Not to mention that the lively exchanges among the members have brought the excitement of the New Year in advance.

The Yumin County Party Committee also summarized the work of the year.

"This year, following the Central Committee's announcement of the People's Commune's Sixty Articles, cadre trainees repeatedly studied, publicized, and implemented them. This allowed members to operate private plots, engage in family sideline businesses, and reclaim a small amount of wasteland, provided it did not affect collective production..."

Secretary Wu first affirmed the labor achievements of the major communes, and then raised a question: "Our peasant brothers, who are said to be in charge of the world's granaries, actually have a harder time than our worker comrades.

Although they were growing cotton, they had no quilts to cover themselves with. The wheat straw, millet stalks, cotton stalks, firewood, etc. distributed by the production team according to the number of stoves, kang holes, and the number of people were only enough to heat a kang.

They can't even get off the kang for the entire winter, making it difficult to light a fire and cook. How can they improve their productivity?"

For a moment the venue was buzzing...

A few days after the county party committee meeting, the major communes called the production team leaders to attend meetings again, and Qiu Jianshe and Qiu Dashan finally returned from digging the canal.

Qiu Yuling's final exams are over, and she is just waiting for the results to be released before going on vacation. For the time being, the only person who is busy is Qiu Dashu.

"Oh, it's much better this year. I couldn't feel my legs at all after ten days." Qiu Jianshe took a sip of hot oil tea, then a bite of a steamed bun, and crossed his legs on the warm kang, feeling extremely satisfied.

"What did the second brother write in?"

Li Qingmei scratched her scalp with the needle and said, "They said I could come back."

"The millstone has been cleaned up. I guess the team will start distributing dividends in the next day or two." Qiu Jianshe felt that he had not felt so comfortable this year in many years.

The time estimated by Qiu Jianshe was roughly right.

It was the end of November, and it was snowing lightly. As soon as he entered the house, he didn't even bother to shake off the snow on his head and body, but was eager to tell his wife and children about this year's harvest.

"What's the hurry? Sit down and talk slowly." Li Qingmei wiped the snow off his body with a towel, gave him a cup of hot tea, and then asked what was discussed at the meeting today.

"This year, our family had four laborers. Yuling and Dashu worked together as one. We earned a total of 7,750 work points, 2,965 kilograms of wheat, and 3,333 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

After deducting the credits from our Four Seasons Brigade, we still have about 600 kilograms of grain left, 1,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes, 36.8 yuan for our private plots and sheep, 25 yuan for cotton thread, and 75 yuan for pigs. In the entire brigade, our family is the fattest..."

After Qiu Jianshe finished speaking, he blew away the tea foam and took a sip of water.

"Yuling, let me calculate it for us." Li Qingmei was just happy.

"The money can be distributed back to 136.80 yuan." Qiu Yuling figured it out as soon as she finished speaking.

"That's not right. It's only 72.90 yuan." Li Qingmei counted it no less than three times.

"There's still 33.2 yuan left for famine relief." Qiu Jianshe quickly added.

"That's still 30.70 yuan. Where did it go? Who did you borrow it from?" Li Qingmei was anxious.

"I bought two coal stoves and gave the money to the team leader. Then I paid for the coal. One hundred kilograms of regular coal costs sixty cents. This time the team brought it all together. I'm thinking of asking for a thousand kilograms of coal. The house in the mountain will be burned separately this year..."

All in all, this year was a year of great hope, for thanks to the extra income from their private plots and livestock, not only did they overcome the famine, but the family of four also had plenty of food and vegetables due to their labor.

"We've been notified that private individuals are no longer allowed to use cotton popping cabinets. The brigade is in charge of it, and we have to pay by weight. We have to go to the team to get cotton popping certificates, and then we can use the certificates to play cotton." Qiu Jianshe added something as he remembered something.

"Also, the members will take turns working the oil mill. Big Brother Jianjun is really good. Several brigades were fighting for it, but he won it over. Now the cotton wool and oil pressing and grinding will all be counted as work points."

"After we complete the task of pigs and sheep, what are you going to do with the rest?" Li Qingmei rubbed the flour on her hands, and the two discussed what to do with the remaining assets. She actually wanted to sell them and hold the money in her hands.

"I'll do as you say, but you have to leave enough food for Linglingwa. Dahe is coming back this year, so he needs food too. How about we eat the sheep ourselves and keep half the pig and sell the other half? What do you think?"

"How can you say 'listen to me'? You have already planned it out, and you still have to say 'listen to me'." But Li Qingmei agreed.

Qiu Yuling had left a long time ago. She hadn't even become a matchmaker yet. Qiu's father and mother always thought she was a child. They wanted her to move over and sleep on a big kang when the weather got cold. But she didn't want to at all. If she lived alone, with the door locked, who could have imagined how comfortable she would be?

When the day came to load coal, Qiu Jianshe, Qiu Dashan and Li Qingmei all went to the mine, leaving Qiu Yuling alone in the family.

Li Qingmei originally wanted to call Qiu Dashu back, but Qiu Yuling said she was not afraid, and there was Wanjin besides. Wanjin immediately shook his head and supported her, meaning that he was reliable.

Thinking that Qiu Dashu had also reached a critical moment, he managed to calm down and did not disturb him.

It would take them five or six days to go there and back. Qiu Yuling felt that it was them, not herself, who should be worried.

It was freezing cold, and even if they didn't have to dig coal, but just load the coal from the mine into trucks and transport it back, it wouldn't be an easy task to transport the fifty or sixty kilometers.

Fortunately, they all worked in shifts, so there was always someone who could come back and rest for a while, which would make things a little better. Qiu Yuling tried to make something warm and filling. Before leaving, she always put an extra egg in everyone's arms to fill their stomachs when they were hungry.

"Jianshe, come here and watch over the weighing. This year's surplus or shortage is just this much. It's freezing cold out here, and the mine will be closed soon. Hurry up and let everyone have a warm New Year."

Qiu Jianjun arranged a few useful people here, and he himself had to keep an eye on the coal mine and the coal purchase certificates they handed in.

Qiu Dashan is both strong and smart, so Qiu Jianjun brought him to his side to help.

The commune's tractor only made this trip, and the rest of the goods could only be carried back by mule carts and donkey carts.

This is still good. This year, someone from the top is keeping an eye on this matter, and everyone is cooperating with each other. When the new year comes, it will be the business of each household. Whether to burn coal or not, and whether they can afford to burn coal, is up to each household to take care of themselves.

After going back and forth many times, it was finally basically done before the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. Those who paid the money put coal into the stove, and the coal blocks and coal flour were also brought into the house.

There were also those who were resistant to cold and were reluctant to spend money. They still set up the firewood basin as usual. Not only was the house full of smoke and fire, but there was no warmth at all.

The focus this year is to vigorously promote windbreak and sand control. Even if the tree is dead, it must be kept standing guard. The land allocated for collecting firewood is getting smaller and smaller, so even burning firewood does not have as much to burn as in previous years.