"Dad, the exam is over, shall we go?"
"Xuemei, how did you feel about the exam?"
"I feel like the questions are pretty easy. I should be able to pass the exam."
"That's good, sit down and let's go home."
Xuemei sat on the back seat of the bicycle, and Liu's father rode the bicycle home.
It was August 1968. School had resumed in the second half of 1967. Xuemei had received her high school diploma the previous month. Earlier this month, the commune's supply and marketing cooperative was hiring. Upon learning of this, her third uncle, Wang Weidong, had gone to Liujia Village to inform Xuemei that the recruitment exam would be held that morning. Wang Weidong, now deputy director of the grain station, was able to stay informed of the commune's job openings, which was crucial for Xuemei to seize the opportunity.
"Third uncle, why are you here now?" Xuemei opened the door and unexpectedly found it was Wang Weidong.
"Xuemei, hurry up and get your household registration booklet. You got first place in the job recruitment exam, and the supply and marketing cooperative said you should go there today or tomorrow to handle the paperwork?"
"Didn't you say it would take three days and come out tomorrow?"
"It's already out, and it's all posted on the bulletin board. Grab your stuff and come with me to complete the work paperwork to avoid any accidents."
"Mom, please get me my household registration booklet. My third uncle said I passed the exam and I need to go through the paperwork now."
"Ah? Really? Then I'll go get it now?"
When Xuemei returned home, Liu's father and mother were both at home. There was not much work in the village these days, and she could only earn three or four centimeters a day by working.
"Xuemei, are you done?" asked Liu's father.
"It's done, Dad and Mom, look. This is my work ID." Xuemei took out her work ID from her schoolbag.
Liu's mother and father came over and carefully looked at Xuemei's work ID and touched it carefully.
"That's great. My family now has an 'Eight Great Member'. It will be much more convenient to buy things in the future." Mother Liu said happily.
The eight major positions today are salesperson, driver, postman, childcare worker, hairdresser, projectionist, cook, and member of the art troupe. These jobs are relatively undemanding and offer relatively good wages and benefits.
"It's not just more convenient to buy things. From now on, our Xuemei will be able to throw away her hoe and live on the public rations. She will also receive salary and receipts every month." Father Liu said with an unconscious smile.
"Yes, yes, you're right. My daughter Xuemei is really good. She passed the exam on the first try. But I have to thank your third uncle very much this time."
"Mom, I really have to thank my third uncle for getting this job this time. This recruitment was all thanks to him. If he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known the supply and marketing cooperative was recruiting. Also, thankfully, my third uncle called me in time to get the paperwork done. They only hired two people this time. I was the first. The second one didn't have a job when I came back. I heard from my third uncle that her job was sold by the deputy director of the commune's supply and marketing cooperative to his son. The second place got 200 yuan."
"Hey, it's a good thing you got there early. The second place winner is pretty miserable too. He doesn't even make 200 yuan a year working."
"Mother, please stop talking. We can't control these matters, and we can't tell you everything. Xuemei, be careful of this deputy director's son when you work in the future."
"Dad, don't worry. He and I weren't assigned to the same group. I was assigned to the food group. I'll also be careful to avoid him during normal work."
Supply and marketing cooperatives now have many sections: food, supplies, tobacco and alcohol, and so on. Within each section, all the goods—small items like vanishing cream, soap, and candy—are displayed by category in bright glass counters. Larger items like tin thermoses, enamel basins, cloth, and ready-made clothes are displayed on shelves behind the counters. The food section also has large vats of soy sauce and vinegar. To buy soy sauce and vinegar, you have to bring your own empty bottles.
"Your father is right. You should pay more attention to yourself. Then are you responsible for buying those things?" Liu's mother asked curiously.
"I was responsible for selling vanishing cream, clam oil, sugar, biscuits, canned goods, etc. The other fresh fruits and dry goods were sold by the original employees."
"That's a good split. By the way, Xuemei, when will you start working?"
"I'm going tomorrow. I tried it today and I can already get the hang of it."
"That's good. There's still half a month left this month. By the way, how are your salaries and bill benefits?"
"Mom, I've just started working, so my monthly salary is level nine, 23 yuan a month, plus a 27 yuan subsidy, which makes a total of 23 yuan. As for coupons, I get 30 jin of grain coupons, 1 liang of oil coupons, 2 liang of sugar coupons, 3 feet of cloth coupons, and one industrial coupon each month. I also get four days off a month. When I go to work tomorrow, I can get half a month's worth of grain coupons. The rest will have to wait until the end of the month. Also, I get 80 yuan for working overtime every month."
"That's a lot. The overtime pay is also high. I can work two days a month."
"Mom, I think so too. One or two days off a month is enough. Oh, by the way, Mom. I've invited my third uncle and his family to come over for dinner tonight. We need to prepare the meal early so we can eat as soon as my third uncle and his family arrive."
"Okay, I'll go prepare it now. I have a piece of bacon and a cured rabbit at home. I'll fry them all tonight."
"Mother, kill a chicken tonight, and have Xuemei bring the cured rabbit to Weidong and the others when she goes to work tomorrow. I'll take Qingya and the others to the mountains to trap in a few days and get some prey for the autumn harvest."
"That's fine, but you have to be careful and don't get discovered by others. Although it's a little calmer now than two years ago, you still have to be very careful."
"I know. We go up the mountain at night, stay there all night, and come back at dawn. We don't go too far into the mountains. I'm going to the tofu shop now to buy some tofu."
After the situation became serious in 1966, Liu's father never went up the mountain to hunt again. It was only around the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month last year that he went up the mountain and caught three rabbits.
"Okay, remember to tell Mom, Dad, Second Brother, and Xiu'er to come back for dinner tonight?"
"Mom, let's go? I'll go to the kitchen and help you. Hurry up."
Mother Liu looked at the bicycle in the main room and said, "Xuemei, you can ride your father's bicycle to work from now on!"
"Sure! When Ruirui and Feifei go to school, I'll give one a ride in the morning, and my second brother will give the other a ride. That way, they won't have to walk much longer in the morning."
Ruirui and Feifei didn't skip a grade. Father Liu felt that since they were still young, it would be better for them to acquire a solid foundation. Ruirui and Feifei will be in fifth grade next semester. Qingya and Yanan will be in the eighth grade next semester, and Juhua will be in the first. All three attend the commune middle school. Mingwu and Shengnan graduated from junior high school this year. Mingwu didn't get into high school and now works in the village. Shengnan did get into high school, but she feels she's too old to go to university now, so she plans to stop attending school. She will study her high school textbooks at home during the slack season and now works in the village.
In early 1968, Mingwen was assigned to a privately-run primary school as a teacher, earning ten work points per day, or 3,600 per year. His household registration remained in the village, so Liujia Village paid him all of his work points, but the commune paid the other half, converting the amount into cash based on the annual salary of one worker in Liujia Village. This was distributed to the village at the end of the year. In addition, Mingwen received a six-yuan monthly subsidy from the primary school, bringing his annual income to around a hundred yuan. Mingwen had been teaching for a semester now. He had bought his bicycle two months prior, and Mingzheng had exchanged the ticket for him with a colleague.
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