On the third day after the exam, Xuemei and Qingya went to school to pick up their admission letters. Qingya was so happy when they arrived, and she and Xuemei discussed what kind of reward they would ask for. But on the way home, she looked somber.
"Xuemei, Qingya, you're back. How did you do in the exam?" Father Liu was chopping wood in the yard. He stopped and asked when he saw Xuemei and her sister coming back.
When Liu's mother heard the sound, she brought Ruirui and Feifei out, and they all stared at Xuemei and Qingya with curiosity.
"I got first place," Xuemei replied.
"Where is Qingya?" Father Liu looked at Qingya.
Qing Ya lowered her head and twisted her fingers as she replied, "Fifth place went."
"It's okay, you've made progress." Father Liu touched Qingya's head and comforted her.
"But there is no reward," Qing Ya said dejectedly.
"Qingya, keep working hard, and you'll be in the top three next time." Liu's mother also comforted her.
Xuemei saw that Qingya was still unhappy, so she said to Liu's father, "Dad, the reward I want is to make a request."
"What do you want?"
"Let's go to the county town as a family to watch a movie. We haven't seen a movie yet. Is that okay, Dad?" Not only Xuemei wanted to go, but Qingya and her younger brothers and sisters also wanted to go.
"Sure, I'll go after the village has distributed the grain and pork."
Now Qingya was happy and talked with Ruirui and Feifei about what was happening in the county town.
…
After breakfast, the people of Liujia Village pushed wooden carts, loaded with cloth bags and baskets, and rushed to the threshing ground to line up. No matter how cold the weather was, it could not stop everyone from being happy about the distribution of grain and money. The children were also infected by the joy of the distribution of grain and played in the threshing ground. Xuemei's family's work points were neither too many nor too few in the village, ranking in the middle. Father Liu and three team leaders were in the front, responsible for moving grain, weighing grain, and recording the weight of grain, while Accountant Li was in charge of the accounts. Qingya and her two younger brothers were showing off to their friends the new spinning tops that Father Liu had made for them. Father Liu had found a good tree for making spinning tops when he went up the mountain to chop firewood for his grandparents these days, and he specially cut it down and made a new spinning top for each of the four children in the family. Xuemei was waiting in line, Aunt Liu was pushing a cart beside her, and Aunt Liu from the next door was talking to Liu's mother. Liu's mother's daughter-in-law was more than three months pregnant. Aunt Liu came to ask Liu's mother for Ruirui and Feifei's diapers, and took them back to put under her daughter-in-law's pillow, hoping that she would have a boy this time.
…
"Liu Guangda," Accountant Li read out the name.
It was Xuemei's turn. Liujia Village's grain distribution system was based on a 70% labor ratio, meaning labor accounted for 60% of the commune members' total rations.
Specifically, after paying the state's public grain and reserving seeds, the remaining grain produced by the production team was distributed according to the ratio of 70% per capita (basic ration or supply) and 30% per labor point.
This distribution method was primarily designed to accommodate families with large populations but limited labor. Specific food rations, such as those for children and adults, were carefully categorized and graded. For example, a child's monthly ration began at 5 jin (approximately 100 kg) and increased by 1 jin (approximately 100 catties) for each additional year of age up to the age of ten. After that, the ration increased by 2 jin (approximately 100 kg) for each additional year of age until the age of sixteen. Adult rations differed by gender: male laborers received 40 jin (approximately 100 catties) of staple food per month, while female laborers received 36 jin (approximately 100 catties) of staple food per month. Elderly individuals who had lost their ability to work or were over 60 received a reduced ration of 29 jin (approximately 100 catties) per month.
If a family's work points didn't cover the 40% of grain they needed, they would ask for money to make up for it. If there was any surplus, they would exchange it for cash. In the village, rice cost about 10 cents per pound, white flour about 10 cents and 2 cents per pound, and coarse grains like corn stubble about 6 cents per pound. Although rice and white flour were priced as rice and wheat in the village, the village's grain prices were slightly lower than those at the supply and marketing cooperatives. Therefore, after everyone in the village had received their grain, those who were still short on food or had relatives in the city would buy some from the village on their behalf.
After becoming the village chief, Liu's father also had to go to work like ordinary people, but when the grain and money were distributed at the end of the year, he would be given ten work points every day, which amounted to 3,600 work points a year. When the money was distributed, he would be given an extra ten yuan.
Accountant Li said to Liu's mother, "This year, your family's total work points are 5,810, or 518 labor days. The total grain requirement is 1,500 kilograms. How much coarse grain and fine grain do you want? The total weight of the fine grain cannot exceed 720 kilograms."
"Our family needs 380 kilograms of sweet potatoes, 500 kilograms of corn stubble, 650 kilograms of rice, 30 kilograms of wheat, and 40 kilograms of glutinous rice."
"Glutinous rice is also a grain. If it's not threshed well, it costs 10 cents and 2 cents."
"Okay, sure."
"This year, one gong (10 centimeters) costs eight cents and five cents, which makes a total of forty-nine yuan, thirty-eight cents. Add ten yuan and it's fifty-nine yuan, thirty-eight cents. Thirty percent of the grain costs thirty-seven yuan, eighty-six cents. After deducting the thirty percent of the grain, you still have twenty-one yuan, fifty-two cents left. Do you still need to buy grain? You can buy grain in advance this year, but the amount of coarse grain cannot exceed five hundred catties, and the amount of fine grain cannot exceed one hundred catties."
"I need another 200 kilograms of sweet potatoes and 300 kilograms of potatoes."
"500 jin of coarse grains, a total of thirty yuan, and you still have to give me eight yuan, fifty-eight cents. I'll give you the account book and the scorebook to see if they are correct."
"That's right." Mother Liu signed Father Liu's name.
This year is still good, thanks to Liu's father being the village chief. In previous years, if we didn't buy grain, we would have to put in more than ten yuan for the grain we distributed.
Accountant Li took the money and gave the grain invoice to Liu's mother. Liu's mother walked over and handed the invoice, cloth bag, and basket to Liu's father, who was then loading and weighing the grain with three other people.
After weighing the grain, Father Liu said to Mother Liu, "Mother, you stay here and guard the grain until I'm done, then come pull the cart."
"I'd better carry the rice in the basket back first. I want Qingya and the others to stay here. Can you help keep an eye on it?"
"Qingya, Ruirui, Feifei, come here. The three of you stand around the food we've distributed and keep an eye on it. Your eldest sister and I will take some food back first."
Qingya and the others all knew the importance of food, so they stayed by the food as soon as Liu's mother said so. Actually, since Liu's father was here, the children didn't have to stay by the food, but they still had to prevent some lazy people from stealing.
After Liu's mother carried the basket and put the rice into the main room, she asked Xuemei to look after the grain at home while she went to carry back some coarse grains.
By the time Liu's parents had brought all the food home, it was already past four o'clock. After having Xuemei prepare the meal, Liu's mother and Liu's father weighed out the food for the old house, added five yuan, and the two of them took it together on a cart, leaving the three children to guard the food in the main hall.
The next day, Liu's father and mother kept the food for this month and the New Year, and transported all the other food to the granary upstairs and locked it up. The food distributed this time would generally be eaten until the next distribution.
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