Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Grain Increment Method
Su Yan was worried about her period, and after two or three days, she saw no sign of it coming. She was terrified and even made a mistake in her manuscript. Fortunately, Ming Fan checked it for her: "Sister Yingzi, what's wrong with you these days? You always seem absent-minded? Now that the situation is so tense, we have to be even more careful when writing."
She whispered in Su Yan's ear, "The Municipal Bureau's Organization Department, you met them at the last meeting. Liu Jianbo made a mistake in writing the materials. Plus, he usually doesn't pay attention to his words, and this time he refused to admit his mistake and write a self-criticism. So their unit said his thinking wasn't up to par, and sent him to study with the poor and lower-middle peasants."
Su Yan was shocked when she heard this and asked, "When did this happen?"
Ming Fan said, "It happened yesterday."
Seeing that Su Yan was a little frightened, she explained, "Sister Yingzi, Liu Jianbo's problem isn't just that he wrote the wrong materials; it's his own ideological issues. He usually makes strange remarks and doesn't focus on uniting the masses. He wrote a couplet for the New Year and posted it on the door. Can you guess what it said?"
Su Yan was a little confused: "Is it related to the Spring Festival couplets?"
Ming Fan nodded. "Of course he wrote the top couplet 'two, three, four, five,' the bottom couplet 'six, seven, eight, nine,' and the horizontal scroll 'north and south.' Doesn't he think others can't see it? Doesn't this just mean there's a lack of food and clothing, nothing? It's simply slandering the excellent progress of our national development."
Su Yan didn't dare to express any opinion, and only asked: "Where did Liu Jianbo go? Did his whole family go to the countryside with him?"
Ming Fan shook his head. "No, he went alone to Jiubei Village, your sister-in-law's hometown. As soon as Liu Jianbo left, his position was taken by someone else. Even if he reformed, it would be difficult for him to get it back." He then asked, "Let's not talk about him anymore. Sister Yingzi, did you not sleep well last night? You don't look well."
After hearing this, Su Yan sat down. She felt dizzy and as if a stone was pressing on her chest.
Ming Fan was frightened and quickly poured hot water over: "Sister Yingzi, what's wrong with you? Are you hungry?" She took out a handkerchief from the drawer and opened it to reveal a round biscuit. She picked it up and handed it to Su Yan: "Sister Yingzi, why don't you eat something? When people are hungry, they feel anxious and short of breath. Last time, my aunt also fainted, and the doctor said it was low blood sugar."
Su Yan looked at the little girl, feeling that she was both indifferent and enthusiastic. She took the water, drank two sips, and forced a smile: "I'm fine, I just caught a cold last night and have a headache today. You should send the manuscript over first, otherwise the director will come to urge you later."
Ming Fan saw that she looked much better after drinking the water. He nodded and went out with the manuscript.
It started to rain heavily outside the window, and soon it became a dense rain curtain. Looking into the distance, there were only one or two unknown birds, all soaked, standing under the eaves.
Su Yan looked at it quietly for a while, and thought pessimistically: You can't care about so many things, this is the course of history.
In the afternoon, Su Yan and Director Lin went to the Municipal Party Committee for a meeting. The theme of the meeting was "Cooking Technology Innovation Movement". As soon as they entered the venue, they saw large black ink characters on a red background posted on a banner.
This was a city-wide conference, and people were sent from public units, production teams, and communes. Therefore, there were about two or three hundred people in the entire venue, some chatting, some eating melon seeds, and some smoking pipes. The whole venue seemed as noisy as a market.
Director Lin sat for a while and then exclaimed, "No wonder they didn't come. They said they couldn't make time. And they said they'd get a meal if they came to the meeting. Our cafeteria doesn't provide meals, so why would they come here to eat? This rain won't stop anytime soon. I'm sure we'll be soaked when we get back."
Director Lin talked for a while, and when Su Yan didn't answer, he said, "Girl, you were quite lively when you first came here, but why are you talking less and less now?"
Su Yan saw a cadre from the neighboring commune carrying a basket of eggs and placing it under the table. She turned around and smiled, "Director Lin, isn't this what you taught me? A wise man speaks little and does more. Look, there are still eggs. It seems life in the countryside is much better than in the city."
Director Lin shook his head when he saw it and said, "How can the country people be willing to eat eggs? I wonder how long it will take to save this basket of eggs." Su Yan didn't know that individuals were not allowed to raise chickens and ducks at that time. Everything was public property and was raised together in the brigade commune. There were special people to do this job, and it was considered a good job.
After a while, the host, waiting for the leaders to arrive, began to speak: "Comrades, in order to solve the current food shortage problem, our provincial party committee and government are vigorously promoting this 'cooking innovation technology'. The so-called cooking innovation technology means making more rice with the same amount of grain."
Then he pulled out a document and read: "The 'Report of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on Launching a Cooking Technology Innovation Movement' points out that our original cooking method only yielded 1.5-1.7 kilograms of steamed buns from 1 kilogram of corn, while the new cooking method promoted by the cooking technology revolution can produce 2.5-2.7 kilograms of steamed buns from 1 kilogram of corn. Comrades, this is equivalent to an extra kilogram of grain. According to the regulations of the Grain Bureau, each person can receive at least 27 kilograms of grain per month. If we cook according to the new method, that's doubled, and we can eat 54 kilograms per month."
There was no big response after the previous talk, but when they heard that each person would receive 54 kilograms of food per month, everyone was shocked and started whispering.
Su Yan's interest waned. According to the principle of conservation of energy, even if there were an extra pound, it would only be due to the expansion of the food's volume and the increase in water content, not the increase in starch. Furthermore, Su Yan had heard that this revolutionary cooking technique was complex. For cornmeal, it had to be steamed, ground, and then boiled. Su Yan felt that it was not feasible for her.
Even Director Lin was excited: "This method is good. Since Liaoning has already promoted it, it proves that it can be widely used. If it is really useful, then our factory will definitely learn from it, study advanced technologies, and promote this method."
The commune cadres in front and behind Su Yan all smoked dry tobacco, which made her dizzy. While someone was demonstrating the grain increment method with cornmeal on the stage, she sneaked out to the corridor to get some fresh air.
She drank some water and blew some fresh air for a while. When she was just feeling refreshed, someone suddenly rushed out from the side and took her hand. "Niece, niece, I finally found you."
She was a woman in her fifties, her hair already gray, the skin on her face like old tree bark, her clothes half wet, and a foul odor emanating from her body. She held Su Yan tightly with one hand and pulled her aside: "Niece, auntie has something to ask of you."
Su Yan shook her hand away: "Auntie, I think you've made a mistake. What auntie? I don't know you at all. If you continue to make trouble, I'll call the security department over, and then we'll see what you can do."
When the aunt heard about the security department, she immediately let go of her hand and said, "Niece, I'm your aunt. I held you in my arms when you were little. Have you forgotten? Your mother took you back to the old house. It was the old society back then. She asked for money, and we gave it all to her. I went to look for you, but I only knew your house was at the Jiangzhou Machinery Factory. I went there several times, but the people at the door wouldn't let me in. No one expected that I would run into my niece today when I came to the city to deliver something."
Su Yan already knew in her heart that this person was most likely a relative of the Lu family, but out of humanitarianism, Su Yan only took care of the two children. She had no intention of having any contact with those relatives, regardless of their wealth, good or bad.
Su Yan straightened her wrinkled sleeves and said coldly, "You've got the wrong person, comrade."
The auntie was about to stop Su Yan from talking when someone came out and yelled at her, "Lu Bozi, why don't you come and move your things? You're still gossiping, aren't you?"
The aunt had no choice but to limp over and say with an apologetic smile: "Secretary Wu, I'm coming right away, right away."
Su Yan then realized that her legs and feet were not flexible. She shook her head, turned around and entered the meeting room. She saw that the "grain increment method" had already been demonstrated on the podium, and a stove was brought up to start steaming buns.
At this time, Director Lin was completely impressed by this grain-increasing method. He applauded and said to Su Yan, "When we get back, our factory will start working on it right away. Not to mention that one ounce of grain can produce two ounces of steamed buns, even if it's only one and a half ounces, it's still very profitable and will solve the problem."
Half an hour later, the cornmeal steamed buns were ready. Everyone was given one. They were a little bigger than the ones usually found in the cafeteria. Director Lin took one, tasted it, and nodded, "Although the taste isn't as good as the cornmeal steamed buns we used to have, it's good enough to satisfy hunger."
Upon returning to the machinery factory, Director Lin reported this to the factory secretary, strongly recommending this grain-increasing method. The secretary was skeptical, saying, "Isn't one ounce of grain still one ounce of grain after steaming it? How can you just create an extra ounce out of thin air?"
Director Lin was fully prepared and handed over all the documents he had obtained from the city government. "Secretary, look, this is the city document. It says to take the corn out when it's half cooked, dry it in the sun, grind it into flour, sieve it through a fine sieve, and then add water to cook it into a paste. On average, every kilogram of corn can produce five kilograms of steamed buns."
The secretary was confused: "Didn't you just say that at the next meeting, one ounce of cornmeal would produce two ounces of steamed buns? Now the price has doubled?"
Director Lin said, "This is a report from Lu County. Its authenticity is unknown. However, at the meeting today, Yingzi and I witnessed with our own eyes that one ounce of cornmeal can produce two ounces of steamed buns."
The secretary asked Su Yan: "Really?"
Su Yan nodded and said, "I did see it at the meeting, but I only saw it once, so I don't know what to do."
Director Lin patted his chest and said, "It's okay, it's okay. There will be an advanced learning conference in Beicun next week. Let's go and take a look and learn from it."
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The author has something to say: The content related to the food increment method comes from Baidu and web pages
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