Children, children, don't be greedy, after Laba is the New Year.?? A look at a book??·· COM Laba porridge, drink it for a few days, and it will be twenty-three. Twenty-three, sugar melon sticky. Twenty-four write pairs. Twenty-five, frozen tofu. Twenty-six, go buy meat. Twenty-seven, slaughtering chickens. Twenty-eighth, put the face hair. Twenty-nine, steamed steamed buns. Stay up for 30 nights, and twist and twist on the first day of the new year.

This is a Chinese New Year folk song that is familiar to people in the old capital. But the busy scenes for the New Year depicted in the ballad are not so complete now.

Because if you interpret it in detail, it is not difficult to find that in the folk songs, in addition to sweeping the house, the rest are like frozen tofu, stewed pot meat, slaughtering roosters, and steaming steamed buns, all of which are for the preparation of food for the New Year.

To put it bluntly, it is different from today's era of great material abundance. In the past, in addition to the expectation of family reunion, there was a yearning for a harmonious family life. Being able to indulge your appetite and let your family eat for a few days is the main content and real fun of the Chinese New Year.

Yes, it is true that the New Year was more materialistic, but this is also human nature. After that era, people will never be ashamed to admit it.

Because in that era of lack of clothes and less food, the daily diet was almost unchangeable nest heads and old pickled radish, with occasional pimple soup, and there were many vegetables and few noodles. And it's often eaten only when you're sick.

If you can eat stew once, you can eat dumplings once, for most people, I am afraid that there are only a few days of the Chinese New Year in a year. So being able to eat a full meal and eat a good meal during the New Year has become an eternal expectation.

Speaking of this, Hong Yanwu himself is also more experienced, and he has experienced many Spring Festivals before the reform and opening up, which makes him deeply understand how difficult it is to have a good year.

At that time, since all the means of subsistence were allocated by the government, each household had a resident purchase certificate issued by the Beijing Second Commercial Bureau, commonly known as "non-staple food book" or "purchase book", referred to as "book", which was issued on an annual basis.

All the non-staple foods required by the people must be "written in a book", in addition to edible oil and oil tickets, food books, meat tickets, others such as vermicelli, vermicelli, starch, sesame sauce, alkali, sugar, eggs, tofu, etc., and even daily necessities such as soap, toilet paper, matches, etc., must be written in the non-staple food book.

Since it is a rationed supply, then there are naturally few pitiful things. In 1978, the Spring Festival supply, except for the increase from two boxes of Grade A cigarettes to three boxes per household, and the purchase of pork for two cents at a time without meat tickets, was not much different from previous years.

It is nothing more than in accordance with the usual practice, using the Spring Festival special ticket, each person will be given half a catty of oil, half a catty of meat, a catty of Fuqiang powder, and a catty of rice. Each household is divided into two bottles of liquor, five catties of fish, two catties of mung beans, and one catty of soybeans. In addition, there are half a catty of peanuts, half a catty of melon seeds, and two taels of bean products under each person's name.

So for housewives like mothers and ** sons, who almost have to cook without rice, it is certain to be embarrassed. They must mobilize the whole family, give everything they have, rely on long-term accumulation and painstaking efforts to prepare a relatively hearty dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve.

So although I know that the family has already bought everything in the shopping books of Hong and Chen. But after their mother went to work, Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan still returned to the streets.

They want to spare no effort to buy again, and want to buy some "New Year's goods" beyond the normal ration, so that the whole family can have a "fat year" and "good year".

To be common sense, with the current economic strength of Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan, it seems that it is very simple to realize this wish.

But this was not the case, because in those days, prices were eye-poppingly low. But at the same time, there was neither a market for free trade nor a free circulation of vendors. Because there are too few things, you can't buy them if you want to take advantage of them. This is the characteristic of the era of planned economy.

In addition, there were no refrigerators in people's families at that time, and once you bought too much food with a short shelf life, it was difficult to store, and it was also a big problem if it was damaged.

So it's a little hard to get started in this matter. What to buy, how to buy it has to take a little thought. That's a lot of technical work.

At the beginning, Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan first went to the nearest non-staple food store on Zixin Road, wanting to see if there were any loopholes that could be exploited. I didn't expect that there were so many people there that they couldn't get off their feet.

And they stood in the corner and watched for a while. Not only did it find that the counter selling peanuts and melon seeds suddenly hung up a "war-free card", which made the people who had been queuing for a long time complain. At the counter selling eggs and soy vinegar, there were also two confrontations between the salesperson and the customer.

Interestingly, both of these events, regardless of whether they are right or wrong, not only ended with a big victory for the salesperson's side. Moreover, it is very characteristic of the era, which can be regarded as two representative epitomes of the era of material shortage.

Let's start with eggs.

Because there were very few fresh eggs for sale that year, they were all deployed from distant places in containers for long distances, and stored in cold storage for many days, and it was inevitable that there would be a few "bad eggs" in a few catties of eggs.

At that time, eggs were "precious" food, one by one, and there was no additional ration even for the Spring Festival, and the residents all had to rely on the ration of one pound per person per month on weekdays.

Therefore, there is often a box nailed with plywood on the counter of the grocery store, and a trough the size of an egg is dug out, and a layer of glass is placed under the trough, and a light bulb is installed in the box, which is called "light box". The purpose is to put the weighed eggs one by one into the trough to see if there are any "bad eggs".

But although this thing is practical, the specific right to use it can be controlled in the hands of the salesperson. These "real power" masters are often dutifully "taken care of" by their relatives and friends, but they are not so thoughtful for most ordinary customers.

Because first, it is troublesome, and secondly, the grocery store has to bear the loss of these bad guys. Who wants to do such a thankless task?

As a result, because of this situation, there is a customer who is not happy today. The one who dared to exclude him was an acquaintance of a salesman, and when he bought eggs, he not only didn't ask for a book, but also took a photo of five or six bad ones, and all of them were good. But when he came here, the salesman immediately lost his enthusiasm, and he didn't take a photo if he was troublesome.

As the saying goes, "not suffering from a small number but suffering from unevenness", the customer's heart is unbalanced. At that time, he said that none of the eggs I bought could be broken. Otherwise, I'll find you to get ** and tell you to go through the back door.

Unexpectedly, the salesman who sold eggs was not afraid of this at all, but squeezed him and said, "The back door is there, you can go if you have the ability." Do you think it's useful to ask us to get **? He complained yesterday that we picked out too many 'bad guys'. I also tell you, man is sufficient. This is all from all over the country to support the capital, it's good to have your eggs to eat, and then pick the fat and thin, if you are in a hurry, I will not sell you. ”

This was so angry that the customer almost didn't come to his back, but in the end, he didn't have a choice, so he could only grit his teeth and say, "When there are too many things to sell in the future, I see what you should do?"

To be honest, in addition to seeing the future Hong Yanwu at the scene, I am afraid that even the customers themselves do not believe it. So the salesman smiled and said very proudly, "Go home and have your spring and autumn dreams, now even the soy sauce is out of stock, the scene you said, I can't see it anyway......"

That's the last sentence. The customer could only frown and leave with the eggs that had not been illuminated.

As for the second thing, it is actually a dispute over the weight of "Erba sauce".

You must know that in today's all-in-one packaging of sauce and vinegar seasoning, I think most of them can be bought in bulk back then.

The oil is served in an iron drum, and soy sauce, vinegar, yellow sauce, jam, sesame sauce, liquor, etc., are served in the vat. Regardless of adults and children, buying the above things is called "hitting".

"Soy sauce" and "sesame sauce" are words that are often on the lips. When you meet acquaintances on the way, you often greet them in this way. If someone asks, "Why are you going?" they usually reply, "Go with soy sauce." ”

To beat soy sauce, vinegar, and wine, a bottle is carried, and the salesperson scoops it out of the jar with a wooden ration "grape" and pours it into the bottle through a funnel. "Grape" is generally divided into half a catty and one catty, using this primitive way of measurement, for the sale of bulk liquid goods, it is indeed very convenient.

Beat sesame sauce and yellow sauce, also come with their own containers, generally use the ceramic bowl for eating, there is no need to talk about catties and two, the customer put the bowl on the counter, and say "play five cents sesame sauce". The salesperson will weigh the bowl first, and then place the scale in the position where it should be after removing the bowl weight.

Since sesame sauce is a rationed food that is in short supply as eggs, it is only one tael per person a month. Therefore, when customers make sesame sauce, they often keep their eyes on the scales, for fear that if there is less, the baht will be compared. And the way to take sesame sauce is more special, and you can't shrink it back if you have more. Salespeople sometimes deliberately call out more to reduce disputes.

But sometimes, good intentions may not be exchanged for good results. Because no matter how much you fight, you can't resist the temptation of sesame sauce, especially the sweet "Erba sauce" to children. As long as it is a child playing sesame sauce, on the way back, you can't help but want to taste two bites, rub it around the side of the bowl with your index finger, and put it in your mouth. The name of this action is "Hands". Then inevitably, the amount of sesame sauce is insufficient.

To tell the truth, people in Beijing actually know this malaise of "purchasing". As long as adults can spare their hands, they will never let children make sesame sauce. But sometimes, it's really too busy. Especially during the Chinese New Year, there are a lot of things to buy, and there are queues to buy everywhere, and adults have to go to work as usual if they have a job. So in desperation, it is inevitable to let the children on winter vacation get some cheapness.

Of course, adults must be prepared for this, as long as it is not too excessive, the expected "deficit" is also tolerable.

It's just that sometimes people are not as good as heaven. Occasionally, children are impulsive, and they often break through the bottom line of their daily lives to a great extent, so that adults face an unbelievable and completely incomprehensible result. At this time, if the child lies again, and the adult is anxious, he may become angry with the grocery store.

This is why the dispute witnessed by Hong Yanwu arose.

There was a young man, probably the child's uncle, who took the bowl and found it back, saying that the grocery store didn't beat enough sesame sauce. Their family bought six taels of "Erba sauce", and when they took it back, they weighed it, and it was only three taels. Even if the child eats it secretly, there is no such way to eat, he thinks that it is undoubtedly a lack of non-staple food stores.

At that time, the salesperson who sold sauce and vinegar on the counter was an elderly aunt, but she insisted that she had worked all her life, and every time she gave more sesame sauce to anyone, it was impossible to give less portion. The problem is certainly not in the grocery store, leaving the customer to go home and find the reason for himself.

Then the egg salesman next to her also interjected. He said, "Your children only eat three taels of sesame sauce, and it's not fresh at all." Yesterday, a child ate half a catty of sesame sauce that he had just beaten, and when he got home, he was 'slippery', so he asked his mother to wash his pants. There's no way, it's normal for children to be greedy......"

The customers laughed when they heard it, but the young man was young and vigorous, and his face was tender, which made him blush and thick. His theoretical basis is that there are many people buying things during the Chinese New Year, and the salesperson basically can't take care of the appointment, so their children said that the bowl of sesame sauce was not on the scale at all, and it is likely that it is less.

Due to the special season, the store is in full swing. The aunt who bought the sauce and vinegar saw that he was not finished, and soon became impatient, and did not let the egg seller help him. was angry, and on the spot, he borrowed another customer who also wanted to buy six taels of sesame sauce to prove his innocence.

She picked up the empty bowl and weighed it first, and said to the young man. "You look at the weight of the bowl, and people also need six taels. I'll play later, it's definitely six two two dollars five. There are zero and whole, I want to be a little worse, I will make up for the sesame sauce you lack, or you will admit my mistake and leave. ”

The more serious young man is definitely a green man, who doesn't know the depths and is quite unconvinced.

"Hey, you're screaming. You dare to say it. I really don't believe it, so let's do it. ”

As a result, the young man was purely unlucky, and it was not for nothing that people were so confident. After beating the sesame sauce and putting the bowl on the scale, even all the customers present were shocked.

Not to mention, if you remove the weight of the bowl, the sesame sauce is really six taels and two dollars and five!

When the kid reacted again, it was so embarrassing that he couldn't even lift his head. At that time, "Aunt Aunt" was called. Then he said, "I've done it for you, you are a real person and don't show up, I accept it." ”

The salesman was an old clerk, and his gas was definitely much better than that of the young man. Besides, because he showed his face and his anger was smooth, he didn't have to pay attention to people.

It's just that the egg seller next to him has a bad temper, and at the end he threw out a sentence of "piece of soup", but the young man was not squeezed well, and everyone was amused again.

"Young man, I know that your family is doing well. But you have to remember it, too. It's useless for your family to just weigh the sesame sauce bowl, and you have to weigh the children in the future......"