Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 839 838 On the Eve of Food Shortage
Xiao Wang arrived at the Women's Federation dormitory humming a little tune.

Jingying went to the countryside to participate in the wheat harvest, leaving only Director Ye and Jingmin at home.

When Xiao Wang arrived on the third floor, the mother and son were just about to leave. As soon as Jingmin saw his older sister's beaming face, he immediately asked, "Sister, is there something delicious again?"

"You have such a keen sense of smell. Here, your brother-in-law got these for you." Little Wang closed the door and took out the cicada nymphs that his mother-in-law had fried that morning from his bag. They would split them equally between the two families, half for each.

"Wow! I knew it! My brother-in-law is amazing. If I were a girl, I would definitely marry someone like him when I grow up!" Jingmin jumped three feet high when he saw the cicada nymphs, and his mouth started to water uncontrollably.

"You child, talking nonsense in broad daylight!" When Xiao Wang heard his younger brother say this, he frowned. Although there was an element of affection in his words, the main idea was wrong. It sounded like he was a kept man.

"Hehe, let me taste it first to see if it's salty enough." Jingmin didn't take his older sister's criticism to heart, picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth. Nowadays, very few children are afraid of these insects; in their eyes, they are rare delicacies.

"All you do is eat. You're not allowed to eat anymore after you finish this. Rinse your mouth and don't tell anyone when you leave!" Little Wang rolled his eyes at his younger brother and gave him a warning.

"Anzi is back?" Director Ye looked at the cicada nymph, then at his daughter.

"Yes, he came back for a while. He had something to do at work today, and he has to go to the farm after he finishes it in the morning." Xiao Wang was too embarrassed to mention the couple's agreement, and only mentioned that the security department had official business. This was not a lie, because her husband had gone to work early in the morning.

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Anzi. How's the farm over there?" Ye Zhijuan was also happy to see the food. In the past few days, she had heard some inside information that the grain reserves in Beijing were seriously insufficient, not even enough to support a week's consumption. However, to avoid panic, the higher-ups had kept it a secret.

"He said that the workers who went down to do labor would have no limit on what they could eat, and that they would have white flour every meal, which was pretty good." Although Xiao Wang had doubts about her husband's statement, she did not express them to Director Ye. It's best to report good news and not bad news; most children understand this.

"What about the yield? Is there an estimate?" Director Ye didn't doubt it; eating well during the busy farming season is a common practice nowadays.

"He didn't say that. He just told me about the work and the scene." Xiao Wang then told his mother about the conversation he and his wife had about the farm while they were taking a bath the night before.

Tang Zhitong hadn't planned to mention this to Xiao Wang, but he hadn't been behaving himself while getting a scrub last night, and Xiao Wang had asked him on purpose to distract her husband. She hadn't expected to use it today.

"I understand." After hearing her daughter's account, Ye Zhijuan sighed inwardly; the situation was far from optimistic.

"Mom, I should go to work." Xiao Wang was still immersed in the joy of tuning the radio last night, and since Ye Zhijuan unintentionally revealed her inner thoughts, she didn't notice anything unusual. She glanced at her watch and was about to leave.

"Bye-bye!" Jingmin couldn't wait for his older sister to leave so he could stuff two more cicada nymphs into his mouth!

"Put it on the tab, we'll settle it next time!" Little Wang pointed at his younger brother from a distance, waved to Director Ye, and then left.

"Jingmin, stop eating. Rinse your mouth and we'll go out." Ye Zhijuan wrapped the newspaper up again and put it in the kitchen. An individual's power is weak in the face of overwhelming circumstances; what they can do is negligible…

When Xiao Wang arrived at work, he put on arm sleeves, tidied his desk, locked the door, and went to the library to organize the books.

Despite temporary difficulties in material life, the government has increased its efforts to care for the people's spiritual well-being this year, with an increase in the number of foreign language books and translations.

The library was originally short-staffed, so when things got busy, other departments would come to help.

The process of getting new books into storage is a systematic project. Some people are responsible for stamping, some for coding, some for attaching card bags, and others for filling out book bag cards.

The book card is a piece of cardboard on which you need to record the book's title, author, number of pages, and category identification code. Later, when you borrow the book, you will need to fill in the borrowing date, borrower's name, library card number, return date, and other information.

It's all done by hand, so it's a bit troublesome to organize.

Because Xiao Wang's handwriting was neat and beautiful, her colleagues recommended her to fill out the forms, which was the most tiring part of the whole process.

While his colleagues were busy at their own pace, chatting as they worked, Xiao Wang could only miserably write and listen at the same time.

"I don't know what's going on these past few days, but the grain stores in our area are out of cornmeal. If you want to buy coarse grains, you can only find sorghum flour, millet flour, and sweet potato flour." Working in the library doesn't require a lot of education; you just need to be able to read and understand the book coding system. So most of the staff here have only a junior high school education, or even a primary school education, and most of them are older, with the youngest being a mother of two.

A group of staff members with limited education and mostly housewives inevitably chatted about neighborhood gossip when they got together.

"Is it like this over there too? I thought it was only in our neighborhood. When I went to ask a couple of days ago, they also didn't have any cornmeal. When I asked the grain store staff when it would arrive, they didn't know." A woman next to me seemed a little surprised after hearing this.

“I still have cornmeal where I live, but it sells out incredibly fast. I couldn’t buy any yesterday,” another woman chimed in.

"Could it be that the grain store employee is trying to fool you?"

"Hey, do you think... there might be a food shortage?! I've heard that the food shortage outside is really bad!"

Seven things to open the door, firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea.

In the sweltering summer, residents of Beijing generally didn't have to worry about firewood, but rice was a different story. Now, grain was purchased with coupons, and families didn't have much grain stored up. The ration was already limited, and if there was a shortage of grain, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Oh dear~ Now that you mention it, I'm starting to panic. We just got our food coupons out the other day, what if we can't buy any more later?"

"No, I have to buy the grain first. I'll feel at ease once I've bought it."

The more they thought about it, the more frightened they became, and they were already showing signs of giving up.

"Hey~ Xiao Wang, do you think the grain store might be out of grain?" The group looked at each other and then turned their attention to Xiao Wang.

We all work in the same unit, and everyone knows who has connections behind them.

"I think it's fine. It's all in the newspapers; wheat harvesting has already started in many places. As long as there's grain, the people of Beijing won't go hungry. Besides, it's much better to have fine grains to eat than to want to buy them but not be able to," said Xiao Wang, putting down his pen, smiling at everyone.

Is there a food shortage? Although Xiao Wang didn't deliberately inquire, and no one told her the inside story, based on her understanding, the supply was definitely tight. However, from her perspective, she certainly couldn't create panic, after all, she was an organized and disciplined person.

"I think Xiao Wang is right. We're right under the emperor's nose, and the whole country is supporting Beijing. No matter how difficult things get, we're not going to be short of food, are we?"

"That's right, that's right. If there's a food shortage, there should be trucks carrying grain all over the streets, right? I heard that last year there was a place with a food shortage, and horse-drawn carts and trucks were carrying sacks full of chaff all over the streets."

……

Because of a single sentence from Xiao Wang, the atmosphere of the conversation immediately relaxed. Although it had still veered slightly off course, it was much better than at the beginning. Xiao Wang wasn't worried at all, because there was still half a jar of corn her husband had prepared...

Tang Zhitong arrived at the transport station, hurriedly dealt with the work of the past few days, packed his things and prepared to rush to the food factory. After taking the popsicles, he still had to cook for the workers and students who were participating in the labor!

However, when Tang Zhitong reached the door, he turned back, bundled up the newspapers he had recently accumulated, and planned to take them to the farm.

Although Fang Yuan led the people to dig a temporary toilet, which provided a place for people to urinate, the frequency and amount of excretion increased because everyone ate as much as they wanted since there was no limit to the amount of dry food they had to eat.

This sudden surge in supply caused a shortage of toilet paper, and even newspapers from the production team were used to make up the difference.

The production team didn't have many newspapers because they collected them and distributed them to the members for wallpapering.

This time, the workers and students who went to the farm to participate in labor experienced the feeling of leaves, grass, and even clods of soil coming into close contact with their buttocks.

Many people, due to their pampered lifestyle, accidentally became "third brothers" after leaving the toilet, rubbing themselves with dirt and rinsing themselves with water. The scene was simply unbearable to watch.

When Tang Zhitong came out of the escort office, he also picked up the newspapers from the past two days, intending to take them with him to the temporary residence.

Upon arriving at the food factory, Tang Zhitong, in addition to popsicles, also planned to ask for a whole block of ice.

While queuing to pay, Tang Zhitong overheard a vendor in front of him asking a staff member, "Comrade, do you have fruit popsicles for three cents each today?"

"No, it will take a few more days," the staff member at the window replied without looking up.

"That sells well, can't we produce some now?" the small vendor persisted.

"The factory has its own production schedule, and I don't have the authority to make that decision. Are you going to pick up the goods or not? If not, move aside," the staff member retorted impatiently.

The small vendors have lost their temper; they'll definitely have to bring it up, but they'll have to do it in smaller amounts.

Tang Zhitong, puzzled, asked another small vendor who was waiting in front of him, "Comrade, did you used to produce popsicles for three cents?"

"You're new to this line of work?" The vendor turned around and sized up Tang Zhitong. He was dressed very neatly in a uniform, which didn't look like someone who did this kind of work at all.

"Oh, my company assigned me to deliver cooling supplies to the countryside, not to sell them in the city." Tang Zhitong thought the vendor was worried about competition, so he answered while handing the vendor a cigarette.

"No wonder you look unfamiliar. We produced them a couple of years ago, and they were even featured in the newspapers. They sold quite well." The vendor smiled as soon as he saw that the cigarettes were Daqianmen.

Not only did he smile, but after filling out the delivery slip, he pulled Tang Zhitong aside and talked about the three-cent fruit popsicles: "These popsicles, rich people don't like them, and poor people can't afford them..."

(The picture shows page 2 of the Beijing Daily on July 12, 1957, titled "A Popsicle for Three Cents")
The vendor was a smooth talker. From him, Tang Zhitong learned that the profit margin for a three-cent fruit popsicle was low, not only for food factories but also for small vendors.

Although the profit margin was low, the variety of flavors was irresistible, including banana, apple, bayberry, orange, and plum. Apart from having less sugar than the five-cent popsicles sold at retail, they were the same size.

Because they are cheap, they are popular with consumers and small vendors alike. They can make a lot of money with low profit margins. As long as the volume increases, the profits will be higher. However, the costs for food factories are fixed, so the factories have not been very motivated to produce.

Because of her family's financial situation, Tang Zhitong had never eaten an ice cream after her father fell ill, so she missed that period and was therefore unaware of it.

After offering the vendor another cigarette to express his gratitude, Tang Zhitong washed his hands and picked up his goods.

Taking pride in hygiene involves more than just swatting flies and mosquitoes; it also includes these small details.

Tang Zhitong's purchase this time was still for the kind of popsicles that cost four cents wholesale and five cents retail. These popsicles came in flavors such as red bean, cream, hawthorn, and Iraqi dates.

Because he was unfamiliar with the industry, Tang Zhitong prepared the goods according to the secret 1:1:1 formula ratio when picking them up yesterday, but they were rejected when they were delivered a second time.

Whether students or employees, they all prefer red bean popsicles.

They say this red bean popsicle has the most authentic flavor. The red beans are simmered for four hours and then refined with sugar and starch. Not only is it bright red in color, but it also has a good texture. It's sandy and you can taste the broken red beans, just like eating red bean paste.

As a temporary popsicle vendor, Tang Zhitong increased the proportion of red bean popsicles when distributing the goods, since the public had raised the demand, but still reserved a small amount of red fruit, cream, and Iraqi dates.

In the past few days, with the increased availability of dry rations, some comrades have experienced indigestion and need the help of hawthorn berries for digestion, while the children in the production team prefer popsicles with cream and Iraqi dates.

After finishing the order, Tang Zhitong didn't leave immediately. For his younger sisters' part-time job plan during the summer vacation, he specifically asked other vendors about the prices and sales of other ice creams.

The ice cream that cost one cent came in three colors: cream, coffee, and chocolate; there was also a two-flavored popsicle that cost one and a half cents, which the vendors called a double popsicle.

Apart from a few affluent areas where ice cream can be sold, most places still mainly sell cheap popsicles.

Tang Zhitong pondered that if the younger girls were to experience life later and come to buy wholesale, they should take the 3-cent coins if they could get them, and the 5-cent coins if they couldn't get them. They shouldn't take the 10-cent and 15-cent coins, as those two were too expensive and not practical.

On the way back, Tang Zhitong suddenly remembered the time he bought popsicles in Chunshu Hutong a few days ago. The vendors were "discounting" the prices, with popsicles costing four cents each and ice creams costing eight cents each. It seemed they were just breaking even.

Sigh, it's all small-scale business, we can't make much money anyway, it's understandable that we don't want to lose too much, after all, we're not like some melon farmers who raise prices on the spot.

Since both parties were willing to give and receive, Tang Zhitong quickly forgave the small vendor.

Before returning to the temporary camp, Tang Zhitong took the popsicles and large popsicles out of his spatial storage and put them on his bicycle. When he arrived at the temporary camp, he helped everyone carry them down and used large blocks of ice to chill the popsicle box before he went to cook.

When the workers returned from their work in the fields to eat, they saw that the popsicles had arrived, and some of them couldn't wait to eat them.

In this regard, Su Qingxiang was not stingy and generously invited everyone to have a small dessert before the meal.

Tang Zhitong wiped the sweat from his forehead and watched the sweating employees happily eating popsicles. It felt like he had found an ice-cold beer in the desert, had hot pot in the Antarctic Circle, found a bottle of insecticide in the Ailao Mountains, and sprinkled a bucket of Tiger Balm in his crotch. His efforts made his comrades happy, and he felt incredibly good.

(End of this chapter)