"Until the educated youth shelter is built, you will be staying in these two families. During this time, each of you will pay 1.5 yuan to the families you are staying with. We will give them this money directly from your educated youth allowance."
"Village chief, when will our subsidies for educated youth be distributed to us?" A plain-looking female educated youth asked in a weak tone.
"We can't give it to you right now. When we went to the commune to collect it, they had already deducted the cost of your farm tools, train fares, and kitchen utensils, leaving each of us with only 162.5 yuan."
"Then you will also have to pay for the money our village has gathered to dig the earth and make mud bricks for you. This will cost a total of 24 yuan. Tomorrow, the village will give each of you two months' worth of food in advance. You can pack your food for each meal in lunch boxes and give them to the people you are staying with. They will steam it for you."
"Boys receive 40 jin of grain per month, including 10 jin of rice, 10 jin of corn stubble, 10 jin of sweet potatoes, and 10 jin of potatoes. The village brigade will exchange this for you. The monthly cost is 2.9 yuan, which translates to 5.8 yuan for two months. Girls receive 36 jin of grain per month, with a 1:3 ratio of fine grain to coarse grain. The monthly cost is 2.3 yuan, which translates to 4.6 yuan for two months. Each of you will also receive 1.5 yuan for housing. Now each boy has 151.2 yuan left, and each girl has 152.4 yuan. After we finish repairing your houses, buying lumber, and buying beds, we'll average the remaining money out over six months and give you some each month."
"Then village chief, what should we do if we run out of food?" asked the tallest male educated youth.
"The food we're giving you is based on the amount of male and female labor in the village. You should eat sparingly. If you run out of food, you can go to the brigade headquarters to exchange it. Also, tomorrow morning, you will come to my house for breakfast. After breakfast, I'll take you to the brigade headquarters to collect food. After collecting the food, you will have the whole morning off. You can go to the commune to buy some necessities, but you must be back before 2 o'clock. In the afternoon, several people in the village who are good at farming will tell you what to do for the autumn harvest."
"By the way, please take your valuables with you. It's best to buy everything you need at once when you go to the commune tomorrow. You won't be allowed to take leave during the autumn harvest. The harvest starts the day after tomorrow. If you're worried your body can't handle it, buy some candy tomorrow to replenish your body. You should work hard. At the end of the year, our village distributes grain based on seven points of work per person and three points per person. If your work points are insufficient, you will have to pay more."
"Mother, take some of the female educated youth to Xiu'er's house, and I'll take the male educated youth to my second brother's house."
"Okay." Liu's mother called to the kitchen again, "Ruirui and Feifei, come out and help the educated youth with their luggage."
Xuemei also came out of the kitchen and asked, "Dad, Mom, do you need my help?"
"Xuemei, just clean up the table and the dishes at home."
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