Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 842 841 Assistance
As the saying goes: "The dish is 30% vegetables and 70% soup."

Although this statement contains an element of advising people not to waste food, it is undeniable that many people enjoy vegetable soup.

Some people dip steamed buns in vegetable soup, pour vegetable soup over noodles, and some even mix the vegetable soup with water and drink it down after finishing their dishes.

The main point is to ensure that not a single drop is left.

A few days ago, there was a shortage of soup and a large number of people at the temporary camp. Today, a grasshopper and egg drop soup basically satisfied everyone's need for a quick bite after the meal.

Seeing that everyone liked it, Su Qingxiang had the idea of ​​adding a soup later.

Although there weren't many egg drop pieces in the drink, there seemed to be quite a lot in the big pot. Su Qingxiang didn't believe that all of these egg drop pieces came from the two bird eggs that the young members of the commune had given him yesterday.

"Xiao Tang, how many eggs did you use for this soup?" Su Qingxiang asked Tang Zhitong, who was tidying up the kitchen utensils, wanting to find out the amount of eggs before deciding whether to add this soup to the recipe.

"Hey, Director Su, how many do you think you used?" Qu Yi interjected from the side. He had personally witnessed Tang Zhitong making the soup. There were only about twenty bird eggs, which is roughly equivalent to two chicken eggs, but the soup still looked like it had a lot of egg drop soup.

"Five or six?" Seeing Qu Yi's expectant look that he was wrong, Su Qingxiang's first reaction was to guess low.

"The logistics department didn't send any eggs here, so this soup was made with bird eggs. There must have been about twenty bird eggs," Tang Zhitong said, pointing to the bird eggshells that hadn't been cleaned up yet.

"Didn't the logistics department send any eggs? I thought they were just making soup with eggs." Su Qingxiang looked in the direction Tang Zhitong was pointing. The eggs weren't very big, even smaller than quail eggs. "How many chicken eggs are these bird eggs worth?"

"In terms of weight, it's about two," Tang Zhitong roughly estimated.

"Two?!" Su Qingxiang looked incredulous.

"I saw with my own eyes that the soup that Section Chief Tang made only contained these bird eggs." Seeing Su Qingxiang's surprised look, Qu Yi laughed happily.

"Yes, I added some water and a little flour. It looks like egg drop soup, but it's actually mostly flour." Tang Zhitong explained his recipe for egg mixture to Su Qingxiang, who didn't believe him.

There are actually more detailed instructions, such as adding a few drops of oil when beating the eggs, or turning the heat down to low when pouring the egg mixture into a large pot and not stirring vigorously immediately, but he didn't mention any of them.

In Tang Zhitong's opinion, the most nutritious part of this soup is not the eggs, but the small bok choy leaves used as a backdrop.

If you simply use a few grasshoppers and bird eggs, the soup will be bland and watery. But if you chop the vegetable leaves into small pieces and thicken the soup with cornstarch, the presentation will improve dramatically.

"Great, great. I'll have the logistics department send over eggs tomorrow. From now on, you can cook a pot for everyone every meal, and add two extra eggs each time!" Su Qingxiang was very generous, doubling the amount of eggs needed.

The reason Su Qingxiang acted so generously was that he knew that the unit's canteen had certain special characteristics. Although it was difficult for ordinary residents to buy eggs, the unit's canteen could allocate a certain amount of eggs.

Since many employees have already come to work on the farm, their egg quotas cannot be left at the company; at least some of them should be moved to their temporary residence for consumption.

"Alright! I guarantee I'll complete the task!" Although adding one more soup means more work, making soup is easier than stir-frying. Most of the time, you just need to watch the pot and make sure the water boils.

In the afternoon, while other colleagues took their lunch break, Tang Zhitong went to the food factory to pick up popsicles as usual.

When they returned to distribute the grain, there were more young members in the threshing ground, and they were no longer so afraid of Tang Zhitong.

During the second round of popsicle distribution, so many children came that there were almost not enough popsicles to go around.

Before finishing work in the afternoon, Fang Yuan had a general understanding of the family situations of the farm members and discussed with Su Qingxiang how to help and support the farmers.

"The income from the production team is not good. Last year, a pure laborer only earned about 200 yuan. After deducting the food, clothing, housing and other necessities for the whole family, the money for weddings and funerals, the children's schooling, the expenses for the elderly and funerals, and the food shortage last winter, many families had to buy grain at the market."

At the end of the year, many families not only had nothing left, but were also deeply in debt.

Fang Yuan smoked a cigarette while looking at his notebook, explaining the information he had written down to Su Qingxiang.

Fang Yuan's literacy level is indeed not very high, but after more than half a year of intensive study, he can now read newspapers independently and take notes without much problem. He just circles a lot of things, and he circles them whenever he doesn't understand something, since he can understand it himself anyway.

"How do you plan to provide assistance?" Su Qingxiang had no experience working in rural areas and was unfamiliar with the situation, so he planned to listen to Fang Yuan's opinion first.

"Does our municipal bureau have any temporary worker opportunities in the future?" Increasing the income of members is the most direct way to help. After thinking it over, Fang Yuan felt that selecting some laborers from impoverished families to work at the municipal bureau under the guise of temporary workers was a relatively safe and effective approach.

"No. To be honest, I recently heard some news that there are plans to further reduce staff. It would be good if our municipal bureau could maintain its current positions in the second half of the year; it's impossible to add any more people." Su Qingxiang knew that Fang Yuan's method would be the most effective, but he was powerless to implement it.

During his journey from the city to the farm, Su Qingxiang noticed that the further south he went, the poorer the area became. While the villagers in the city center still had decent clothes, almost everyone in the farm had patches on their clothes, and some even wore shorts during the wheat harvest.

The feeling of wheat awns and leaves brushing against bare skin is unpleasant, so who would want to wear shorts? Isn't it all because of poverty?

Seeing this situation, Su Qingxiang wanted to help, but couldn't find a good solution.

"How about... we buy some chickens and let the farmers raise them?" Since there was a policy from above, Fang Yuan had no better ideas. He was so anxious that he was scratching his head. Suddenly, he remembered that some women had mentioned wanting to raise chickens during the investigation.

“In the past two years, the villagers have sold almost all of their chickens. Now eggs are in short supply. If each family can raise a hen, even if it lays 100 eggs a year, it will be a considerable income.” Fang Yuan’s son, Gangdan, is still young. Lately, the family has been trying every means to buy eggs and supplement his nutrition every few days. Fang Yuan knows the price of eggs very well. Raising a hen for a year will not only allow the villagers to recover the cost of the hen, but also effectively increase their income.

"Where are we going to get so many hens? Even if I help coordinate, can they afford to pay for them?" Su Qingxiang knew that the production team didn't have many chickens now. Before the commune was established two years ago, some people cleared out their poultry. Last year, when life was difficult, those who still had poultry cleared out another batch. This year, most of the chickens have been sold, and the supply of eggs is getting tighter and tighter.

If you can raise chickens, you can earn several cents from a single egg, which is a pretty good way to make money.

"Could the municipal bureau advance this money first?" Fang Yuan felt a little guilty saying this. Helping commune members is different from the union helping employees. Doing this is not in accordance with the rules, and if someone investigates, it will be difficult to clean up the mess later.

"You think I'm living too comfortably, don't you?" Su Qingxiang rolled his eyes at Fang Yuan. There was definitely no way to cover the costs, so this method was out of the question.

"Hehe." Fang Yuan knew he was in the wrong, so he smiled sheepishly, sat down on the ground, took out a cigarette and gave one to Su Qingxiang. After lighting it, he slowly said, "Then there's only one last thing left. Our employees and commune members will pair up and help each other, one-on-one or multiple-to-one, to raise enough money to help a member in need."

"That...is one way." Putting aside the source of the goods, a hen isn't cheap. Su Qingxiang had wanted to object, but he didn't have a better solution, so he finally nodded. After the meal, Su Qingxiang pulled several leaders aside to discuss the assistance plan, and Tang Zhitong was fortunate enough to attend.

Su Qingxiang felt that Tang Zhitong should witness the assistance. If it succeeded, as a representative of Beijing, could he raise the issue with higher authorities? If it didn't succeed, at least he had tried his best under the witness of a representative.

Fang Yuan's idea was good, but some people still raised different opinions: "Meat supply is very difficult now, where can we find chickens to buy? Even if we do, they'll be on the black market, and it's not appropriate for us to buy from the black market, is it?"

"Instead of helping the commune members buy chickens, why don't we each adopt a little radish head and help them pay their tuition? That won't be taboo."

……

Tang Zhitong listened quietly from the side, watching as the assistance meeting went further and further astray.

Fangyuan's meaning is very clear: it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Instead of helping members reduce their burden, it is better to find a way to give them a sustainable income.

Some people are afraid of the risks, some are afraid of the trouble, and some simply think that buying chickens costs too much.

A chicken costs at least fifty yuan on the black market now. Most of you here are leaders. If we're going to help someone, shouldn't it be one-on-one? What kind of talk is it if three or four leaders help one household?

Helping one household comes at a high price. Taking out fifty yuan to buy a chicken for a member of the commune? That wouldn't sound good if word got out!

Helping with tuition is much simpler. Currently, the tuition and miscellaneous fees per person per semester are not much: 6 yuan for high school students, 5 yuan for junior high school students, and 2.5 yuan for primary school students.

It's only 12 yuan a year at most, which averages out to at most one yuan a month. That's not much money, but it sounds good when you talk about it!
So-and-so paired up with a member of the community and helped their child finish high school!
It sounds high-class and sophisticated, much better than "produce a chicken".

"Distinguished leaders, may I say a few words?" Tang Zhitong felt that such arguing would only lead them further away from Fang Yuan's original intention, so he raised his hand to interrupt the discussion.

"Go ahead and speak." Everyone fell silent, waiting for Tang Zhitong to give his opinion.

“I think it’s more appropriate to help raise chickens, but it’s not suitable to buy hens or to use contract farming.” Tang Zhitong stated his conclusion first, while observing the expressions of the leaders.

Buying adult chickens is too difficult because there are many poor households in the production team. Even if the price is the same as buying chickens from the transport department, it is still a considerable expense.

As for fostering, that's even worse. Nominally, the chickens belong to the leaders. It's fine if the members sell them, but what if they get snatched by weasels or die from illness? What will happen then? It will cause a lot of trouble later.

"What kind of chicken would be suitable? We can't possibly buy a rooster, can we?" someone questioned.

“We won’t choose adult chickens, we’ll choose chicks that have just hatched.” Tang Zhitong shook his head, revealing the answer.

There's a saying that goes, "You can trust the power of the masses, but don't easily trust their wisdom."

In that great poverty alleviation campaign, how many impoverished households sold or ate the pigs, cattle, and sheep intended for poverty alleviation the very next day?
Chickens are different; they have too little meat to eat, and they don't fetch a good price when sold.

"Chicks? Those are even harder to buy, right?" The group looked at each other. The current methods of hatching are limited, and most of the time they have to rely on the hen to brood. Before the dealers even come to collect them, they've probably already been reserved by the neighbors.

"Hey, the research team at the Institute of Posts and Telecommunications is working on an incubator. I only had to come here to participate in the labor, so it's not a big deal to pick it up again in a few days. The chances of success are very high. If we use an incubator, we can hatch hundreds of chicks at the same time. A brood can be hatched in about twenty days. Then, with three chicks per family, one of them will definitely be a hen." Tang Zhitong casually promoted the incubator.

"There's such an invention?" Some leaders were surprised.

"Why three? If you have the means, you can raise more." Some leaders keenly grasped the defining words in Tang Zhitong's words. Right now, there's a shortage of eggs everywhere, and the Commerce Bureau is so worried about eggs that they wish every farmer in the area could raise chickens.

"We are now starting to restart the development of the incubator, and the first batch of chicks could be hatched as early as late June."

It takes about six months for chicks to lay eggs. Chickens also need to eat grain, and raising too many would be a heavy burden on the commune members.

Three is just right. Statistically, this guarantees at least one hen, and the rooster can provide an extra dish for the commune members during the New Year.

Tang Zhitong quickly racked his brains, trying to find a reason to raise three chickens.

Of course, they only said nice things. All the New Year's dishes were just empty words. Even if the animals were raised to adulthood, the villagers would only think about exchanging them for money at the market. Everyone knew this without saying a word.

"Xiao Tang's idea is good; it's very feasible."

“It can be combined with helping students. I’d like to state here that I can help a student.”

……

Hatching chicks doesn't cost much, and it might seem a bit trivial to talk about on its own, but with the support for the students, it becomes a comprehensive support for the production team here.

Tang Zhitong listened with a smile, knowing that no matter what the discussion was about, the outcome would be beneficial to the members.

After things were finalized, Tang Zhitong called Shi Zhengze and Bi Bin over and asked the Municipal Bureau to coordinate with them on the incubator matter, and he would no longer interfere.

Shi Zhengze and Bi Bin were very happy. They never expected that before they even graduated, the two inventions they had made in their spare time had already entered the trial stage. This was a recognition of their hard work by the public!

Doing good deeds always brings joy, and today's impromptu meeting went very well.

As for the source of the eggs, Tang Zhitong remained silent. In matters as public as this, it was Su Qingxiang who coordinated with the logistics department to make things perfectly legitimate.

There are priorities. The students in the research class have been given the official authorization to return to the city tomorrow with the trucks delivering supplies, so they can hurry up and finish developing the incubator. Su Qingxiang, on the other hand, is thinking about how to coordinate the eggs.

Tang Zhitong was even more relaxed. He took a sip of water, carried his five or six half-packs, and went to the wheat field to stand guard.

On the way there, Tang Zhitong thought of the reporter who didn't have any film in his camera. If he knew what was good for him, tonight's impromptu meeting would be such great material. But he was focused on pulling off a big heist and might not even care about this little bit of news.

(End of this chapter)