Colorful years

After overcoming numerous difficulties, the father and son finally arrived safely at the supply and marketing cooperative with their goods. They handed over all the pine resin oil intact to the cooperative staff, and their hearts finally settled down.

After careful counting and calculation, the supply and marketing cooperative paid them 1.95 yuan for their labor, as agreed. The father, with his strong physique, carried more weight and was entitled to 1.2 yuan for his labor; while the clever and quick-witted Congcong, though still young, also put in a lot of effort and earned 0.75 yuan.

However, according to regulations, the father needed to hand over 50 cents to the production team every day, which was equivalent to 10 work points. Keep in mind that at that time, 10 work points in the production team were only worth 23 cents. So, even after deducting the portion given to the team, the father and son could still earn more than a dollar for each trip carrying pine resin!

Looking at the heavy dollar in their hands, the father and son were overjoyed. At the price level at the time, this was no small amount of money; it could buy many daily necessities.

For example, you could buy a full two pounds of fresh pork so the whole family could enjoy a delicious meal; or you could buy a whole five pounds of snow-white salt to meet the family's salt needs for a long time; or you could even buy a brand new piece of clothing so the family could dress more presentably.

When they received the banknotes, still smelling of fresh ink, the father and son beamed with happiness.

Especially for Congcong, this was the first time in his life that he had earned his reward through hard work and labor! For a child, this achievement was exceptionally precious and meaningful.

"Cong'er, this is the first time in your life that you've helped our family earn money. It's so meaningful, we have to commemorate it properly!"

As Zhang Zhong spoke, he pointed forward with his right index finger, his face full of smiles:

"Let's go, you and I will go to that meat and seafood station now and see if we can get lucky and buy some meat to take home. We can let the whole family have a good meal of meat, satisfy our cravings and have a treat."

Hearing this, Congcong was extremely excited. He waved his little hands wildly in the air, and his legs bounced around like they were on springs, all the while shouting:

"Great, great! We can finally have meat tonight!" His already rosy cheeks turned even redder with excitement, making him look as adorable as a ripe apple.

You have to understand that in that era of extreme scarcity of resources and widespread poverty, even something as commonplace as eating meat was a luxury back then.

The meat and aquatic product station only slaughters one pig a day, but because most local farmers' families are in financial straits, very few families have extra money to buy pork.

Therefore, this one and only pig will basically be given priority to those social organizations.

It was already around 2 p.m., and perhaps because all the pork had been sold out in the morning, the meat station looked deserted, with not a single customer in sight.

When the father and son arrived at the butcher shop, Zhang Zhong still had a kind and amiable smile on his face. He then softly called out to the butcher:

"Master Huang, do you have any leftover pork that you can sell to us?"

"Old Zhang, it's so late, where can you still buy meat?" Master Huang paused briefly, glancing at the hopeful father and son, before continuing:

“Look at this, there are only a few bones left, and this set of offal. It was your brother Zhang Hou who specifically asked me to keep it for him.” After saying this, Master Huang quickly glanced at them again, his tone unconsciously revealing a hint of sympathy.

"Sigh, let me think... You don't usually come to our meat station just to see me. How about this, you can take this set of offal back with you. After all, your brother works at the credit union, so he gets to enjoy this kind of good stuff quite often. I'll save him another fresh set tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhong hesitated and asked tentatively, "Is this really okay?"

Master Huang waved his hand generously and replied, "Of course it will work! Don't overthink it, just take it and go! It only costs fifty cents!"

Before he finished speaking, Master Huang swiftly took down the sluice hanging from the hook and handed it directly to Zhang Zhong without hesitation.

Zhang Zhong quickly reached out to catch the swimmer, and at the same time pulled out a crumpled 50-cent bill from his pocket, respectfully handed it to Master Huang, and said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Master Huang!"

The father and son were delighted to have unexpectedly acquired a painting. They walked briskly towards their home, which was now within sight…