He guessed that Han Qingsong should have gotten a good amount of the transfer fee because it was the right time to build a house. If it was not built, there would be no money left in a few years. Besides, if he built it years later, people would gossip that he had taken advantage of his position as a Director to embezzle money for his own benefits, enabling him to build a house of his own.
Han Qingsong went to the Director of the Revolutionary Committee first. Unfortunately, Director Qian went to the county Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Hence, Han Qingsong went to the butchering team.
When he went out in the morning, Lin Lan gave him 5 Yuan and let him have it. She insisted that a man needed to have money whilst going out, so he took 2 Yuan and returned the rest to her. He thought that he didn’t have any meat tickets at the moment, so he wanted to buy some meat that wouldn’t require any tickets.
Han Qingsong was still wearing a military uniform and his posture was tall and capable. The kind of aura he exuded from his body was not comparable to that of a mediocre militia cadre like Sun Zhuowen.
The team leader observed his words and expressions. He noted that Han Qingsong was slightly unfamiliar, but seeing that he was wearing a military uniform, paired with a tall stature and a stern face, he guessed that it is the new Director of the Public Security Bureau.
He immediately stepped forward to entertain him as he heard Han Qingsong say that he wanted to buy some meat without a ticket.
He smiled and said, “Oh, it’s really unfortunate that you came here now. Today, a pig was killed and the spare parts were taken by the canteen of the Revolutionary Committee,” He saw Han Qingsong’s expression remained as usual and was about to leave without asking any questions. However, he immediately said, “But coincidentally, there are still a few pounds of meat and bones left.”
Han Qingsong, “The meat tickets will be issued in two days. I will buy the meat and record it today,but I will deliver the ticket in two days.”
The team leader smiled and said, “Sure, just don’t forget about it.”
Han Qingsong estimated that they would have half a catty of meat a month, so he said he would like half a catty. Then, he asked how the bones would be sold.
Bones did not need tickets? and they were not expensive, but they were basically a jumbled pile of calcium and it was difficult to estimate a worth.
Moreover, there was no meat or oil in the bones and it required firewood to cook. Unless the Production Team slaughtered pigs and bought the meat sporadically, most people wouldn’t buy it.
The team leader said, “Since you bought some meat, I’ll sell you a good serving of bones.”
Naturally, the price wasn’t expensive.
Han Qingsong paid the money and recorded that he bought half a catty with meat tickets.
When the team leader was cutting the meat, he purposely picked the fatty pork belly before tying it with a straw rope and handing it to Han Qingsong.
Han Qingsong looked at it, “Are there any newspapers?”
The team leader thought that he was afraid of attracting unwanted attention from carrying the meat this conspicuously, so he brought a piece of oiled paper over, wrapped it up and handed it to Han Qingsong.
Han Qingsong thought to himself that this way, the meat would last a little longer.
The team leader looked at Han Qingsong’s leaving silhouette and muttered, “I wonder if this man understood what we meant?”
Han Qingsong bought the spare parts of meat. The team leader initially disappointed him by saying that there were none, but he lit up some hope by saying that there were leftover pounds of meat left. Besides, he made an exception to let Han Qingsong buy the meat without using the tickets first. Generally, normal people would figure out that he was trying to do him a favour.