RIRW – Chapter 20

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Pork wasn’t plentiful, and the portion distributed to each person was minimal.

During this time, there was no animal feed; pigs were fed with forage. Raising one to over 100 pounds was already considered decent. This pig had been sick before, and now at most weighed around 140 to 150 pounds. After removing the innards and offal, there wasn’t much left.

With over 300 people in the village, each person would be lucky to get a few ounces of meat.

Those who received their share of meat treated it like treasure, carefully placing it in their bowls or plates, planning to make braised pork at home or to smoke it and save it for the New Year.

Li Hui held her bowl with a piece of pork inside, her eyes squinting with joy.

This was the first time she’d personally gotten her hands on meat during a distribution. In the past, any meat the family received was always brought home by the old lady, and she was the one who decided how it would be shared.

Li Hui didn’t care how much she could eat; she enjoyed the feeling of being in control.

After receiving the meat and carrying their grain, everyone went home satisfied. Zuo Dacheng carried two large sacks of grain in burlap bags so heavy that he couldn’t straighten his back, yet his face showed nothing but a big, cheerful smile.

Zuo Dan speculated that they might even wish for the grain to be heavier—to the point where they couldn’t lift it—just so they could get more.

“Dandan,” Li Hui whispered to her daughter as they walked home, “when we get back, we’ll set some aside for Xiaocong. The rest I’ll cook for you.”

Zuo Dan widened her eyes slightly, the image of the sick pig’s meat flashing before her mind. She felt uneasy and had no desire to eat any of it.

When they got home, Li Hui went into the kitchen to boil water and prepare to braise the pork. Just as she started, Xu Fengxia came in with her own bowl. “I need to use the kitchen first. What now? Are you going to fight me for it? How can you all be so heartless?”

Xu Fengxia’s eyes were red as she spoke, full of grievances.

Ever since the family split, things hadn’t gone the way she had hoped. Less grain, fewer rooms—everything had gone in the opposite direction of her calculations. Now, she was resentful, even blaming the heavens, and was ready to fight over everything.

Li Hui didn’t argue and stepped out of the kitchen, walking back into the courtyard. She told Zuo Dan, who was sitting there, “Dandan, we’ll wait and cook later.”

Zuo Dan nodded, thinking to herself how much she wished they could skip eating altogether.

No, this can’t go on. The family was so poor that even sick pig meat was treated like a treasure. How could life continue like this?

Determined to avoid eating the diseased pork, Zuo Dan decided she had to step up.

“Third Uncle,” she called, running to Zuo Chengtai’s room. Inside, he was humming a tune, waiting for his mother to cook some meat for him. Hearing her call, he opened the door. “What’s up, Dandan?”

“I need to talk to you about something—let’s go outside,” Zuo Dan said, giving him a meaningful look before heading silently out of the courtyard.

Zuo Chengtai raised his brows, glanced at the other rooms in the yard to make sure no one was paying attention, and followed her.

They stopped in the small woods behind the village. After checking to make sure no one was around, Zuo Dan finally spoke in a low voice, “Third Uncle, do you want to make money?”

Zuo Chengtai’s eyes lit up. “Want to? Of course, I want to! Why wouldn’t I? Your third uncle has no other ambitions in life—just this dream. But alas, I’m cursed with bad luck. So many golden opportunities to get rich have slipped right through my fingers. Back in the day, I could’ve been a big boss.”

Zuo Dan’s face turned serious. “Uncle, there’s a money-making opportunity right in front of us. Are you in or not?”

“What’s that?” Zuo Chengtai squinted at his niece. She didn’t look like someone who would get involved in business.

Zuo Dan saw that he was biting, so she quickly shared her idea with Zuo Chengtai, “Now that every household has received their share of grain, the big families are definitely reluctant to eat it. I was thinking of collecting the grain and helping them exchange it in the city for industrial goods.”

Wow, this was really speculative business.

Zuo Chengtai’s eyes widened. He either thought he was dreaming or that his niece was talking nonsense.

“Dandan, your grandmother made me some meat, let’s go home and eat,” he said, turning to leave.

“Uncle, you’re really disappointing me,” Zuo Dan said in a low voice.

Zuo Chengtai stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. “What’s disappointing about it?”

“Everything is disappointing!” Zuo Dan replied. “I always thought you were ambitious, visionary, brave, and willing to fight. I always saw you as my role model. But now, I see you don’t have a single brain cell. It’s just exchanging grain! We have extra grain at home, we can exchange it for coupons or industrial goods, no one can say anything. Uncle, we only have one iron pot at home. Let’s go trade it for a new pot—this is legal, right? And while we’re at it, we can help the villagers exchange things too.” Of course, there would be a little bit of a service charge and travel expenses.

In this era, what was most valuable? Of course, it was grain. When she heard that boy Li Chenliang talking about it the other day, she started thinking. To make money, one had to take bigger steps.

Zuo Dan felt that to live a good life, she couldn’t rely on herself alone. She was just a young girl and didn’t want to be the one who supported the family. The whole Zuo family couldn’t just depend on her to make all the moves. This kind of grey-area business wasn’t something cautious Zuo Dacheng could manage. She needed to involve her only relative with some business sense—her Third Uncle.

At this moment, Zuo Chengtai, who had some business sense, was already dazzled by Zuo Dan’s words. Could this really be done this way?

Zuo Dan said, “Uncle, think of all the ridicule you’ve received over the years, and think of your future wife…”

Zuo Chengtai stared blankly. “Dandan, I think this matter is worth discussing further.”

“Uncle, I knew I didn’t misjudge you,” Zuo Dan said with a pleased smile.

So, the uncle and niece carefully worked through the plan from start to finish—everything from collecting grain to selling it, laying out each detail.

Zuo Dan proposed that she would be in charge of researching the market, putting up the money to buy grain, finding the buyers, and handling the after-sales. Her uncle would collect the grain and deliver it. Once they made a profit, they would split it 60/40—her getting 60%, and her uncle 40%.

Calculating it out, the plan was Zuo Dan’s idea, the money would come from her, and the buyers would be found by her as well. She was also assuming the speculative risk. Her uncle would just collect and deliver the grain—nothing else to worry about.

Zuo Chengtai felt he was getting a good deal. This was something Dandan could handle on her own—her father could help her with it, too. But instead, she came to him, which meant she was looking out for him. “Dandan, you really care about your Third Uncle.”

“Uncle, let’s not speak of anything that makes us seem distant. We’re family, of course we’ll share the benefits,” Zuo Dan said. “But Uncle, don’t tell anyone about this, no one can know.”

Zuo Chengtai shook his leg and firmly said, “I won’t tell anyone, not a soul.”

Zuo Dan was very satisfied. She would leave the grain collection to her uncle. As for collecting the grain herself… she felt it was too much work. This kind of thing should be left to the workers. Her contacts would find the suppliers, and Li Chenliang would be her buyer. She would just wait at home for the money.

As the first worker in Zuo Dan’s business venture, her Third Uncle was already starting to dream about the money he would make.

When they returned home, Li Hui had already begun braising the pork. Since the pig was sick, it couldn’t be stir-fried directly. They had to clean off the boils on the skin and then put it in an iron pot, tightly covered, and cook it for an hour or two with firewood.

Just as Zuo Dan returned home, Li Hui called her into the kitchen.

Zuo Dan gave her uncle a meaningful look before entering the kitchen.

Li Hui closed the kitchen door. “Dandan, when the meat is done, let’s set some aside for Xiao Xue to have some meat. Our family got more than a pound this year, so it’s enough. I can’t go to the youth’s spot, but you’re familiar with them, so take some over to them secretly.”

Zuo Dan’s eyes lit up when she heard this.

“Dandan, you’re not angry, are you?” Li Hui asked softly. Since the family had received the meat, she remembered her promise to Su Xue to let her try it. She was worried her daughter might be upset. It was rare to have meat, and now she had to give some away. Her daughter might not be happy.

“Mom, how could I be angry? I support it! Look at Su Xue’s little frame; she really needs to eat some meat. I’ve decided—I won’t eat any, just let her have it all.”

Li Hui’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? You can’t not eat it! I don’t need to eat, but you must. You need to replenish your strength.”

“No, no, no, Mom, it’s not easy for us to get this meat. I know you care about Su Xue, just give it to her. I understand your good intentions.” Zuo Dan sighed and quickly ran out of the kitchen.

Watching her daughter leave, Li Hui felt a tremor in her heart. Maybe she shouldn’t have done this… had she hurt her daughter’s feelings?

Back in her room, Zuo Dan quickly went to the orchard, picked an apple, and started eating. After finishing the fruit, the uncomfortable feeling in her heart finally disappeared.

She had just spoken with complete sincerity—she was more than willing to give the meat to Su Xue.

Meat… when she went to the city tomorrow, she would make sure to get some good meat to eat.

Fragrant, pure, natural, and pollution-free meat.

After Li Hui finished cooking the meat, Zuo Dan indeed gave Su Xue several pieces. “Mom, let’s eat less, and I’ll buy more meat for you guys next time.” This time, she wanted Su Xue to eat her fill. Next time, they’d keep it for themselves. She didn’t say the last part out loud, just mumbled it in her heart.

Li Hui asked, “Dandan, are you really not angry?”

“Mom, how could I be angry? Don’t worry, Su Xue and I are relatives, and I won’t leave her out when there’s something good. You don’t need to worry about it. I think you and Dad should also stop eating too much and give some to Uncle’s family. Things are a bit awkward today, so if we send them some meat, maybe it will help smooth things over.”

Li Hui was stunned, “… My daughter is even more generous than me.”

Zuo Dan covered the bowl with a cloth and carried it carefully. To be honest, although the meat wasn’t the best, the aroma was still pure. The smell spread as she walked.

When she arrived at the educated youth station, the smell of the meat was still lingering in the air.

Since the autumn harvest had finished and they were busy with the public grain distribution, the production team had taken two days off. The educated youths had nothing to do, so they were idling in the house.

When Zuo Dan arrived, Li Hongbing was sitting in a chair reading a book with glasses perched on his nose, looking like a headmaster. Li Suli was washing clothes, and Liu Lili was busy with some other task. Only Su Xue was lying on the bed, looking lost in thought.

When they saw Zuo Dan enter with the bowl, everyone turned to look at her.

Zuo Dan smiled and said, “Su Xue, I know you’ve been working hard lately, so I brought you some meat.”

Everyone looked at the bowl Zuo Dan was holding. Today, the team had distributed the grain. They had taken a look at it for a while but felt it was messy, so they returned home. They heard that meat had been distributed later, and every household was cooking it. They could smell the meat fragrance from the next room.

Su Xue quickly got up from the bed and walked over to look at the bowl. It was just boiled with saltwater, but after eating coarse grain for so long, this was already considered a delicacy. She thought to herself that her aunt still had some conscience, knowing to send her some good food.

Li Hongbing puffed up his cheeks and said, “Why are you bringing her meat? When did you become so close?”

Zuo Dan smiled and said, “I usually work close to Su Xue, and we get along well. If you guys want some too, you can try it.”

Su Xue immediately pouted, feeling a bit upset that Zuo Dan had brought it in front of so many people, knowing that the meat would be shared with others. If she were called out alone, she could eat it all by herself.

But Zuo Dan didn’t care—her job was just to deliver the meat, and once that was done, she was free.

She poured the meat into Su Xue’s bowl, then took her bowl and chopsticks and left. She had other things to do and didn’t have time to chat with them.

After leaving the female educated youth station, Zuo Dan quickly returned the bowl and chopsticks at home, then went to find Zuo Shuisheng for the introduction letter for tomorrow’s trip to the city.

This had already been arranged, and without saying much, Zuo Shuisheng wrote the letter. Then he lit a dry cigarette and said, “By the way, Dandan, tomorrow you’ll go to the town with your Uncle Mugen. He’s going with Comrade Shen Yiming to the commune. It’s on the way, so you don’t have to walk that far to the town to catch a ride.”

At first, Zuo Dan was happy with the first part, but when she heard the second part, her eyebrows twitched. Why was it that every time she had something to do, she always ran into that old fox?

Although she wasn’t too keen on traveling with Shen Yiming, Zuo Dan also knew she had to take care of her legs. If she could take a ride, who would want to walk?

She took the introduction letter and returned home, where Li Hui and Zuo Dacheng were waiting for her to eat. They had even saved some meat for her.

Zuo Dan calmly picked up her chopsticks and began eating.

This was the first time the three of them were sitting together for a meal. The atmosphere was much more relaxed compared to when the whole family ate together.

At least Li Hui could now use her chopsticks and was constantly serving Zuo Dan more meat.

Zuo Dan quickly dodged, saying, “Mom, I need to talk to you both. I’m planning to go to the city tomorrow to visit Xiao Cong. Is there anything you need me to bring?”

_{TN: I realised this FL is not kind and is downright cruel. I don’t like her. I want another novel where someone transmigrate in another cannon fodder and toppel her schemes. Hmm maybe I will create a fanfiction for it. Let’s see.}