Chapter 112: Requisition of Grain
After another week of busy work in the fields, the corn was harvested and spread out in the drying yard to dry.
The weather was good this year. It hasn't rained twice since the autumn harvest. The beans were harvested early and are now dried in the sun. The sweet potatoes have also been processed by the members to be enough to be paid as public grain. Once the corn is dry, it can be transported to be paid as public grain.
Xia Zhizhi strolled around the brigade every day and took a lot of photos.
There were members working together to collect grain, there were team leaders carefully checking and preparing to hand in the public grain, and there were children digging for the grain that had leaked from the fields.
The brigade's grain production is good this year, and it is estimated that there will be a lot of money to be distributed after the grain is distributed. She has heard that many members are thinking about buying things for their families.
Drying the crops is not as tiring as harvesting. When everyone has some free time, they can think about love again. She has seen several couples strolling down the hill after work. Whenever she saw them, she would record them with her camera.
If they get married, she will use this photo as a gift.
If you're not married...then just pretend nothing happened.
The weather was nice in autumn and within a few days all the grain was dried in the sun. The team leader and members of the accounting organization weighed the grain in the drying yard.
The accountant tallied up all the output from the land.
In normal times, the production team must complete the procurement tasks assigned by the state to the production team.
"Collection" means the compulsory payment of public grain, which is easy to understand.
"Purchase" is to calculate the total output based on the cultivated land of each production team, deduct the basic food rations of the members, and then deduct the seeds, feed rations, reserve rations, and mobile rations of the production team, as well as the rations increased by the brigade. The excess must be sold to the state.
The grain must be sold, and the village is not allowed to distribute it privately. The money from the sale of grain can be distributed among the members according to work points.
Some villages had poor production and could not pay enough grain for requisition, so they could only hand in the grain first and then eat the anti-sale grain. The anti-sale grain tasted very bad. It was all baked in a big stove. It was not only bitter, but also rough and difficult to swallow.
But the Zhongxing Brigade had a high grain output and did not have this worry.
When the grain was weighed, officials from the commune came to record everything in a notebook to prevent the brigade from misreporting the output.
This year, the brigade's cadre was a newcomer, who was said to have been transferred from another place. He was very arrogant and held the grain in his hands, squeezing it left and right: "Comrade Lin, the food shortage in the market is tight. I think your team's production is still okay. You have to complete more of the task of purchasing public grain. You can't be selfish and only care about yourself and ignore other hungry people."
Lin Guoyi wanted to roll his eyes.
Although the food production of their brigade was good, the basic ration was fixed at 400 to 480 kilograms (the ration quotas for children and adults were different). Coarse grains and fine grains were mixed according to the proportions, with coarse grains as the main grain and fine grains as the supplementary grains.
In addition to the distribution of work points, a very strong laborer can get more than 200 kilograms of grain per year. Women or the elderly and weak who cannot get full work points can only get more than 100 kilograms of grain per year.
These are all crude grains. Corn accounts for 60% of the rations of Zhongxing Brigade. The net yield of corn is small, and out of 100 kilograms of crude grains, there may not be 60 kilograms of net grain left.
Based on the annual labor force of 700 kilograms, a person who does 10 work points a day will have a net grain of 420 kilograms a year, an average of 1.1 kilograms a day, three meals a day, and less than four ounces per meal.
How much is 4 liang of grain? If you add a little more water to 4 liang of rice, you can get about 8 liang of cooked rice, which is the amount that comes in a standard small box of rice when ordering takeout in later generations.
If it is made of cornmeal and made into a nest, it will be as big as a man's fist.
A heavy labor athlete who earns ten work points a day can only eat this little bit to avoid starving to death, but there is no way he can be full.
What's more, it's cold here and the calorie consumption is high. If you don't eat more, you won't be able to survive the winter.
If you don't eat frugally after distributing the grain, when the harvest is scarce, you can only go up the mountain to collect grass roots.
The commune officials want to deduct some food from here to increase their performance, but they are dreaming.
The captain was not used to him: "Comrade, what did you have for breakfast this morning?"
The clerk didn't respond: "I ate two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge in the cafeteria, and then some salted vegetables."
"Well, you guys are good at doing things. You can eat steamed bread regardless of the season. We are not like those who work in the fields. We have to wear belts tight all year round, or we will be too hungry to even stand up straight." The captain patted his belly and said, "Don't worry about you laughing at me. I only had a sweet potato this morning. If I hadn't tied my belts tightly, my stomach would be growling right now."
He then asked the clerk, "By the way, what did you say just now? Look how hungry I am. I don't know what I was thinking about all day. I am confused!"
The official looked unhappy. What could he say? Should you tighten your belts a little more?
As long as he doesn't complain or make a fuss, Lin Guoyi doesn't care about him.
If he had been like other production brigades, stealing food from members to curry favor with the commune, their brigade would have been rated as an advanced brigade long ago.
The original intention of evaluating the advanced team is to make the members live better, and he would not do something that puts the cart before the horse.
After weighing the grain, they kept what should be kept and put the rest into sacks and took them to the commune to hand in the public rations.
There were only three animals in the team, and they were all used to do the work. Two more carts were sent over with a tractor, and the rest were pushed over by members on carts. The rest were carried over on members' shoulders.
The team transporting grain from their commune alone was very long.
While everyone was moving food, she used her hands and feet to climb up onto the tall tractor and sat down on the sacks.
The captain was afraid that she would fall and get hurt, so he asked her to come down but she refused and also called Han Youran and Jiang Xiurong to come up.
Thinking that she would not fall since she was sandwiched between two lesbians, she just let her go.
They lived close to the commune and set out early, yet they did not catch up with the first wave, because some villages far from the commune set out in the dark in the middle of the night.
They can only wait in line at the back.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait too long and it was soon their turn.
The team leader spent a lot of money and bought two boxes of Daqianmen, which he handed over to the two comrades who were in charge of inspecting the grain in their village.
Wang Lizhen got this Daqianmen from Xia Zhizhi.
The captain has been reluctant to smoke, and now it comes in handy.
The captain didn't say anything to show his concern. He said, "Comrades, I see you've been working hard these past few days, coming and having a cigarette to refresh yourself."
He specifically looked for a team of male inspectors to form a line.
Male inspectors are easier to deal with than female inspectors. Just give them a pack of cigarettes.
The grain in their village is OK after drying, but now it is all laid out on the ground to dry, so some dirt residue is inevitable. If they encounter some serious inspectors who insist on taking it back, I don’t know how annoying it would be. So it is very cost-effective to give two packs of cigarettes as insurance.
The inspector said: "No matter where you are, serving the people is our duty."
Just put the cigarette in your pocket, insert the iron rod into the sack, and chew a few grains of food. There is no need to check every bag, just one or two bags in a car. After making sure there are no major problems, they will be given a pass.
The team leader took the qualified note and led the grain transport team to line up for weighing. After weighing, the grain was put into the warehouse. He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he got the stamped ticket.
The grain we paid this year is more than last year. When the money is distributed at the end of the year, every household can get more. The cotton production in the fields is also good. After paying it to the purchasing station, every household can get a lot. Seeing that life is getting better and better, how can we not be happy?