Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 344 Distribution
August 7th, the 23rd day of the 6th lunar month, is the hottest time of the year.

This day happened to be the beginning of autumn.

Chen Fan carried a bundle of bamboo into the panda enclosure, exhaling a puff of hot air. "This late summer heat is really fierce. There's no coolness at all. It'll be hot for at least another month."

The panda rolled over happily, followed by two little pandas.

Jiang Lili then handed a bamboo stick to Gun Gun, squatted down, picked up Chang Chang, and happily rubbed it a couple of times, saying, "Hey, you've gained weight again."

She then looked up at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "A month is considered good. Sometimes it doesn't get cool until the Mid-Autumn Festival. But even when it gets hot, it's only during the day. It won't be so hot in the morning and evening."

Chen Fan turned around, picked up Gun Gun and put him on the wooden stool, chuckling, "That's true."

He paused for a moment, then patted the big, round head and laughed, "They haven't been out for a month, and they've been fed and cared for every day. How could they not gain weight? On the other hand, those two pigs haven't been eating enough; they seem to have lost some weight this month."

During the double harvest season, almost everyone is busy with farm work in the fields. Only the elderly who stay at home can take care of their poultry and livestock.

But how could Teacher Chen possibly know how to cut pig feed?!
The two pigs at the educated youth settlement were fed with rice bran that he obtained by exchanging work points with Master Liu. However, there wasn't enough rice bran, so they could only be fed half-full. Also, feeding them only rice bran was not good, as it would easily lead to nutritional imbalance.

So this month, it wasn't just the people at the educated youth settlement who lost weight, but also those two pigs.

The other animals were fine. The two horses and two sheep were able to find food on their own, and bamboo was delivered every day, even during the busy harvest season.

The production team truly lived up to its word.

The rabbits were fed regularly by workers from the farm, and Chen Fan hardly ever had to manage them.

The only ones going hungry were those two pigs.

Jiang Lili put Changchang down, picked up Shuishui, looked up and smiled, "It's okay, now that the double harvest is over, we're not so busy. We can gather more pig feed every day and fatten the pigs up."

Chen Fan looked at her and said, "You should take care of yourself first. Look at yourself, you're as thin as a monkey. If your sister saw you, she would be heartbroken."

Jiang Lili grinned and said, "She can't see anyway. By the time she comes to see me, I'll have already recovered."

That's what I said, but I couldn't help but look down at my body and wonder to myself, am I really that thin?
Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "You just keep reporting the good news and not the bad."

The double harvest season is in the summer, but Jiang Tiantian only visits her during the Chinese New Year. In just a few months, as long as Jiang Lili pays a little attention, her tanned skin can regain its fair complexion. Moreover, in winter, when she wears a thick cotton-padded coat, it's impossible to tell whether she's fat or thin. Unless the veins on her hands are bulging, Jiang Tiantian definitely won't notice.

The two watched the pandas eat bamboo, chatted for a while, and played with the two panda cubs for a bit before leaving the panda enclosure. Chen Fan then turned around and locked the gate.

Duo Duo and Qiu Qiu squatted obediently to the side. They now knew that they couldn't sneak off to play with the big black and white bear, otherwise the foal and lamb would also want to play, and their owner would be unhappy.

After packing their things, Chen Fan and Jiang Lili headed towards the former educated youth compound, with the two dogs following closely behind.

They lived in this new house throughout the entire harvest season, but moved back the same day the harvest ended.

Perhaps it's not accurate to say they moved, because they never brought their belongings upstairs; they just slept here, so there's no question of them moving.

Jiang Lili followed behind Chen Fan, her eyes darting around a couple of times, before suddenly asking in a low voice, "Xiao Fan, this house is habitable now, why are you still living downstairs?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled, "Don't I have to teach you every night? If I live upstairs, I'll have to come back, which is troublesome."

Jiang Lili pursed her lips, "Then we can come up, and go down after class."

Chen Fan continued walking down, "It's the same old thing in a new bottle, and now it's you guys who are in trouble. Anyway, I'm all alone, I can sleep anywhere. I'll just stay down here for now, and once I've finished teaching that set of textbooks, it will be almost the end of the year, then I can move over as originally planned."

Jiang Lili puffed out her cheeks, smiled without saying a word, but her gaze kept wandering, clearly lost in thought.

Soon they arrived at the educated youth compound. Entering from the back, Chen Fan, as usual, first petted the little mare and foal that had come closer, then turned to look at the two pigs. While pondering, he said, "At the end of the year, we'll see which pig is bigger and hand it over to the food station. Then we won't have to do any tasks for several years. We'll slaughter the other one for meat, and when you go home to visit your family, take some meat back with you."

Jiang Lili was slightly taken aback. "Going home to visit relatives? I'm not going back."

Chen Fan turned to look at her and smiled, "Don't want to go back? Or are you afraid to go back?"

Jiang Lili lowered her head and remained silent.

Chen Fan sighed softly and said, "It's not far from here to Yunhu. It only takes a little over two hours by car. If you're worried about affecting your family, I can ask the brigade headquarters to give you a letter of introduction for handling matters. You can take the letter and find a hotel a little further away from home to stay in. Then you can call your parents and sister over. Even just seeing them once is better than you locking yourself in here and overthinking."

Jiang Lili bit her lip, but still didn't say anything.

Her current thought is to avoid causing trouble for her family as much as possible. If going back to visit relatives causes trouble for them, she would rather not go back at all.

As for Chen Fan's suggestion... well, she didn't want to cause Chen Fan any trouble.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Chen Fan didn't say anything more and continued walking forward. "Hey, after the double harvest, is there nothing else that's very busy in the production team?"

There's no way there won't be something going on in the production team. The only difference is how much or how little. The busiest thing is undoubtedly the double harvest season. After the double harvest season, things should go back to normal, right?

Then I can happily dawdle through the work!
Jiang Lili quickened her pace to catch up with him, gently shook her head, and said, "No, not exactly."

Chen Fan turned around abruptly to look at her, "Anything else?"

Jiang Lili looked up and smiled, "Of course there are, but they don't last as long as the double harvest season, and they're not as tiring."

Seeing Chen Fan continue walking forward, she said as she walked, "For example, these past two days we've been drying rice. Once the rice is dried, we have to go to the grain depot to deliver the grain to the state. Our team's grain quota is 65.8 jin per mu, and for a total of 350 mu, we have to deliver 23030 jin of grain. In addition, we also have to pay 130 jin of grain per mu for purchasing, which is 45500 jin."

The grain was handed over to the government without compensation, which was equivalent to paying taxes. The grain was purchased from the grain depot at the lowest possible price. There were nearly 70000 jin (approximately 35,000 catties) of grain in total, and we had to haul it ourselves to the depot to hand it over – it was hard work.

The proportion of grain payable was not fixed, but was calculated according to the land's output and the country's demand for grain.

A few years ago, the average yield of paddy fields in Lujiawan was about 244.5 kg per mu, and the average tax rate was set at 13.46%. So, in the following years after the tax rate was set, as long as there were no special circumstances such as disasters or reduced production, the amount of public grain to be paid was fixed at 65.8 jin per mu.

This standard is usually maintained for 5 years, after which it will be recalculated.

The "purchase of grain" was also determined according to the yield per mu, and was generally about twice that of public grain.

The yield for Lujiawan was set at 2.2, which was rounded up to 130 jin per mu.

In other words, under the circumstances at the time, one mu of land in Lujiawan could yield about 489 jin of rice. After deducting the public grain and purchased grain, 195.8 jin had to be handed over, and the remaining 293.2 jin was the grain that the production team could freely dispose of for one season.

Even if rice is grown in two seasons in Jiangnan, the annual income is less than 600 jin. Based on 350 mu, the total income is only 200,050 jin of rice.

This was previously the main source of income for Team 6 of Lujiawan throughout the year. The entire team of more than 300 people, young and old, relied on this grain for their livelihood.

However, that was a few years ago. Starting the year before last, the yield per mu in Lujiawan has remained above 300 kilograms for three consecutive years, so the amount of grain received has increased significantly.

That's why it's called a bumper harvest. If the production team could sell its grain to the grain depot at a low price, Lujiawan could have made a decent living just by farming.

Unfortunately, no!

Chen Fan had already learned this basic information a few days ago when he was at the brigade headquarters.

He listened to Jiang Lili's words and nodded thoughtfully. "So we have to deliver the grain soon, right?"

Jiang Lili nodded. "If things go smoothly, it should be tomorrow or the day after."

Chen Fan couldn't help but click his tongue. The double harvest had only ended the day before yesterday, and they had to deliver the grain tomorrow. It was really a tight schedule.

When they arrived at the front yard, Jiang Lili brought out two chairs from the room, and the two sat and chatted in front of the house.

Looking at the open door, Jiang Lili grinned and said, "I wonder how much stuff Huang Ying and the others will sell today."

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, "I won't think about that. I'll sell as many as I can. Selling one set is still making a profit. If I can't sell any, I'll just consider it a chance to get some fresh air."

Today is the first Sunday of August, which is also market day in Nanhu Commune.

After a month of hard work during the double harvest season, Chen Fan wanted to let them rest for a few more days, but Huang Ying and the other two couldn't sit still. Taking advantage of the market day, they took the remaining pottery to sell.

Since there wasn't much stuff, Chen Fan let them have their way.

They haven't even had time to make pottery blanks this month, and they're still using the stock left over from before. However, the "toilet construction team" in the squad has accumulated orders for more than twenty squat toilets. If they can complete these orders, they can earn another three or four hundred.

No wonder they are so enthusiastic.

At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly remembered the new rice cakes that the mother who was coaxing the child had mentioned during the double harvest season, so he asked, "After the grain is delivered, what happens to the remaining grain?"

Jiang Lili immediately said, "Only after paying enough to the state and leaving enough for the collective can the rest be distributed according to the rules."

She counted on her fingers and said, "The production team also needs to keep its own reserve grain, including seeds for the next season, livestock feed, grain to be handed over to the brigade headquarters, and food for entertaining guests. For example, An Ge eats food for entertaining guests."

Chen Fan was somewhat surprised, "Didn't he pay for every meal?"

The standard meal allowance for Anquan here is 4 liang of grain coupons per meal, plus 15 cents. He gives the coupons to the restaurant where he eats. Even when Chen Fan treats him to drinks and meat, he only gives him this much. In his words, he only has this much budget. If it were someone else's meal, he would definitely give more. But with Chen Fan, he considers it tuition for his music lessons.

Jiang Lili looked at him and smiled, "He did pay, but the production team didn't have grain coupons or grain rations. So where did the grain come from?"

Chen Fan almost choked when he heard that.

That makes sense. Units in the city have rations and grain coupons, so production teams can only keep enough grain for themselves to entertain guests. If they don't keep enough grain, they'll probably have to buy "returned grain".

Grain sold back to the government is grain that is priced higher than regular grain.

如果说正常粮价是1毛4一斤，那生产队卖给粮管所的“购粮”价格大概就在8分钱左右的样子，而返销粮的价格则在1毛8到两毛左右。

Well, that's it.

However, given Lujiawan's grain production this year, it should be far from reaching the point where they need to buy back grain.

Jiang Lili continued, “After the state and collective grains are distributed, the remaining grains can be allocated. Generally, these grains are distributed according to the ratio of ‘7 people to 3 labors,’ meaning that 70% is used as rations, and the remaining 30% is valued according to work points and then distributed to individuals.”

Chen Fan nodded slowly, "7% of people are employed and 3% are laborers. In other words, even the elderly living alone, orphans, children, and seriously ill patients—those who are old, weak, sick, disabled, or have limited labor capacity—can have their food rations guaranteed?"

Jiang Lili smiled and nodded gently, "That's right."

Sometimes she thinks she's quite lucky. Fortunately, she was born in Jiangnan and was assigned to Lujiawan during her time in the countryside. If she were in some impoverished areas, where an acre of land wouldn't yield much grain, she would be busy all year but wouldn't even earn enough to cover her food expenses and would even owe the production team money for grain. That would be truly miserable.

Unlike now, she has no worries about food or clothing, and can even save a few dozen yuan a year. Especially after Chen Fan came, her savings are approaching the two hundred mark. She's truly blessed!

Chen Fan laughed and said, "That's good too. At least we made sure no one was left behind in the group."

He wondered to himself, if it were time to distribute the grain, shouldn't he be entitled to his first paycheck?
It's pathetic to think about it. I started working as a coordinator in January, and it's been a full six months now, but I haven't received a single penny of salary. If this continues, who will do the work for me?!

The two sat in the courtyard, chatting idly, and before they knew it, it was noon.

Jiang Lili was startled awake when she saw the sun high in the sky. She stood up and said, "Oh dear, I haven't cooked yet."

He then walked toward the kitchen.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair and stretched, finally returning to the days when food was served to him. How wonderful.

Just then, a voice came from outside the courtyard wall, "Xiao Chen, is Xiao Chen home?"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Wenliang jumped off his horse at the gate and walked inside.

When he saw Chen Fan still sitting in the chair stretching, he immediately became furious. "What are you still doing sitting here?"

Chen Fan was a little confused. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Zhang Wenliang pointed west and said, "They're building a water tower today, why aren't you going over there?"

Chen Fan jumped to his feet. "Nobody told me!"

Zhang Wenliang was stunned upon hearing this, then blinked, wondering if he had forgotten to mention it.

She quickly changed the subject, ran over and pulled Chen Fan away, saying, "Enough of that, let's go now. How could you not be there when the water tower construction started?!"

Chen Fan whistled, and the mare in the backyard immediately neighed and jumped out of the stable to run forward. He then broke free from Zhang Wenliang's hand, saying, "Let me put the saddle on first."

As he walked, he muttered to himself, "You guys are really funny. We're about to start work and no one even notified me. How dare you say I wasn't here?!"

Zhang Wenliang waited for him to come out with the saddle, then simply ignored him and said, "Alright, alright, let's go quickly."

Chen Fan quickly put on the saddle and called out to Jiang Lili at the kitchen door, "Make the food as usual, save some for me. If the brigade headquarters doesn't provide alcohol, I'll come back for dinner."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenliang was speechless. He walked forward with his head down, and when he reached the door, he mounted his horse, pulled on the reins, turned the horse around, and muttered to himself, "You just want to extort a drink from me, huh? Fine, fine, I'll grant your wish today. I'll cover lunch."

Chen Fan rode out on a mare, grinning and laughing, "That's more like it."

Then he flicked the reins and charged off in the lead.

(End of this chapter)