Catch the Mountain 1985

Chapter 14: State-owned stores sell mallets

It was already three or four o'clock in the afternoon when Zhang Peng and Zhao Chunming got home. The first thing Zhang Peng did when he got home was to put the packed mallets in the cellar for storage.

After he came out of the cellar and Zhao Chunming tied up the dog, they went to the house and opened the door together. Then they heard Wang Xiufen's voice coming from the back room: "Who is it? Who is back?"

"Mom, Chunming and I are back." Zhang Peng responded.

"You are back." Wang Xiufen came out with a smile on her face.

As soon as I saw the two people with empty hands, I thought they didn't hit anything and didn't care. But then I thought about it. If I could gain something every time I went out, it would be okay.

"You haven't eaten yet? There is some roe deer meat at home. Let's dip it in garlic paste and eat some hot food later." Wang Xiufen said with a smile.
"Well, Mom, Chunming and I will deal with the food first. We are starving to death. Mom, please help boil some corn noodles. We haven't eaten the rhubarb or black seeds yet." Zhang Peng put down his satchel and said to Wang Xiufen.

"Well, okay, you guys put it on the mat first." Wang Xiufen said, pouring out some corn noodles, adding some salt, scalding them with boiling water, and taking them out after they cooled down.

At this time, Zhang Xiaoxia and Zhang Xiaolan also ran out of the east room, saying hello with a smile: "Second brother, brother Chunming, you guys are back."

Zhang Peng agreed, stepped forward and rubbed their little heads.

Early the next morning, when it was still dark, Zhang Peng got up. After washing up, he rolled up the gun in a sack and put it on the two tethers, opened the door and went out. He took out the packed mallet from the cellar. After careful inspection, there was nothing unusual, so he put it in his satchel. Dahuang and Heizi in the yard thought Zhang Peng was going up the mountain. They groaned and grabbed their two front paws and wanted to pounce forward. Zhang Peng untied them and teased them for a while. Then the door of the east courtyard also opened, and Zhao Chunming walked out with a backpack.

The two said hello, and Zhao Chunming then walked out of the courtyard. Zhang Peng tied up Dahuang and Heizi and walked out of the courtyard. The two met at the courtyard gate and walked towards the outside of the village without saying much.

It was almost noon when we arrived at the state-owned store. The state-owned store was very busy, with many people coming in and out. After all, this was the closest store in the surrounding area. People who had some money came here to buy things, and hunters from the mountains often came here to sell. Fur, bear bile, etc.

Zhang Peng and the others waited for a while and saw that there were a lot less people there. They were probably going to have dinner at noon. Only then did Zhang Peng and the others walk in. When they saw an empty counter, they immediately went over to it and saw the salesperson. I was already slumped in a chair waiting to get off work. I was so busy this morning that I didn't even have time to rest.

"Hello, do you collect mallets here?" Zhang Peng asked the salesperson in a low voice.
"Take it, what's the condition? Take it out and have a look." When the salesperson heard that there was a mallet, he immediately became energetic.
After hearing this, Zhang Peng didn't talk nonsense. He took out the wrapped mallet from the bag, slowly opened the string and spread it out, and the mallet was exposed. The salesman stood up, walked closer and took a look at the appearance of the mallet, and immediately exclaimed. : "Little brother, it's not bad. I haven't seen such a good-looking person for a long time."

"Then how much do you think we can get?" Zhang Peng heard the salesperson say this and said with a smile.
The salesperson pondered for a while and said to Zhang Peng: "Wait a moment, I'll take a closer look."

After saying that, he moved the stick in front of him and looked at it carefully. The reeds, patterns, shapes, whiskers, and body, including the lines on it, and every stick and whisker, must be taken care of. These are all things that directly affect the price.

After looking at it carefully for five or six minutes, he said to Zhang Peng: "Little brother, to tell you the truth, the quality of this mallet cannot be said. Let's weigh it and see the weight."

"Brother, there's no need to go on the scale. Just tell me the price. If you think it's OK, we'll make a deal." Zhang Peng looked at him with a smile and said.

Zhang Peng's meaning is also very simple. Don't buy the mallet by its weight, but sell it by the piece. You can pay according to the appearance.

"How much..." The salesperson pondered for a moment, raised his hand and gestured with three fingers to Zhang Peng, and said, "Three thousand!"

Even though Zhang Peng looked young, the salesperson didn't push the price very hard. There are so many hidden dragons and crouching tigers these days. Who knows if the person in front of him is a great master.Zhang Peng thought about it and it was actually not much different from what he had estimated. He had thought that two thousand eighty-nine would be about the same. After all, these fifth-grade leaves could still be seen occasionally, but Zhang Peng couldn't agree happily. He laughed. Then he said: "Brother, it's a bit low. This quality is rare. Please add more and I will sell it to you. Otherwise, I can only go to the nearby pharmacy and ask."

The salesperson thought for a while, after all, it was not in good condition, and their section chief happened to want them to collect some mallets in good condition, saying they would be of great use.

"Let's do this, little brother, I will give you a price sincerely, three thousand two thousand, no more," the salesman gritted his teeth and said.

"Okay, I think the eldest brother is also a real person, so I'll sell it to you." Zhang Peng pushed the mallet bag forward and said with a smile.
"Okay, little brother, I have made you a friend. My name is Wang Wencheng. Come and sell whatever you have in the future. I will give you a high price." Wang Wencheng was also very happy and said with a smile.
"Thank you, Brother Wang." Zhang Peng responded with a smile.
Then Wang Wencheng took out three full stacks of unity from the cabinet, and counted out twenty more, and put them together in front of Zhang Peng. Zhang Peng carefully counted them twice, took out six, and put away the rest. Inside the satchel.

Then he said to Wang Wencheng: "Brother Wang, do we have bullets with old sleeves for sale?"

"Of course, wait until I find it for you." Wang Wencheng was stunned and said with a smile.
After saying that, he walked to the iron cabinet at the back and took out two boxes of ammunition and handed them to Zhang Peng.

"A box contains [-] rounds, and each round costs [-] cents. How much do you think it costs?" Wang Wencheng said.
"Take them all, and then some candy balls and glutinous rice sticks. Let's buy them with the money." Zhang Peng handed over ten yuan.
After Wang Wencheng packed everything and handed it to Zhang Peng, he said goodbye to Wang Wencheng and took Zhao Chunming out of the store.

Zhao Chunming watched Zhang Peng bargaining the whole time. When Wang Wencheng said three thousand two, he was confused. It wasn't until Zhang Peng pulled him out of the state-owned store that he realized what he was doing and whispered excitedly: "Second brother, We got rich, haha..."

"Well, let's go eat first and then go back quickly," Zhang Peng said.

It was about one o'clock when he finished his busy work. Zhang Peng looked around and saw a steamed bun shop and walked over. After looking at it, a big meat bun was only [-] cents and bought ten. The two of them found one at the shop. After sitting down on the stool, they started to eat voraciously. They hadn't had any rice or rice in the morning, so they were really hungry. After the two of them finished eating, they didn't stop and immediately hurried home. On the way, they met a carriage going back to the neighboring village and took a ride. I got a ride and arrived home around five o'clock. Their parents had already cooked and were waiting for them to come back for dinner.

It wasn't until they got home that Zhang Peng and Zhao Chunming let go of their worries. They were on tenterhooks all the way and were very nervous at any slight disturbance. After all, in this era, money is a huge sum. Nowadays, very few people in the countryside can spare 500 yuan. If Knowing that with thousands of dollars, there are definitely not a few people who have evil thoughts.

When he arrived at the entrance of the hospital, Zhang Peng asked Zhao Chunming to go back and eat first. Later, he would bring Zhao Decai and Li Cuihua over to his home.
But don’t talk about today’s events yet, prepare to give them a big surprise.

Zhao Chunming nodded in agreement, turned around and returned home with a smile.

When Zhang Peng opened the door and returned home, he saw his family members sitting on the Kang. As soon as he entered the house, Wang Xiufen greeted him and said, "My son is back. Why is it so late? Wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

"What are you doing? I can't even see you," Zhang Tiejun said
"I didn't do much, I just went out with Zhao Chunming to sell some things," Zhang Peng said.

Zhang Tiejun didn't say anything after hearing this. He thought he was out selling chinchilla skins. The chinchilla skins were not valuable. Besides, Zhang Peng would hand them over every time he sold them, so he didn't ask any further questions.

At this time, I heard that Zhang Peng had gone to sell something. Zhang Xiaoxia hurriedly got off the kang, pulled Zhang Peng and asked: "Brother, have you brought anything back?"

Zhang Peng laughed, took out two candy balls from his bag, put them in Zhang Xiaoxia's hand, and said with a smile: "Here, take them and eat them."

(End of this chapter)