After standing in the Zixin Road non-staple food store for more than half an hour and watching the two scenes of excitement, Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan came out.
No way, let alone the bad smell in the house, there are too many people and too many people. If we delay any longer, there will be no chance at all, and it will be a waste of time.
What's more, the kid who gave Hong Yanru a hard time and was beaten by Hong Yanwu is also here. It would be even more pointless to be recognized by him. It would be better to try his luck elsewhere.
So Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan lit up a cigarette each in the lee of the gate, touching their heads and adding up.
Not to mention, the two of them had the same idea. They both said that they should not look near the door of their house. It would be better to go directly to the big land, and maybe they could gain something.
The "big land" they are talking about here actually refers to the four largest vegetable markets in the capital at that time. That is to say, they refer to the "Dongdan Vegetable Market", "Xidan Vegetable Market", "Caishikou Vegetable Market" and "Caishikou Vegetable Market" that occupy the four directions of the capital, east, west, north, south.
Market” and “Chaonei Vegetable Market”.
These "Four Major Vegetable Markets" are the highest-level sales points under the Beijing Second Commercial Bureau. Unlike ordinary non-staple food stores, residents of the whole city can buy things at these four vegetable markets with shopping guides from different areas.
Of course, in these places, the largest number of people line up on the eve of the Spring Festival every year.
In order to cope with this situation, the Beijing Second Commercial Bureau not only requires the store to extend its business hours, but also gives priority to the supply of goods. It will even allocate some rare products that are rarely seen on the market for sale in the market.
For example, in winter, vegetables such as "garlic sprouts" and "leeks", wild products such as "walnuts", "hazelnuts", "chestnuts" and "jawberries", as well as live chickens, live ducks, and live
Fish, frozen shrimp, etc.
As for these unplanned items, because they are too rare to cover the whole city, they generally do not require tickets, but the prices are also surprisingly expensive. In the eyes of ordinary people, these items are undoubtedly quite "tasteless" goods. Often only high-ranking officials and
Only people with strong family backgrounds can afford it.
But precisely for this reason, people with "big waists" like Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan are really worth trying their luck.
Needless to say, judging from the distance, the "Cai Shi Kou Vegetable Market" is obviously the most convenient among the "Four Major Vegetable Markets". So the two of them did not hesitate, put out the cigarettes in their hands, and braved the cold wind to run away.
A destination located to the west of "Heniantang".
Speaking of this, some people may still be wondering. They probably want to ask, shouldn't there be a "Chongwenmen Vegetable Market" among the four major vegetable markets in Beijing? But I have never heard of a "Caishikou Vegetable Market"
"ah?
Hey, you're really wrong if you think so.
It is necessary to make a special statement here. In fact, among the four major vegetable markets in Beijing, the eldest one is the "Caishikou Vegetable Market".
Because it was originally called "Guang'anmen Vegetable Market" and was established on the first day of October in the 32nd year of Guangxu (November 16, 1906). It was the earliest government-owned vegetable market in Beijing. Later, it was renamed "Caishikou Vegetable Market" in 1956.
"It was not demolished until 1993 when Guang'anmen Nei Street was renovated.
In addition, it is the only "vegetable market" among all "vegetable markets" that also operates wholesale business. It has always existed as a vegetable distribution center for various districts in the north and south of the capital, just like the current "Xinfadi".
At the same time, because it is close to the "Niu Street" where the Hui people live, the place also has beef and mutton, cooked meat, soy products and other halal food counters. It also has meat, vegetables, dried vegetables, seafood, aquatic products, poultry and eggs.
, seasonings, tobacco and alcohol counters.
All things considered, in addition to the business area being limited to 800 square meters, which is smaller than other wet markets, in terms of functionality, the "Cai Shi Kou Wet Market" should be the most comprehensive among the "four major wet markets" at that time.
In comparison, "Chongwenmen Vegetable Market" is absolutely "junior".
This "rising star" only officially opened in 1976, and before the 1980s, its role was limited to serving residents near the vegetable market. At this time, it was far from comparable to the "Caishikou Vegetable Market".
Later, it was because the "Caishikou Vegetable Market" was demolished and it was doing well that it was replaced to fill the vacancy.
All in all, at this period, the status and role of the "Caishikou Vegetable Market" was second to none and irreplaceable.
It should be said that Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan's calculation was indeed correct. When they arrived at the "Cai Shi Kou Vegetable Market", they found that the situation was indeed better than that in the non-staple food store. After all, the place was much bigger, and besides, people couldn't afford to buy everything.
Rob.
In fact, what caused long queues and panic buying back then were nothing more than a few cheap, high-quality and indispensable mass commodities.
The first is tofu, soy products and vermicelli. As soon as the goods arrive, all the people in line will definitely give up their current goals and rush over. They will be sold out within an hour, and everyone will have the time to distinguish.
The second was peanuts and melon seeds. At that time, peanuts and sunflower seeds were oil seeds purchased and sold by the state, and they had to be exported in exchange for foreign exchange. People in the capital could only see peanuts in the market during the Spring Festival.
This is an annual thought, and it is no longer a question of whether it tastes good or not, or whether it can be replaced by something else.
So if any family is not in line, not only will it be very regretful, but the disappointed children will get into trouble with the adults, and this festival will not be successful.
Further back in the row, there are poultry and eggs. Regardless of eggs, salted duck eggs, or preserved eggs covered with a layer of soil, because they are too scarce, even if they are based on the price, they are still in the same category. Not to mention chicken.
Pork, beef and mutton are even cheaper, and it is very affordable to stew one during the Chinese New Year. Of course, this refers to a frozen chicken, not a live chicken.
Talking about the last ones, there are 381 kilogram hairtail, 451 kilogram yellow croaker and frozen meat with bones and strips.
It's too late to buy these things. I'm afraid I can only buy thin strips of hairtail for 25 cents, and the yellow croaker may be sold out. The most important thing is that there is no fat in the frozen meat.
At this point, the aesthetics of meat are completely different from today. At that time, no one wanted to be thin, because the fat meat could be used to make "banner oil", which could effectively supplement the family's shortage of oil.
Anyway, to put it briefly, since the layout of the wet market back then was relatively fixed, the most important meat cases, fish ponds, live poultry and vegetables were placed in the open space in the middle, and other secondary counters were placed in a circle.
So what Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan saw was four long lines of people queuing up from the center of the market, some reaching as far as a mile away from the entrance of the market.
It is no surprise that the varieties that people are looking forward to are peanuts, melon seeds, eggs, fish and meat. As for other counters, although there are people buying, there is no need to queue up, it is basically a relatively busy situation.
.As long as it doesn’t squeeze into the middle, the liquidity is not bad.
Of course, there are also those who are particularly leisurely. In the northeast corner of the vegetable market, in addition to the sold-out bean products counter, there is the canned tobacco and alcohol counter next to it. This is because canned goods are high-priced luxury goods, and few people are interested.
Smoking and drinking are not available here. If you want to buy tickets, you have to go to big places like Xidan shopping mall and department stores.
Once you have a clear understanding of the situation, it’s time to take action.
After entering the gate, Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan walked around in circles and spent more than an hour sweeping almost the entire vegetable market. It should be considered a small gain.
They first bought two bottles of canned fermented bean curd, two bottles of chive flowers and two bottles of shrimp paste at the pickle counter for 4 yuan. Then they bought two bottles of special soy sauce at the condiment counter for 29 cents.
Then, I spent another 25 yuan at the deli counter to buy the remaining five kilograms of high-priced "Cantonese sausages." Then I spent another thirty yuan at the dry goods counter to buy fifteen or six kilograms of black and white melon seeds.
, hazelnuts, pine nuts and black dates.
As a result, their figures walking through the vegetable market gradually became the focus of many customers and sales assistants.
In fact, not many people actually witnessed their "explosive buying" scene without hesitation of money. At the critical moment, the things they bought were all free of charge and very expensive. The bright red sausages, various varieties of dried fruits and quilts.
They are so eye-catching when held in their hands that it is difficult not to attract attention.
But in the final analysis, what really caused a commotion and made them a small limelight was their purchasing behavior at the vegetable counter.
At that time, Chen Liquan was surprised to find that on the relatively deserted vegetable counter, he could see a small pile of fresh "water chestnuts" and four or five bundles of "chives". There were also fifty or sixty apples on the shelves behind the counter.
and oranges.
So he immediately pointed it out to Hong Yanwu. When the two of them squeezed over and asked, they heard that these things were free of charge. They were so happy that they didn't even ask the price, and they wanted to have all these things without saying anything.
This is good. As soon as these words came out, not to mention the customers around, even the salesperson opened his mouth. They all thought he heard wrongly.
Later, after Hong Yanwu urged him several times, the salesperson trembled and quoted the price. Seeing that they still insisted, he dared to weigh the items.
Maybe some people should be surprised, why is there such a big reaction? Is it an exaggeration?
Let me tell you this, it's not an exaggeration at all.
Because the seasons were clear back then, winter was winter and summer was summer. Out-of-season things were generally invisible. In winter, there were no other vegetables except Chinese cabbage, radish, and carrots. It was not easy to eat something fresh and tender.
As for these "water chestnuts" and "chives", one was picked in artificial ice water, and the other was cultivated in a fire room. The total in the entire capital is only about 500 kilograms, excluding the 400 kilograms specially supplied.
The remaining bit was divided among the four major vegetable markets. Therefore, the sales price was as high as fifteen yuan per catty.
So when it comes to fruits, apples and oranges should be very common, right? They can’t be so precious, right?
Of course not. In fact, since the "Movement", the national fruit planting area has been declining year by year. Throughout the 1970s, the total amount allocated from the suburbs of Beijing and other places was barely enough to maintain special supply. Therefore, in the 1960s and 1970s
Children rarely eat real fruits, and they basically eat tomatoes, "Xinxinmei" radishes and sweet potatoes as fruits.
What's more, the refrigeration conditions back then were too backward, and there were no cold storages at all. It was more difficult to preserve some fruits until winter, and the only way was to follow the old tradition before liberation.
Every year before apples and oranges come on the market, the Second Commercial Bureau has to send people to the orchards in the suburbs of Beijing to select some particularly good ones, relying on the old "fruit bureau" method of "touching" them from the trees without hurting the hair.
"Down, then stuff them into a large vat that can hold three hundred apples, and finally put them into one of the few ice cellars in the capital for preservation.
So the price of these seemingly ordinary apples and oranges is as high as ten yuan per catty. That is the price of a whole basket in normal seasons, and it is not something ordinary people dare to ask about.
To put it bluntly, these things that Hong Yanwu likes are the same as spending a lot of money to eat cucumbers from Nuandongzi in the cold winter before liberation. Can you pay off all these things together? No one has ever seen such a purchase.
ah.
Sure enough, at the end of the day, the total of "water chestnuts" and "leeks" was eleven and a half pounds, and apples and oranges were twenty-two and a half pounds, totaling three hundred and ninety-four and a half yuan, which was even more expensive than today's prices.
Of course, as soon as the salesperson announced the price, the nearby customers were alarmed, and those who were not in line immediately surrounded the vegetable counter. Everyone wanted to see who was so generous and did such a shocking thing. And in the end,
Can you spare so much money?
But I didn't expect that Hong Yanwu was really a man who "would rather eat a bite of fresh peaches than half a basket of rotten apricots." He just "clicked" some bills in front of everyone, and took out forty big unity bills without frowning.
.
Then, under the extremely complicated look in the salesperson's eyes, he took the change. Without saying a word, he immediately pulled Chen Liquan, picked up the things and left.
Why are you in such a hurry?
Hey, he's not stupid either. If he stays here any longer, he will almost become a monkey in the zoo! It really makes people doubt his financial resources, which is another unnecessary trouble!
Sure enough, before they had gone very far, some of the onlookers behind them began to discuss the matter with shouts and shouts.
"Damn it, where did this wasteful thing come from? If you dare to spend so much money, your life will be ruined..."
"Hey, the official's salary is high. Didn't you see that the police uniform is new and he is wearing leather shoes..."
"Ah? He's a son of a high-ranking cadre? Then why are you here in the south? Aren't you just showing off to us poor people..."
"Okay, okay, just say a few words. I think they are purchasing for the company. How can ordinary people have so much money? Besides, they eat other people's fresh products, we eat our big pickled radish, and
What can we do? As long as ordinary people are content..."
"That's right, don't be jealous, at least they are spending money. Unlike the factory director of my son's workplace, who always takes notes for free wherever he goes..."