting, but also speaks well. Okay, we'll do as you say. Wait a moment, I'll go get the money!"

The old lady happily took the money from the house and handed it to San Niu. San Niu counted it and said, "That's right, Grandma, do you want this pig? I'll ask my dad to help cut it into small pieces for you, so it'll save you trouble!"

"That's wonderful, thank you so much, young man!" the old lady said.

Zhang Laosan took the knife and started cutting off the pig's head. After cutting off the head, he started cutting off the legs. Soon, the whole pig was cut off!

The old lady was satisfied and said, "I think your family is quite nice. Here's what we'll do: around the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, send my family another pig and 10 chickens. After the New Year, you can send a few chickens over often. My family has a refrigerator, so when it gets hot, I'll slaughter them and put them in the refrigerator to eat slowly!"

I never expected that helping out would lead to such a big order. It's really great!

After leaving the old lady's house, Old Liu led the three of them to his family's house, because there were still many left over from yesterday's reservations!

They weren't far apart, and we arrived at Old Liu's house quickly!

The remaining pig and a few chickens were sold out quickly at Old Liu's house!

Before leaving, Old Liu said, "If anyone wants pork, I'll go to the store to find you!"

Zhang Laosan thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll trouble you, Uncle Liu. Go to the store tomorrow and look for us. We have some pig offal, all cleaned up. If you don’t mind, I can bring you some tomorrow. You can make pig offal soup; it’s especially delicious.”

"Really? That's wonderful! I really love eating this. Thank you so much. I'll come find you earlier tomorrow," Old Liu said happily.

After saying goodbye to Old Man Liu and San Niu, they returned to the store. They had money today, so they bought over seventy yuan worth of cloth. After buying the cloth, they paid for the pork and then went home!

Now, San Niu doesn't have to walk home anymore. She sits on the cart pulled by Zhang Laosan and calculates all the accounts for the day!

After settling the accounts, Sanniu put away the ledger and said, "Dad, we can go to Grandma Wu's house tomorrow. We haven't been there for several days. I think if we slaughter four pigs today, we can definitely sell them all tomorrow!"

"Yes, pretty much. Old Mrs. Wu is quite shrewd. She must have contacted quite a few people these past few days. Tomorrow, let's bring more pig offal to give to the manager and Sister Liu and the others. They'll definitely help us sell more pork," Zhang Laosan said.

“Yes, Dad, that’s right! That way, we can just deliver every day without having to run around everywhere. Plus, they’re all introduced by acquaintances, so it’s safe,” San Niu said!