The next day, Qi Zai found out from Ah Xiu that the villagers made their living by fishing.
Basically, everyone in the village is a fisherman. Apart from the men who go out to sea to fish, the rest of the villagers mainly do business selling seafood at the dock.
Of course, speculation and profiteering are not allowed here; all these fish must be handed over to the government's purchasing station.
Of course, they wouldn't give money; they'd give work points.
These work points were recorded in the village's ledger according to the slips of paper. Less than six months later, the work points were settled according to the ledger and the grain was distributed.
The grain was purchased by the purchasing station based on the surplus grain they delivered, after deducting the amount for public grain. The remaining grain was then exchanged for grain by the purchasing station.
They will be delivered directly to the village.
However, the current predicament of this village is that the sea area where they are located is relatively remote.
The wind was strong and the waves were high, and there were also hidden reefs all around.
The other coastal villages around them have a bumper catch every time they go out to sea, and the villages also have the money to buy boats.
However, due to their village's geographical location, the winds and waves are strong, causing frequent problems for boats.
Since the brigade had no money, it was impossible for the public to build fishing boats. Each household had to raise funds to buy fishing boats.
Of course, those with boats can catch more, and they also need to rely on their rich experience. If they have no experience, they might lose everything in a single wave.
Of course, the money to buy the boat was raised through collective fundraising in the village, so it doesn't count as speculation or personal behavior.
In villages, it's common for several families to jointly purchase a boat.
But his father's ship was the opposite; his father's ship was bought by his own family.
The main problem was that they couldn't find anyone to buy the boat with his father. On the one hand, the boat his father bought was considered a good vessel in the village.
Most people use makeshift sampans, but his father clearly bought a steel ship.
The ship was expensive to build, so naturally it cost a lot to build. When it returned, no one could afford it, so it became his father's sole expense.
This ship is good.
But it wouldn't be of much use here either, given how rough and big the wind and waves are.
Even the best boat might not catch any fish.
In their village, people basically fish for three days and rest for two.
Environmental regulations stipulate that they can go out to sea for 20 days a month, which is considered lucky.
Often, it takes half a month to earn enough work points, and without enough, you can't get much food.
Almost every household was hungry.
Compared to other villages, they were naturally ridiculed, and even within their village, there were different classes.
That's why Liu Lao Er (Liu the Second) had his eye on Liu Lao Da's ship as soon as Liu Lao Da passed away.
Moreover, their village has the worst conditions, and the marine environment is the most complex and challenging.
There aren't many fish, but there are many reefs here, making it difficult to go out to sea.
Life was tough, and conditions in the village were poor; they didn't even have a telephone.
Their small village was actually on an island, and it was only now that Qi Zai realized this.
To reach a place with telephones, one would have to sail for at least two days and one night to reach the land on the other side.
Only then might it be possible to find a phone number in the county.
To be precise, some island residents have never been to sea in their entire lives, such as Ah Xiu and her family, who have never seen the outside world since birth.
Besides this small island, there is only this vast ocean.
Seven sighed. This human trafficker was quite good at selling himself, selling himself to a secluded place.
This is truly a remote island with virtually no chance of escaping. Once you're on this island, you really have to rely on your own abilities to get out.
Seven pondered his skill for a moment, unsure if it would work, but decided to give it a try.
The question now is how he will leave the island?
Meanwhile, the day for distributing grain arrived, and He Cuihua had to bring Qizai along when she went to distribute the grain with her daughter and son.
Qi Zai is now a male on their household registration. Without Qi Zai, their food rations would be reduced by at least half.
This is a village rule: families with male members are allocated grain based on the number of men. If a family has one male member, they can receive at least 100 jin of grain every six months.
Other female relatives received half the amount of grain.
In other words, there were many women in their family, so each person only had fifty catties of grain. With the work points they earned, they could have some left over to take back with them.
That's about 350 jin of grain.
This is half a year's worth of food.
Everyone arrived at the entrance of the brigade headquarters, where a long queue had already formed.
Many villagers greeted He Cuihua and also sized up He Cuihua's new son.
After a long wait, it was finally He Cuihua's turn.
The accountant who was tallying the work points pointed to the numbers in the notebook.
"He Cuihua, please put your fingerprint here. Your family has 150 jin of grain."
He Cuihua panicked upon hearing this.
"Accountant, this isn't right! Our family should be entitled to at least 350 jin of grain, how come we're short so much?"
"Aunt Cuihua, you know perfectly well that when your husband just left, there was no man at home, so you lost at least 100 jin of grain."
In addition, since your family's fish haven't been caught at sea for a month, all the work points in the village have been deducted.
You haven't even paid the work points that should have been deducted, and after deducting everything, this is all that's left.
"This is only because the villagers took special care of you, you orphans and widows, that they gave you more than you deserved; otherwise, you wouldn't even have this 150 jin."
He Cuihua grew anxious and pulled Qi Zai over to her, saying...
"Accountant, you must have made a mistake."
We have male members in our family, how could we not?
"Look at this son, why shouldn't he get any food?"
The accountant looked at the little kid in front of him and said.
"You can't ask me about this; it's the production team leader's idea."
As you know, here the captain and clan leader have the final say.
Your child isn't on the family genealogy, so of course he can't be counted as a grain ration. Do you want to take him?
"If you don't want to go first, let the people behind you come up."
"I...I...I'll take it!"
He Cuihua gritted her teeth in anger. Of course, she knew that Liu Lao Er had not given up and had set her up here.
Even if the boat doesn't have to be handed over, the clan won't give Da Bao any food if they don't approve of it.
The original intention to use Da Bao to replace the male members in distributing grain was clearly blocked by the other party.
He Cuihua felt a tightness in her chest and angrily pressed her handprint on that spot.
The family of five carried 150 kilograms of grain back home, and no one who saw them dared to say a word, pretending not to see them.
The amount of grain was obvious at a glance; everyone knew that this family of five could not possibly survive on 150 jin of grain until the next distribution.
It was obvious that the village was bullying them, but these days no one would bother with other people's business.
The mother and her five children carried the grain back home, looking at the grain with its husk still on.
He Cuihua was overcome with grief.
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