"Go back and mobilize the people in the production team first. This time, the quota for the seventh production team will be given to your production team. You have a total of 40 quotas. Bring everyone to the county tomorrow morning. Don't miss the opportunity."
Luo Mantang tapped the table, very happy. This winter was much better because of this incident.
It should have been a happy thing, but whenever he thought of the Seventh Production Team, he felt upset.
As soon as he returned from the commune, Luo Guangsheng came. The uncle and nephew lay down on the bed and talked about the Seventh Production Team. Luo Mantang's wife was also a gossip. She listened attentively while sewing clothes under the kerosene lamp.
Her son must go to the county to provide support. There are only two cotton jackets at home. Luo Mantang wears one and her son wears one to go to the county.
"I heard that the production team arranged for everyone to cook. Every day, regardless of gender or age, everyone got two pounds of grain and three ounces of meat. They lived a very good life. Anyway, no matter how big or small, everyone took their full share. If they wanted to take some home to eat, no one would bother them. But now in their production team, unless they were bedridden and unable to get up, everyone got up and went to work."
Since Luo Mantang had decided to report it, he had to investigate the matter thoroughly. He had been the commune secretary for such a long time, so he still had some common sense. He stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look!"
As it got dark, the two men sneaked towards the Seventh Production Team. When they passed the cowshed, they saw that half of the cowshed was empty, which also felt strange.
When they sneaked into Jijia Village, they found that every household was guarded tightly and no one was staying at home. However, they did not dare to break into other people's homes. Once they were caught, it would be no joke.
As they were sneaking around and looking around, suddenly, someone came in with a big bowl of rice with cabbage stewed with meat on it. Unlike the cabbage they ate at home, the meat was not much less than the cabbage, and it was piled on the protruding rice.
The rice was actually white rice with corn. Wow, the rice was white and dry, and each grain was crystal clear, making me drool.
"Who are you and what are you doing in our village?" After finishing his meal, Ji Rongbin was about to take the leftovers from his family of three back home. When he saw two strangers, his eyebrows immediately stood up and he looked fierce, as if he could still beat them.
This place is not far from the production team's big pot dining area, and Ji Rongbin can call everyone over with just one shout.
Luo Mantang said hurriedly, "I'm the commune secretary, and I'm here to talk to your production team secretary."
Ji Rongbin still looked at the two men warily, turned and walked over there, "I'll take you there!"
In the past two days, their family of three has also been working here. He and his sister help with cooking, while Carpenter Yang sits and smashes stones with a hammer. They eat a lot every day and have never been so full.
The stove where the production team ate in a big pot was still there. It was made of mud and thatched roof and was kept very clean. Several sisters-in-law were helping to serve food. People came from the road to eat one after another. It was completely different from what they had seen before, where people would rush to get food at mealtime and fight to get in line until they were bleeding.
"Why do you come back so late for dinner? Be careful that all the food has been snatched up." A woman said to her husband.
The man rolled his eyes at his wife. "Why are you panicking? When did my food disappear? Isn't it all here? Where else would you leave your work unfinished?"
The woman was yelled at, but she didn't say a word. She squatted on the ground with her meal and started eating. It was the same as what Luo Mantang and the others had just seen, a big bowl of rice with cabbage stewed with meat. The cabbage was greasy, and the wind made it a little cold, so the condensed fat could be seen.
What a thick oil!
Luo Mantang and the other man swallowed hard.
"Uncle Changgeng, the commune secretary is here and said he's looking for you!" Ji Rongbin shouted loudly inside.
Ji Changgeng came out with a rice bowl. When he saw the two of them, he quickly ate two mouthfuls of rice and swallowed them down. He handed the rice bowl to his wife and said, "Take it back for me!"
Then, he strode over.
"Secretary, why are you here? Do you have something to talk to me about?" Ji Changgeng asked calmly.
Luo Guangsheng swallowed his saliva. To be honest, his family had never had such a good meal during the Chinese New Year. These people all held a big rice bowl, and the smallest one had ten large bowls. They buried their heads in eating, and when they heard that the commune secretary was coming, they didn't even raise their heads.
"There is something!" Luo Mantang's face was dark, and he looked around. Wherever he went, he was flattered by people. When he arrived at the Seventh Production Team, even a child dared to give him a cold look and treated him like a thief.
Whose problem is this? This is Ji Changgeng's problem!
"Well, Secretary, let's go to the team headquarters and talk!" Ji Changgeng saw Luo Mantang's expression. Under normal circumstances, he should treat Luo Mantang and the other two to a meal. Isn't it time for dinner?
But it wasn't possible. First, the rice and meat were not from the production team. Ji Xia had gotten them for them, so he had no right to distribute them. Second, the quantity was fixed to each person. If he gave them to these two people, others would not have any.
These days, taking away people’s food rations is tantamount to taking their lives, isn’t it?
They walked all the way to the team headquarters, but Ji Changgeng didn't even offer to treat them to a meal. Luo Guangsheng was furious. "Changgeng, you guys in Team 7 are so rich! Right now, people all over the country, including the leaders, can't get enough to eat, and yet you guys are giving them rice and meat! You're really good at making things!"
Ji Changgeng also felt that it was too extravagant, but he was also embarrassed, "I have no choice!"
Ji Changgeng spread his hands and said, "The people who supported us said that everyone who came to work every day would be given a fixed amount of food. If they didn't eat the food, they wouldn't be allowed to share it. So we had no choice but to do it all."
Ji Changgeng also understood what Ji Xia meant. These days, there was really no rice, flour, or meat that was uneatable. Even if they were cooked, they would definitely eat it when they took it back, and it would not be wasted.
"However, we don't eat dry food for three meals a day. We eat porridge in the morning." Ji Changgeng still concealed something. In the morning, we had porridge and steamed buns.
The steamed buns are also made of mixed flour, but they are half and half made of white flour and corn flour, which is also very delicious.
He didn't know where Ji Xia got so much meat from. He also gave him a lot of big bones, which also had a lot of meat on them. Sometimes when he ate steamed buns at night, he would use the big bones to stew carrot soup, potato soup, and vermicelli soup. It was really delicious.
There was a lot of food and drink these past two days, and he had never eaten so full as far as he could remember.
In the two months between the New Year and the New Year, the road should be almost repaired and the school should also be built. The food at home basically does not need to be touched, and the white rice distributed to each household last time can be stored to last until the summer harvest, so no family will go hungry.
"Guangsheng is right. There are so many people starving outside right now. Not to mention the entire Tuanjie Commune, there's no other production team in the entire Bing County that eats as well as you do!"
Luo Mantang was also shaking with anger. "Chang Geng, you guys don't care about the other brothers at all. You guys are eating meat and you don't even want to let others have a sip of soup. How can your ideological awareness be so low? How can you lead a production team with such a low level of consciousness?"
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