Chapter 92: Bai Cai Wei Cheng and Sha Zhu are going on a blind date
"Old Wang, long time no see."

Aunt Cao from the neighborhood committee was originally maintaining order and happened to walk next to Wang Hao.

"Auntie Cao, long time no see. Why are your eyes red? Have you not slept well recently?" Wang Hao greeted Auntie Cao when he saw her. When he looked at her carefully, he found that her eyes were red and she had serious dark circles.

The two people are old acquaintances. Before liberation, they had completed the tasks assigned by the organization together. It was only in the past two years that they had no intersection in work and had not seen each other for a long time.

"Hey, I've been preparing to sell cabbage these days. I've been staying up all night for two days and only slept for a few hours."

"Sister Cao, you have worked so hard." Wang Hao said.

"My situation is nothing. The people in the command center are working really hard. I heard that some leaders haven't slept for two days. There are more than a thousand vegetable markets, vegetable stores and temporary sales points in the city.

From procurement to transportation, and then to the distribution of quantities at each point, they have to handle and coordinate every aspect in a timely manner.”

Aunt Cao rubbed her eyes and spoke softly.

"Today is the first day, and there are many more people coming than in previous years. It's also true that the government has subsidized the price of cabbage too much this year, so basically every household is buying a lot to take back."

Looking at the people all around him, Wang Hao said with emotion.

“Yes, there are too many people. Fortunately, the leaders of the headquarters made preparations in advance and arranged for everyone to come at different times. They also assigned us a lot of additional personnel. Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble would have occurred.

Today, the city is expected to sell tens of millions kilograms of cabbage. In the next half month, the number will definitely be more than 100 million kilograms.

These cabbages have to be cut from the fields, loaded onto trucks and transported to various selling points in the city in just a few days, which can be said to be a tight schedule and heavy task.

Lao Wang, you queue up here, and stop talking for now. I'm going to go over to direct them to queue up, so don't cause any trouble because of the queue."

With that, Aunt Cao left in a hurry.

The team moved forward little by little. Wang Mengde tightened his cotton coat, put his hands in his sleeves, and stomped his feet from time to time.

About half an hour later, it was finally their turn.

"Comrade, how much cabbage do you want and what grade?" the staff asked quickly.

"Hello, I want the first-grade one that weighs 500 kilograms, and the second-grade one that weighs 400 kilograms." Wang Mengde answered quickly.

At that time, there was no restriction on the purchase quantity of first and second grade products like a few years later, so he ordered all the good ones.

"Okay, 500 kilograms for first grade, and 400 kilograms for second grade." The staff member shouted, and then the people next to him began to put the cabbages on the large scale, and Wang Mengde also hurried forward to help.

After weighing, it was found that the weight was a little overweight, and the total cost was twenty-five yuan and fifteen cents, which was almost one month's salary for He Shengnan.

I loaded the cabbages onto the flatbed truck, but it almost didn’t fit.

After loading, Wang Mengde pulled the cart in front and Wang Hao pushed it from behind, and they slowly walked towards home.

On the road, there was an endless stream of people coming and going. Among those walking back, whether adults or children, they all held cabbages in their hands and had happy smiles on their faces.

When they got home, Ran Xiaomei and He Shengnan, as well as Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo, all helped to move the cabbages down from the flatbed truck and placed them on the walls and windowsills on both sides of the door to dry.

The newly bought cabbage needs to be dried in the sun for a while. After the outermost layer of the cabbage is completely wilted, remove the rotten yellow leaves and then stack them in the cellar or under the eaves.

Soon, as the neighbors in the courtyard all came back, there were only a few aisles left in the entire courtyard, except for the one next to the pool. The rest of the space, as long as it could get sunlight, was filled with furniture.

Even in the alleys outside the courtyard, people have placed cabbages.

After arranging the cabbages, Wang Mengde looked at his own small vegetable cellar. Most households living in courtyard houses or small bungalows in Beijing would have a small vegetable cellar to store vegetables in the winter.

If there is no vegetable cellar, the vegetables will be stacked under the window or under the eaves and covered with sackcloth and small quilts to prevent dust, frost and allow air to flow.

Arrange the dried cabbages neatly in the shape of a "well" in the vegetable cellar, making sure the roots remain breathable.

All cabbages must be stored separately before the first frost in mid-November each year. Otherwise, once the cabbages are frozen, there will be nothing to eat for the whole winter. Once they thaw, the cabbages will stink all over the streets.

Of course, it is not the end after they are stored in the cellar or stacked. If the weather changes later, they need to be taken out from time to time to dry in the sun, or turned over.

People who live in high-rise buildings have limited living conditions and can only find places to put the cabbages wherever they can. Often, cabbages are placed on both sides of the corridors and stairs.

By the time we had finished packing, it was almost noon.

"Let's cook cabbage for lunch today." Ran Xiaomei said with a smile, holding a large cabbage.

She cut off the root of the Chinese cabbage with a knife, handed it to Wang Mengde and said, "Mengde, use this to wipe the rust off the door handles of the cabinets in the house."

The furniture in the home, such as drawer handles, cabinet buckles, etc., are basically made of copper ornaments. When copper is exposed to the air for a long time, it loses its golden luster and is covered by copper rust.

The cut cabbage roots are as big as official seals. The newly cut side is pressed into the damp ash. The fine ash that sticks to it is just right for grinding copper ornaments.

Wang Mengde took the cabbage root and did not wipe off the rust immediately. Instead, he said to her, "Mom, cut some cabbage and make a cold dish for us."

Cut the cabbage stalks into slices, marinate with salt for half a day or overnight, pour out the water, mix with chili oil, add some chopped ginger and garlic, drizzle with a little vinegar, mix well, and eat as much as you want with rice.

He couldn't help but drool just thinking about the taste. "Okay, I'll cut some cabbage stems and have them cold in the evening."

After wiping the rust off the furniture, Wang Mengde stood outside the door and stretched, then saw Sha Zhu walking in with something in his hand.

"Meng De, come to my house for lunch." Seeing him, Sha Zhu hurriedly invited him with a smile.

"I bought tofu and vermicelli, and three taels of pork belly. I'll make the 'special dish' for lunch, and we can have a drink."

The capital's signature dish is Chinese cabbage stewed with tofu and vermicelli. If you add some pork belly, in two or three years, it will be the meal that can only be eaten during the Chinese New Year.

"Okay, it just so happens that I went to the grocery store last time and bought two kilograms of wine, and I have one kilogram left. I'll take it later." Wang Mengde agreed readily.

Noon, Lao He’s house.

In the living room, three people sat around the dining table. Sha Zhu began to pour the wine, saying, "Let's finish this bottle today."

"Oh, you're not going to Hongbinlou this afternoon?" Wang Mengde asked curiously.

Weekend evenings are usually the busiest time for Hongbinlou, and on this day, Shazhu usually doesn't take leave easily.

"Hey, I've already graduated from Hongbinlou." Sha Zhu said proudly, "Next week, I'm going to work in the cafeteria of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill."

After saying that, he picked up the wine glass and motioned Wang Mengde to drink one first.

After finishing his drink, Wang Mengde picked up a piece of pork belly with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. While eating, he asked curiously: "You found a job so quickly, why didn't I hear you mention it before?"

"The night before yesterday, an old man took me to the steel mill to cook a few dishes for the leader. The leader, surnamed Li, who was in charge of logistics, was very satisfied and asked me to start work next week. The old man asked me not to tell anyone about this and to speak out after I entered the company."

Sha Zhu explained.

Wang Mengde knew that the uncle he was talking about was not Liu Haizhong, but the original uncle Yi Zhonghai.

"Oh, so that's how it is. Congratulations, Silly Zhu. With your skills, it won't be a problem for you to be promoted to the next level in three years at the steel rolling mill, if nothing unexpected happens." Wang Mengde congratulated with a smile.

"Yes, I think so too." Sha Zhu boasted without any modesty.

Then he said a little embarrassedly: "By the way, Meng De, I have found a job, and an aunt is going to find a date for me next weekend. How do you think I should behave then?"

After hearing what he said, Wang Mengde realized that he had asked him to come over for dinner today because he wanted to learn from him.

"It's easy. You can ask an old lady to find out whether the girl's family has bought the cabbages. If not, you can line up a truck and bring one over.

Didn’t you hear this morning that an old lady standing in the queue next to her wanted to marry her daughter to a young man just because he helped her pull some cabbage? "

Wang Mengde said with a smile.

"Okay, this is a good idea." Sha Zhu said happily.

Looking at his happy face, Wang Mengde thought to himself that he didn't know if Sha Zhu could change the bumpy blind date experience in the original drama.

The next morning, Wang Mengde rode his bicycle towards Guang'anmen.

Overnight, the streets, alleys, and even rooftops were filled with cabbages.

The phrase "cabbages surrounding the city" is the most appropriate to describe the scene of storing cabbages in the capital during the winter.

The stacked green hills guard the city like barricades and bunkers in the movies.

When we arrived at the hospital, the first thing Pu Lao asked was, "Meng De, have you finished buying the cabbages?"

"Sir, we have bought it all, a total of 900 kilograms." Wang Mengde replied.

On Saturday, he asked Mr. Pu, who had planned to buy some cabbage for him over the weekend. Later, he found out that the staff of the vegetable store would deliver the cabbage to his door.

"That's good. By the way, go to the cafeteria later and help them dig the cellar. Several people in the cafeteria have asked for leave today." Mr. Pu ordered.

"Yes, I'll be there now."

When he arrived at the cafeteria, he found that not only him, but several strong young men in the institute had been arrested, and Qian Dayong was also standing in the line with a shovel.

"Meng De, you are here. Several people in the cafeteria need to buy cabbage from home today, so they have asked for leave. In order to catch up with the progress, they asked us to help dig the cellar." Qian Dayong was indeed well-informed, he said in a low voice.

Sure enough, this was just as Wang Mengde had guessed.

Sunday.

In the morning, many neighbors gathered in the Central Courtyard, as if they were waiting for something.

After a while, Liu Guangtian ran over from the front yard, shouting loudly as he ran: "Here she comes, here she comes, Sha Zhu's blind date is here."

(End of this chapter)