Upon hearing this, Tang Cuihua quickly pulled her sister to her feet: "Uncle, Aunt, we can't bear to part with you. The three of us have been eating and living here for free. If it weren't for your hospitality, I might have been sold into this remote mountain village. We are so grateful to you, how could we let you go?"
Before Tang Cuihua could finish speaking, Zhao Lingli interrupted her.
“You silly child, these are two different things. Your uncle is absolutely right. If it weren’t for the three of you sisters joining this family, how could we have built up our business so smoothly? Your uncle and aunt should thank you. You should drink this glass of wine.”
Grandma chimed in, "We're all family now, Cuihua, don't be so formal. Our family isn't complete without anyone."
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Cuihua tilted her head back and drank the wine with tears in her eyes.
"Uncle, Aunt, I may not be good at speaking, but I know that the Tao family is like a second parent to us three sisters."
Zhao Di and Pan Di nodded at the same time: "Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle and Aunt, what my sister said is exactly what we wanted to say, thank you."
After finishing her drink, in front of everyone, Zhao Lingli handed Tang Cuihua a savings book, which was from the county savings bank.
"You've worked hard all year, and we should give you more, but we were afraid you three sisters would think too much. After discussing it with your uncle, we decided to give you three sisters three million. We hope you won't think it's too little."
Seeing Cuihua stand up in a panic and try to push her away, Zhao Lingli simply pulled her up and slapped the passbook into her hand.
"Take it, this is what you deserve. Even if we go out to hire people, we still have to pay them, right? Besides, it's not much."
"Your uncle and I have a feeling you'll definitely need to buy a house someday. Whether you go to Xihe Village or back to your Taoyuan Village, we'll cover the costs of buying and repairing the house. If you can find all your sisters, we can also help with the money for finding connections. This isn't much, but you'll need to support your sister in the future, so please accept it!"
Tang Cuihua completely broke down. Almost as soon as she finished speaking, she knelt down in front of the Tao family with a thud, tears streaming down her face. She broke down completely. Not only her, but Zhao Di, Pan Di, and even Xiao Jiu and the others all had tears in their eyes.
"Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle and Aunt, on behalf of all my sisters, I kowtow to you. Thank you, thank you so much."
The older sister was crying uncontrollably, and Zhao Lingli couldn't pull her up no matter what she did. In the end, she hugged her tightly and comforted her softly.
The New Year's Eve dinner should have been a lively and joyous occasion, but everyone was filled with emotion when they talked about the sisters' backgrounds.
Tang Cuihua felt that the famine year was an opportunity, only then could she pull her sisters out of the fire pit and minimize the cost.
Buying a house isn't urgent. There are many dilapidated houses in Taoyuan Village, so even if you rent, there's still room. Famine years are hard to endure, and food isn't something you can just hoard. She's matured a lot in the past year or two and isn't as reckless as she used to be.
Production teams were established in 1958, and famine began in 1959.
"I have at least four more years to prepare, Uncle and Aunt. I will work hard to repay what I owe you in the future."
Zhao Lingli felt especially sorry for the child: "Cuihua, although you are the eldest sister, you shouldn't have to bear all this. You don't have to sacrifice your own future."
"No, Auntie, I've already thought it through. Given my family's circumstances and my parents' situation, I can't find a good husband. Since I'll have to suffer if I marry into that family, why should I get married? I'd rather rely on my sisters and support each other for the rest of my life. I believe that as long as we sisters work together, we can definitely make a good life."
Xiao Jiu listened from the side and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
She's been here for almost four years now, and has been a couch potato at home ever since. Mainly because she's young, she hasn't found any opportunities to make a difference.
But seeing how hard her sisters are working, while she's still thinking about how to slack off, it's really not right.
In her view, God gave her the opportunity to travel through time and also gave her a cheat code, so how could she stand aside?
She also has a responsibility to support her older sister!
So how did she support her sisters?
A warehouse is one thing, but we also need a reliable job that's out in the open.
With the college entrance examination cancelled in 1966, even those who skipped grades still faced a saturated job market.
Otherwise, why would so many people go to the countryside?
At first it was voluntary, but later it became mandatory, with each household having to contribute one.
This means that her future goals will either be in the military or in agriculture.
If she were cut out to be a farmer, she wouldn't be thinking about the college entrance exam. Now, it seems the only place she can go is the military.
Since I'm studying medicine, I'll strive to become a military doctor!
Although this job is tough, at least it's a respectable one. No matter what happens to the older sisters in the future, at least they'll have her as their younger sister to support them.
At the end of February 1954, Zhou Xing passed the physical examination and successfully enlisted in the army. On the day of his enlistment, he wore a military uniform and a big red flower. Standing on a military truck, he waved goodbye to his grandparents. Zhou Yue stood behind them, silently watching his older brother.
“Listen to your grandparents at home, write to me often, study hard, and wait for your brother to earn military income for you.”
When the military truck disappeared from sight, Xiao Jiu saw Zhou Yue secretly turn away and wipe his tears.
He was actually just a child. When he came in 1952, he was only ten years old and very thin. Now, two years later, he has grown up quickly and is a big boy. He is capable of protecting his grandparents. No wonder 15-year-old Zhou Xing could leave with peace of mind.
Zhou Xing joined the army and was very envious. Who wouldn't love that military uniform in this day and age?
They were envious, but none of them mentioned it, because they knew it was taboo at home. If they wanted to join the army, they had to do it secretly; making a big fuss was the worst thing to do.
Especially considering their age, there's no use in rushing them.
In March of this year, Zhou Yue also entered the fifth grade along with Tao Ran. Whether or not to finish elementary school, he needs to complete his studies first.
The Zhou family's noodle shop is not doing very well. Even if the children don't help out at the shop, it's okay. Xiao Jiu and her grandmother will go over to help out when they have time. Lunchtime is their rest time. If things get really busy, there's always Pan Di, isn't there?
In early July, my aunt brought her cousins home to visit relatives. Her older brothers took her cousins out to catch cicada nymphs every day. In just one month of summer vacation, the kids earned over a million yuan in pocket money, which shocked my aunt, who was not good at talking.
Just as Grandma said, Aunt Tao Hua is very much like Grandpa in personality—steady and reserved. Her two sons and one daughter are also like her—well-mannered and cultured. However, after a month at home, they were led astray by their brothers and completely let loose.
My aunt brought fifty catties of glutinous rice and fifty catties of regular rice this time. She also made a lot of cured meat and fish, and various kinds of chili sauce. She sent everything she couldn't bring back by mail, which made my grandma feel bad for half a day.
They stayed at home for a month and returned to the mountain city in early August because their older siblings were about to start school and they needed to go home in advance to prepare.
Grandma, with her bound feet, couldn't walk far, so she only saw them off to the street corner. Grandpa and Uncle, however, escorted them all the way to the provincial capital.
I stayed in the provincial capital for a day, bought seasonings and some daily necessities, and didn't return until the next day.
When the fall semester started, Tao Ran, the second brother, entered the sixth grade. Surprisingly, Zhou Yue was able to keep up and successfully passed the promotion exam, also entering the graduating class.
Time flies, and the first set of RMB was finally officially discontinued at the end of February 1955, while the second set of RMB was officially launched on March 1.
From the province to the city, then to the county, township, and finally to the town and village, it wasn't until almost after Labor Day that they started lining up to exchange for the new currency.
The old currency value was too large, while the new currency value was smaller. The exchange was conducted at a ratio of 10,000 to 1, creating an exceptionally lively and rare scene.
The largest denomination of the first set of currency was 50,000 yuan, while the largest denomination of the second set of currency was only 10 yuan, which is what later generations called the Great Unity.
When the first set of currency was issued, the paper quality was poor, and there were more than sixty different types, making it impractical. The root cause was not just inflation, but also the lack of clear text descriptions, severe damage, and many other problems.
The two sets of coins are one cent, two cents, five cents, one jiao, two jiao, five jiao, one yuan, two yuan, three yuan, five yuan, and ten yuan.
She had actually paid attention to the second set of currency denominations, but she had never seen this three-yuan light green paper version with Jinggang Mountain printed on the front before.
Sure enough, the eldest sister quickly sent a message back.
"If you see a 3 RMB note, you must try to exchange it; this set is a limited edition."
Ah Jiu understood what she meant. It was just that the circulation period was relatively short, and the collection price in later generations was as high as 10,000 times, 30,000 yuan per piece, which was enough to show its rarity. And now that the exchange had just begun, their family had plenty of time to exchange it, especially since their parents were running a small business, which made it even more convenient.
After all the money in the house was converted into the second set of currencies, Ajiu felt much more comfortable, no longer having to start the amount with ten thousand.
Their house was also directly converted to a second set of currency for 3,000 yuan.
Good news also came from Taoyuan Village. Last June, Zhang Yanhong gave birth to a boy for Tang Youtian, making Tang Youtian so happy that he went from house to house to share the good news.
It is said that Cao Amei was also married off by the Cao family, but no one cares where she was married to.
The only thing the older sister cared about was that the second set of currency was now in vogue, Tang Youtian had a son, and he was also ambitious, looking for work everywhere to earn money to support his son. After Zhang Yanhong married Tang Youtian, she also devoted herself to her life and did not cause any trouble or make a fuss as the villagers said.
Tang Cuihua didn't care whether the child was Tang Youtian's or not. Now that Tang Youtian had a successor, could she go back to the village to handle the household registration?
After all, the production team was to be established in 1958, and she needed to register her household before then, so that she could go back to the village to work, earn work points and get grain in the future!
With the introduction of the second set of currency and the gradual implementation of unified purchase and sales in 1953, it also meant that my country was gradually entering the era of planned economy.
Starting in 1954, the public-private partnership model was gradually promoted.
Starting in August 1955, supplies were gradually distributed by ration coupons, and the Tao family's snack shops, including the Zhou family's noodle shop, completely closed down before the wheat harvest in June.
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