"Sister Zhang, if anyone comes to buy something, please keep an eye on it for me. I heard that the daily necessities department has a new batch of leather shoes coming in today. I'd like to go take a look."
"Okay, go ahead. It's dinner time now, there aren't many people around, so you can go slowly."
"Okay, thank you, Sister Zhang."
Sister Zhang, whose name is Zhang Aiping, is thirty years old and pretty. Her husband is the commune secretary, and they have three children: a ten-year-old son and two daughters, eight and five. She's now five months pregnant with another.
"Xuemei, why did you buy two pairs of leather shoes? Your half-month salary isn't enough to spend, right?"
Xuemei and her colleagues' salaries and bills are paid every two weeks, once at the beginning of the month, and once in the middle of the month.
"Sister Zhang, today's leather shoes are from the provincial capital. They're cheaper than the ones from Hai City, and they don't require a ticket, but the quality is about the same. I bought these two pairs for my parents."
"Your parents must be so happy to have such a filial daughter. How much are these leather shoes?"
"Five dollars and fifty cents, one dollar and fifty cents cheaper than the usual price from Hai City?"
"It's so cheap, I want to go take a look too. Xuemei, you keep an eye on it for me too."
"Okay, Sister Zhang, go slower."
…
"Rayrui, Feifei, what are you doing here?"
"Sister, we're waiting for you. Dad and Mom asked us to come and see why you haven't come back yet at seven o'clock today." Ruirui replied.
Xuemei works at the supply and marketing cooperative, working about eight hours a day. In summer and autumn, she starts at 7:30 a.m. and finishes at 6:00 p.m., with a two-hour lunch break. In autumn and winter, she starts at 8:30 a.m. and finishes at 5:30 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break. It only takes Xuemei about 15 minutes to get home by bike from the commune.
"I went to my third uncle's house after get off work this afternoon, so I came back a little late. Let's go? Let's go home."
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
"Okay, let's eat when you get back." Father Liu said after taking the bicycle from Xuemei and putting it away.
"Xuemei, why are you so late today?" asked Liu's mother.
"Mom, I got my salary today. I bought a pound of White Rabbit candy and a bottle of wine and went to my third uncle's house. I stayed there for a while and came back late."
"What do I say? Okay, go wash your hands and eat."
…
"Mom, let me clean up! You sit down and rest for a while."
Xuemei came out of the kitchen, wiped her hands with a towel, and saw Liu's father and mother talking.
"Dad, Mom, what are you talking about?"
"Are you talking to your dad about the educated youth? They're going to arrive in two weeks, and it's too late to build a house now. Where will they live when they get here?"
"Didn't they say there were subsidies for educated youth going to the countryside?"
"Each person receives a 200 yuan subsidy, which covers the purchase of tools, cooking utensils, house repairs, and their living allowance for the next six months. If you look at the math, how can this 200 yuan be enough to spend?"
"Dad, do you know how many educated youth came to our village?"
"Our commune assigned 26 educated youth to the village this time. They did it directly according to the list. Orange Village had the most, and our village came in second, with six educated youth, three men and three women. It's mainly because it's difficult to build houses, and I feel like more educated youth will come to our village in the future."
"Dad, there are so many people in our county who can't find jobs, not to mention the big cities. In the future, there will be more and more educated youth going to the countryside. Our commune only got a few educated youth this year, so we probably won't get any more next year, but we should still have more in the future. It's best to build a few more houses now, but we can't use the money from this batch of educated youth to build houses. We can only build houses for these six educated youth first, but we need to find a larger piece of land to leave room for future educated youth to build houses."
"That's what I was thinking. Now, let alone building a few more houses, we don't even have the wood to build three or four. I can't borrow the wood that the villagers have saved to build their houses, right?"
"Dad, how about this? The autumn harvest hasn't started yet. You can gather some strong laborers to dig the soil and make bricks. After the autumn harvest, the soil will be almost dry. Then you can build the house after the autumn harvest. The ceiling and the upper half of the back house can be made of wood. This won't take much wood. The village still has some wood on hand. You can then use money to trade with those who are willing to do so. That should be enough."
"That's fine too. Each person will earn 15 cents a day, and in about ten days we can lay the bricks for seven or eight houses."
"Dad, why don't you build a house together? Do you think this is the right way to practice? They're definitely going to live together. Build three large rooms of 40 square meters each. Divide the middle one into two, with the back being the kitchen and the front being the main room. They can eat here. Divide the other two large rooms into three, with the girls living in one side and the boys living in the other. Dad, choose a larger place. There will definitely be more educated youth coming later, and we can use their money to build houses for them."
"You can do this, but you need to open windows in every small room. And pay attention to the direction of the room, otherwise the middle room will be too dark."
"Dad, you're right. Anyway, you should keep a record of every penny you spend and show it to them when the time comes. Whatever money is left can be divided evenly among them every month."
"Dad, Xuemei is right. You have to keep track of the money you spend and also remember to build a toilet and firewood shed for them. During the autumn harvest, let them pay to stay in a villager's house for a month, and give some villagers some income. But is it hard to buy a pot for the kitchen?"
"I need to go to the commune and explain this. At least they need to ask for tickets to buy us a simmering iron pot and a wok. Then they can just share one set."
"Dad, Mom, let me tell you something happy. I bought something for you today."
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