Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

Although Han Zhaozhao was full of resentment, she and her friends kept a low profile and went to several supply and marketing cooperatives, and finally bought all the items in batches.

Everything went smoothly, and in just a few days, they successfully bought the necessary iron pots and other things back home before anyone could react.

Han Zhaozhao also secretly bought two large iron pots with ten seals each and two double-handled woks.

She has made up her mind that even if her family doesn't need it now, her relatives and friends around her may need it someday!

Before the end of the first month of the lunar year, the canteen was finally officially disbanded amid people's eager anticipation.

It is worth mentioning that the dissolution of the canteens this time is only limited to cities, while the rural areas below will continue to operate in accordance with the instructions of superiors.

However, governments at all levels no longer allocate grain, and each rural cooperative production team is required to be self-sufficient.

They didn't understand the situation in the countryside, but when the citizens in the city got the news, they were immediately excited and every household handed in all their ironware.

When they wanted to light a fire at home, they found that they had no iron pot. Everyone was shocked! Many activists even handed in their coal stoves.

What can we do? Some families with less work don’t want the canteen to be disbanded.

But can we listen to the opinions of a few citizens when it comes to policy? It is impossible! The food supply has been running out for a long time. If we don’t disband, the people will have no food to eat and something bad will happen!

At this time, if the canteens are disbanded and the people are allowed to find solutions on their own, and the government distributes some food, social conflicts will be dispersed.

I have to say, this is the same as ordinary people holding their crying child to his mother.

People flocked into the supply and marketing cooperatives, waving their banknotes to buy iron pots.

Yes, now when you buy an iron pot, you not only have to pay money, but you also have to pay iron pot tickets!

From this year on, the capital city entered the era of tickets.

From November 1, 1953, when the first flour purchase certificate was issued, to October 1955, when grain was rationed per capita, the Ministry of Food issued "National General Grain Coupons."

Later, in order to distribute limited commodities, the capital city issued soap coupons, match coupons, cigarette coupons, cloth coupons, cotton coupons, sugar coupons, coal coupons...

Now they have started to distribute tickets for iron pots, iron stoves, chimneys, aluminum kettles, and even "firewood tickets" used to light the stove.

The Chinese people entered a long "ticket era". Han Zhaozhao didn't know whether it was because of the three years of hardship that followed, that the country would successively implement soy product tickets, non-staple food tickets, furniture tickets, clock tickets, watch tickets, light bulb tickets, sewing machine tickets, bicycle tickets...

There were all kinds of tickets. It was said that by 1961, more than one hundred kinds of goods were supplied in the capital city with tickets. Except for cabbage and radishes, all other goods required tickets.

Don't think that you can buy as much cabbage and radish as you want just because you don't need a ticket. There is a limit on the purchase quantity of these two kinds of vegetables. If you want to take advantage of a loophole and buy more to dry them and fill your stomach, it is absolutely impossible to succeed.

Not only is there no door, the windows are blocked too!

As the capital, Beijing plays a leading role in supplying goods based on tickets.

Ordinary citizens could form a large family with the food coupons in their hands. They could be divided into many types: rice coupons, flour coupons, coarse grain coupons, fine grain coupons, millet coupons, etc., as well as food supply coupons, sorghum rice coupons, mung bean coupons, etc.

The measurement units range from the old scale market system to the latest kilogram system. The large denominations are over 1 jin and 5 jin (for units), and the small denominations are only one qian ( qian in the market system is equal to grams in the metric system).

In addition to tickets, there are also various shopping books.

Urban residents can use their shopping coupons to buy foods such as vermicelli, peanuts, and melon seeds.

Farmers' shopping books can only buy a few simple daily necessities such as alkaline noodles, baking soda, soap, etc.

A non-staple food book is also a kind of shopping book. You can go to the store with the non-staple food book to buy vermicelli, rice noodles, sesame paste, etc., but they are also in limited supply.

Due to the severe shortage of cooking oil and side dishes, young people who are still growing up have no oil or water in their stomachs. The ration of food is not enough to eat, and hunger is a common occurrence.

In this era, no one is very particular about what they wear, and there is no condition to do so.

Many people would not buy a new piece of clothing in a year. However, the birth of cloth coupons, chemical fiber coupons, cotton coupons, sweatshirt coupons, vest coupons, cloth shoe coupons and other coupons also proved that these commodities were still in short supply.

Taking Beijing as an example, the validity period of cloth coupons and cotton coupons is generally one year. Due to insufficient cotton supply, the validity period is sometimes extended and the issuance of new coupons is postponed.

Moreover, the per capita ration of cloth coupons and cotton coupons was not fixed each year, and there were large differences depending on the era.

In terms of usage, there are a wide variety of tickets, including handkerchiefs, soap, toilet paper, laundry detergent, match tickets, various coal tickets, and so on.

However, even if you have a ticket, you often need to queue up early in the morning, otherwise it will be difficult to buy all the supplies if you go too late.

On the second day after the canteen was disbanded, the grain stations, non-staple food stations, supply and marketing cooperatives, and vegetable markets in each district were already crowded with people lining up at two or three in the morning, waiting to go in and buy as soon as they opened.

After half a year, the days of not having to queue up in the middle of the night to buy supplies have begun again.

Han Zhaozhao and several of his friends were wearing thick cotton-padded coats, hats and gloves, carrying baskets on their shoulders and backs, with cloth bags tucked under their armpits, and were scattered in different teams.

My legs are sore from standing, but I'm not afraid. I'll find a stone or brick and sit there waiting for the shops to open at dawn.

It was pitch dark, and people were reluctant to turn on the flashlight even if they had one.

You know, you need a battery ticket to buy batteries now. People who know each other can chat loudly even in the crowd.

Therefore, no one was afraid of the cold and dark environment. The common people in Beijing felt that they had seen a lot of the world, and both adults and children were very talkative.

Whether you know each other or not, you can chat for a while. There are many people in the queue, and everyone is laughing and chatting, and the time doesn't seem to be wasted. Xiao Sanzi likes this kind of occasion the most, and he can chat about gossip with everyone.

Han Zhaozhao shivered in the cold wind as she waited for the store to open. She kept stamping her feet, trying to keep herself warm.

"What time is it now? How long do I have to wait for the door to open..." she muttered.

"You are here too. Where is your daughter-in-law? Wasn't she the one who always queued up to buy supplies?"

"I'm here too. I'm queuing at the grain store! Why are you here too? There are a lot of people here today. You're old, so you have to be careful."

"Hey, I came here because there are so many people. My son is queuing at the grain store, and my daughter-in-law is queuing at the vegetable store. The non-staple food here is light and cheap, so I am queuing here!"

The old men and women next to them were also chatting and discussing their life plans after the cafeteria was closed.

"I heard that there is an adequate supply of food today, and everyone can buy it."

"Well, notices have been posted on the streets. Potatoes and cabbages are imported from other provinces, so the supply can be guaranteed.

Every family has a lot of things to buy today, and my son has asked for leave tomorrow morning."

Finally, the sky began to turn pale, and the door of the store slowly opened. The crowd began to stir, and everyone could not wait to squeeze forward.