Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 833, Difference 832
Although everyone was very enthusiastic when they first started working, they were used to sitting in an office, and as time went on, the laughter decreased, and many people stood up to rub their backs more often.

As Su Qingxiang stood up and rubbed his back, he pointed at Yu Ying, who was far ahead of him, and asked Fang Yuan, "Old Fang, is this girl from your department? She's pretty fast."

"Hey, she came all the way from Tianshui. She was clinging to the roof of the train the whole time, and they only managed to get her down when the train arrived at the transport depot. Seeing her like that, I couldn't bring myself to send her away." Fang Yuan put down his sickle, wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered one to Su Qingxiang, continuing, "She's a kind and grateful girl. These past few days at the transport depot, she's been weeding, sweeping, and cleaning windows—she hasn't had a single day off..."

Fang Yuan hadn't originally planned to tell Su Qingxiang about this, but he wasn't one to keep things to himself. Since Su Qingxiang asked, he told him about his plan to register Yu Ying's household registration.

“This matter… is in accordance with the rules.” Su Qingxiang originally wanted to say that he was taking advantage of a loophole, but since the person he was talking to was Yu Ying, a hardworking girl who had escaped death, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

"Let's wait a couple more days and see. The candidates the production team listed here are all ugly and unattractive. I don't think they're good enough for such a nice girl." Fang Yuan got angry when he talked about this. What kind of names are these: cripples, widowers, and old bachelors? Isn't this bullying?
Hearing Fang Yuan say this, Su Qingxiang shook his head with a helpless smile. Although it is now advocated to simplify weddings, it does not mean that the standards for choosing a spouse should be lowered.

Even lame, blind, or mentally challenged men with urban household registration can find a decent wife in the countryside to continue their family line. As long as the woman agrees, even the Women's Federation's intervention is useless.

For women who come to Beijing from other places to make a living, as long as they can settle down and have food to eat, they probably wouldn't hesitate to ask if they could marry a bachelor in his fifties or sixties.

"Let's put finding husbands on hold for now. I see everyone's enthusiasm has dropped. If this continues, we might not be able to catch up with the production team." Su Qingxiang looked at the production team not far away. Although they were all dark-skinned and dressed in tattered clothes, and didn't seem to be moving very fast, they were cooperating well and their efficiency was much higher than ours.

“This is the first time we’ve organized this kind of labor, so we lack experience. Let’s learn from others and try dividing our people into several companies.” Fang Yuan also noticed that only Yu Ying was a little faster than the other side; most of the others were not progressing well.

“That’s one way. I’ll discuss it with my colleagues in the department.” Su Qingxiang nodded, thinking Fang Yuan’s idea was feasible.

According to the tacit understanding reached between the municipal bureau and the ministry, the farm belongs to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and the municipal bureau is responsible for providing labor. Although most of the people who came to participate in the labor were employees of the municipal bureau, Su Qingxiang did not act on his own initiative, but gave full respect to the superior department.

The comrades in the department did not interfere much with the arrangements made by the municipal bureau. A few people squatted down on the ground and used small stones to write and draw on the ground, thus finalizing the structure of the company.

Although he had a plan, Su Qingxiang did not announce it immediately. Currently, the staff and students were scattered across several fields. If he were to gather everyone together, both the work pace and the harvesting speed would be affected. He planned to make the matter public when he went back to eat.

After a few breaks, around 8 o'clock, several young men from the production team pushed a cart full of steamed buns to the field.

Seeing the commune members stop their work to eat steamed buns, the post office staff seemed to smell the aroma emanating from them. Someone couldn't help but ask, "Director Su, when are we going to eat?"

"Comrades! Hold on for another half hour, then we'll all go back for dinner! Please pass this message on to each other!" Upon hearing someone ask, Su Qingxiang cupped his hands around his mouth, making a megaphone-like gesture, and announced loudly.

Su Qingxiang had inquired with the production team beforehand and learned that the team would deliver the dry rations to the fields so that the workers could eat and then continue working. He had originally planned to have the workers take turns going back to eat, but due to the reorganization of the teams, he decided to finish work a little earlier this morning.

Hearing Su Qingxiang say this, the employees were somewhat better off, but the junior high school students lost their excitement from the previous night, and a few of them even wailed.

"What are you howling about? Look at our fellow villagers, are they complaining? Look at those little villagers who aren't even as tall as the wheat, have they stopped? You're all tall and strong, how dare you complain about being tired?!" The teacher in charge was there this time. Hearing the commotion from the students, he immediately pointed at the noses of those few troublemakers and gave them a good scolding.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the junior high school students lowered their heads in shame. Not only did they stop making a sound, but they also became more agile in their movements, trying to wash away the shame brought about by their earlier mischief with their actions.

Half an hour passed quickly. With a call from Su Qingxiang, most of the workers and students who came to participate in the labor walked out of the wheat field in twos and threes.

Tang Zhitong slowly bundled up the freshly cut wheat, carrying one in each hand to the edge of the field.

There was a wheelbarrow at the edge of the field. If it was properly tied up, it could push about ten bundles of wheat.

Tang Zhitong made several more trips, not caring whether he had cut the crops himself or not; as long as he saw an unattended field, he would tie them up and carry them over.

Just as Tang Zhitong was loading the bundles of wheat onto the cart and about to tie them together with a rope, Yu Ying ran over: "Brother Tang, let me help you."

"Thank you. Please hold the cart for me, I'll straighten it myself." Because the middle of the wheelbarrow is relatively high, it is easy to lose balance if no one is holding it.

With Yu Ying's help, Tang Zhitong quickly tied the wheat securely.

The wheels of the unicycle are made of wood, and the balance of this kind of vehicle is not easy to control. Before pushing the unicycle, Tang Zhitong spits into his palm and rubs his hands together. This can effectively increase the friction between his hands and the handlebars, making it easier to control the vehicle.

Tang Zhitong grabbed the strap between the handlebars, put it around his neck, gripped the handlebars firmly with both hands, stabilized his lower body, and used his legs and arms to lift the unicycle.

Without saying a word, Yu Ying silently walked to the front of the car, put the rope on her shoulder, leaned forward, and pulled hard.

Although the wooden wheelbarrow was not easy to push, Tang Zhitong was much more agile with Yu Ying's help.

The journey was silent until we arrived at the threshing ground. There were a few little ones carrying baskets containing the fruits of their labor that morning—broken ears of wheat—and other commune members busy unloading and untying the wheat bundles.

The wheat bundles were tied together with straw ropes, but the number of straw ropes was limited and they had to be recycled during the wheat harvest.

"Thank you for your hard work, fellow villagers." Seeing that the threshing ground was well-managed by the commune members, Tang Zhitong abandoned his idea of ​​starting another threshing ground, parked his car here, and unloaded the goods on the spot.

Seeing that Tang Zhitong seemed easy to talk to and was wearing clothes with four pockets, the commune member quietly asked as he took the bundles of wheat, "Leader, this place has become a farm, why haven't we seen any harvesters coming?"

"Harvester?" Tang Zhitong was taken aback. The name of the machine seemed a bit out of place coming from the mouth of a commune member with yellow teeth. Where did he hear that?

"Yes, combine harvesters!" A commune member with yellow teeth pointed westward and asked expectantly, "The South Suburb Farm, Tuanhe Farm, and Hongxing People's Commune have already achieved the four modernizations of agriculture. They have water when it's dry and combine harvesters for harvesting wheat. Now this place has become a farm too, so it should be soon, right?"

(The picture shows the Tianen Brigade of the Hongxing People's Commune harvesting wheat in 1959.) "This... I really don't know." Tang Zhitong scratched his head. The so-called four modernizations of agriculture refer to mechanization, electrification, irrigation, and high yield.

Tang Zhitong had heard of all the farms and communes mentioned by the commune members. Among them, Nanyuan Farm had the most prestigious background, while the others also shouldered different missions. It was normal for them to have started early and held higher positions, and to have initially achieved the four modernizations of agriculture. But this farm...

"Oh." The commune member was somewhat disappointed by Tang Zhitong's answer. The neighboring Red Star Commune not only had a large output, but its members also had a high standard of living. They didn't even wear patched clothes while working. But here, even when they weren't working, they had to wear patched pants. When would they be able to live like that?

Seeing the disappointment of the commune members, Tang Zhitong sighed inwardly. Rather than saying that the commune members were looking forward to harvesters, it would be more accurate to say that they had aspirations and expectations for a better life.

The pursuit of a better life is instinctive, but there are many issues involved in achieving it, especially in terms of resource allocation and development level, where there are significant differences.

Thinking deeper, there are three major differences, but these three major differences are not so easy to eliminate. Not to mention now, even decades from now, there will still be people wielding sickles to harvest wheat.

It seems unlikely that the expectations of the members here will be met for a long time.

Tang Zhitong unloaded all the wheat bundles, took the straw rope, tidied up the rope of the wheelbarrow, pushed the cart, and walked back with Yu Ying.

"Xiao Yu, you don't need to work so hard this afternoon. You still need to take care of your health." On the way back, Tang Zhitong kindly reminded Yu Ying. This girl Yu Ying worked too hard. In just one morning, she managed to lap the second-place worker in wheat harvesting twice!

"I'm fine, I can handle it." Yu Ying smiled at Tang Zhitong, not taking it seriously.

"..." Tang Zhitong could tell that Yu Ying was speaking from the heart, but most of the people following her were men. You, a girl, are so capable, which makes us employees seem a bit useless!

It's not appropriate to say these things directly. Since Yu Ying doesn't understand, then so be it. We can't dampen the enthusiasm of young people.

When they returned to their temporary camp, everyone had already eaten breakfast, which was the same as the other members of the commune: steamed buns.

Qu Yi and several female colleagues from the Municipal Bureau worked all morning, and the steamers on the large pot were constantly being used. Even now, there is still a large pot with eight layers of steamers stacked on top of it.

The other two large pots were boiling water. As soon as the water boiled, it was transferred to a water vat next to them using buckets. The first people to drink it had cooled boiled water, the later people had hot water, and now the water would be boiling.

Tang Zhitong was also thirsty, but boiled water was clearly not safe to drink, and he couldn't cheat directly in front of everyone, so well water became the only option.

The only water tank at the temporary camp was already being used to hold boiling water, so the water could only be temporarily stored in buckets after being drawn up.

Tang Zhitong splashed water on his hands, rubbed his face, and then returned to his "bed" to get his lunchbox.

When they returned, several junior high school students were already drinking heartily from the bucket of water.

"Drink slowly, be careful not to drink too fast and get a cold stomach." Looking at these teenagers, Tang Zhitong thought of Fengzhen. He wondered which commune his sister would be working at today, and whether she would be as tired as these boys.

"Thank you, Uncle." The boys, who had been working on the farm all morning, were too tired to move, so they came over to share the water after seeing Tang Zhitong fetch it.

"Hey, you have such a sweet tongue. Take a walk after you finish eating, don't lie down, lying down will only make your muscles hurt more." Tang Zhitong wasn't angry when he was called "uncle." In this respect, men seem to be different from women. Women are afraid of being called old, while men are not. They are more willing to be someone's father. This is most obvious when they are cursing. For example, Master Haizhu's well-known curse is almost like saying "I'm your bastard father."

Seeing that the young man was polite, Tang Zhitong patted him on the shoulder and kindly reminded him.

Young calves are not afraid of tigers. This morning, several young men pushed carts and jogged to deliver bundles of wheat. When they came back, they complained that the wheat was being harvested too slowly and stood behind the wheat harvesters, shouting "Keep it up!"

This was a bit too much, and it made the male employees blush with embarrassment.

After the young men finished drinking their water and left, Tang Zhitong put the lunchbox into the bucket. To others, it looked like he was scooping water, but in reality, he was using the bucket as a cover to put the spring water from the lunchbox into it.

The water quality in Beijing was notoriously bad. Even though this area had previously been a royal hunting ground and there was no serious residue of excrement, Tang Zhitong still found the well water unpleasant to taste.

After finishing his water, Tang Zhitong went to get his steamed buns and ate. He ate one bite of steamed bun and one bite of pickled vegetables as he walked toward Su Qingxiang.

The commune members were looking forward to the harvester, and Tang Zhitong also wanted to know if the area could be developed for modernization.

“The ministry doesn’t have such a plan. Not every farm and commune can enjoy the same treatment as the South Suburb Farm and the Red Star Commune. Our ministry also has its own difficulties, but we will still give some preference to the commune members here in terms of receipts.” Tang Zhitong held the title of representative of Beijing, so Su Qingxiang couldn’t fool him and answered very clearly.

"Alright, if any members ask me again, I'll just say 'leaning'." Tang Zhitong understood that Su Qingxiang meant for the members to be content and know when to stop, so he happily agreed, not surprised by the result.

They were all commune members, but the treatment here was very different from that of the Red Star Commune. It would be impossible for the commune members not to have some grievances.

But as a person, one should always be content with what one has. It's enough to be better off than some and worse off than others. If everyone were like those farms, the post and telecommunications department wouldn't be able to keep up.

After finishing his meal, Tang Zhitong told Fang Yuan and went to prepare the lunch. The vegetables delivered by the Municipal Bureau were already placed not far from the wellhead, obviously for easy cleaning.

Before long, Su Qingxiang called the staff and students to form teams. The escort department and cooks were not in the teams, and Tang Zhitong did not join in either. In the next few days, he would be responsible for everyone's two meals a day, plus he would be on duty at the wheat field at night, so he probably wouldn't have time to participate in other labor.

(End of this chapter)