Chapter 34: Supplies

Liu Changquan took the lead and said, “Gu Cheng risked his life to hunt the wild goat, so we can’t take advantage of him. How about this… everyone can exchange grain or eggs for meat, or other valuable items.”

Someone below asked, “Village chief, I brought green beans. Can I trade with them? How would the exchange work?”

“How do we trade with cornmeal?”

“Village chief, I have honey. That’s a good item too.”

“Oh dear, I only have dried vegetables at home. Can I trade those? Just a little bit of meat to taste would be fine.”

…

A group of people started asking questions one after another.

It had been a long time since they had eaten meat, and everyone was craving it.

Since it was almost time for food distribution, they were willing to trade some of their rations for a taste of meat.

Worried that Gu Cheng and his wife might be too young and shy to negotiate, Liu Changquan decided to help all the way and continued, “If you’re exchanging grain, one pound of wild goat meat will be traded for two pounds of fine grains or five pounds of coarse grains. As for other items… if they’re not worth much, then just give half a pound or a few ounces. Don’t complain that it’s too little.”

After speaking, Liu Changquan was the first to exchange four pounds of rice for two pounds of goat meat.

The villagers weren’t foolish either. They all knew the value of what they brought.

With so many people watching, no one dared to say anything shameless.

As a result, the exchange process for the wild goat meat went smoothly.

With so many eyes on him, Gu Cheng couldn’t play favorites.

However, some families who were close to the Liu family, whether relatives or friends, still received a little extra consideration.

Jiang Cuihua took the initiative to distribute the goat’s blood, liver, heart…

All sorts of goat offal were cut up and shared with everyone, just as a token gesture.

As for Liu Changquan, he had taken care of Liu Yinyin’s family quite a bit during this time.

Jiang Cuihua secretly gave him an extra pound of goat meat.

Liu Changquan accepted it gladly. It wasn’t that he was greedy for a single pound of meat—it wasn’t much. But refusing it would be impolite.

Liu Changquan also had high regard for Gu Cheng; otherwise, he wouldn’t have helped him so much.

The wild goat weighed just over a hundred pounds in total. Gu Cheng kept a piece of goat suet and five pounds of meat for his own family. The rest, including the goat head and skin, were all exchanged for supplies.

Meat had different grades, and some parts with little meat had to be exchanged at lower rates.

Since there wasn’t much goat meat, it was all traded away in less than half an hour. Some villagers who arrived late didn’t even get a bone and had to leave disappointed.

The ground was piled with the exchanged goods.

Although it wasn’t her own household, Jiang Cuihua still felt happy for her daughter. This much grain would last the young couple for quite some time.

Gu Cheng cut three pounds of goat meat and packed it together with the piece of suet he had kept.

“Mother, thank you for helping us today. Please take this meat home,” Gu Cheng said.

Jiang Cuihua smiled warmly and replied, “Just give me two pounds of meat; the rest you should keep for yourselves.”

“The suet can be rendered into cooking oil—I kept it specifically for you,” Gu Cheng explained. “There are only the two of us at home, and we have enough oil.”

The Liu family had many people, but they only received a small jar of oil per month, which was hardly enough.

Hearing how thoughtful her son-in-law was, Jiang Cuihua felt even happier.

“Alright then,” she said. If her daughter had given it to her, she might have hesitated to accept it in front of her son-in-law. But since Gu Cheng offered it himself, she happily took it.

Once everyone had left, the courtyard finally became quiet again.

“Shall we make radish and goat meat stew for dinner?” Liu Yinyin asked. She wasn’t very good at cooking goat meat and was afraid of ruining it, so making soup seemed like a safer option.

“Sure, I’ll chop the meat,” Gu Cheng agreed. He wasn’t picky—he would eat anything.

Liu Yinyin then found a radish and started peeling it while the couple busied themselves with their tasks.

Once the goat meat was simmering in the pot, they started sorting through the supplies they had exchanged with the villagers.

Since the trades were conducted openly, they didn’t dare to accept money outright, so everything was exchanged for goods instead.

The items were a complete mix of things, and it took them a while to organize everything by type.

After tidying up, they took stock of their supplies.

They had six pounds of rice, seven and a half pounds of wheat flour, and the most abundant item—fifty pounds of cornmeal.

35 pounds of corn grits, 30 pounds of dried sweet potatoes, 10 pounds of green beans, 5 pounds of red beans, 15 pounds of soybeans, and 20 pounds of potatoes.

There was also a jar of honey, a bag of red dates, two salted fish, a bag of dried mushrooms, and a bag of dried vegetables.

Additionally, they received a piece of coarse cloth, 2 pounds of cotton, 2 pounds of persimmons, two newly woven backpacks, and three large winnowing baskets.

“Wow~” Liu Yinyin couldn’t help but exclaim excitedly, “We exchanged for so much food—this was really a great deal!”

Indeed, just one wild goat had been traded for nearly 200 pounds of grain.

The best part was that the wild goat had been hunted in the mountains, requiring no cost at all.

Seeing her so happy, Gu Cheng casually said, “Next time I get a chance, I’ll go into the mountains again.”

Wild goats didn’t have much meat—if only he could hunt a wild boar, that would be even better.

“Absolutely not!” Liu Yinyin shot him a glare and said seriously, “If you really want to go, just hunt a couple of wild chickens or rabbits nearby. Don’t go deep into the mountains.

“Our family isn’t so poor that we can’t afford to eat. We don’t need to risk our lives for food. If something happened to you, what would our baby and I do?”

Walking by the river often enough, one’s shoes are bound to get wet. No matter how skilled Gu Cheng was, there was always a chance of encountering an unexpected situation.

Hearing her words, Gu Cheng felt a slight warmth in his heart. He quickly reassured her, “I’ll be fine. Back when I was in the army, there were times when we had to carry out missions in the mountains without food, so we often hunted.”

“That’s still not okay.” Liu Yinyin kept a stern face and asked, “Did you hear me or not?”

“…Alright.” His wife was only worried about him, and Gu Cheng’s heart softened. Naturally, he agreed to whatever she said.

Liu Yinyin finally felt at ease. She knew Gu Cheng was a man of his word—once he promised her something, he would surely take it to heart.

As the goat meat was nearly done stewing, Liu Yinyin placed a few corn cakes along the edge of the pot, covered it with the lid, and kept the fire going.

By the time the goat meat was fully cooked, the corn cakes were ready as well.

With a big pot of radish and goat stew, there was no need to make any other dishes.

That night, the entire Liu Village was filled with the rich aroma of goat meat.

In these times, being able to eat a bite of meat was an absolute luxury.

By the time the stew was ready, it was already dark.

They lit an oil lamp, and the couple began their meal.

On the table, there was only a pot of radish and goat stew and a basket of corn cakes.

Liu Yinyin picked up a piece of goat meat to taste. The wild mountain goat had grown up entirely on mountain grass.

With radish and ginger added to remove the gamey taste, the meat had very little odor. Instead, it was fragrant and delicious. After simmering for so long, the goat meat had become tender and melted in the mouth.

Liu Yinyin ate heartily, finishing two corn cakes and quite a bit of radish.

However, she only ate two pieces of goat meat. She didn’t dare eat too much, fearing that it might not be good for the baby.

In these times, there weren’t many dietary restrictions for pregnant women when it came to eating meat, but it was always better to be cautious.

Out of the two pounds of goat meat, Liu Yinyin only ate two pieces.