[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji":3,"chapter-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-54":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Siheyuan: Food, Love, and Family in 1960s Beijing",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2314104,4526,"Chapter 54: Chapter Fifty-Five: The Egg-Collecting Crew in Action","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-54",54,"\u003Cp>Li Xuewu’s question was outside the norm for Wen San’er.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er gave him a look like he didn’t know the inside story, smoking a cigarette: “You don’t get the ropes here. The biggest exchange difference for grain coupons is 25 fen; usually it’s just 5 fen. For grain coupons, if you go over by 5 fen, no one will trade. But meat coupons? Not the same. Oil? Not the same. These are exchanged at the maximum limit because they’re scarce.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu watched Wen San’er talk nonstop and thought: only by putting people to proper use could talent truly shine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fanqie Xiao Shuo\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you sent Wen San’er to the factory to machine parts, he’d only manage two a year—and even then, only if you whipped him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if you let him dabble in shady schemes, he’d thrive—crossing his arms like a boss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough about pork for now. I’m going on a business trip to the Northeast by train. I’ve got a special mission—the train car has some empty space. You can’t sleep in it. Find something the Northeast doesn’t have, and I’ll bring back something from there. That’s how we build our initial capital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er shot to his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy shit! Xuewu! You’re seriously awesome—you even got a train car!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu waved his hand, serious: “Time’s tight. The train only waits till ten tonight. Think—how can we gather scarce goods in such a short window?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er counted on his fingers on the kang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu watched the guy—he didn’t look like a middleman, more like a fortune-teller.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a while, Wen San’er said: “The Northeast is freezing cold right now—what’s missing? Fruit? No, they’ve got everything there. What we lack is their stuff: rice, white flour, timber, hazelnut mushrooms, wide noodles, fermented soybean paste, furs, coats, medicine, soybeans, peanuts, apples, matsutake...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu cut him off: “Are you reciting a menu? Think first—what should we take?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er confirmed: “The only thing we can get quickly is white pears. We saw them when we collected eggs—they’re just picked a month ago, still full of moisture, and dirt cheap.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he immediately slapped his thigh: “Problem is transport. If they get bumped or bruised, they’ll freeze solid overnight. Once we get there, we’ve got to sell fast—or they’ll rot.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu lit another cigarette, thought, then asked: “How much cash do you have? How many bicycle coupons?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er pulled out the money pouch under his pillow, flipped through it: “Two bicycle coupons. Cash and other coupons add up to over 1,400. The big chunk? Last night’s pig—sold for about 450 yuan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu nodded: “That pig counts as my investment. We’re partners. Brothers, clear accounts. When I come back, we’ll sit down and split shares. Right now, take Lao Biao, Guodong, Erhui—go buy two bicycles at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Buy them separately. Don’t register them yet. Head to the countryside, collect white pears. Lao Biao takes Guodong. When you hit a village, find the village chief, get him to help you rent a room. Leave Guodong there to collect. You go to the next village. That way, all four of you can cover four villages.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem. We always collect eggs across a whole cluster of villages. I and Biao have relatives down there—we grew up in the villages, know the chiefs well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er agreed readily, then asked: “But if we all go collecting, who brings it back? Without transport, we won’t make it in time—your cart alone won’t get us back till tomorrow afternoon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu waved his hand: “Don’t worry about transport—I’ll arrange it. When you’re done, wait at the village entrance. I’ll show up, you leave. I’ll collect too. Five villages. Eighty households each. Even if only thirty households sell us one basket each, we’ve got enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er thought it over, then kicked the men still snoring on the kang awake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kids! The boss has orders—we’re going to catch Tang Seng! Wake up! Don’t sleep! If you keep dozing, Tang Seng’ll be gone!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this racket, Shen Guodong and the others finally woke up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er quickly explained the plan, pulled out 825 yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu added another 550 yuan himself. Each of the five got 275 yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen San’er handed Lao Biao one bicycle coupon and 120 yuan to buy the bike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guys were thrilled—they’d long wanted bikes, but Wen San’er said they were useless, money was tight, and kept them from buying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that they could buy bikes, their spirits lifted. They washed their faces, threw on their coats, and ran out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two groups entered the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, then met up at the crossroads shortly after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five men, three bikes—set off toward Daxing. A bicycle squad like this was rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Laughing and chatting, they reached Daxing. At the fork where Wen San’er usually came, Li Xuewu and Wen San’er agreed on which villages to hit and the order. The five split into three groups, heading for their assigned targets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These villages were all well-known to Wen San’er and Lao Biao’s egg-collecting crew. They knew what each household had better than the owners themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu entered the mountain village and first paid a visit to the village chief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, the chief wasn’t keen. Then Li Xuewu slipped him five yuan—and his attitude flipped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, young man, you don’t know—how many pears the trees bear? We can’t plan it. We’re in Beijing, the pear-growing region—where do we even sell them? No transport, and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative won’t take much. The villagers have piled up big baskets in their cellars, eating them as snacks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu gripped the chief’s hand: “Comrade Chief, we know how hard rural life is. That’s why the factory wants to offer welfare—but has no channel. So I came. But you can’t tell anyone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chief whispered: “Don’t worry. If the village’s happy, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the chief went door to door. Soon, villagers started bringing big clay baskets to a rundown house at the village entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That house stood outside the village, over a hundred meters from the nearest neighbor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu deliberately chose it—for secrecy, and to build villagers’ trust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu sat by the outer door, buying white pears at two mao per jin. Each basket—twenty-four to twenty-five jin—got four yuan and fifty fen. White pears were a Daxing specialty; every household had trees, storing them in cellars to eat all winter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(Don’t question the prices—author holds a 60s–70s household ledger from a Beijing middle-class family.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was a big payday—every family had three or five baskets. Four yuan and fifty fen per basket!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rural life was tight. Four yuan and fifty fen wasn’t small change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carrying them to town to sell? Not worth the trouble—and too risky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just picked over a month ago, stored perfectly in cellars—the white pears were fresh, juicy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu brought 275 yuan. After giving the chief five, he spent the remaining 270 on white pears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each basket he collected, he pretended to carry inside. In truth, he stashed it in his space. He kept collecting until dark. When done, he didn’t leave. Told the chief a cart would come at night to haul it away—tell the villagers not to come out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chief, having taken five yuan, swore: “No one’ll come out. Everyone kept their eyes down when delivering pears. I’ve got full authority here. But young man—will you come back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu replied firmly: “I will. Save any local specialties or mountain goods for me. Today I didn’t bring enough cash—I’ll bring more next time.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1270,"2026-06-20T13:46:54.288Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1408b656ec0b3b7171aae29cb6555ae55ad993946cba457ac29fc06c16d9b24a","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-55","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-53",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-cover.jpg"]