The Fiery Era of Siheyuan

Chapter 187, Quantitative Reduction

The days are as dull as water.

Three months passed quickly, and it was the end of August 1960.

Today's courtyard is extremely lively, the neighbors are up early, today is a big day for the courtyard, no one is not active.

Yes, today is the 25th, the day when the grain station distributes food stamps every month, so the residents got up early to wait for the grain station staff to come and distribute this month's food stamps.

In the imperial capital, the food stamps issued by the grain station on a regular basis every month only came after the famine in [-]. Residents who originally held the imperial capital's grain book bought grain directly with "vouchers".

Later, the famine appeared and spread to the cities. At one time, it was difficult to transfer food to the imperial capital, and the emergency reserve food was less than six days old.

At that time, the city's population was less than 400 million (the "non-agricultural population" enjoying commercial grain treatment). Following the instructions of the central government: low-standard supply of rations for residents, the residents' "certificate" grain supply implemented since the "unified purchase and marketing" in 1954 was changed to " Pay by Ticket" available.

Anyone who has a formal household registration in Beijing (the so-called "eating commodity grain") is issued food stamps on a monthly basis.

The food ration depends on age and varies from person to person, ranging from 3 pounds for a baby, 6 pounds for a child, 8 pounds for a child... to 21 pounds for an adult.

In addition, the indicators vary according to different statuses, such as college and middle school students, government cadres, special types of work... there is a slight increase.

Among them, the supply of flour accounts for 20% of the total ration, rice accounts for 10%, and the rest supplies coarse grains-corn noodles, dried sweet potatoes, and sometimes sorghum noodles, fresh sweet potatoes and other miscellaneous grains.

Like Li Weiguo, he is a light manual worker and has a ration of 38 kilograms of grain every month, including 12.5 kilograms of fine grains and 25.5 kilograms of coarse grains.

The most rationed rations in the courtyard are the first and second uncles. These two are not only senior skilled workers, but also high-strength laborers, so the monthly ration of food can be 46 catties, which is considered the first class in the imperial capital.

"Here you come, here you come, the staff of the grain station are here!"

The third master had been waiting at the gate of the yard early in the morning. When he saw the staff of the grain station coming from afar, he turned around and shouted into the yard.

On the side of the middle courtyard, the first master Yi Zhonghai heard the shout of the third master, and immediately called every household in the courtyard to start queuing up.

"Hurry up, hurry up, all households line up in order, and actively cooperate with the work of the comrades at the grain station. If you move slowly, you will be scolded!"

Everyone in the courtyard heard the command of the uncle, and they didn't dare to delay. They hurriedly followed the usual order. Each household sent out a representative to line up in the center of the courtyard, while the rest stood aside to watch the fun.

Because Li Weiguo lived in the front yard, he stood closer to the front, followed closely by Yuyu, Jia Dongxu, Aunt Ma and others.

Silly Zhu was not happy to line up, so he let Rain wait in line for him, while he followed the old man there and pretended to maintain order.

In front of the team, an Eight Immortals table and a bench were specially set up, which were prepared for the comrades at the grain station, waiting for him to come and host.

It didn't take long for the staff from the grain station to arrive.

"Hey, Mr. Zhang Fuliang, you're here. Please come inside and have a sip of tea in the yard to moisten your throat." The third master waited at the door and greeted the staff of the grain station first.

Member Zhang Fuliang seemed to be in a bad mood today, facing the enthusiastic Third Master, he gave a dry laugh and waved his hand to stop him.

"Haha, Teacher Yan, you are not busy. There is an announcement today. Let's talk about it after reading out the superior's announcement."

"Notice?"

The third master was startled, seeing that Zhang Fuliang's mood was not right, his right eyebrow twitched, feeling as if something big was about to happen, but he didn't have time to think about it, so he had to follow Zhang Fuliang into the hospital first.

After entering the courtyard, he went straight to the middle courtyard. At this time, the first elder Yi Zhonghai and the second elder Liu Haizhong had already been waiting for a long time.

The first uncle, Yi Zhonghai, saw Zhang, the food clerk, coming over. He quickly took out his cigarettes and offered him one.

The second uncle, Liu Haizhong, was even more attentive, and immediately took out a match to light for the grain payer.

Staff member Zhang Fuliang forced a stiff smile, raised his hand to stop him and said, "Master Yi, Master Liu, don't be in a hurry, there is an announcement today."

Seeing this, the first uncle and the second uncle looked at the third uncle suspiciously, wanting to ask what was going on, but the third uncle didn't understand, so they had to shake their heads to show that they didn't know.

Seeing that everyone in the courtyard had already lined up, Zhang Fuliang took out a document from his satchel and said, "Neighbors and neighbors, I will read the notice from the superior next. Please be quiet."

"Notice: Due to the impact of natural disasters. In order to ensure the minimum ration supply of the urban population, starting from September this year, except for employees who work at high altitudes, high temperatures, underground, and those who undertake high-intensity and high-physical labor, the non-agricultural household registration of the imperial capital, per person The monthly ration ration will be reduced by two catties, and the rest of the urban population will reduce the ration of food as appropriate
I hope that the general public will carry forward the spirit of not fearing hardships and difficulties, and overcome all difficulties."

"Wow!!"

This time, there was a thunder on the ground, and the entire courtyard was blown up, and the residents of the courtyard were shocked instantly.

Since the original ration supply was changed to "payment by ticket", many families often have to eat more than their daily allowance. This time, each person has reduced by two catties per month.

This time, but to the old life.

"Why...how did this happen?" The third mother asked in disbelief.

Not only the three mothers, but there are also several families in the courtyard whose family conditions are not very good. It is somewhat unacceptable to hear that you want to lose two catties suddenly, and even the words are trembling.

The elder Yi Zhonghai was startled at the moment, and quickly asked: "Zhang Fuliang, did the superior say when the ration will be restored?"

Staff member Zhang Fuliang shook his head, and said bitterly: "It's not clear yet, there is no accurate statement above. Master Yi, let everyone be prepared and find a way to overcome difficulties. The current disaster is nationwide, and it is impossible to organize. You have to figure out a way for yourself.”

"Hey, what can I do now?"

The few families with a large population in the courtyard suddenly complained.

In the team, Yushui standing behind Li Weiguo tugged at the corner of Li Weiguo's clothes worriedly: "Brother Weiguo, what should we do?"

Since He Daqing ran away, Silly Zhu, a stupid guy, didn't take good care of her. This little girl must have suffered enough, and she was panicked for a while.

Li Weiguo looked back at the frowning Yushui, patted the back of her hand, and comforted her: "Don't worry, famine can't kill a cook, your stupid brother usually eats in the factory, and you can save one meal a day. is enough.

Besides, with the two of us here, how can you still be hungry for a little girl?Right, brother Zhu? "

Silly Zhu on the side nodded in agreement: "That's right, why panic? The cook won't starve to death no matter what the famine, so don't worry!"

Other families might be worried about not having enough food, but Shazhu really doesn't worry about it, at most it's just a reduction in food quality.

When Yu Shui heard the words, his heart warmed up, he closed his eyes with a smile, and nodded obediently: "Yeah."

Suddenly, Li Weiguo seemed to have thought of something again, and turned to Yui Yu and told him, "By the way, from today on, Yu Yu will take care of the food stamps by himself. Don't give them to that idiot of your brother, otherwise it won't be enough for him." Ask him for the money to buy the grain, and from now on the food at home will be yours."

Li Weiguo knows better than anyone what kind of idiot Shazhu is, and with the help of a bunch of schemers in the yard, it is difficult to say how many grains of rice will be left in the house after a month when the food stamps are in the hands of Shazhu .

So Li Weiguo still has to remind him, lest he almost starves to death like the original drama.

Upon hearing Li Weiguo's arrangement, Shazhu immediately became unhappy: "Hey Weiguo, I'm still here."

Li Weiguo turned his head and gave him a disdainful look: "What's wrong with you here? Do you have an opinion?"

As he spoke, he broke his fingers into a "click" sound, which meant to loosen your bones if you disagreed a lot.

Seeing this, Silly Zhu smiled coquettishly and said, "Hey, hey. You are the leader. You have the final say. Whatever you say will be done, no objection."

If you don't accept it, he has seen Li Weiguo's combat power before. He dares to stab him, and he will definitely be punished and knocked down with one foot.
Compared with the optimism of Li Weiguo and Shazhu, the mood of the others was not so wonderful.

The first person to bear the brunt is the third uncle's family. There are six members in the third uncle's family. He is the only one who works. With his salary, he can afford the food rations for the whole family.

But the four children are growing up, and their appetites are bigger than those of their husband and wife. It is not easy to feed them in normal seasons. What's more, some of the rations have been reduced now. The rations are not enough, and you can't buy them even if you have money. Serving food, the third uncle and his wife had a sad face and were very worried.

Except for the third uncle's family, the Jia family's faces are not very good-looking either.

There are three adults in Jia's family. According to regulations, they have to reduce their rations by six catties every month. What should they do now? Qin Huairu, who is in charge of the family's food, is also very worried.

After reading the notice, Zhang Fuliang felt that the atmosphere in the courtyard was oppressive and uncomfortable, so he quickly opened the record book and laid it on the Eight Immortals table, and then started to register and distribute food stamps according to the list of each household.

Soon, the food coupons for more than a dozen households in the courtyard were all distributed, and Zhang Fuliang didn't stay long, and packed up his things and left in a hurry after saying hello.

After receiving the food stamps, each household had their rations reduced to varying degrees, and the courtyard was gloomy for a while.

(End of this chapter)