Chapter 404: Pulling the Wind
From early November to mid-November, it is the last beautiful period of late autumn in Beijing.
Once this period of time has passed, the trees in the capital will be almost bald.
The autumn wind will blow fallen leaves all over the ground, and the temperature will drop rapidly.
Maybe it only takes one night of strong winds to cool down, and we can cross freezing in one step.
Those people could no longer stand it with just their autumn clothes and long trousers.
So this period is also the busiest time for people in Beijing before winter begins.
Every household is busy and has to make necessary preparations for winter.
First, we need to prepare winter cotton-padded clothes and quilts.
At the same time, remove and wash old quilt covers, sheets, and pillowcases. After washing, you have to dry them and replace them.
Second, owners of bungalows must take newspapers and rice paste to seal the cracks in the windows to prevent drafts from leaking in the cold weather.
The third is to prepare a stove for heating, install a chimney, buy briquettes and firewood.
The fourth is to have enough money to buy Chinese cabbage for winter storage.
Especially the last one makes the most noise and makes people enjoy it the most.
Starting in 1959, in order to ensure the planned supply of one pound of cabbage per person per day in winter in the capital city.
From November 1st to 10th every year, it has become the day when the municipal government organizes the centralized market supply of Chinese cabbage stored in winter.
The municipal government stipulates that Beijing citizens must purchase winter-stored Chinese cabbage according to the quota at the designated National Day vegetable store with the purchase book.
This is the origin of Chinese cabbage stored in winter.
People in this era say that the symbol of winter in the capital is Chinese cabbage, and this is absolutely true.
Because during this period, in order to ensure the supply of Chinese cabbage, the Beijing City Government will unite more than a dozen units to jointly set up the "Autumn Vegetable Command" and use various resources to solve the problem of production, marketing and transportation of Chinese cabbage without delay. problems encountered.
Count one after another, people really live for cabbage.
Buying Chinese cabbage has become a "people's war" involving everyone in the city and outside the city. The scene is extremely spectacular.
Since it is a war, of course there are those who are on the vanguard.
Who is the vanguard?
There is no doubt that the vegetable farmers in the suburbs of Beijing are absolutely doing their part.
As the saying goes, "If you don't chop vegetables at the beginning of winter, you will definitely suffer".
Since the vegetables in the fields cannot withstand the wind and cold during this season, they will freeze if not harvested in time.
So in order to prevent Chinese cabbage from freezing in the fields, harvesting overwintering vegetables has become a top priority for farmers in the suburbs of Beijing.
Needless to say, when farmers are busy, transportation companies have to be busy, and vegetable stores will also change drastically.
Just watch it, starting at three o'clock in the morning on November 1st.
There will be countless carriages and trucks pulling cabbage on the streets of the capital, and they can even drive unimpeded in front of Tiananmen Square.
The city's 1,200 vegetable shops and temporary food outlets have all put on wires outside the vegetable sheds and replaced them with 100-watt light bulbs.
The salesperson selling cabbage put on cotton shoes, cotton coat, cotton hat and cotton gloves in advance, and stood ready outside guarding the big pound waiting for the cabbage to arrive.
They also posted notices recruiting people with family difficulties to work as temporary workers, and were paid 1.5 yuan a day.
The job content is to spend the night at the vegetable station, loading and unloading cabbage at night.
Even unrelated units are affected.
Because both members of a dual-income family have to go to work, they can directly ask for leave from their workplace in order to buy cabbage.
When encountering this reason, the unit cannot treat it as a private matter and must immediately grant leave.
Will this affect the work progress and arrangement?
So the most realistic scene is when the tall horses outside the city spray white mist and pull mountains of cabbage.
The first group of people waiting to buy food queued up several hundred meters in front of various food stations.
Men, women, old and young, who wrapped themselves tightly in hats, coats, scarves and masks, all went out with their families with supplies.
People are particularly persistent and patient, waiting no matter how late it is.
But as cart after cart of cabbage was unloaded, it piled up into a mountain.
On the sample table of the vegetable shop, cabbages divided into first-class, second-class, third-class and other categories are also displayed.
No one could remain calm anymore.
Once the sound of selling vegetables and counting money started, the originally quiet team suddenly became restless.
People at the back began to look at the front with anxiety, wishing that the team could move faster.
And those at the front of the team also know that they cannot waste time.
In the midst of the urging of the vegetable sellers, they swung their arms as fast as they could and worked hard to load the various vehicles they had brought with their chosen cabbages.
In this way, they were transported back again and again in the way that ants move.
You can feel at ease until you store four to five hundred kilograms, or even a thousand kilograms.
However, after I finished shopping and took the vegetables back, it wasn’t finished yet.
Every household also arranges cabbage in the courtyard and windowsill, stacks it up and then hangs it to dry.
When the weather gets cold, we have to cover ourselves tightly with straw curtains and old quilts.
In this way, piles of stored winter vegetables and rows of jars and jars containing pickled vegetables have become the special scenery of the capital welcoming winter.
To be honest, during this period, even the vegetable stations and the cabbage dumped by the residents were piled up in mountains and piles.
The open-air garbage dumps outside the city are all covered with cabbage leaves, without exception.
Those who have not experienced it personally will not understand the enthusiasm of people in the capital who rush to buy groceries and stock up in large quantities.
Maybe they will be curious, why did people love winter cabbage so much?
The answer is actually very simple.
The first is nothing more than a lack of materials and backward productivity.
Although in the 1970s, the capital already had mature greenhouse planting technology, and many foreign vegetables were also introduced.
Unfortunately, due to industrial limitations, there are too few plastic films and it has not been popularized.
Without a greenhouse, how can we stay “out of season”?
So there are many lettuces, celery, red cabbage, lettuce, bulb fennel, and cherry tomatoes that are no longer uncommon thirty years later.
At this time, it is still a special dish sold only in foreign-related hotels and shops.
The opportunity that ordinary people can see is only provided to the four major vegetable markets in Beijing during important festivals to reflect the richness of the vegetable markets.
On the other hand, the shelves of ordinary vegetable shops that supply ordinary people are often empty in winter, with only wilted potatoes and spicy radishes "on duty".
Occasionally, I can get together the "three yellows and one white" (potatoes, Japanese melons, onions, and cabbage). Before the truck can be unloaded, there is a long queue at the door.
At its worst, the counter was as clean as if it had been "licked" by a dog.
The vegetable salesperson squats outside the gate in boredom all day long, basking in the sun.
Think about it? Why don't the people buy more cabbage and save it?
It’s okay not to eat fruits, but it’s absolutely impossible not to eat vegetables.
Otherwise, mouth sores will occur due to lack of vitamins, and dry stools will occur due to lack of plant fiber. Second, the government subsidizes Chinese cabbage for winter storage.
Before going on the market, the Price Bureau has carried out tiered pricing for Chinese cabbage.
First-grade dishes are worth six cents, second-grade dishes are six cents, and third-grade dishes are five cents and four cents.
This price is more than doubled in subsidies from the Beijing City Government.
To put it bluntly, this is a benefit enjoyed by a Beijing household registration. Buying food is equivalent to paying money from the government. Can you not accept it? Of course I have to snap up.
On the other hand, if this momentum passes, the price of cabbage will be much more expensive than during the concentrated supply period.
When people buy cabbage in the market, the original price is 15 cents. How many times does it increase?
The cabbage bought at this time is called "bargaining vegetable".
In an era when there were few alternatives to other vegetables, relying on "bargaining vegetables" to survive the winter would be a big expense.
In short, it is because of these reasons.
These days, few people can live alone and don't have to worry about storing vegetables for winter.
Even people like Song Huagui, who earns more than 10,000 yuan a month, can only eat the "special dishes" of Youyi Store with their whole family.
Because after all, she still has parents in the capital, it is impossible for the two old people to follow her and enjoy the luxurious capitalist living standards with peace of mind.
This is especially true for others such as leading cadres, university professors, and famous actors.
For example, the TV station next to the Zhenwu Temple, the Beijing Film Studio, and the surrounding areas of Renyi.
When people who live nearby are in the queue to buy cabbage, they can often see familiar faces wearing torn gloves and carrying sacks of slices.
No matter how famous actors, movie stars, or folk artists are.
If he were to stay in Maodong in the capital, he would have to queue up to buy groceries like everyone else and then bring them back by himself.
Want to go through the back door?
No chance at all.
The peculiarity of this matter is that everything is happening right under the eyes of the people.
Don’t say that it’s impossible to buy first-class dishes exclusively, but it’s not possible to avoid queuing or to queue up.
No matter who you are or how old you are, anyone who dares to cheat for personal gain will be drowned in the spit of the common people on the spot.
For example, the husband of dancer Chen Ailian was unable to leave while queuing up to buy cabbage.
In the process, he managed to catch up with this girl who was quite disgusted with him when they first met him.
Singer and actress Zhu Mingying will never forget the feeling of having to carry 200 kilograms of cabbage upstairs one by one and climb up and down by herself.
So if we just talk about buying cabbage.
I have to say that compared to 99.99% of the people in the capital, the four families in Courtyard No. 2 of Shan'er Hutong are simply living in a honeypot.
Why?
Of course, the first reason is because they have Aunt Mi, an internal agent in their courtyard.
Aunt Mi really doesn't dare to take advantage of the convenience to open a back door for everyone, but she has inside information and knows which batch of cabbage is good.
Even though they are all first-class dishes, there are differences. It’s just the source of the food.
The best cabbage is not from the suburbs of Beijing, but the cabbage produced in Yutian County and Sanhe County, Hebei Province.
The tree is big, solid, and delicious to eat.
Especially when eating dumplings, they are absolutely delicious.
Just relying on this crucial information, she can tell everyone that Yutian cabbage will be coming to the vegetable station one day.
In a spy war drama, it is not an exaggeration to say that a character like her can control the final victory of a war and achieve special merit.
Secondly, I have to say that the families in Courtyard No. 2 have a lot of strong labor force.
The two brothers from the Bian family and the two brothers from the Luo family are both strong and good young men in their prime.
With the four of them here, it is no problem to carry more than 2,000 kilograms of cabbage in the whole hospital.
As for the final power, Dingding’s artifact, it is Ning Weimin’s pickup truck.
With such an awesome transportation tool, everything is ready in one trip, so there is no need to worry about it several times.
And even waiting is comfortable. You can take turns to go into the cab to listen to songs and smoke warmly.
It’s fun when you’re shopping for groceries.
The people at the back of the row saw Lao Gao piling up their cartful of vegetables.
Almost half of the new first-class dishes were emptied, and I was immediately unhappy.
Some people who don’t know what happened took the lead in making trouble. They must have opened a back door for the boss at the grocery store.
As a result, Aunt Mi suddenly pouted and asked Bian Jianjun, who was in charge of queuing, to clearly show him the book of Sihu Cai.
Sure enough, the procedures are complete and completely legal and compliant.
Aunt Mi retaliated with a look of contempt and a contemptuous tone.
"What's the matter? People drive by the back door, right? You guys are too fond of pink-eye, aren't you? If you have the ability, why don't you become your own driver? Your ability is better than anything else."
Okay, I choked on a few words and it made it so noisy. The boy couldn't get off the stage, he was so shameless.
But just like that, the boy didn't leave indignantly.
After all, you still have to buy food.
In fact, not to mention a few close neighbors, even Song Huagui's parents, Director Li, Zhang Shihui, Zhang Dashao, Huo Xin, Qu Xiao, all had the help of Ning Weimin to buy vegetables for winter storage.
Ning Weimin deservedly became the most eye-catching heterogeneous member in the grocery shopping queue.
I don’t know how many men, women and children stared at him, and the rate of turning around was extremely high.
The older ones are looking forward to having such a son, and they are just wishing to have such a nephew.
Young people are either looking forward to having such friends and buddies, or they are looking forward to having such a partner and such a husband.
Ning Weimin's pickup truck is undoubtedly the most dazzling luxury car in the cabbage pile.
He is the most handsome guy in everyone's eyes in the grocery shopping team.
Of course, doing too much of a good thing will inevitably have side effects.
Like in the middle of the month, he made a joke when he went to the head office to meet Song Huagui to report on the progress of the sculpture exhibition and the latest turnover.
I wonder if this eldest sister has been abroad for too long. She has completely forgotten the familiar taste of her hometown. Still couldn't react at the moment.
He actually sniffed his nose like a police dog, then frowned and asked him.
"What do you smell like? Are you imitating other people's perfume?"
Ning Weimin simply pretended to be dumbfounded.
"Sister, you really know the goods. I just sprinkled a little bit on it, and you can smell it?"
Song Huagui was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.
"Your perfume... is very special. What brand is it? It has a pastoral feel..."
(End of this chapter)