The village chief stood under the loudspeaker at the entrance and shouted at the top of his voice: "Fellow villagers! I have good news for you! To let the children in our village taste the taste of mooncakes early, from today on, every household can come to the brigade headquarters to buy two mooncakes every day! Moreover, these mooncakes are sold at cost price, only ten cents each! Not a cent added to the net cost. Listen up everyone, the quantity is limited, first come first served!"
Upon hearing this news, the previously peaceful village erupted in excitement. The villagers were incredibly excited, their faces filled with smiles of disbelief. You know, buying mooncakes used to be a difficult task, requiring various tickets and being quite expensive. Now, being able to buy mooncakes at such a low price without tickets was like a godsend!
For those families with less financial resources, it is a pleasant surprise. They can finally buy a couple of mooncakes for their children to satisfy their cravings, so that they don’t have to talk about mooncakes every day and drool over them.
Professor Dong's decision to sell mooncakes can be considered a true poverty alleviation initiative. She priced the mooncakes at 10 cents each. Although the ingredients—rice, flour, and oil—were all free in the kitchen, the workers' work points still represented a cost. Yet, faced with those adorable, innocent, and eager little faces, Professor Dong couldn't bear to turn them away. Whenever she thought of these children, she felt a pang of heartache and distress.
A few clever people in the village realized that some impoverished households might be reluctant to buy mooncakes due to financial constraints. So they came up with a plan: give money to these households and ask them to buy mooncakes on their behalf. This way, each family could buy two mooncakes, and if ten families helped, they could buy a full twenty! They would then collect the mooncakes and sell them, earning a lucrative profit.
It's amazing! These people are so quick-witted! Professor Dong had anticipated the emergence of such clever individuals, but the reality proved her suspicions were not groundless.
However, there was nothing that could be done about these exploiters. After all, if the water was too clear, no fish would survive, and humans feared comparison the most. Compared to my brother-in-law, the village exploiters seemed less annoying and even a little endearing.
At this moment, Xingxing and Shuishui were playing in the cowshed. Lately, the commune has been bringing in elderly intellectuals who've been persecuted. Some come alone, while others are elderly couples living together. Xingxing once heard her mother mention that most of those sent to the cowshed are kindhearted people who have suffered injustice or been framed. Some were betrayed by their own families and disowned, while others were betrayed by their students. Years pass before they're rehabilitated and allowed to return to their homes, but by then, many of the elderly have already passed away.
The two girls had just sent a large bag of mooncakes, and Professor Dong knew she couldn't overdo it, or the villagers would start gossiping, potentially involving sensitive topics that would affect her family. In short, she had to be more careful with her words and actions, and get through the initial initial heat of the movement first.
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