Chapter 7
In the summer of 1958, after the CPC Central Committee held the Beidaihe Conference, it called on the people of the country to establish people's communes and hold commune canteens.
A vigorous people's commune movement was launched across the country.
The People's Government of Yunshui County was changed to the county committee compound, and more than 20 communes of different sizes were divided under it.
Several large courtyards under the steel mill were merged together to form the Second Commune of Yunshui County.
The residents of Guihua Hutong next door belong to the Third Commune.
Starting next week, the street will run a commune canteen, and every household will go to the canteen to eat. Director Ge said that the food in the commune canteen is very good, with braised fish, white rice, and big white steamed buns every day!
Once you eat in the canteen, the iron pots in every household are no longer needed.
The higher-ups mobilized the masses to bring their discarded iron pots, hoes, and other things to the streets and donate them to the country to support the country's steelmaking.
Zhang Cuilan came back and whispered to Lin Yao, "Yao, the higher-ups asked us to donate iron. We have two iron pots, one new and one old. The old one has a hole at the bottom and has not been used for a long time. Why don't we donate them all?"
Gu Chunmei was combing her hair in her nursery. She had just had a perm at the hair salon and was looking at herself in the mirror. When she heard this, she also said, "Mom, then donate them all. Anyway, we will eat in the canteen in the future, and our iron pots will be useless."
Lin Yao's alarm bells immediately rang. Sister Chunmei, this can't be allowed.
The commune canteen closed down after just a few days.
Then the countryside suffered from the worst drought in decades, and the conflict between the country and the Soviet Union led to the three-year disaster...
Lin Yao couldn't help but feel lucky that her space supermarket had tons of rice and flour stored, stacked like a mountain. With so much rice and flour, not to mention a little girl like her, even the five people in the old Gu family would have no problem eating for decades.
With rice and flour, you can't eat without a pot!
She hurriedly gave her own advice, "Auntie, as the saying goes, it's better to be prepared. Let's donate the old one and keep the new one. It's a good pot, and the dishes cooked in it are so delicious."
Speaking of this, Zhang Cuilan also thought it made sense. She looked around at home and took the old iron pot with the handle missing and two rusty axes to the commune.
Uncle Mancang worked in the steel factory, and the brat Dongzi had gone somewhere long ago. Lin Yao sat in her room and read books honestly. By the way, she was thinking about rolling up a few woolen ends and knitting a pair of woolen gloves for everyone in the family when the weather got cold.
Gu Chunmei continued to fiddle with her woolen curlers.
She was not satisfied with just playing by herself, and she was so excited that she wanted to drag Lin Yao to get one permed as well.
Lin Yao's mouth twitched, and she immediately ran away.
That night, the secretary and leading cadres of the commune held a passionate mobilization meeting. As an outstanding old employee of the steel rolling mill and the head of the old Gu family, Gu Mancang got the honor of speaking on the stage.
Gu Mancang was stunned when he heard the news. When he was born, it was still the old society. Grandpa Gu carried a gun and fought against the Japanese on the battlefield, and Grandma Gu raised her son in her hometown.
At that time, the old Gu family was very poor. The mother and son ate tofu dregs and wild vegetable cakes while crying.
Gu Mancang had never been to school for a few days. After liberation, the street held a literacy class, and Uncle Mancang also wanted to make progress together with the young people in the factory.
At that time, Grandma Gu was still alive. When the old lady heard this, she poked the ground with her cane in her hand, and her toothless mouth shrunk, "What the hell, son, you want to go to a literacy class outside?"
Gu Mancang nodded honestly.
The old lady smiled so hard that her teeth were exposed, "Okay, mother will give you a question, what is a flat shoulder that falls down?"
Gu Mancang was confused.
What is a flat shoulder that falls down?
Isn't it still a flat stick after it falls?
What can it become?
It can't be a golden flat stick?
Zhang Cuilan happened to come back from the pig farm, and Grandma Gu asked her daughter-in-law again.
Zhang Cuilan said with disgust, "A flat stick that falls is a one, a five-year-old child knows that, which idiot can't answer it?"
Stupid Gu Mancang: "......."
Uncle Mancang felt that his mother was right, he was just a stone head, he just wanted to be a good level 5 clamper, he couldn't be a leader, he couldn't do the job of making speeches.
Gu Mancang shook his head like a wave drum, and refused to go on stage to speak no matter what.
The street cadre who came to inform him was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks.
"Uncle, it's such an honor to speak on stage, why don't you want to go?"
"Director Ge said that if one person speaks on stage, the whole family will be honored!" "
Auntie, what are you talking about? Is there a reward for speaking on stage? Yes, half a pound of brown sugar for each person."
Zhang Cuilan's eyes lit up and she said firmly, "Go, this is a difficult task given to us by the party. We, the Gu family, have a red heart towards the motherland! For half a pound of brown sugar, we must go. Xiao Ding, you go back, your uncle Gu will definitely go."
Cadre Xiao Ding: "......."
Okay, anyway, Auntie Gu agreed.
He can also give an explanation to the director when he goes back.
Cadre Xiao Ding wiped his face, and his back, who was only twenty years old, looked particularly haggard against the backdrop of the setting sun.
Lin Yao watched with sympathy as cadre Xiao Ding left. This poor kid was hit hard today.
Gu Mancang wanted to argue with his wife again, and he rubbed his hands and just started to speak, "Cuilan, I have something to say..."
Zhang Cuilan glared at him, "What bullshit do you have to say today? Just swallow it down. It's just a speech. What? You can't write a speech? It's not a big deal. Yaoyao is educated. Let Yaoyao write a speech for you. You can just copy it. Yao, do you think it's okay?"
Lin Yao, who was named, said, "...It's not impossible, but will Uncle Mancang be willing?"
Zhang Cuilan said that if Comrade Mancang disagreed, she would let him know why the flowers are so red!
"........"
Comrade Gu Mancang didn't want to know why the flowers were so red.
Lin Yao quickly wrote a concise speech, and Gu Mancang memorized it word for word, and also grabbed his youngest son to be a spectator.
Lin Yao taught Uncle Mancang a trick: when he went on stage, he should treat the audience as short and fat people who couldn't speak. He was nervous when speaking in front of the commune members, but he might not be so scared when speaking in front of the short and fat people.
So the mobilization meeting that night was particularly successful.
Director Ge first gave an inspiring opening speech, saying things like "The people's commune is good, happiness will last forever" and "Eating for free, work hard to produce", and the members present applauded.
Gu Mancang was the first to go on stage to speak. Although his speech was not as exciting as Director Ge's, and his speech was a little stuttering, it was still concise and to the point. In those days, everyone had not been to school much, and those who spoke later were nitpicking, which made people feel overwhelmed.
What the hell is that? They didn't understand!
Everyone gave Director Ge and Uncle Mancang a five-point applause, while the applause from others was sparse, which was just a superficial thing.
In short, the mobilization meeting ended successfully.
Director Ge was very satisfied with it, especially Uncle Mancang, and specially praised the old Gu family.
The old Gu family also received half a pound of sugar as a reward compared to other families.
On this day, the old Gu family was as happy as the New Year.
The next morning, Zhang Cuilan was generous for once and went to the supply and marketing cooperative to cut a piece of fat and lean pork belly. She originally wanted to take a piece of meat back home from the pig farm. The pigs on the pig farm are well-fed. They are different from the pigs raised in the countryside. The pigs on the pig farm are fed with bean dregs and bean cake pig feed all year round. They eat well and the meat on their bodies is also delicious.
But she was unlucky. The pig farm had just killed two pigs a few days ago, and the pork was snatched away before it was even warm.
Zhang Cuilan had no choice but to queue up at the supply and marketing cooperative early in the morning, bought the meat, took it home, and hurried to work.
Gu Shidong put the meat in the well water to keep it fresh. Near the morning, Lin Yao called him to hang up the meat. He and Gu Chunmei took a piece of meat. Each of them had a knife. They washed the pork belly, chopped it finely, mixed it with the black fungus and dried mushrooms sent by Uncle Zhang in the countryside before the New Year, soaked it in water, blanched it, and made stuffing with washed spinach. They added sweet bean sauce and chopped green onions and minced ginger in the pot and fried it until fragrant. They made a lid of mushroom sauce meat dumplings.
These days, when ordinary people buy fat meat, they prefer the kind that is oily and trembling when you cut it, and it is full of oil when you touch your finger. This kind of fat meat is boiled into lard, and the excess lard is stored in a jar.
When the wife of the head of the big compound was frying rice, she would wipe the oil tank with gauze and then dip it in the cooking pot. Even if she added oil, the dishes fried in this way were no different from boiled dishes. They were tasteless
and unpalatable. No matter how unpalatable they were, they had to eat them.
Who made us all poor?
If we didn't eat this way, we would starve to death.
Therefore, as long as we had meat coupons, we liked to buy fatty meat. It was more economical.
Lin Yao herself still liked lighter food, but considering the taste of the old customer's family, she deliberately added a spoonful of pork fat when she prepared the fillings.
The big pot in the old Gu's house steamed for a few minutes. When the steel mill got off work, the aroma of mushroom meat dumplings had already drifted far away.
The workers in the steel mill were paid high wages, but they were not so generous. It was not the time to eat meat dumplings during festivals or New Year's Day. Moreover, the commune canteen was about to open, and many people were waiting to eat public meals.
Which woman was crazy to make such delicious dumplings, and they were made of meat?
Life was not going well?
Zheng Dacheng's wife in the front yard of the big compound was carrying a basket and walking home with a droopy face.
The vegetables she bought today were not fresh, which was criticized by the leader. She also made a mistake and failed to get steamed buns from the factory canteen. She was really unhappy.
As soon as she entered the yard, she smelled the fragrance in the air. Zheng Dacheng's wife sniffed and spat on the ground, "Bah, showing off! Only your family has meat coupons to buy meat, you are a poor fifth-level clamp worker, and my Dacheng is the master chef of the factory canteen. Tomorrow we will eat pig's trotters behind closed doors!"
Because the street canteen will be opened tomorrow, Gu Mancang will come back earlier than usual.
Gu Shidong looked at the meat dumplings in the pot and kept swallowing his saliva.
The Gu family was about to wash their hands and eat, when the old master who was guarding the steel factory suddenly came to their house and called for help.
"Mancang, there is a call from your family from the army!"
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