Chapter 145 Socialization of Household Labor
Gong Jianhua asked her, "So the Zheng family only wants her to do housework, so she won't have to work in the fields after she gets married?"
Xie Yun rolled his eyes. "How is that possible? They treat us like animals. We have to do housework and farm work as well."
The three male comrades in the office were stunned. Gong Jianhua asked in confusion, "No, it's been 20 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. How can there still be people living in the old society? Didn't we implement the 'socialization of housework and increased motivation for women's production' more than ten years ago?"
If you read this the other way around, doesn't that mean that if women take on too much housework, they won't be able to work outside to earn more work points? Housework and farm work can't be done simultaneously. In the old society, women only did housework, but in the new society, women not only have to do housework, but also work in the fields? Isn't that…"
Doesn't that mean the new society is worse than the old? You can't play it that way. Talking about liberation on the surface, but actually continuing to oppress?
He swallowed back the rest of his words under the stern gazes of Secretary Li and Director Zhong, and Xie Yun's stunned expression. This guy really just blurted out anything and dared to say anything!
Gong Jianhua smiled awkwardly and said, "No, what I meant is that the Zheng family is really too inhumane."
Secretary Li and Director Zhong couldn't help but roll their eyes.
Secretary Zhong reminded him: "You should remember this and think about what happened to Uncle Li."
Gong Jianhua nodded repeatedly.
Uncle Li’s incident happened three years ago, in 1966. At that time, the school was in the midst of a revolution, and classes had not yet officially gone on strike. In order to respond to the call, the town middle school held a meeting to recall the bitter past and cherish the sweet past.
Uncle Li is a truly poor man. Before inviting him to the stage to recall his past, the principal had a detailed discussion with him, explaining what he could and could not say, and Uncle Li agreed to everything.
At the beginning of the meeting, Uncle Li spoke very well. He was a man who had really suffered. He spoke about the persecution he suffered in the old society and the care he received from the new society with real feelings. The teachers and students below were very moved and shouted slogans. The atmosphere was very warm and the response was particularly good.
However, Uncle Li lost control while speaking and talked about the severe drought in 1959, when the crops failed and the people starved to death. Although the principal reacted very quickly, rushing forward to cover Uncle Li's mouth and drag him down, it was too late.
Uncle Li's behavior was characterized as vilifying the new society, and he was even suspected of having ill intentions and ulterior motives, even though what he said was true.
The meeting to recall the bitter past and cherish the sweet past was so grand that not only the commune leaders attended, but also the county leaders and the Rencheng Prefectural Committee sent people over. The situation was out of control.
The commune leaders, school leaders, and Uncle Li himself were all taken away for interrogation.
In the end, Uncle Li was fine, just a little frightened. His life experience stood the test of time. He was truly a poor peasant for eight generations. After questioning him, he was allowed to go home.
The commune leaders were severely criticized, but it was no big deal because the specific matter was not arranged by them.
The principal was the most affected. Not only was he dismissed from his post, he was also criticized several times and imprisoned for several months. Finally, he returned to his hometown to farm.
This was the result of the commune and the county party committee's strenuous efforts to protect him. If the leaders at these two levels had not tactfully spoken well of him, saying that he had always performed well, the principal might have been exiled to the northwest.
The current principals of the commune middle school and high school are all later appointed principals, not the original ones.
It’s really sad to think about it.
Gong Jianhua's expression grew graver. He had personally experienced this. He had led the team to maintain order during the meeting, and he had also participated in the subsequent handling of the incident.
That principal had truly suffered an undeserved fate. He was a Rightist sent down from the central government in 1958, originally working in a central government ministry. Even after his label was removed, he couldn't return and stayed as a teacher at the commune middle school. The leaders, seeing his ability, made him principal. But then, out of a moment of reminiscing about the good times, he was sent back to his hometown to eat dirt.
But at that time, no one dared to say anything more.
This slogan was raised in the 1950s. Communes established nurseries, laundries, and public canteens, socializing all domestic labor. It didn't work out well.
Although Xie Yun did not experience this incident personally, he had heard that the principal who was expelled was a very talented person, young, gentle and elegant, only in his thirties.
When she was in middle school, the principal would often visit each class, sometimes sitting in the back of the classroom listening to the teachers and discussing the content with them. He would nod and smile when he saw the students, showing concern for their studies and lives without any airs.
After a moment of silence, Xie Yun asked Gong Jianhua, "How do you think the housework should be distributed? Someone has to do it."
Gong Jianhua thought for a moment and said, "It depends on the situation. If men and women earn the same work points outside, or their labor intensity is similar, then when they get home, the man will take on six points and the woman will take on four points. After all, men have better physical strength."
If the labor intensity of men and women outside is different, and men's labor intensity is higher, then they should share the housework equally when they get home.
If the intensity of their work outside is very different, with the man being particularly large and the woman being particularly small, then when they get home, the woman should do more and the man should lend a hand. The same is true in reverse: if the man does less outside and the woman does more, then when they get home, the man should do more and the woman should lend a hand.
Secretary Li praised him: "I didn't expect you to be able to analyze specific situations."
Xie Yun asked again, "You came up with this analysis yourself. Have you ever seen the actual situation? Is it the same as your analysis?"
Gong Jianhua said honestly: "It's different. Women always do more housework."
Xie Yun laughed and said, "It was a bit reckless to socialize housework before. Now we can take it step by step. First, we should set up nurseries and kindergartens. Children aged 1-3 years old can go to nurseries, and children aged 3-6 years old can go to kindergarten. After the age of 6, they can go to elementary school. Then the problem of child care will be solved. Factories in the city all have such facilities, so the children of working parents will have someone to take care of them. Otherwise, women comrades would not be able to go to work."
Director Zhong smiled and said, "That's fine. For the educated youth who are assigned later, let them go to the countryside to engage in early childhood education and take good care of the children."
Gong Jianhua said: "Let's talk about Zheng Guoqiang's work arrangements first."
Xie Yun thought for a moment and said, "It can't be a key position, there can't be room for advancement, and it needs to be respectable. We can't let people think we look down on retired soldiers. You don't understand the Zheng family. If Zheng Guoqiang gets a little power, the Zheng family will definitely take advantage of his power and abuse their power. I wonder what they can do with this little power."
Secretary Li said, "If this notice had come earlier, Dr. Li's medicinal herbs purchasing counter wouldn't have been closed down. He could have just been a medicinal herbs buyer."
Xie Yun agreed. This job was both easy and respectable. If Zheng Guoqiang was offered it, Li Aiyun and Zheng Lanping would definitely be attracted to it. They would try every possible means to get him to transfer the job to Zheng Lanping. If the Zheng family didn't cause a commotion, she would be the loser!
If the job was in Zheng Guoqiang's hands, his two older brothers' families would still benefit from it. But if he gave it to his sister-in-law, and she got married and took the job away with her, how would the Zheng family benefit from it? They definitely couldn't agree to this.
Gong Jianhua explained: "The list of demobilized soldiers was finalized by the army before the end of March, but it had to go through procedures and be reported to the higher authorities, and then it was arranged by the higher authorities. By the time it came to us, it was now. If Zheng Guoqiang really wanted to demobilize, it would have to be at the end of the year. Demobilization coincides with the annual winter recruitment. New soldiers join the army, and veterans are demobilized or demobilized."
Gong Jianhua is the Minister of the People's Armed Forces Department. He has never been a formal soldier, but he has been a militiaman for many years and has been in charge of the conscription work of Taoyuan Commune. He is very familiar with military affairs.
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