Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 436 435 Starving and Cold
Tang Zhitong certainly didn't just leave it alone, but there were some things he didn't want his two younger sisters to hear.

After dinner, the two little girls did their homework. Tang Zhitong called Zhang Guifang to come outside, and Xiao Wang guarded the door.

"Mom, although we have to eat according to the ration, we can't be too rigid. My ration this month is still 47 kilograms. You can estimate their appetite and give them some of mine. It's enough for them to eat until they are 70% to 80% full."

"From now on, we will owe you a little on weekdays. On Sundays, you can look for meat in the grocery store, or I can find a way to get some food, and we can improve our lives."

"On weekdays, give them a handful of pine nuts after meals. This way, even if they are a little hungry, they won't suffer from any harm to their health."

"Let's hold on for a couple of months at most. I'll go to my uncle's place before the Spring Festival. Our neighbors to the east have some surplus food. I'll buy some back and get through this period."

Tang Zhitong told Zhang Guifang his plan without any reservation.

"Okay, I'll go buy some sweet potatoes tomorrow. There are five people in our family, and we can buy ten kilograms of food coupons. Last time we bought two kilograms of food coupons, so we still need eight kilograms. If you're not full, use the sweet potatoes to fill your stomach first." Zhang Guifang nodded as she listened, and was also calculating how to fill her family's stomachs with the limited rations.

"Okay, let's do it." Tang Zhitong affirmed.

Tang Zhitong knew about exchanging food coupons for sweet potatoes, but he didn't know that there was a purchase limit for this.

After asking Zhang Guifang, I learned that a family with less than four people could buy five kilograms of food coupons, which was 25 kilograms of sweet potatoes;
Families with more than five people can buy 10 kilograms of food coupons and 50 kilograms of sweet potatoes;
A family with more than seven people can buy 15 kilograms of food coupons and 75 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

Although a family with more people may not necessarily need more care in terms of housing, there is a more obvious tendency for them to have more supplementary food.

Because the years of war had just ended a few years ago, people were feeling at ease and were encouraged to have children at this time.

Coupled with the influence of the traditional idea that having more children means more blessings, many families have children one after another. This situation is particularly evident in rural areas, where people would like to have a baby a year.

Decades later, many people have a clear understanding that having children is a responsibility. If you can't afford to raise them, then don't have them. If you can only afford to raise one, then don't have two, unless they are twins.

If someone says nowadays that having more children in rural areas is irresponsible behavior, it will definitely be considered as crazy talk.

At the moment, the reason why there are more births in rural areas is because of the land!
Before the establishment of the commune last year, the land in most of the country's rural areas was distributed to individual farmers according to the actual family population, and each additional family member received a piece of land!

In the first few years after liberation, the farmers' feelings for the land were engraved in their bones. It was also because of the land distribution that many people did not choose to work as professionals after the War of Liberation and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, but chose to retire and return home to farm.

As for the following twenty years, when people in rural areas were still unable to get enough food but were still able to have children, Tang Zhitong believed that this was because farmers wanted to increase their voice in the production team.

Where there are people, there are bound to be conflicts and frictions. When many reasons cannot be conveyed, fists are used to speak. At this time, the one with more brothers in the family obviously has an advantage.

Even if someone is chosen to be in charge, as long as people with the same surname raise their hands, people with other surnames will basically have no say.

In the past few decades, raising children has basically been done in the wild. It is not much more difficult than raising sheep, it doesn’t cost much money, and as long as they are ten years old, they can earn work points for the family...

Considering the above points, it is difficult for the population not to increase.

Tang Zhitong experienced the feeling of being a boss today. His mother and daughter-in-law boiled hot water for him to take a bath.

Three stoves were burning at the same time, and Xiao Wang was responsible for sending water in, so the water never cooled down.

November 1959, 11, the tenth day of the tenth lunar month, Tuesday, cloudy.

When Tang Zhitong woke up, he felt that the temperature was lower than usual. He put on his clothes and opened the door, and his breath was misty.

"Fortunately, we harvested the cabbages the day before yesterday. If we had kept them for two more days, they would have frozen." The water tank outside the house had already frozen. Zhang Guifang used an axe to smash a hole in the ice early in the morning, then filled a pot with water and boiled it.

"Well, you have good vision. Let's not fetch water today. I will come back in the afternoon and move the water tank back to the house." Tang Zhitong yawned and said to Zhang Guifang.

Most people these days know how to make a living, and water tanks are big items. Some families don't have one at all, and usually use buckets to collect water.

Families with water tanks would move them indoors in the winter. If they placed them outside, even if they were covered with straw, they could not guarantee that they would not be frozen during the coldest days of winter. It was only after a few decades, when the weather became warmer, that people gradually began to place them outdoors.

"Okay." Zhang Guifang had just that idea. The water tank was very heavy, and her husband had always done this job before. Now it was her son's turn.

"Mom, I'm not full." Fengzhi ate half a steamed bun and drank a bowl of millet porridge in the morning. She licked the bowl clean, but she still felt unsatisfied.

"That's all. You can eat after school at noon." Zhang Guifang didn't give her daughter any more. It was okay to skip a meal. She was also trying to figure out the appropriate amount for each person to eat.

Fengzhi curled her lips, accepted it and didn't say anything back.

Tang Zhitong watched from the side with a sly look on his face, without saying anything. Fengzhi had never been hungry before, and if she went hungry for a few days, she would probably protest.

Decades later, twenty kilograms of rice were enough for a family of five to eat for a month, but at that time there were vegetables, meat and fruits on the table all year round, plus various biscuits, candies, chocolates, ice cream, milk tea, milk, cola, white wine and beer to supplement, so they couldn't eat much staple food at all.

But now it is different. There is very little meat and not many vegetables. The energy needed by the body is basically provided by staple foods.

Adults are better off because they have a slow metabolism and can slack off at work, so the ration is barely enough for them to eat.

It will be miserable for children and teenagers.

As the saying goes, the grown-up brats eat their father to death. When Tang Zhitong was working at the construction site last year, he could eat more than 20 fist-sized steamed buns a day, and he never ate less.

It was also during that period that Tang Zhitong gained some weight and no longer looked so skinny. Otherwise, no matter how warm-hearted he was, he would not be favored by the flower-like Wang Jingwen.

It was so cold today that the snow on the road didn't melt, making it even more slippery. Everyone was riding their bikes very carefully.

When Tang Zhitong arrived at school, the class had already started.

Without even having time to put his bag in the dormitory, Tang Zhitong went straight to the classroom and entered through the back door.

Fortunately, Lu Jian brought textbooks for Tang Zhitong, not only for this class, but also for yesterday's class and workbooks. He was extremely thoughtful.

"Is the heating in the dormitory hot?" Tang Zhitong took out his homework book, wrote a small note on the back of a used paper, and pushed it in front of Lu Jian.

After being called out twice by the substitute math teacher, Tang Zhitong and Lu Jian became much more careful and tried not to cause trouble if possible, and they got along well with the teachers.

After seeing this, Lu Jian waved his hand gently, then put his hands into his sleeves, acting like an old farmer.

Okay, Tang Zhitong took back the homework books and thought about heating. During the break, he put the steamed bread back to the dormitory and put it on the radiator to heat it up.

This time it’s easy, just continue eating it with plain water today.

During the third self-study class, Teacher Zhou suddenly walked into the classroom and knocked on the desk with the blackboard eraser: "Students, due to the cold weather, the cabbages in the field have been frozen. The villagers from the nearby communes have asked our school for help and requested that our school send people to help harvest the cabbages.

After discussion and decision by the school, some classes will be sent to assist in the harvest and purchase some cabbages.

We will not have classes in the afternoon. Please obey the instructions of the class monitor.

Luo Zhiping, please go to the logistics department first." After saying that, Teacher Zhou did not stay for long, and Luo Zhiping hurried to the logistics department.

Seeing this, Tang Zhitong stopped doing his homework and followed Zhou Zheng out of the classroom, saying, "Teacher Zhou, I want to take a leave tomorrow."

"Is there something going on at work again?" Zhou Zheng stopped and looked at Tang Zhitong with some surprise.

"No, it's a family matter. My sisters are still young, and I'm the only strong laborer in the family. I have to dig a cellar to store the cabbages, but the weather this year won't wait." Tang Zhitong said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Okay." Zhou Zheng heard about Tang Zhitong's family situation and nodded happily in agreement.

"Thank you, Teacher Zhou."

Zhou Zheng nodded and returned to the office.

Tang Zhitong returned to the classroom and told Lu Jian to help him remember his homework tomorrow.

"Can you do it alone? How about I come over and give you a hand?" Lu Jian asked kindly.

"Thank you, roommate. It's not a big job. I can just dig a hole by myself." Tang Zhitong declined. He wanted to speed up. With someone else present, he might not be faster than himself.

"Okay, if it's useful, tell me." A telegram came from home two days ago, saying that the things had been received. The surprise between the lines could not be suppressed at all. Lu Jian was very grateful to Tang Zhitong.

"Okay!" Tang Zhitong agreed readily.

"Students, the school has arranged for our class to rush to harvest the cabbages. After weighing them, we will carry them back to school. We are expected to work for an entire afternoon.

Please be careful not to bump into any of the vegetables during transportation and cherish every leaf.

The school subsidized three steamed breads and a large spoonful of stewed cabbage for the students who participated in this labor. After the afternoon labor was over, each class received it. "

Luo Zhiping came back from the logistics department and spoke out all the key points like a machine gun.

"Ah!" A classmate who couldn't hold his temper immediately yelled after hearing this.

The other students laughed in a friendly manner after hearing this, and some even applauded.

Mengyi said that the ration for boys was reduced from 36 kilograms to 34 kilograms, a difference of only two kilograms, but there was a shortage of side dishes at the moment, so it was impossible to have a full meal every time.

The physical education committee member has already reported the demands to the physical education teacher. The physical education teacher is unable to make the decision and has promised to report it to the higher authorities. We are still waiting for news.

"Okay, the cafeteria will serve food early today, so let's go have some lunch early and then gather in front of the teaching building at 12 o'clock to set off." Luo Zhiping announced with a wave of his hand.

There were steamed bread hanging in front of them. The students packed up their things very actively and went to the canteen with their lunch boxes to get their meals.

The food in the cafeteria was most likely stewed radish, which Tang Zhitong didn't like, so he went straight back to the dormitory with his backpack, intending to make do with some pickled vegetables.

The steamed bread made by Zhang Guifang was relatively large, weighing about 100 grams each. Tang Zhitong took two as usual.

Tang Zhitong knew a little about pasta processing. No matter whether it was steamed buns, corn bread, or fire-baked bread, one pound of flour would produce about one and a half pounds of finished product, and the extra half a pound was water.

This is also the reason why Tang Zhitong was unwilling to rely on the school for grain. If the chef relaxes a little, one kilogram of grain may be able to produce a finished product of 1.6 jin. If the double-steaming method is popularized, the grain coupons will quickly become valuable.

With the same amount of food, after drinking a bellyful of water, the food would be gone in two pees, so Tang Zhitong kindly reminded Ma Kejian and Wan Xiangyang a while ago to keep the food supply in their own hands.

Previously, students on scholarship in Dormitory 219 ate steamed buns, but now more people choose corn bread. In Lu Jian’s words: corn bread is chewy and can’t be eaten so quickly, and it feels like you’ve eaten too much.

Everyone had a different arrangement of their own quantities. Some bought two, some bought three, and if the lunch boxes couldn’t hold them all, they would just use chopsticks to string them back together.

The side dishes are also slightly different. Some are stewed radishes, some are fermented bean curd, and some are pickled vegetables.

"It will be February in two months. Everything will be fine by February." Dong Yongchang muttered while chewing on a steamed bun.

"What's wrong with February? Is it the New Year?" Lu Shi asked.

"Hehe, it's almost the same as the Chinese New Year. Because February only has 28 days." Dong Yongchang turned around and smiled at Lu Shi and said.

"28 days?" Lu Shi still didn't understand.

"The monthly ration is a fixed number and does not change with the length of the month. 28 days means that you can eat a few more days of the ration." Lu Jian took the opportunity to reveal the answer.

Everyone who eats rationed food knows this principle, but it only applies to those who rely on the canteen for food.

When it comes to food, people at home still buy food and eat it on a daily basis. The annual ration is 360 kilograms. The four or five days when there is a shortage of food are mostly filled with the extra side dishes that can be bought during the few festivals.

Lu Shi and Gu Mancang were from rural areas. They only had rationed food for the first time when they went to college and were not familiar with the ingredients.

"Is it enough to make three hundred and sixty yuan a year? Everyone likes February. If it's a long month, you have to squeeze out a day from your teeth." Dong Yongchang sighed and shook his head.

Tang Zhitong didn't say anything this time. Three hundred and sixty a year. In the next two or three years, this three hundred and sixty could not be guaranteed in many places...

After dinner, the roommates poured some boiling water into the lunch boxes and drank it down, which was considered as washing the lunch boxes.

I hurried downstairs to gather, got my tools, and followed the main group on foot to the commune.

It is called a tool, but in fact it is a sack used to carry cabbages, one for each man and woman, which is very equal.

The biting cold wind blew on their faces. Everyone faced the wind, put the sacks in front of them to block the wind, and moved forward in silence.

No one said anything, because once they opened their mouths, they could talk as much as they wanted, and as long as they didn't mind, they could fill their stomachs.

While Tang Zhitong was passing the cigarette to Lu Jian, he took a sip, which could be considered as a taste of the northwest wind mentioned in the first chapter.

It took more than half an hour to walk here. Fortunately, we were given cotton clothes a while ago, otherwise, in today's weather, many people would have caught a cold.

In addition to the students from the Post and Telecommunications College, Tong Wang also experienced this feeling.

Although he had a cold, Tong Wang wanted to find Tang Zhitong one day earlier.

However, Tong Wang's situation was much better than that of the students of the Post and Telecommunications College. He wore a worn-out coat over his leather jacket and leather pants, and there was a stove made from an oil barrel on his tricycle.

Sweet potatoes were roasting in the stove, and Tong Wang was sitting on a stool, watching over the fire.

(End of this chapter)