Chapter Forty-One: You Are a True Connoisseur

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The more Qin Zheng listened, the brighter his eyes grew.

Without meat coupons, could two yuan and forty cents really buy three pounds of meat?

As it turned out, it could. Pig lungs, large intestines, pig heads, and bones were all practically worthless.

It was not that people in this era did not know how delicious such things could be. The problem was that they were troublesome to prepare, consumed too much oil and seasoning, and were hardly worth the effort.

For a small canteen, however, none of that was a problem.

But would a canteen that served meat every day be too conspicuous?

Then again, each worker would receive only a ten-cent subsidy per day. And the money would not be handed over directly; it would simply be included in the price of the meals. Was that really against the rules?

Compared with other factories, their subsidy was already low enough, wasn’t it?

The moment Qin Jun saw Qin Zheng’s expression, he knew that the man was tempted.

In this era, who was not living for the sake of a decent meal?

If they could eat a little better, who would refuse? After all, their own families would not be losing anything.

That was why, although Qin Zheng had mentioned negotiated-price grain earlier, he had never truly intended to buy any. He was not a fool, after all.

If wheat could be sold to the commune for twelve cents a pound, why could it not be sold to the small canteen they themselves ran?

Selling so much grain to the commune every year as a charitable contribution was unavoidable.

Now that the grain had found a reasonable destination, there was naturally room to maneuver.

“All right. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll get started today. We’re making money, after all!”

Qin Zheng slapped his thigh and immediately ran off. There was no time to waste.

Whatever one did, an accountant was indispensable.

Watching Qin Zheng speak with Qin Shi, Qin Jun grinned.

The kiln works needed more and more workers.

At present, besides the laborers, there were only a factory manager, an accountant, and a technician. Before long, however, they would also have a cook, a purchasing clerk, and a cashier.

Of course, one person could handle all three positions.

And Qin Jun felt that his eldest sister would be perfect for the job.

A single person holding three positions could not possibly be paid too little. Qin Jun reckoned that twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents would be just right.

When it came to the wage system of this era, the steel mill in the capital was probably what Qin Jun knew best.

There was no helping it. There were simply too many fan-written stories set in this period, so even if he had not wanted to learn about it, he could hardly have avoided doing so.

So the small canteen Qin Jun was setting up really was not violating any rules.

He knew that even the capital’s steel mill in the 1960s provided its workers with a larger meal subsidy than he was offering now.

The morning’s work was finished, and the able-bodied laborers sat sweating in the grass, taking a rest.

At that moment, Qin Zheng came over and told Qin Feng that the workers were not eating enough and lacked the strength to work.

Then he explained the canteen, followed by the daily subsidy.

By the time he finished, everyone had gathered around.

A ten-cent subsidy per person was not much, but with thirteen people, it came to one yuan and thirty cents.

That was enough money for a meal. If each individual contributed a little more, it would not be an insignificant sum.

With only a few words, Qin Zheng made everything clear.

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This time, however, what he told Qin Jun was different. Qin Zheng did not mention voluntary purchases at all; the arrangement would be compulsory.

There was no way to collect the money from the workers immediately, so it could only be deducted from their wages.

“If you don’t understand, ask someone else. That’s the whole matter.”

“Still don’t understand? It means that fifteen cents will be deducted from each person every day for meals.”

“Are you losing out? Every day, the kiln works will give you a pound of steamed buns and a serving of meat.”

“A pound of steamed buns costs ten cents, and a serving of meat costs fifteen cents. We’ll charge you only fifteen cents, while the kiln works will subsidize the other ten!”

“Do you really need to think about something like this? You have to eat. If you don’t, you won’t have enough strength to work. All right, that settles it.”

“Qin Shi, starting today, whose family has flour? Let us borrow some first. We’ll steam the buns now!”

“And who slaughtered a pig today? Figure out how much meat we need to buy. We’re eating meat at noon!”

As Qin Zheng issued one instruction after another, everyone’s attention was drawn to the arrangements, and no one complained about the deductions anymore.

They were going to eat meat! Who could eat meat every day?

For fifteen cents a day, they would be able to eat it daily from now on, and they would also receive a pound of steamed buns made from refined flour.

A total of four yuan and fifty cents would be deducted each month, but they would get to eat meat every day!

Everyone knew how to do the arithmetic. And while they were calculating, Qin Shi was doing the same.

He had to work out how much meat they needed to buy that day. It was a happy problem to have.

Without meat coupons, they could only buy scraps and offal. That sounded easy, but it truly was not.

“Captain, the steamed buns cost ten cents a pound, which barely covers the cost. That takes away one yuan and thirty cents.”

“That leaves only fifteen cents per person for vegetables and meat.”

“There are thirteen of us altogether. At fifteen cents per person, that comes to only one yuan and ninety-five cents. That isn’t much!”

“My family has a length of large intestine—nine and a half pounds!” someone suddenly shouted.

Qin Jun looked over and saw that it was Chu Yu.

He had no idea when the chubby boy had arrived, but the fellow certainly knew how to seize an opportunity.

“Large intestine? If it doesn’t require a coupon, would forty cents a pound do?” Qin Shi began calculating.

“Sure. It doesn’t need expensive seasoning, but if you don’t know how to prepare it, it won’t taste good!” Chu Yu replied cheerfully.

“Then we’ll take the whole length. That comes to three yuan and eighty cents. We’ll take it. It’s exactly enough for two days.”

Qin Shi was delighted. What luck!

They would need an average of five pounds of intestine a day. Even after boiling caused it to shrink, there would still be plenty.

After all, only thirteen people would be eating. Each person ought to get at least three or four ounces of meat.

They had already finished the day’s work, so they might as well prepare it early and eat early. That way, they would have the strength to work in the afternoon.

With so many idle hands helping, the work went quickly.

These grown men certainly did not cook at home under ordinary circumstances.

But that did not mean they could not cook.

At village weddings and funerals, it was always men who served as the head chefs.

Once they truly got to work in the kitchen, they were much faster than women.

Anyone who was not enthusiastic about eating had something wrong with his head. When it came to meals, Qin Jun had always been the most serious of all.

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“Cousin, go get Uncle Zhike! No one else can make it taste right!”

Qin Shi glanced at Qin Jun, then could only raise his thumb. “You really know your food!”

“Cousin, we can’t use people for nothing. From now on, Uncle Zhike will be our head chef. Let me think—we’ll need to assign him an assistant, and my eldest sister would be perfect.”

Qin Jun pretended not to notice the dark looks Qin Shi and Qin Zheng gave him and continued, “The head chef will receive thirty-seven yuan and fifty cents, and the apprentice twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents. That’s settled!”

“That means adding two more employees?” Qin Zheng asked with a frown.

Qin Jun shot back, “Are we supposed to make the workers cook for themselves every day? Besides wasting time, would their food even taste good? Whatever we do, we have to do it properly!”

Qin Shi also spoke up. “Little Jun is right. Besides, more workers will be added tomorrow. You’d better think carefully about how to allocate the five remaining positions for able-bodied laborers in the village. That won’t be easy.”

Qin Shi’s interruption immediately gave Qin Zheng a headache.

He had genuinely forgotten about that. If they handled it this way, recruiting Qin Zhike and Qin Yingchun into the kiln works would not seem conspicuous.

Once he had put his mind at ease, Qin Zheng resumed arranging for the meal to be prepared.

When too many people gathered together, chaos was inevitable. That was no exaggeration.

Especially at a time like this, without someone directing them, things would only become more disorderly.

In the end, Qin Zheng had no choice but to return to his own home and arrange for his family to help.

The kiln works were out in the wilderness, where there were only a few dugout shelters. They could not possibly cook inside them.

At Qin Zheng’s home, they would have to use his family’s stove and cooking utensils, and his family would also have to provide the flour first.

Needless to say, the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar would have to be supplied as well.

Qin Shi, however, knew how to handle things. He recorded everything in his accounts. There was no way he would let the captain’s family suffer a loss.

Even so, Qin Zheng’s wife was already glaring angrily, clearly on the verge of an outburst.

But with Qin Zhike present, she still had to show some restraint.

As the village’s head chef, Qin Zhike commanded a certain amount of respect. Whenever anyone in the village held an event, they had to invite him to lend a hand.

And he truly did possess considerable skill, especially when it came to cleaning large intestine.

First came the washing. Anyone else would have found the task troublesome just to look at.

But Qin Zhike merely stroked it lightly a few times before lifting it up.

Then he gave it another deft stroke, and the entire length of intestine turned inside out.

After that, he soaked it with a little alkaline powder, some flour, and salt, rubbed it thoroughly, and then began rinsing it.

As he cleaned the intestine, his movements somehow reminded Qin Jun of the famous Old Man Selling Oil.

No matter what one did, it was merely a matter of practice making perfect.

Yet to reach the point where one’s hands had truly become practiced required countless hours of effort.

“Do you understand now? There’s really nothing difficult about cleaning large intestine!”

“The most important thing is to leave no blind spots, especially with large intestine, since there are so many folds inside.”

“Be careful not to rub it too hard. That will only make the odor stronger!”

“And you need both a deft hand and a keen mind. That way, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.”

“All right. Once it has been cleaned properly, the flavor will become pure and delicious. After all, large intestine without any unpleasant odor isn’t good large intestine at all!”

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