Sheng Liancheng's words still have an effect.
Starting the next day, Sheng Xi'an and Sheng Xikang would get up at the first crow of the rooster to fetch water, chop firewood, and tidy up the garden.
During the day, the two of them would go to work in the family production team and pick up some tree branches and other things to use as firewood.
In summer, when lighting a fire, the goal isn't to heat the kang (a heated brick bed), but simply to cook a good meal.
In comparison, chopping tree branches into two-foot lengths and letting them dry completely makes them a faster way to start a fire and cook, much better than splitting firewood.
It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you're willing to work and don't go out and show off, that's fine.
Sheng Liancheng and his wife didn't ask for much. They just wanted their child to grow up, understand the hardships their parents faced, and help share the burden at home.
Coincidentally, the forest farm allocated housing two days later.
Qianchuan Forest Farm was built starting in 1964. Initially, the workers built log cabins and mud-brick houses in their spare time.
Winters in Northeast China are bitterly cold, with the permafrost layer reaching nearly two meters.
Log houses have shallow foundations and are easily damaged by frost.
In winter, the ground freezes and bulges up, then falls back down when it warms up in spring.
The house structure was damaged during this rise and fall.
No matter how sturdy they were built at the time, and no matter how many years they were repaired, those houses will still deteriorate at a visible rate.
Therefore, the forest farm built another batch of public housing this year, which was allocated to the employees of the unit according to their length of service and other conditions.
Sheng Liancheng has been working in the forestry system since 1950, and has been there for more than 20 years. He has enough seniority and rank.
Therefore, the forest farm decided to allocate a public housing unit to the Sheng family.
The Sheng family was allocated two public housing units, and the locations were determined by drawing lots.
On the east side of the forest farm, there is a row of houses belonging to the head of the family, and there is a large open space to the east.
"The house is ready, but it only has two rooms. It's too small. Even if our whole family moves there, it won't be enough room."
I was thinking we should discuss how to arrange things.
That evening, Sheng Liancheng and his son arrived home. Before the meal was even served, the family first discussed the house.
The new house is a brick and tile structure, a hundred times better than the mud and straw houses here.
Logically, once the house is allocated, the whole family should pack up and move there; they don't need this mud-brick house anymore.
But the house there is too small, with only two rooms, which is not enough for the eight members of the Sheng family.
Not to mention, Sheng Xiping already has a girlfriend, and they might get married next year.
As more children join the family, two rooms will become even less enough.
"What I mean is, how about we build another room or one and a half on the east side of the house ourselves?"
When the area is opened up, the house will be bigger and more than enough to live in.
If that doesn't work, then we'll have to keep the public housing for the eldest son's wedding, and our family will continue living here. What do you think is reasonable?
Sheng Liancheng took a puff of his cigarette, looked up at his wife and children, and asked.
"Honey, with the current policy, is it possible for us to build our own house?"
Didn't we receive a document from above a couple of years ago saying that cadres and employees are not allowed to build their own houses?
"If we build a house, what if the authorities don't allow it? Or what if we get punished? That wouldn't be worth it."
Zhang Shuzhen was quite worried about this. If it implicated her husband and he was punished, it wouldn't be worth it.
"That's just a casual remark. Look around these past few years, where have fewer houses been built?"
Needless to say, in our forest farm, almost every household in Songjianghe Town is building houses and warehouses. How can the authorities possibly manage it all?
Sheng Liancheng shook his head and said nonchalantly.
"If the family doesn't have enough room, are they going to make people sleep on the streets?"
The Songjianghe Forestry Bureau was established in 1957 and officially completed in 1958, so it has only been sixteen or seventeen years since then.
In the early days of its establishment, there was a shortage of labor.
At that time, Fusong County had only 50,000 to 60,000 people, and most of them suffered from waterlogging and Kashin-Beck disease. The local government simply did not have the resources to support the construction of the forestry bureau.
Therefore, the Forestry Bureau could only recruit workers from Shandong and other places to support the construction of forestry in Northeast China.
In the beginning, conditions were harsh, and many young people from Shandong couldn't endure the hardship and went back home.
Most of those who stayed were from extremely poor families who couldn't make ends meet and had to leave to find a way out.
How many of these people have wives and children?
A single deliveryman comes to Northeast China, makes a good living in a few years, goes back to his hometown, marries a beautiful and thrifty wife, and then they have children and live a simple life.
These days, people don't care about planning. Which family doesn't have four or five children? Some even have seven or eight.
Back then, those two small, dilapidated rooms weren't enough to live in, so every family tried to find a way to add a room or two. Otherwise, how could they have enough room to live in?
This kind of thing can't be stopped at all. So what? Once it's built, you can't just tear it down, can you?
“I think we should play it safe. This house is alright; we repair it every year, so it’s not too dilapidated.”
"Let's stay here for now. We'll prepare the other side for the eldest son's wedding."
Zhang Shuzhen still felt it wasn't safe enough. Anyway, the house was still there, so she decided to stay there for now and avoid unnecessary trouble.
"Mom, how can parents live in an old house while their son goes to live in a new one?"
Upon hearing his mother's words, Sheng Xiping quickly expressed his opinion.
“I think my dad is right. If it doesn’t work out, we can take over one or two rooms and move in together.”
Otherwise, you two can move to the new house, and I can use this old house for my wedding.
In my previous life, I had an additional room and a half next to the public housing unit allocated by my work unit.
They changed it into two kang beds, one facing north and one facing south. Sheng Liancheng and his wife lived on the south kang with their two daughters, while the north kang was left for Sheng Xi'an and his two sons.
The original plan was to leave the West House to Sheng Xiping for his marriage, but unexpectedly, something happened before Sheng Xiping could even get engaged.
The house was built, and no one said anything. It seems that the policy was later changed, allowing everyone to build houses.
Sheng Liancheng and his son were in agreement; they both felt it was acceptable to take over the house. What could Zhang Shuzhen say?
"Then let's listen to you two. Anyway, you'll be doing the work, and all I can do is cook and stuff. There's nothing else I can do."
And so, the family discussed and decided to add one to one and a half rooms to the east side of the new house.
"Anyway, we have enough timber saved up at home. As for stones and such, we can go to the front mountain and carve them ourselves."
Finding sand is easy; just dig it from the river.
As for the remaining bricks and tiles, I plan to go to the field tomorrow and ask if we can get some of them.
There's plenty of bricks, tiles, cement, and lime in the area; just take some and it will be enough.
“The small repair shop isn’t busy. I go there every day to check in. If there’s work to be done, I do it. If there’s no work, I break stones and dig sand to prepare materials.”
Since the second and third kids are on summer vacation, they don't need to go to the family affairs team's work; they can come with me.
Sheng Liancheng is the head of the family, so naturally the arrangements must be made by him.
"Boss, is your afforestation team's production going to start soon?"
"Once the forestry work is finished, you can take some time off. The four of us can work together to build the house."
The family is full of male laborers, so they are not afraid of doing chores.
It's just a room and a half; we can definitely build it during the summer vacation.
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