"It's okay, Third Uncle, I'm not in a hurry. Just tell me when you've made your arrangements."
After talking about work, the topic turned to production.
"Third Uncle, I see that the corn is still planted so densely this year. Can we harvest any grain?"
"What's the point? Last year we had two wheat crops, this year we only had one. The examples are there. I don't know where these experts came from. They don't understand crops and are giving orders without any knowledge."
"I heard in the county that those experts are leaving, and the higher-ups aren't demanding deep plowing or dense planting anymore. They're still criticizing those who reported yields of 100,000 or 10,000 jin per mu. Have you heard about that?"
"Really? That's great, but we haven't heard anything yet."
"Look, is it too urgent to thin out the seedlings in the fields now? We should follow the usual seedling spacing, leaving the stronger ones and removing the rest to avoid insufficient nutrients and poor growth of any seedlings."
Third Grandpa thought about it.
"We have a decent amount of time. The seedlings have only been out for about 40 days, so we can do it now. I'm just worried that the higher-ups won't agree and won't allow us to do it."
"Look, at the current state, we won't be able to harvest much food in the autumn harvest. Forget completing the mission. I'm afraid everyone will run out of food. If things get worse, people will starve to death."
You can talk to your superiors and tell them we can conduct an experiment and compare the two by thinning only a portion of the field. Hey, when the time comes, we can just turn "this portion" into the majority, right? Anyway, as long as it's not all, it's at least a portion."
"You're quite clever, and that's a good idea. Okay, I'll go to the commune tomorrow morning to find out."
"And Third Master, I went to the market this morning. Did you know that vegetables are already selling for fifty cents a pound?"
"Is it really that expensive? There's nothing much to buy or sell in our village, so I haven't been to the market in a long time. But I heard there wasn't much at the market either."
"Is it really that expensive? I saw an old lady with my own eyes, she took a handful of beans weighing less than six pounds and exchanged them for three yuan."
"Alas, no matter how expensive it is, we have nothing to sell. Look at the vegetables grown in the private plots of land, they are so wilted that they are not even enough for our own consumption.
Besides, every household relies on those vegetables to fill their stomachs, so who would risk their life to sell vegetables for money?
"Third Grandpa, do you think this will work? Building a dam on the river is a bit unrealistic right now. We're all hungry and don't have the energy to work, and I'm afraid the brigade doesn't have much food left to sustain us.
But if we just cut the reeds in the river, should we be able to grow vegetables in the dry river?
The land on both sides of the river shouldn't be too dry, and since it's right next to the river, watering the land is easy and labor-saving."
"What you're talking about is really good. It's a good idea. Especially sowing some green and cabbage seeds. As long as there's enough water, you'll see seedlings soon. It won't take more than a few days for green and cabbage to grow. This can be done. As long as it can give the team members hope, they'll all contribute."
Besides, the river is so long that we can grow some potatoes, squash, etc., which can be used as an emergency in winter."
"Come on, come on, tell Grandpa what building a dam is all about. Reading kids are really smart."
"Third Grandpa, this is what I think. There are no other villages downstream of the river in our village, so even if we build a dam, it won't cause any disputes.
If we build dams in suitable places, we can raise the water level. In the future, we can use water trucks to irrigate the fields instead of having to carry water, which saves labor, effort and time.
When the river water gathers, it becomes wider, and the team can also raise fish and ducks, killing two birds with one stone. The income of the team and its members will also increase."
"However, this won't be done until next year at the earliest. Our biggest concern right now is to deal with this year's famine."
"We don't have to wait until next year. If feasible, we can start this winter, during the off-season. We still need to submit a report and get approval from higher-ups. We also need to select a site and prepare materials, which all takes time, so we have to start now."
Come on, come on, let's go to the brigade headquarters. We need to hold a meeting now to discuss these things. You said you had so many good ideas, why didn't you say it earlier? If you had said it earlier, everyone wouldn't have to endure so much hardship now."
"Hey, Third Uncle, why did you drag me to the meeting? I'm not a cadre, I'm still a child."
"These are all your ideas. If you don't go, who will? What if you come up with another good idea? Let's go, stop talking nonsense."
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