Chapter 161

But there is no doubt that Cao Weiguo's procurement is very important to the village.

For every extra catty of goods, ten, a hundred, or a thousand catties add up to a significant amount.

A few yuan! Dozens of yuan!

In this era, that is a huge sum of money in the countryside.

It is truly because life in the countryside is too bitter, and opportunities to earn money are too few.

In the past, there was no opportunity to earn more money.

But now, the "God of Wealth" is their village's son-in-law, so this absolutely cannot be missed.

Song Xiong is shouldering a heavy burden this time.

If Cao Weiguo does not agree, then perhaps their family will be blamed by the village.

But if Cao Weiguo is willing to go, then their family will be heroes in the village.

Song Yulan looks at Cao Weiguo nervously.

Cao Weiguo's decision concerns her maiden family's future relationships in the village.

Deep down, Song Yulan is hoping that Cao Weiguo will nod and help.

But she is also worried that it might violate regulations and put Cao Weiguo in a difficult position or cause him to make a mistake.

She is now caught between her maiden family and her husband, feeling both torn and at a loss.

After understanding the situation, Cao Weiguo does not agree immediately.

For him, this matter is not a problem.

But agreeing too easily will not do.

As the saying goes: A handful of rice breeds gratitude, a bushel of rice breeds enmity!

If you provide small help to someone in distress, they will be grateful to you.

If a dependency is formed, gratitude will turn into a sense of entitlement, eventually leading to enmity.

Cao Weiguo says with a troubled look:

"Brother, given my kinship with the village, I am naturally happy to do things that benefit the village."

"But public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters."

"The rolling mill's procurement area is in the East City District, but Shangti Village is in the Haidian District."

"Cross-district procurement does not conform to the rules."

Upon hearing this, Song Xiong's face falls on the spot.

This matter is going to fall through!

This concerns the entire village; if it cannot be done, the Song family will surely face cold shoulders in the village later.

Song Yulan's expression also turns sour, as she worries for her maiden family.

Seeing this, Cao Weiguo says: "Cross-district procurement is hard to handle, but it is not without a way."

Song Xiong feels like he is on a roller coaster and says excitedly: "What way?"

Cao Weiguo says: "If the village has some scarce supplies, I can go through special procurement and incidentally procure some other supplies from the village."

Song Xiong asks hurriedly: "What are scarce supplies?"

Cao Weiguo says: "Meat! Pork! Chicken! Duck! Cured meat! Smoked meat... supplies that are lacking in the market and other villages."

Song Xiong's face falls again: "Weiguo, every family doesn't even have enough cornmeal to eat, so how can we save up meat?"

Cao Weiguo thinks for a moment and says: "How about you go back first and talk to the village chief about the matter, then I will go back to your maiden home with Yulan on Sunday, and we can discuss it in detail when we get to the village."

Song Xiong says tentatively: "Alright, that's all we can do."

Cao Weiguo says warmly: "Brother, don't worry, there is a way for this. Since you've come to the house with such difficulty, stay a while longer. Yulan, go out and buy some vegetables; I will cook a table of good dishes myself, and we will have a few drinks."

Hearing there is good food, Song Xiong blushes and says: "Then I'm troubling you, brother-in-law."

Cao Weiguo laughs: "Brother, you are being too formal."

Song Yulan says happily: "Brother, you chat with Weiguo at home, I'll go buy the vegetables now."

After speaking, she hurriedly takes a basket from the kitchen and goes to the vegetable market happily.

Cao Weiguo chats with his brother-in-law at home.

They talk about family matters and interesting stories from the village and the city.

Cao Weiguo asks: "Brother, do you know which family in the village has a stone mill they don't use?"

Song Xiong asks in confusion: "There are a few stone mills in the village, why are you asking about that?"

Cao Weiguo says with a smile: "I have an elderly leader who wants a stone mill to put at home, so he can grind flour to eat when he has nothing to do."

Song Xiong sighs: "You city folks really know how to play; you have energy but nowhere to use it."

Cao Weiguo says with a smile: "He's a retired old man, with nothing to do at home. Brother, go back and help me ask around; 10 yuan each, see if anyone is willing to sell."

Song Xiong widens his eyes in surprise: "How much did you say?"

Cao Weiguo says: "10 yuan for a big one, 5 yuan for a small one."

He had previously bought a stone mill from Shijing Village, but one stone mill is too slow in efficiency.

Anyway, it is just a matter of a thought; if dozens of stone mills start working together.

Then it won't take many days to grind dozens of tons of wheat into flour.

The unit price of flour is not as high as meat, but the volume is large.

Even if sold at 30 cents a catty at the pigeon market, dozens of tons of flour would be quite a lot of money.

Song Xiong says: "That leader really doesn't treat money as money. At such a high price, those people will definitely sell."

Cao Weiguo says happily: "That's great then. I want 3 stone mills. Brother, go back and help me talk to them first. Once negotiated, I will go over on Sunday and pay."

Song Xiong pats his chest and says: "Rest assured, I will handle this for you when I go back."

When Song Yulan returns home with the vegetables, Cao Weiguo cooks himself.

He makes four dishes and one soup: braised pork, shredded potatoes with vinegar and chili, pork stewed with vermicelli, sweet and sour pork ribs, and tomato egg soup.

This stuffs his brother-in-law, who gives a thumbs up with his mouth full of oil: "Too delicious, brother-in-law, your skills are superb."

Cao Weiguo says with a happy smile: "As long as you are satisfied, brother."

Before leaving, Cao Weiguo packs a net bag of eggs, a bag of flour, and three bags of brown sugar for Song Xiong.

Song Xiong declines, but Cao Weiguo says sternly: "This is my filial piety to my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Song Yulan is both touched and moved: "Brother, just take it, this is Weiguo's heart."

Song Xiong carries the items and is seen off by Cao Weiguo and his wife at the gate.

Along the way, the neighbors in the courtyard look on with envy.

Especially the Third Aunt, who criticizes Yu Li: "That sister of yours really has no vision and no luck; otherwise, our family could have benefited too."

Yu Li pouts: "The two of them just weren't meant to be, what can I do?"

In her heart, she also has some resentment toward Yu Haitang.

Dozens of eggs, a big bag of white flour.

If used sparingly, it would be enough for a family to eat for several months!

After all, this white flour is not a common staple; which ordinary family can afford to eat it?

This Cao Weiguo is really too generous to his wife's maiden family!

If Yu Haitang hadn't been too picky and missed out on Cao Weiguo.

These things from Cao Weiguo would have been carried to her maiden home.