Tao Qing, the third child, will be entering the second year of high school this fall, just like Cui Mei. However, Tao Qing will be attending the county's top high school, while Cui Mei will be attending the city's top high school.
Although Tao Qing's grades are not as good as Cui Mei's, nor as good as Tao Zui, Tao Ran's, or Zhou Yue's, his advantage lies in his stable grades. As long as he performs normally, he can get into a decent second-tier university, which is still quite good.
Tao An entered the township middle school last year and will be a junior high student this fall. His academic performance is average, and it is estimated that it will be difficult for him to get into high school. Nobody is optimistic about him. He himself does not like to study and would rather work in the fields than continue studying. At most, we can only let him get through junior high school and then we will have to find him a job back home.
During the wheat harvest season in June, everyone in the family except those who were in school came back to help, including those who worked in the county town.
The wheat needed to be harvested quickly, otherwise a heavy rain would ruin it. Although the family had a lot of land, there were also many people. Even Xiaojiu went to the fields to cut wheat, leaving Grandma at home to cook. At least when cooking, there was time to rest. But when she went to the fields, there was no time to rest. Feeling sorry for Grandma, she took the initiative to carry a sickle to the fields.
Grandma also felt sorry for everyone, so she boiled sweet mung bean water for them and put it in the well to freeze. Every day she would pick two watermelons from the field and send them over to everyone to share.
Everyone went to the fields in town to harvest first, and then went back to the village to harvest. Since the meal needed to be cooked together, they didn't split into two groups.
Fortunately, of the sixteen mu of land, only six mu were planted with wheat, and the rest were potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The main problem was the low wheat yield. It took eight people three days to thresh the wheat into grains on six acres of land and bring them home. Then, the wheat was repeatedly dried, which reduced the number of people needed.
He took leave to come back to harvest wheat and immediately returned to his unit without stopping; it was very hard work.
The average yield per mu was only fifty kilograms, and six mu of land yielded less than three hundred kilograms, and they still had to pay grain taxes.
Of course, that's not the most important thing. The important thing is that after the wheat harvest, the state will take back the land and implement unified planning. The remaining crops in the fields will also be taken away after they ripen and are harvested by the farmers.
In other words, documents have already been issued from above, indicating plans to establish production teams.
Not only the production teams, but also the communal canteens, and the accompanying campaign to collect various metals from each household, thus began...
The village has been very busy these days, not only registering households and measuring land, but also taking time to check each household's metal reserves.
While the common people were making a fuss over this major change, the Tao and Tang sisters had already started drying sweet potato and sesame leaves.
They dried all the vegetables in the field that they couldn't eat. They didn't care how chaotic things were outside. They knew that when the results were in, someone would come and notify them.
The regulations from above are also unpredictable. According to the original plan, all the land would be taken back after National Day.
So they didn't waste the land during those months; they planted corn, and by October, they could harvest the corn and free up the land.
Potatoes will be harvested in September, and sweet potatoes before National Day, so nothing will be delayed.
However, things changed again. The corn had just been planted when the land was completely harvested.
They say they'll give you subsidies for crops that aren't even ripe yet, but these verbal promises usually end up only giving you money for the seeds, and they won't even include your physical labor in the compensation.
Why did famine occur?
Xiao Jiu shook her head, and Tang Cuimei also shook her head and sighed. These are things that can't be talked about. If you want to know, you have to look them up in the literature. We can't explain them to you in detail here.
With no land left and cooking utensils taken away, all household registrations were completed, and everyone ate in the communal canteen and worked in the production team. Thus, the work point system was born.
Whether it was the Tang family or the Tao family, they hid everything they didn't want others to see when the searchers came to their homes.
Because they had made preparations in advance, they had no recourse even if the commune 'bought' their livestock.
The pace of events differed somewhat from later accounts, and the actions were even more...
Xiao Jiu only knew that the land that had already been planted would not be touched, and the land that had not been planted was organized by various production teams and assigned to different jobs according to the gender of the laborers. Xiao Jiu, like the other children, was assigned some relatively light work.
Grandpa and Grandma were getting old, and because of their contributions in handing over the livestock, they were assigned the work of herding cattle and sheep, so it wasn't all for nothing.
Free meals bring smiles to young and old alike; increased work enthusiasm ensures lasting happiness.
Seeing the propaganda slogans posted in the village and around the commune, only a child from a later era could understand what they meant.
Because it was reported by various print media as a great thing that benefits the country, the people, and the community, the development of public canteens has been at an astonishing pace.
"Look how well this newspaper has written about how to run a public canteen. They suggested that the food should be diverse, with a mix of coarse and fine grains, both dry and soupy dishes, and a variety of vegetables, including both vegetables and soup. They also suggested providing soy sauce, vinegar, scallions, garlic, chili peppers, and other condiments free of charge as much as possible."
We should also pay attention to improving our diet, try to eat meat two or three times a month, and have a feast on holidays.
The canteen should be hygienic, have its own vegetable garden, and provide appropriate dietary care for elderly members, children, the sick, and pregnant women. Existing buildings should be converted into dining halls, or new, simple dining halls should be built whenever possible.
Listen to this propaganda; it's practically painting a beautiful picture of a dream home for the vast number of farmers.
Unlimited food, and a variety of dishes to choose from.
In people's minds, only by "eating to their heart's content" can they "work with full vigor".
But with so many people eating to their hearts' content all at once, where can we find enough rice and firewood to fill all those stomachs?
As a result, many public canteens did their utmost and gave their all.
This situation had only been in place for a short time when most canteens were already living beyond their means.
—Note: The above excerpt is from "The People's Commune Canteen" on 360 Encyclopedia.
In early August, Tang Cuixiang received her admission notice from the city's No. 1 High School. The principal was all smiles, took her to the school to take a photo, and gave her thirty yuan to support her tuition. With this thirty yuan, her family wouldn't have to pay for her high school for the next two years, and Tang Cuixiang was overjoyed.
Tang Cuimei used all the money saved at home to buy food on the black market. Of course, she only bought the cheapest food, adhering to the principle that as long as they didn't starve, they could eat anything.
When they were on holiday at home, Cui Mei and Cui Xiang would also go to the commune to participate in collective labor. Although it was hot, the food in the canteen was enough to fill them up. No matter how well it was cooked, at least there was both dry and soupy food.
Whenever the big iron bell rings to signal the end of the workday, and the whole village, young and old, rushes to the canteen with their bowls to get their meals, those in the know can't help but worry, wondering how many parasites have been bred there, but what can be done?
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