Chapter 172 It’s Chinese
New Year. February 14th is New Year’s Eve.
Reunion dinner is a tradition passed down for thousands of years, so all units will take a day off today and only work half a day.
In previous years, when Geng Changqing was the top leader, he would pay out of his own pocket to give each commune cadre a pound of meat on New Year’s Eve.
Li Hongjun had just been promoted and didn’t want others to say that he was stingy, but he had a family to support and didn’t have that many meat tickets. So he went to the fish-raising team and ordered 20 fish.
After working half a day, Su Mo went back with the fish given by Li Hongjun and the snacks she bought at the supply and marketing cooperative in the morning.
We were going to have a reunion dinner today, and Li Yue’e was busy cooking at home, so Su Mo didn’t let her pick her up and walked back by herself.
Halfway through the journey, they happened to meet a vehicle that was carrying supplies to the army. The cook who was following the vehicle had also seen Su Mo that day, so he quickly asked the driver to stop the vehicle.
The young cook jumped out of the vehicle and shouted to Su Mo, "Sister-in-law, are you going to see the regiment commander?"
Su Mo had some impression of this cook, and smiled and waved her hand, "No, I'm going home, to the Lujia Village Brigade in front."
The young soldier shook his head in embarrassment. He had heard that the new regiment commander was a local, but he didn't expect that he was so local, and the village was almost at the entrance of the camp.
"Then, sister-in-law, we'll give you a ride."
"Okay, thank you." Su Mo didn't refuse. It might take a few minutes to drive, but it would take her more than half an hour to walk.
The young soldier asked Su Mo to sit in the co-pilot and went to the car pit.
In the car, Su Mo chatted with the two and learned their names. The cook was Wu Dong and the driver was Qin Gang.
She also learned that the two were going to pick up supplies for the New Year. It was New Year's Day, so the soldiers had to eat some meat.
Lu Changzheng also said yesterday that he would be back late today and would have to have a reunion dinner with the soldiers in the army before returning, so that they would not have to wait for him to eat.
The two soldiers sent Su Mo to the brigade headquarters. Before getting off the car, Su Mo gave each of them two pieces of cake. The two did not dare to take them, but Su Mo forced them to take them.
After arriving home, Su Mo took the steamed buns from the space for a simple lunch.
Then she lit a pot and fried chestnuts and pine nuts. If someone came to visit during the New Year, she could use them to entertain them.
After cooking, Su Mo started to seal red envelopes again. On New Year's Eve, people have to give out New Year's money.
Lu Changzheng handed in his salary for last month yesterday, 127 yuan. After deducting 14 yuan for food expenses, he kept 3 yuan for himself and gave the remaining 110 yuan to Su Mo.
Su Mo had no idea how much money to give, so she could only give according to the ratio of money her father gave to his parents during the New Year. Her father used to take half a month's salary and give it to the elders.
Lu Changzheng's half a month's salary was more than 60 yuan, so Su Mo gave 20 yuan per envelope to the three elders.
For the five children, she gave 2 yuan per envelope. Lu Changzheng was a regiment leader with a salary of more than 100 yuan after all, and he only gave out red envelopes once during the New Year, so there was no need to be too stingy.
In the afternoon, Geng Changqing came and brought a lot of things. There were at least 20 to 30 kilograms of rice and flour alone. He also bought fresh pork and mutton, as well as wine and cigarettes.
Geng Changqing basically ate in the cafeteria, and his appetite was not big. In addition, he had 45 kilograms of grain per month, which saved a lot. This time, he gave all of it to Su Mo.
"Have you sent the New Year gifts to your parents?" Geng Changqing asked after putting the things away.
"Yes, Changzheng took them over early this morning."
Geng Changqing nodded. It was enough to send them.
Seeing that there was no New Year atmosphere at home, Geng Changqing helped Su Mo cut window decorations and red paper and paste them.
As for Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures, there were none.
Su Mo was a typical southerner. On New Year's Eve, she would go back to her hometown to worship her ancestors in the ancestral temple. But here, she seemed to have never seen the ancestral hall
before, or it might be that it was demolished because of the special period. After finishing here, Su Mo and Geng Changqing carried their things and went to Lu's house.
Lu's house was very lively, and the whole family gathered in the main room, the fire wall was warm, and they were making dumplings and chatting together. Even Lu Guihua, who had not appeared for a long time, was there. Although she looked haggard, she had a smile on her face.
Seeing Geng Changqing coming with cigarettes, alcohol and meat in his hands, Lu Qingan quickly stood up and took them, "Hey, Secretary Geng, it's good that you're here, why are you carrying so many things?"
Geng Changqing waved his hand, "Brother, I'm here as a relative today, just call me Changqing."
Lu Qingan laughed, he had been calling him Secretary Geng for so many years, he was used to it, and he couldn't change it for a while, so he quickly greeted Geng Changqing to drink tea and chat.
Su Mo also took out the things she brought, in addition to the snacks, she also took a fish and about 2 pounds of ribs.
After distributing the snacks to the children, Su Mo helped to make dumplings, and after making them, they went to the kitchen to help cook.
Four people, two pots, started working together, and the speed was still very fast. After more than an hour, the food was on the table.
The New Year's Eve dinner was very rich, with braised fish, braised pork, mutton soup, chicken stewed with mushroom vermicelli, ribs stewed with potatoes, braised pork knuckles with peanuts, fried tofu, and a large plate of fried lettuce. The staple food was dumplings and steamed buns.
The braised pork and fried tofu were prepared by the first wife; the braised pork knuckles with peanuts were prepared by the second wife, who also brought a few pounds of white flour; the braised fish, pork ribs stewed with potatoes and lettuce were brought by Su Mo; the mutton soup and chicken stewed with mushroom vermicelli were prepared by Li Yue'e.
Such a New Year's Eve dinner would not be bad in later generations, let alone now.
The children were drooling, and because Lu Changzheng told them not to wait for him, they ate first.
At about eight o'clock, Lu Changzheng also came back, and they drank and chatted.
The men mostly talked about work. As they chatted,
Geng Changqing revealed a piece of news, that is, the credit union is going to set up credit stations in several large brigades of Hongqi Commune after the new year to assist them in cash management at the grassroots level. As an advanced brigade, Lujia Village Brigade will definitely have one.
It was also mentioned that the staff of the credit station are generally part-time people from the brigade. In addition to enjoying the average annual work points of all laborers in the production team, they also receive a subsidy of six yuan per month and a bonus of several dozen yuan at the end of the year.
This bonus is related to the amount of money saved by the mobilized people. The more money saved, the more bonus.
If the work is good enough, it is possible to pass the exam and work in a credit union in the future.
Geng Changqing has already pointed this out, and Lu Xingjun understands it. He immediately toasted Geng Changqing and said that he would prepare well and pass the exam when the credit station recruits people.
He has been doing accounting for many years and has been dealing with credit unions frequently. If he prepares early, he is still very confident in himself.
As long as he passes the exam, he will also be a salaried person in the future. Otherwise, he will be the only one in the family without a salary, and he will feel very frustrated.
As expected, it is better to have someone at home. He can know the news early and prepare early.
Once such news is released, there will definitely be a scramble for it. Those educated youth from the city, who doesn’t want such a job.