Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 452 451 Carrot

At dawn on November 11, snowflakes began to float from the sky again. Soon, the ground was covered with a thin layer of silver.

On the way to school, Tang Zhitong saw people waiting for the bus in the snow.

Snow is different from rain. Snow sticks to the surface of clothes. As long as you flick it a few times with your hands or a towel before entering the room, it will fall off without getting your clothes wet. Therefore, many people not only don't wear raincoats, but also don't hold umbrellas.

Of course, this may be related to the fact that there are no raincoats and umbrellas at home.

When Tang Zhitong arrived at the Post and Telecommunications College, he learned the news that in order to prevent the carrots from getting frostbite, the classes in the Cable Department were cancelled today, and the students went to harvest carrots together.

Despite the heavy snow, the students were still very excited and eager to try, because when planting carrots, the department head had said in advance that 20% of each class's harvest would be distributed to the students participating in the agricultural practice.

Because you have a part to play in it, the difference in enthusiasm is huge compared to pure voluntary labor.

As the incident happened suddenly, there were not enough farm tools, but the students did not mind and just started pulling them out, one at a time, without any hesitation.

Some students even hummed "Pulling the Carrots". Tang Zhitong lamented that this song had such a strong vitality, as he had also hummed it when he was a child.

At the beginning, some students thought it was childish and couldn’t let go, but later they felt it was very appropriate for the situation, so more and more students joined in, and suddenly, the practice field was filled with a happy atmosphere.

The nursery rhyme "Pulling the Radish" originated in the north and was later changed into a Chinese nursery rhyme. In 57, a color animated film "Pulling the Radish" was also made.

With the concerted efforts of the little rabbit, the little monkey, the little pig, the little bear and the little snail, a huge carrot was finally pulled out.

The movie is only about ten minutes long, and except for the beginning where a little boy sings two lines of "Pulling the carrots, hey, hey, hey," the rest of the movie is music.

Due to the well-known Leap Forward last year and the fact that the giant radish was quite appropriate, many cinemas played the movie many times, and its influence and impact became even wider.

A group of college students hummed nursery rhymes and did not feel bored at all. They worked even harder.

After pulling out the carrots, they had to remove the mud and leaves. At the same time, some male students waved their heads and dug storage trenches on the spot, preparing to store the carrots.

"Teacher Zhou, what should we do with the radishes distributed to everyone?" Many students were very concerned about this issue and asked the labor committee member to communicate with Zhou Zheng.

"We will weigh them later. After weighing, you can move them away according to your personal wishes, or put them in the storage ditch and dig them out and take them away during the holidays." Zhou Zheng had obviously communicated with the department head and gave Luo Zhiping a clear answer.

Although there are options, many students still have doubts. They want to save the food, but they are worried about what will happen if it is eaten up when they need it. They want to take it back to the dormitory for a snack, but they are worried about what will happen if they can't finish it and it goes bad.
The sponsored students in Room 219 of Dormitory don't have to worry about these things, because when Tang Zhitong was collecting food coupons for Gu Mancang a while ago, he said he would help them exchange them for national food coupons.

Tang Zhitong was tired from work, so he squatted on the side of the road to smoke and take a break. The other students who were sent to work came over.

Compared with carrots, they prefer national food coupons. Time is tight, so they naturally have to ask Tang Zhitong how many national food coupons they can exchange for.

"I can't really say how much I can get in exchange. It has to be something that both parties feel is appropriate." Tang Zhitong had thought about this problem before, but he didn't plan to get involved in it personally, and he would not seek profit from it, otherwise the nature of the matter would change.

“What’s the approximate ratio?”

"Probably. I think seven kilograms for one kilogram." Tang Zhitong smacked his lips and replied.

The price of fish has increased fivefold now, and the price of food coupons is about the same. It is very good if you can buy one kilogram of fish with one dollar and twenty cents of food coupons nationwide.

Carrots are more expensive than cabbage. When they were available in grocery stores, they could be sold for three or four cents per pound. After increasing fivefold, it would be around 1.7 cents, and nearly seven pounds would cost 1.2 yuan.

This kind of price and exchange rate is only available in other cities. If it were in other places, Tang Zhitong would not be able to reach it. After all, when he went to the hometown of Confucius and Mencius last year, carrots there were already being sold for 90 cents per pound.

"This ratio is okay." Lu Jian nodded first.

Adults are different from young people. Most adults seek stability. They know how big the goal will be if they carry carrots back, so they prefer to exchange them for national food coupons. More importantly, national food coupons do not expire, so they will feel more at ease when they have them in their hands.

"I think so too. When will the change be made? Do we need to follow?" Dou Yongchang asked.

"Hey, I'll go back and make some contacts this afternoon to see if anyone wants it. If you want it, just wait at the gate of our college with your national food coupons. When the time comes, whoever wants to exchange it and how much you want to exchange can go and contact them yourself." Tang Zhitong expressed his plan.

Food is very expensive right now. If Tang Zhitong were present, someone might think he was trying to steal some food and make a profit from the difference. Tang Zhitong didn't want to go through this trouble.

The trainees approved of Tang Zhitong's solution and nodded in agreement.

Seeing their roommates gathering together, Lu Shi and Gu Mancang also came over. It was not only the trainees who had this need, they also had it!
Take the carrots home? That was impossible. They knew too well what was going on in the commune and the team.

Going home means temporarily moving the food supply back, but where can we get our own food supply over there?

Mailing the carrots home? That was impossible. The shipping cost was almost as much as the carrots were worth. Besides, who knew what kind of damage they would get in the process? Who knew if they would get lost?
Food was expensive, so they didn't dare to gamble.

Gu Mancang has been tirelessly absorbing nourishment from books recently. When reading "Dream of Red Mansions", he felt that the saying "Understanding the world is knowledge, and understanding human nature is writing" is so true.

Gu Mancang was grateful from the bottom of his heart for his roommate's help last time, but this kind of thing can only happen once and not twice.

Seeing the eager eyes of the two young brothers, Tang Zhitong knew that he had a job to do. He did not intend to hide it from them and took the initiative to say, "We are discussing exchanging carrots for national food coupons. Do you two want to do it too?"

"Yes, yes, change, change!" Out of trust in Tang Zhitong, Gu Mancang did not hesitate at all. He didn't even ask the exchange ratio and nodded to confirm.

"Come, let me tell you what's going on next." Although Gu Mancang was willing to change, Tang Zhitong still repeated what he had just said.

As expected, after listening to it, Lu Shi also chose to change.

Everyone was happy at this point. Next, under the witness of the teacher from the logistics department, the carrots were weighed by class to confirm how many carrots each person would get.

In order to save time, several floor scales were put into operation at the same time, and each shift dug a storage ditch at the edge of its own practice land.

The students worked in groups of three or four, putting the carrots, which had been cleaned of mud and leaves, into baskets and then carried them to the scales for weighing. A special teacher recorded and tare the weights.

Some carrot tops had already frozen and were wilted, so they were sorted out and placed at the bottom of the storage ditch.

There are special students who arrange the carrots in the storage ditch. After each layer is arranged, some students will sprinkle a layer of soil on top.

Although everyone was very eager to know how much they would get, they still did their job and harvested the carrots in an orderly manner.

Near noon, the statistics came out, and each student in Class 593 of the Cable Department could get 155 kilograms of carrots. The whole class cheered, and the other classes were similar.

However, it was now Teacher Zhou Zheng's turn to have a headache, as some students were not satisfied with the two methods of processing carrots that he had just proposed.

They wondered if they could exchange the carrots with the college for food so they could send them home or take them with them during holidays.

Now it was Zhou Zheng's turn to be in trouble. He really wanted to help his students, but he did not have the ability to do so, so he looked at the teacher from the logistics department who was present.

The teacher from the logistics department shook his head, saying that this was not in accordance with the rules.

Tang Zhitong stood aside and saw the whole process clearly.

Zhou Zhengke is a good teacher and has been very kind to Tang Zhitong. The college entrance examination handwriting that he prepared for Tang Zhitong is now shining in Su Nianbin's hands. It is only right and moral that he has to help Teacher Zhou out of this predicament.

Seeing Zhou Zheng in a dilemma, Tang Zhitong said, "Classmates, it's snowing heavily. Let's finish our work first, go to the cafeteria to have a hot meal, and then come back to the classroom in the afternoon to sit down and discuss together."

"it is good."

"Row."

"We believe in Teacher Tang."

The students had all sorts of opinions, and they all agreed readily.

Zhou Zhengze was a little worried. He waved to Tang Zhitong, walked aside, stood in the snow and asked, "Do you have a solution? Don't force it."

"I'll go back to the office and see how many colleagues can lend a hand to me." It's the same if you let one sheep go or drive a flock of sheep away. Tang Zhitong told Zhou Zheng all his plans in detail.

"Thank you on behalf of myself and my classmates." Teacher Zhou Zheng said seriously after listening.

"Oh~ Teacher Zhou, you are too polite. I am just building a bridge and making connections so that we can benefit from each other and share what we have. I don't deserve your thanks." Tang Zhitong waved his hands repeatedly.

"I'm not a fool. Don't try to fool me with high-sounding words." Zhou Zheng didn't appreciate Tang Zhitong's modesty.

"Hey, Teacher Zhou, does our college have any arrangements for these carrot tops?" Tang Zhitong asked with a grin.

"There are too many, and we can't arrange them all. The canteen will use some, and family members will get some. If you want one, just take it." Teacher Zhou understood what Tang Zhitong meant. If he wanted one, he just pointed it out.

"Okay, when you exchange carrots, give me a bag of carrot tops, it will be easier to close the deal." Tang Zhitong's idea of ​​getting carrot tops was not just for himself, but to get some bargaining chips for a better exchange.

The current situation in other places is already very clear, and the people in the city basically know it well, but such things cannot be shouted everywhere.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that if anyone wants a ticket, it means there is a shortage of tickets.

Did vegetables ever require coupons before? Alas, this year, cabbage is rationed, and maybe vegetables will also require coupons in the future.

Winter in the city is particularly long, lasting more than a hundred days. The next year's spring vegetables supply is much longer than a hundred days, and each person only has 30 kilograms of cabbage. How many days can they eat? If they are all pickled, maybe they can barely survive until the spring vegetables are available.

As for exchanging carrot tops for flour mentioned above, Tang Zhitong does not have such a channel. If students use public items to exchange for themselves and are caught, they may face expulsion.

The risk is too great, so Tang Zhitong would not mention this. If a student really does this, he will have to bear the consequences no matter what.

Thinking of this, Tang Zhitong, who had already followed Teacher Zhou back, called Teacher Zhou again: "Teacher Zhou, I remembered something. Do you think someone will come to steal carrots?"

"I'll tell the department head later." Teacher Zhou thought about it and felt that this possibility was still possible. It might not be someone from outside, but could be a student in the school.

Although the school stores cabbage and such incidents have never occurred, carrots taste better than cabbage!

Seeing that Teacher Zhou knew what was going on, Tang Zhitong stopped talking and started burying the carrots with his classmates.

For the convenience of operation, the Logistics Department treats students as units. If you need to take out something, you can take it out. If you need to store something, you can store it.

Tang Zhitong and Luo Zhiping both chose to take the carrots and leave now.

Tang Zhitong had no idea how Luo Zhiping would handle the food, but he planned to throw it in the cellar when he got home and eat it slowly. It would also be a good opportunity to use it to make kimchi for Xiao Wang.

The other students also had an agreement to take out someone's share and share some with everyone to try, then take it out and return it to the person who made the meal.

The cafeteria moved quickly. They didn't serve any other dishes today, just stewed carrot tops. The portions were large and generous, and the price was not increased.

When students from other departments learned that the Cable Department had given each student a number of carrots, their expressions were very interesting.

Some students felt that they should thank their classmates in the Cable Department for being able to eat such large portions of food today.

Some students are envious, some are jealous, and some secretly wonder why their department didn’t grow vegetables in the first place?
Some even had thoughts that they shouldn’t have…

After finishing his meal and taking a break, he came to the classroom. When everyone was present, Tang Zhitong closed the front and back doors, walked up to the podium, and spoke out his plan.

However, this time Tang Zhitong did not reveal the specific exchange rate. He only said that he would try to contact for such an opportunity. If there are students who need to exchange, they can wait for his reply tomorrow. The specific exchange rate can be bargained by themselves, and he made it clear not to spread it to others because the opportunity is very limited.

The reason why the opportunities are limited is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain food coupons across the country. The food system has tightened its loopholes, and many letters of certification stamped by units of insufficient level are no longer sufficient to get tickets from grain stores. You need to get a certificate stamped by a higher-level unit.

Standing on the podium, Tang Zhitong could see the expressions of the students below.

Today's college students have not yet experienced the harsh experiences of society, and they are not good at controlling their facial expressions, so a lot can be seen from their expressions.

Some students obviously support it, but some do not. They may feel that it may not get them much food.

A forced melon is not sweet. Tang Zhitong is not the parent of the students here, and has no obligation to persuade everyone to cherish the opportunity.

Opportunities are ahead, and whether you can seize them depends on your personal luck.

(End of this chapter)