Chapter 36

Dongsheng was hospitalized for a week.

Fortunately, Xu Wen has a half-month autumn harvest holiday.

This week, my aunt and my aunt came to see Dongsheng, but Xu Wen was worried about leaving Dongsheng with them, so he even rested in the ward.

I can't say I'm to blame, I was just scared this time.

Fortunately, Dongsheng gradually recovered his health.

When the Xu family heard that Dongsheng was hospitalized, they came to see him. Xu Wen came to stay by his bedside twice at night and let Xu Wen go back to rest.

Xu Wen didn't want to go home, so he slept in the school dormitory for two nights.

When Shao Yue and Li Yun heard that Dongsheng was sick, they ran to see Dongsheng during their lunch break and brought a lot of delicious food.

Shao Yue bought maltose and Li Yun bought two bags of milk powder.

On the day Dongsheng was discharged from the hospital, Uncle Lu Yuanzheng came to pick him up in the production team's tractor.

Xu Wen knew that there was only one Tieba in the entire production team, and he should not be used to pick up people during the busy farming season.

Xu Wen, who originally wanted to look for a house, didn't waste any more time and carried Dongsheng onto the tractor.

Seeing Dongsheng was unhappy, Xu asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"

“I still want to be hospitalized.”

Xu asked: "..."

"Who likes to be hospitalized? Why?"

"My mom is with me in the hospital! Sister Li Yun and Sister Shao Yue also play with me. My uncle, grandpa and grandma also come, and they all surround me."

Xu Wen felt sad again when he heard this. He raised his hand and touched Dongsheng's head, "Don't worry, you still have your mother to accompany you even if you don't need to stay in the hospital."

"Really?" Dongsheng was very happy, then shook his head, "No. You have to go to school, and Dad said he can't disturb you. I also want to go to kindergarten."

"You have to go to school, but Mommy doesn't have to go to school, because I have more important things to do now. I won't let you go to other people's homes anymore. Let's go back to our own home, okay?"

"Good!" Dongsheng clapped happily.

The main autumn crops of Wei Zhuang Commune are corn and soybeans, supplemented by mung beans, sesame, millet and peanuts.

Although Xu Wen's registered residence had been moved, it was only recently so he was still a member of the Taoyuan Production Brigade this season.

So Xu Wen returned to the courtyard at night and helped the production team during the day.

Dongsheng just recovered from his illness, and Xu Wen took him with him wherever he went, and would rather earn less work points than leave him at home.

This year the weather has been favorable, the harvest has been good, and the members are working very hard.

They chatted and laughed in the midst of hard work and it was very lively.

The autumn harvest also requires division of labor and cooperation, and the division of labor is very detailed.

For example, harvesting corn.

The women were responsible for breaking the corn off the corn stalks and throwing it into bamboo baskets, while the men were responsible for transporting the corn home.

There are also people who are responsible for harvesting the corn.

Of course, even within a production brigade, each team has a different way of working.

For example, Production Team 7, where Xu Wenjia works, harvests corn differently from other teams.

Their team was composed of men who cut down the corn stalks with corn cobs still attached, transported them back by ox carts, and hung them on the outer walls of the houses to dry in the sun.

In this way, people like Xu Wen's grandmother could earn work points. She could put the corn stalks on the ground and sit on a bench to peel corn.

It means breaking the corn off the corn stalks and throwing them on the ground, and then collecting them all in the yard to dry.

After drying, you still have to rub the corn.

There was no special machine for threshing corn kernels in the entire commune, so threshing had to be done manually.

Generally, a chopstick or a screwdriver is used to rub the corn in a row along the direction of the corn cob, and then the corn is pulled down by hand.

Experienced elders like my grandmother would often hold the corn in their left hand and use the dry corn cobs with their right hand to rub the corn pulp on the corn.

The cob is the kernel of the corn.

It is easy to harvest soybeans. They are usually harvested and transported to the yard to dry repeatedly before being threshed. That is, they are crushed and threshed with a stone roller.

Corn and soybean stalks can be dried and chopped with a trowel and used as feed for livestock.

Other crops are considered secondary crops, and they are not grown in large quantities. But harvesting them is also a hassle.

Like peanuts, they are pulled from the ground and placed in the yard to dry.

After drying, take a stone or a board and place it on the ground. Hold the branches and leaves of the peanuts and smash them against the stone. The peanuts will fall off.

Of course it's not pure violence, it's a matter of skill.

Anyway, Xu Wen was not very good at it, and the dirt and clods of earth he smashed were flying everywhere. He couldn't even lift his arms after a whole day.

Of course, she didn't have to do this kind of "hard" work in the production team.

This job is easy work for most of the strong men in the production team, but not the students.

Even though Xu Wen is already ten years old, he has always been treated as a student worker in the production team, and is even the best among the students.

Their captain liked cultured people, so he took good care of Xu Wen and put her in charge of drying the soybeans and millet.

The threshed soybeans and millet were spread out in the cleaned yard.

A yard refers to a flat, clean open space, which is often compacted so tightly that even cars passing through it will not leave any traces.

All Xu Wen needs to do is turn over the soybeans and millet.

Several hundred acres of soybeans were spread thinly on the ground and had to be turned over every two or three hours.

It sounds like there are intervals to rest, but in reality, with so many soybeans, you have to turn them over again after just a short break after turning them over the first time.

When turning the soil, either use a rake or wad it over with your feet.

Most members are more accustomed to the first option.

It means standing on the pile of beans with both feet, walking along a line, and then walking back at the end. In fact, it is using feet as a plow to turn over the soybeans.

Dongsheng also particularly liked this activity and followed Xu Wen to help.

In fact, if children are not careful, they often spill things everywhere, and Xu needs to clean up the mess.

Seeing that he was having fun, Xu Wen just let him do what he wanted.

Xu Wen's job is easy because it does not require much energy and he can get off work early. He starts flipping the papers at 9 a.m. when the sun is high in the sky and does not need to flip them again after 4 or 5 p.m.

You have to know that during the autumn harvest, people don't get off work on time. In fact, people stay in the threshing ground for 14 hours.

Most members got up earlier than chickens and slept later than dogs during the autumn harvest, but everyone was happy.

Because once the grain is stored in the granary, it can be distributed.

After the crops are threshed, dried and stored in the granary, the total output will be known, and the income of each person in each household can also be calculated.

For example, after soybeans are dried and stored in warehouses, some must be left out for next year's seeds, public grain that needs to be handed in, and water conservancy grain for river workers, etc. Only then can the remaining part be distributed.

In addition to food, the income from the production team's side businesses would also be calculated and distributed. For example, the money from selling the lambs that Xu Wen raised at the end of the year would also be distributed uniformly.

Before distribution, a meeting must be held to discuss the distribution plan. In Taoyuan Production Brigade, the distribution plan is generally 7 people to 3 workers, and occasionally 6 people to 4 workers.

It took Xu Wen a long time to figure out what this person's 70% work-30% distribution plan meant.

For example, the Taoyuan production team produced ten kilograms of wheat, of which seven kilograms were distributed as food according to the number of people in the production team, and the remaining three kilograms were distributed according to work points.

It is easy to understand how to divide it by headcount, but it is a bit troublesome to divide it by work points, which takes half a month.

First, the timekeeper must submit the work statistics of all members to the accountant, who will calculate the total work points of the entire team and post them on the production team's bulletin board for members to check and fill in the gaps.

Manual statistics are bound to have errors and omissions.

Members can check their own work points. If there are any mistakes or omissions, they can ask the timekeeper to correct them. The timekeeper will then ask the accountant to correct them.

Only after all members' work points have been verified can the accountant begin to calculate how much each worker is paid.

One Gong means ten centimeters. Generally, a strong worker such as Xu Wen or Xu Qiushi is ten centimeters. Others have different scores.

For example, Zhu Meizhen and her colleagues might only work 80% or 90% a day, and sometimes during the busy autumn harvest season they might only work 10 centimeters.

If Xu Wen asked about herding sheep, he would get six centimeters. But most of the time, Xu Qi could only earn five centimeters, which is half a job.

The food income of the production team is calculated according to the market price. If there is any income from side jobs, it will be added and then divided by the total number of working days to calculate how much a working day is paid.

After calculating the total income, calculate what each household should get.

Each family first needs to distribute food to each person. For example, the Xu family has seven people, so they need food for seven people.

But food is not free, it requires work points to exchange.

If there was any work points left after exchanging for food, the remaining work points would be converted into cash and distributed to each household.

This type of household is called a surplus-grain household.

What if the food for the people is not enough before the work points are paid? You have to buy the difference with your own money. This is called an overdraft account.

Most of the time, the Xu family was somewhere in between the two, exchanging work points for food, and most of the family's money came from dividends from side businesses.

This year the weather was good and the harvest was good. One worker earned about 80 cents.

There are 365 days in a year, which is 191 yuan.

Of course, even if you calculate your total number, you can't work exactly 365 days a day, but strong laborers have work all year round. For example, Xu Wen and Xu Qiushi each work more than 300 hours a year.

This year Xu Qiushi worked 348 jobs for 178.4 yuan, and Xu Wen worked 350 jobs for 180 yuan.

Zhu Meizhen earned 191 yuan, and Sang Xiaoqing earned 179.1 yuan.

Xu Wen earned forty-eight yuan and thirty cents, and Xu Qie had forty-one yuan.

This is just work points.

Each person needs 360 kilograms of raw grain, so their family of seven needs 2,510 kilograms of grain.

Xu Wen didn't want to exchange all the food for money, so there was still a lot left after deducting the food money.

In fact, the exact number of the production team has not yet come out, but it is roughly correct, because the Xu family also keeps track of the work, and Xu Wen is knowledgeable and can calculate it himself.

This was the number she had calculated.

The Xu family was very happy because this way they would have more money and less debt to build a house next year.

While the Xu family was very happy, Xu Wen took the opportunity to speak: "Grandma, Mom, Dad, Brother and Sister-in-law, I want to discuss something with you. I want to drop out of school!"

The Xu family was quiet for a moment, and then suddenly became anxious.

How can you not be so anxious?

Just after the autumn harvest, when the accounts had not yet been settled, the most authoritative newspaper published a piece of news or a notice announcing the resumption of the college entrance examination, which had been suspended for eleven years.

The whole country is in an uproar.

That night was the highlight moment for the Xu family.

At that time, on the threshing ground, all the members gathered around the Xu family and praised them.

Who would have thought that the college entrance examination, which had been suspended for more than ten years, would be resumed so suddenly.

Those members who saw the Xu family being so lively and felt that the Xu family's daughters were a little ignorant and talked about them behind their backs even turned around and praised the Xu family for being far-sighted.

He also said that Xu Wen was such a good student and would definitely be able to get into university.

Then Xu Wen would be the first female college student in their production team.

No one should exaggerate, the Xu family is also very happy about such a good thing.

At this time, Xu Wen is going to drop out of school again?

This time, not to mention Xu Qiushi, even Xu Wen was so anxious that he slammed the table, "Xu Wen, are you crazy? What's the big deal that you have to drop out of school at this time? You said before that it was because your family had no money, but now you live in a big yard by yourself, and the money Lu Yuanzheng left for you is enough for you to go to college, and now you actually say you want to drop out?"

"Xu Qie, take Dongsheng outside to play for a while." Xu Wen patted his brother and son.

Xu Qie said "oh" and led Dongsheng out, "Come on, uncle will take you to buy some candy!"

Seeing that Xu Wen had to send Dongsheng away before speaking, there was nothing he didn't understand.

"You did it for this child?" Xu Qiushi frowned. "Xu Wen, do you know what it means to be admitted to a university?"

"I know." Compared to the excitement of the Xu family, Xu Wen was a little too calm, "I thought about it seriously for more than half a month before making the decision!"

Zhu Meizhen looked anxious: "Wenwen, I know you like Dongsheng's child. I also know that you are very angry and distressed that your aunt didn't take good care of him and he got such a serious illness. But no matter how distressed you are, you can't sacrifice your stepmother for your whole life, right? You have been studying for so many years, and there are only two months left, Xu Wen! How can we not endure these two months?"

"Mom, these two months are easy. What about the future? What about after I get into college? I can't take him to college with me, right? We still have to separate. This time, the doctor said that if we had sent him a little later, Dongsheng would have died.

I married Lu Yuanzheng, and his only request was that I help take good care of Dongsheng. If anything happened to Dongsheng, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life.

I can take the college entrance examination again next year. If I fail next year, there is always the year after next."

Because Dongsheng is the son of two martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country.

This is a secret that cannot be told to others for the time being.

Dongsheng's parents sacrificed themselves to protect the people, but he did not receive the care he deserved. If something went wrong on his part, Xu Wen really could not forgive himself.

Sang Xiaoqing was so anxious that she burst into tears: "Wenwen, it's all my fault. I've ruined you. If I hadn't said those nonsense that day, you wouldn't be so anxious to get married. If you hadn't gotten married, you wouldn't have to give Dongsheng a stepmother now, and you could have studied hard for college! It's all my fault!"

Sang Xiaoqing really regretted her decision.

She complained that she never expected that the college entrance examination would be resumed so soon.

If Xu Wen could get into university, she would go out with her back held high. But if Xu Wen couldn't go to university because of Dongsheng, she would not be able to forgive herself, let alone the Xu family.

Just because of my pettiness, I ruined Xu Wen's life?

Xu Wen shook his head and comforted Sang Xiaoqing: "Sister-in-law, it's really not because of you."

She knew that Sang Xiaoqing didn't know whether to resume the college entrance examination.

Even after Wen Yiming told her that the college entrance examination would be resumed in October, she still agreed to marry Lu Yuanzheng.

Xu Wen sighed and slapped himself.

Xu Wen hurriedly stopped him: "Brother Yi, what are you doing?"

"Maybe it's not all because of me and your sister-in-law, but your marriage is at least partly due to me and your sister-in-law. I thought you would move out of the house and be free after your marriage, but I didn't expect that the child would become a burden to you again. Xu Wen, I promise you that if you keep Dongsheng in our house, I will definitely treat him as my own son and will never let him suffer any grievances. Can you continue to study? I beg you as your brother! If you want to drop out of school now, your sister-in-law and I will feel guilty for the rest of our lives!"

Xu Wen was silent.

The opportunity to take the college entrance examination is extremely precious to people today.

Compared to those who have given up their studies a long time ago, Xu Wen has a particularly great advantage as a fresh graduate.

Of course, she has a great advantage because she is not a fresh graduate.

After two lifetimes of studying hard, how could this not be an advantage?

Grandma suggested: "Ask, isn't Dongsheng in kindergarten now? If you really can't let him go, why don't you rent a house in the county town and find a kindergarten for him there? Anyway, let's take the college entrance exam first. Can we decide whether we can get in or not later?"

"Grandma." Xu Wen sighed, "I've thought about letting Dongsheng go to kindergarten in the county. But I have to go to school earlier than him in the morning, and I can't pick him up after he finishes school in the afternoon."

"I'll be responsible for picking him up!" The sister-in-law raised her hand. "It's only two months. I'll go with you to the county town and pick up the child for you. The busy farming season is over now, and there's not much work for me to do in the team."

"I think this is a good idea!" Zhu Meizhen agreed, "This way your sister-in-law can have a good rest after picking up the kids."

"I think so too." Xu Qiushi nodded.

Xu Wen looked at Xu Wen expectantly: "Wen Wen, is it okay?"

Sang Xiaoqing added: "I can also cook for you two!"

She is now past the morning sickness stage and can eat, drink and sleep well. Cooking is not a problem for her at all.

Xu Wen hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

She knew very well that this was just wishful thinking, but since the Xu family was like this, she really had no way to refuse.

Xu Wen knew very well that he could get into university, but once the admission letter came out, he would still have to face a new decision.

We'll talk about it when the time comes! At worst, I can rent a house near the school and take Dongsheng with me while I work and study.

The premise is that the journey is long and you can return safely.