It also stipulates that no household may light a fire to cook without permission.
(Those like Chang Le and a few other families of martyrs and military personnel in the village can eat at home. Of course, only Chang Le is allowed; Bai Xiaoyue is not.)
The vegetables in each family's vegetable garden belong to the collective and cannot be picked privately.
Outside the canteen, signs read, "Eat your fill, work hard to produce!" and "Food is free, let's focus on production!"
Where can you find such a good deal: a full meal for free, white steamed buns every day, and a different dish every day?
Everyone is happy and cheerful every day!
White flour steamed buns and mixed flour steamed buns are no longer surprising after eating them so often. People take a few bites of the steamed buns and throw them away, and they throw away bowls of vegetables one by one.
When the elderly, who were used to hardship, saw this, they were heartbroken.
In the collective economy, each household was only allowed to raise three chickens; if they raised more, they would be accused of having their capitalist tail cut off.
Responding to the call, Bai's father kept three hens for himself, gave three to Bai Xiaoyue, and killed and ate the rest.
Bai Xiaoyue then had three hens, and Chang Le fed them and collected their eggs every day, which made Chang Le extremely happy.
Soon, the massive steelmaking campaign officially began, with each region tasked with catching up with and surpassing Britain and the United States.
Workers, farmers, and students—it was truly a nationwide participation, with the people's enthusiasm reaching unprecedented heights.
Small blast furnaces were everywhere, their flames trailing in strings, like red flowers blooming all over the ground.
Each family donated their ironware, starting with old farm tools.
Then there were all the ironware in the house: hoes, sickles, kitchen knives, rakes, and even locks.
In the end, no one kept any of their iron pots. They said that since everyone ate from the same pot, there was no need for pots, and every household kept all their iron.
No matter where you hide, you'll be found, and if anyone resists, they'll get a good beating.
Fearing a beating, Bai Xiaoyue handed over all the pots, hoes, kitchen knives, and other household items early on.
Of course, what was handed over was what was publicly known; everyone knew what each household possessed. If this part of the ironware wasn't handed over, someone would report it.
The autumn harvest soon began, and Bai Xiaoyue also had to go to the fields to work, leaving Chang Le and the other children to play under the trees.
She put on a hat and plucked the corn cobs, one by one, and put them in a basket, while the others carried them away basket by basket.
She would glance at Chang Le every now and then, and seeing that her daughter wasn't running around, she would continue playing with her hands, feeling that time was passing quite quickly.
At first I didn't feel it, but after a whole day it was terrible, my face was burning from the sun.
My arms and calves are sore, and my feet and ankles hurt terribly, so I can't bend over.
Chang Le was brought home by Bai's mother.
Once I get home and sit down, I don't want to get up. I just want to lie down and sleep forever.
I feel really down. I don't want to eat anything except drink water. At times like this, I really miss the refrigerator and want to drink cold drinks.
Bai Xiaoyue felt like dying; she felt she couldn't hold on any longer and wanted to just give up.
The next morning, I performed as a robot. Everything had to be slow, and I couldn't make any big movements, or it would have killed me.
Chang Le used her little hand to support Bai Xiaoyue: "Mommy, let me help you."
Looking at her tiny daughter and her tender little eyes, Bai Xiaoyue felt that she could persevere a little longer.
This cycle repeated itself for more than 20 days. It shouldn't have taken that long, but many of the main laborers went to steelmaking, reducing the labor force and thus lengthening the time.
The autumn harvest is finally over. Bai Xiaoyue has become familiar with picking corn cobs, shelling corn, digging sweet potatoes, and digging potatoes, and can barely complete the tasks.
Sigh... Human potential is truly limitless!
All the harvest was stored in the collective warehouse, and then everyone went into the mountains to pick hazelnuts.
Bai Xiaoyue and Chang Le didn't pick up much; they mainly just joined in because the group activity was lively, and they listened to the gossip and watched the excitement.
My eldest cousin's wife, Ye Fengqin, also had a three-year-old boy with her, so the two of them kept each other company.
My eldest sister-in-law is only 21 years old. She has a fair face with a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes and long legs. If she were born in modern times, she would definitely be a model.
She had a very gentle personality, and the two chatted happily. Bai Xiaoyue gained another friend besides Li Mingyue, and was in a great mood.
Since they weren't going up the mountain, Bai Xiaoyue and her mother started harvesting sweet potatoes and potatoes from their yard, keeping themselves very busy.
Don't ask about Bai's father; he went to work in the steel industry. The men in the village go to work in the steel industry, and sometimes the women have to help chop firewood and make charcoal.
Looking at the pile of sweet potatoes, Bai Xiaoyue felt like crying.
I was thinking of making some sweet potato starch to store, but I don't even have a knife at home.
I only have a fruit knife that I've secretly hidden away; it's only as long as my finger, and I don't dare to take it out to use it.
With no other option, I secretly borrowed a knife from the cafeteria lady and used it for the whole afternoon.
Then, the radishes were dried into dried radish, and the Chinese cabbage was steamed and dried three times to make dried vegetables.
All the radishes and cabbages harvested in the yard were dried for easy preservation.
Time passed by at a leisurely pace until the end of the year.
The materials for steelmaking were gone, the fuel was gone, the iron smelting furnace was broken, and the bellows were broken.
Finally, steelmaking stopped, and Mr. Bai returned home.
They went there full of excitement and high spirits, but returned exhausted and dejected.
Ah... I can finally rest at home.
The school stopped steelmaking and started winter break. Bai Wen'an also returned from school, and the family could finally be reunited.
With the Spring Festival approaching, there are many people going to the market, and Bai Xiaoyue and Bai Wenan are preparing to buy some New Year's goods.
She first went to the supply and marketing cooperative to reconnect with Li Mingyue and buy some daily necessities.
It turns out that Wang Weiguo also went to work in the steel industry. Because it was too hard, he lost more than 30 pounds in a few months and now weighs only 170 pounds.
He's 1.8 meters tall and weighs 170 pounds, which isn't considered fat.
She whispered something to Li Mingyue, who nodded repeatedly to indicate that she understood.
Bai Xiaoyue and Bai Wen'an went to the market and were surprised to find wheat and millet for sale. It seems that the communal dining system has given these people courage, and they have no idea about being prepared for danger in times of peace.
The two siblings secretly bought another 100 jin of wheat and 100 jin of millet, spending 20 yuan.
Bai Xiaoyue sorted through the family's food supplies. Chang Le's food for four months was only for Chang Le's own consumption. After eating 40 jin of refined grains, there were still 80 jin of coarse grains left, including millet and cornmeal.
Adding the 200 jin I bought, I have 280 jin left. After spending money on groceries, I only have 5 yuan left after four months.
Bai Xiaoyue sighed, realizing that she was now completely supported by her daughter. "I didn't become a freeloader, but I became a freeloader of my daughter!"
Meanwhile, at the Wang family home, Li Mingyue and Wang Weiguo were having a late-night conversation.
Wang Weiguo had been busy for several months before returning home. He wanted to spend some time with his wife, but Li Mingyue stopped him.
Wang Weiguo said, feeling wronged:
"Wife, I've only been gone a short while, and you're already preventing me from getting close."
"No, Weiguo, listen to me. Xiaoyue said that it's easier to get pregnant if we have sex about two weeks after my period ends." Li Mingyue whispered to her husband, blushing.
"real?"
"Really, Weiguo, I want to have a child for you. Please bear with it."
Wang Weiguo didn't say anything, he just hugged his wife tightly. The couple hadn't had a child for three years, and the elders in the family were very anxious. He knew his wife was going through a tough time.
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