Chapter 415 Pujiang Material Exchange Conference

After ten days of cold wind, a light snow fell in Pujiang.

Su Shitou, who is nearly seventy years old, sat at the gate in the cold wind, his face full of worry.

My own grandson is not a peaceful person.

Since returning to Pujiang, Su Mingzhe has been pestering his grandfather to make longbows, slingshots, javelins and other tools for him all day long, and clamoring to go hunting in the mountains to improve his family's life.

Su Shitou was afraid that something might happen to his grandson, so he naturally refused to agree.

As a result, Su Mingzhe would pick up a shovel after breakfast every morning, saying that since his grandfather wouldn't give him tools, he would go to the mountains to set traps and still be able to catch prey.

Su Shitou looked at his stubborn grandson and felt that this kid, like himself and his children, were of the same bloodline and had a very stubborn temper.

Now Su Mingzhe goes out early and comes back late every day to dig traps in the mountains. According to calculations, this guy has been in the mountains for more than ten days.

Looking at the snowflakes floating in the sky, the mountain road must be slippery.

Su Shitou has already started to worry about his little grandson, wondering whether the way down the mountain is easy to walk on and whether he will slip.

Su Shitou was feeling depressed about his grandson's stubborn temper when he suddenly heard someone calling him from a distance.

When he stood up from his stool with mixed feelings, he saw his neighbor Zheng Jianguo, who was beaming with joy and ran over to congratulate him:
"Uncle Shitou, Uncle Shitou, you are at home. Your little grandson is amazing. He caught a lot of wild boars by himself, big and small, at least a dozen."

"What did you say? Our little one caught more than a dozen wild boars?"

Su Shitou was stunned. Why did he feel like this "good news" was a joke?

My grandson is only eight years old this year. When he stands up straight, he can’t reach his head with his hands.

He's just a little kid, and you said he caught more than a dozen wild boars?

Who believes it?
Not to mention wild boars, he couldn't even catch a piglet, right?

"Really, Uncle Stone."

Zheng Jianguo's eyes were filled with shock and surprise at the moment, and he hurriedly explained to Su Shitou:
"Your kid is really capable. He spent more than ten days digging a big pit in the back mountain where wild boars pass by. He also planted a lot of scarecrows on the roadside when it snowed. When wild boars passed by, he beat the gong and drove a whole litter of more than a dozen wild boars into the pit."

"Why is this kid so arrogant? Is he back yet?"

When Su Shitou was young, it was a time of war and chaos. He had followed the team into the mountains to hunt, so he naturally knew the temper of wild boars.

When you are in the wild, if you encounter wild boars, you must be careful.

Because wild boars are more aggressive towards humans than wolves and tigers.

So, although Zheng Jianguo said it easily, just think about it, Su Mingzhe is only an eight-year-old child, but he was able to drive a group of wild boars into a trap pit. There must be a great risk involved.

"Uncle Shitou, this kid just came back. He first went to Brother Chaocheng's house to report the news, and then asked Brother Chaocheng to call a lot of people and push the cart up the mountain. I came back first to report the good news to you."

Zheng Jianjun said a few more words, and then asked Su Shitou to continue waiting for news. He wanted to go home and ask his wife and children to boil water and prepare to scald the pig hair.

Zheng Jianjun is a butcher by profession. After the dozen wild boars were brought down the mountain, they were definitely handed over to his neighbor to help shave and slaughter them.

Before the Zheng family had boiled the water, Su Erjun and his two cousins ​​pushed a wheelbarrow and brought back the two wild boars.

When Su Shitou saw Su Erjun coming back, he hurriedly called him and asked about Su Mingzhe's situation.

"Grandpa, my brother is fine. He is very powerful. We asked him to come back first, but he insisted on waiting until the end and coming back with everyone else."

Su Erjun, whose real name was Su Mingjun, reported his safety to Su Shitou and pushed the two wild boars into Zheng Jianjun's house.

This wheelbarrow belongs to the production team. He has to return it after using it.

Not long after, more than 20 strong laborers from the Su family came back, pushing seven or eight wheelbarrows.

As the great hero of this "pig hunting", Su Mingzhe was pressed on a wheelbarrow by everyone, with a wild boar sitting on each side, and was pushed down the mountain.

Su Shitou was relieved to see that his grandson was fine.

Among the dozen or so wild boars, there were two weighing more than 300 pounds, five weighing more than 200 pounds, three weighing more than 100 pounds, and six piglets weighing several dozen pounds.

As Pujiang is a county with many mountains and little land, it allows its people to go into the mountains to hunt.

The proceeds from hunting were also distributed among the people.

Like this time, Su Mingzhe got sixteen wild boars and directly slaughtered ten of the big ones, which yielded more than two thousand kilograms of pork. According to the rules, he sent the pig blood and offal to Zheng Jianjun's family as "wages", and there was still more than one thousand kilograms of meat left.

Not all of the more than 1,000 kilograms of meat was eaten immediately.

The local people in Pujiang also make Jinhua ham.

After excluding the pork leg meat used to make Jinhua ham, the rest of the meat can be used to improve the meals for this year's New Year.

After the processing, there were still six piglets left.

Su Chaocheng and others originally wanted to build a pigpen for Su Mingzhe so that he could raise pigs.

In this case, by the next Spring Festival, there will be more than a thousand kilograms of meat.

If these six piglets can grow up and breed, it will be even more profitable.

As a result, Su Mingzhe didn't care about these little piglets at all.

Just kidding.

As a time traveler, I dare not say that I have the ability to know everything, but I can fly in the sky and hide in the ground.

It is impossible to raise pigs.

However, these relatives are really nice to me and considerate of me in every way.

If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely repay them.

Su Mingzhe returned home and reported to his grandfather that he was safe:
"Grandpa, I'm back."

"Well, I'm back."

Su Shitou had just seen his grandson, who was smoking a pipe and preparing to find some materials to help his grandson make a longbow, slingshot, etc. In fact, Su Shitou also understood that children from poor families had to grow up early.

Children from other families can help adults take care of one or two-year-old children when they are four or five years old.

When she was seven or eight years old, she could go to the back mountain to collect wood, make fire, wash clothes, and cook. She was good at everything.

Although it was a little surprising that Su Mingzhe was so 'capable', it was not particularly unacceptable.

Su Mingzhe saw that his grandfather didn't ask him what happened, but he couldn't really say nothing, so he simply reported everything about himself, and finally said:
"Grandpa, Uncle Chaocheng said that he wanted to make all the pork leg meat into Jinhua ham and leave it to us. I didn't agree and asked Uncle to distribute it equally according to the population of our Su family. In addition, I didn't want those piglets either. There are only two of us in our family. We don't have time to take care of a few piglets. I want Brother Erjun and the others to help send them to my aunt's house and let her raise them."

After listening to his grandson's report, Su Shitou looked at him in surprise. He was silent for a long time before he uttered a few words:

"You did the right thing, you're a good kid."

After a while, Su Mingzhe saw that his grandfather didn't say anything, and was about to go back to make arrangements, but was stopped by his grandfather again.

"It snowed today, and the mountain roads will definitely be slippery these days. You should stay home and review your textbooks to prepare for next year's placement test."

"Yes, I understand, Grandpa."

Su Mingzhe is eight years old this year. He was originally in the second grade of the Production Brigade Central Primary School in Yiwu.

After coming here, he didn't want to waste time in elementary school, so he told his grandfather that his father had taught him all the knowledge in elementary school.

Therefore, he plans to go to the fifth grade of primary school after the New Year, so that he can take the entrance examination to junior high school in the summer of next year.

A child in junior high school, no matter how young he is, is already a little adult.

Su Mingzhe's parents were originally teachers at the Central Factory Primary School. Now both of them died of illness during the "supporting agriculture" period, which can be regarded as "dying in the line of duty."

As the child of a teacher at the Central Factory Primary School, Su Mingzhe wanted to attend classes there, and the principal and other teachers would not obstruct or refuse him.

However, the principal told Su Mingzhe that at his age, if he insisted on going to the fifth grade, he would need to take a promotion exam at the beginning of the school year.

As long as Su Mingzhe really passes the promotion exam, the school will let him attend the fifth grade according to the regulations.

Su Mingzhe naturally wouldn't care about an elementary school promotion exam.

In a few days, it was the Spring Festival.

Su Mingzhe and his grandfather had a "fat year".

After the Chinese New Year, Su Mingzhe went hunting in the mountains again. This time, with the longbow, slingshot and javelin made by his grandfather, he no longer needed to set up a trap to cover up his whereabouts.

He would go into the mountains at noon every day and come down from the mountain before the sun sets, with his back full of all kinds of prey.

His prey is particularly complex, including hares, roe deer, muntjacs, etc.

The fur of these animals can be sold for money.

Of course, muntjacs were hunted too much and later became protected animals.

The Lantern Festival is just around the corner and the weather is getting warmer day by day.

Many roadside willow trees have begun to sprout new branches.

Suddenly there was a late spring cold snap and a light snow fell in the middle of the night.

Su Shitou suddenly fell ill.

The next day, Su Mingzhe discovered that his grandfather was ill and took his pulse.

Grandpa's illness is not serious, just a common cold.

Su Mingzhe went to the mountains to hunt a goat, brought it home and asked Zheng Jianguo next door to help him take care of it.

After spending the whole morning, Su Mingzhe cooked a pot of carrot and mutton soup, to which he added spicy ingredients such as onions, ginger, and pepper.

After drinking mutton soup for two days, Su Shitou sweated a lot and his body temperature returned to normal, but he still felt a little tired.

Su Mingzhe took his grandfather's pulse again and confirmed that it was a mental illness caused by his grandfather's depression and excessive worry about his children.

My health had always been good, so this kind of mental illness had never occurred.

Now, because of a minor cold, my heart disease has also flared up.

"Grandpa, you're not fully recovered yet, let's go to the hospital and get some medicine."

"I am almost fully recovered now. I don't need to take medicine anymore."

Su Shitou has a very stubborn temper and is not willing to spend money recklessly.

"You're just recovering from a cold, but you have other illnesses as well."

No matter how hard Su Mingzhe tried, he couldn't get a penny from Su Shitou.

With no other options left, he could only sulk and carry the furs that his grandfather had recently nitrated, ready to go to the material exchange conference to exchange them for some money.

If Su Mingzhe really wants money, he has many ways to do it, but if he wants to have an excuse, he still needs to take the right path.

There is a material exchange conference in Pujiang, which is held every fifth and tenth day, and the location is on Section 1 of Renmin Road.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, this road, like other places, was only three or four meters wide.

But every time there are too many ordinary people coming to participate in the material exchange conference, it is really crowded and congested.

Not only would people from Pujiang come here to "go to the market" and exchange supplies, but people from nearby Yiwu would also come here.

Seeing that the material exchange conference was getting bigger and bigger, the government began to widen the road to make it more convenient for the people.

This section of road is now eight meters wide.

I heard that the higher-ups are currently studying the idea of ​​widening the road to about sixteen meters.

Su Mingzhe carried the supplies and came here to exchange the nitrated furs for some money.

(End of this chapter)