Siheyuan: Struggle Begins in the 1950s

Wang Jianjun also picked out a weapon that suits him.

I can only say that it is worthy of being an old gun discarded by the army.

Most of the pistols stored in the armory are Type 51 and Type 52 pistols, and there are even quite a few antique Mauser pistols.

As for the Type 54 pistol that Wang Jianjun remembered using in the army, there was not a single one here.

The performance of the Type 54 is much better than these second-hand goods from the steel mill.

That was a firearm that had been in service in the Chinese army for more than 70 years and had withstood the test of time.

Finally, they chose a Type 52 rifle whose rifling wear was not serious. After registering at the logistics department, the two of them rode their bicycles to their destination, Zhaojiazhuang.

Zhaojiazhuang is Zhao Fei's hometown. The reason why Zhao Fei was able to become the leader of the third group of the purchasing department is because he has a lot of resources in Zhaojiazhuang.

The people's communes began in 58, and now the enthusiasm for production in rural areas is still very high.

After Zhao Fei greeted the village chief, he took Wang Jianjun to the village.

Along the way, Zhao Fei also told Wang Jianjun about the ins and outs of the job of a purchasing agent.

The work content of Zhao Fei's third group of buyers is the same as that of Group 2, and they are specifically responsible for purchasing supplies in the countryside.

The main purchases are also some agricultural products.

Items such as mountain products, meat and eggs are within the purchasing range of the buyer.

Of course, these ingredients are basically not prepared for the workers.

There are only about ten people in each group of the purchasing department, and three groups have thirty people.

How can the small amount of food provided by these buyers be enough to feed more than 6,000 workers?

These things were mainly prepared for the Soviet experts and factory leaders in the factory.

60 years ago, the Soviet Union and China were still in a honeymoon period, and the Soviet Union provided China with a large number of experts to assist in development and construction.

There were many Soviet experts stationed in the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill.

These Soviet people were treated much better than ordinary workers.

The superiors also issued orders to do everything possible to meet the living needs of these experts.

So the factory naturally had to treat them with good wine and good food, and almost every meal had to include meat.

In addition, factory leaders also need something presentable when receiving guests.

Even if there is no reception, the leaders are busy with all kinds of things on weekdays, so they have to eat something good to supplement their nutrition.

Like Li Huaide in the drama, since becoming the deputy factory director, he has to take care of the private lives of the female comrades in the factory.

Then it needs to be supplemented even more.

With so much food and drink, the supplies allocated by the steel mill were naturally not enough.

That’s why buyers go to the countryside to purchase ingredients.

In this era dominated by planned economy, only rural areas can get some unplanned food ingredients.

As for the workers' meals, a purchasing group followed the transport team to the Grain Bureau and the Meat Processing Plant to bring them back.

The work of group one is different from that of group two and group three.

Mainly responsible for connecting with the Grain Bureau and the Meat Processing Plant. Usually I follow the transport team to transport goods, and rarely need to go to the countryside to purchase.

Compared with two or three groups, the work is both easier and safer.

Those who can join a group basically have some connections or background.

People like Wang Jianjun who have no background will naturally not be assigned to the same group.

"When I first joined the purchasing department, I thought I could be transferred to a group if I did a good job. Later I realized I was overthinking."

Zhao Fei couldn't help but laugh at himself when he said this.

Wang Jianjun also understood that there is no fairness in this world, even in this era.

Wang Jianjun didn't care whether he could be in the same group or not.

What he cared about was what Zhao Fei had just said, that a group would sometimes follow the transport team to other areas to purchase supplies.

Last year, the steel rolling mill joined forces with several other units to go to Chifeng and bring back some cattle and sheep as a reward for the workers.

It was a rare occasion for the factory to have mutton soup. Although there were more radishes than meat in the soup, everyone still got two small pieces of mutton.

Wang Jianjun thought that if he had the chance in the future he could sneak into the transport team and go purchasing with them, it would be great if he could get some cattle and sheep to raise in the space.

He is craving for meat now.

As they were talking, they came to a yard.

Zhao Fei didn't even knock on the door and shouted "Third Uncle" into the yard.

After a while, an old man came out with a cane.

Zhao Fei raised his voice and chatted with the old man for a few words.

It was obvious that the old man was a little hard of hearing, unlike the deaf old lady who pretended to be deaf and dumb.

"Uncle San, I'm here today to get your old hen that doesn't lay eggs. I told my cousin about it when I came last time."

The old man responded with a few words and went back to the yard. After a while, he came out holding an old hen with its feet tied with straw ropes.

Zhao Fei took the struggling old hen and weighed it with the scale he carried with him, then said:

"Four pounds and two cents, according to the price we agreed on before, forty-eight cents per pound, a total of two dollars and six cents, I'll give it to you as a full two dollars and ten cents, please count it."

As he said this, he took out the money, counted it and handed it over.

The old man said he didn't need it, but he still counted the money roughly before putting it in his pocket.

Zhao Fei happily took the old hen and put it into the bamboo basket.

With this old hen, today's task is almost complete.

Wang Jianjun was moved when he saw the old hen, and then asked:

"Uncle, do you have any chickens for sale?"

"What do you want a chicken for? It doesn't have much meat."

Wang Jianjun made up a random excuse and said:

"I just want to raise a few in the yard so that I can have a good meal during the New Year."

Wang Jianjun wasn't talking nonsense.

Many residents in the courtyards would set up a cage or fence off an area in the yard to raise a few chickens and ducks for New Year meals.

For example, Xu Damao's family raised a few chickens, and even the Jia family raised a nest of rabbits.

Generally, the number of fish raised is not too large. After all, the courtyard is crowded, and raising too many will make the smell too strong.

The old man shook his head and said:

"I only have a few left at home. You can go to Zhao Laosi's house and see that he has a lot of chicks. I heard a few days ago that he was worried that he couldn't keep them alive and was going to trade them with others for things."

Zhao Fei said he would take him to buy it when they returned.

After expressing his thanks, Wang Jianjun followed Zhao Fei to several more stores to continue purchasing ingredients.

The things purchased later were more ordinary.

Most of them are dried goods like dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots, as well as some fresh vegetables grown by the villagers themselves.

Zhao Fei was not picky and would buy anything that was on the shopping list.

As for the purchase price, it is more flexible.

The purchase price given by the factory is fixed. Generally, the factory will refer to the market price and add some money to the invoice price.

No matter how much the buyer spends on the purchase, this price will be used when reimbursement is made.

This gives buyers some room to maneuver.

The profit made by buying low and selling high is the price difference.

For example, the old hen Zhao Fei just bought, he paid two yuan and ten cents for it, and he could get two yuan and fifty cents for reimbursement from the factory.

You can make 40 cents from this transaction.

This benefit for purchasing agents is a semi-open secret. After all, there is no purchasing agent who does not take kickbacks.

The person in charge of receiving goods in the logistics department also knows this secret, but he won't say much.

After all, the buyers risk their lives to earn this money.