Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

"Huiqin, you don't know, the team searched for water on several nearby islands the year before last. On Canhong Island, we dug for several days but couldn't find a single good source of water."

Our place is a mix of fresh and saltwater; there isn't a single good source of water on the island, so it's impossible to grow crops there.

Most of the island consists of gently sloping sandy land connected to low-lying swamps, with thin soil and low fertility.

The island was covered in reeds and overgrown weeds; managing a deserted island like that was no easy task.

"If it's too difficult, we won't do it. Since Xiao Chuan has agreed, we'll take responsibility." Shen Huiqin was quite open-minded.

The family has been in arrears with the work points owed to the team for some time, and the son has taken on this responsibility in this way, so we can only accept it. What else can we do?

"I think Huiqin is right. It's just governing Canhong Island, what's so scary about it? Qingping Island used to be a deserted island, but it's doing just fine now."

"Dad, you're back." Lin Shoutan stepped forward and took the tools from his father's hands.

"Grandpa." Xiaoman happily greeted her grandfather when she saw him return, and took his hand as they walked into the main room.

Hiding behind her grandfather, she looked worriedly at her father and mother.

Old Lin looked at his son and glared at him. "What kind of dejected look is this? You're not even as insightful as your wife. I think you're getting worse as you get older."

As he spoke, Lin Laoduo took out a long cigarette from his waist and tapped it lightly on the table leg.

He continued, "I don't think there's anything wrong with Xiaochuan's decision. Someone in the team always has to manage the deserted island."

Now that Xiaochuan has taken on the task, the deadline for paying the work points he owes the team has been extended, which will ease the burden on his family.

"But that would mean fewer laborers at home, and less work points for the team..." Lin Shoutan was still hesitant.

Old Lin glanced at Lin Shoutan and said, "That's still better than taking back the family's private plots to the team. Huiqin, you can continue with your sideline work in the team. I'll go to Canhong Island to manage it from now on."

"father..."

"Father, this won't do, your health..."

"What's wrong with my body? I can't handle the riverboat, and I can't even get off the boat!" Old Lin glared at him.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shoutan immediately deflated like a punctured balloon and fell silent.

The old man spent his whole life sailing on the river, and like the grandfather in Wangdaopu next door, his body was eroded by the water vapor, leaving him with chronic illnesses.

Two years ago, Lin Chuan's grandmother passed away, and his grandfather fell seriously ill as well.

If it weren't for Lin Shoutan's insistence, and Lin Chuan's decision to stay on the island as scorekeepers, the old man wouldn't have been willing to retire.

Even now that he's retired, he can't stay idle. He spends his days at the dock with Grandpa Wang, pulling nets and tending to his own small plot of land, which is less than an acre in size.

Previously, three people in the Lin family earned work points, and they still do now, except that Lin Chuan has taken over from his grandfather to support the family's expenses.

Occasionally, Lin Xiaoman would join the group of old and young people to go to the mudflats at low tide to collect small fish and shrimp and earn some work points.

Not many, maybe 3 to 5 points is good, not even as good as the ducks I raise myself.

The cooperative buys each fresh egg laid by this duck once a week for 4 cents.

If you go to the county or town market yourself, it costs 7 cents per egg. If you pickle them yourself, it costs 9 cents.

Lin Xiaoman cherishes her duck eggs every week, waiting for the cooperative to arrive, hoping to earn 12 to 13 yuan a month.

Old Lin took out a box of matches, and Xiaoman took it and lit the pipe for her grandfather.

"At the beginning of the year, everyone's daily work points were set. The autumn harvest is almost over, and the end of the year is fast approaching."

The team wants to "clear up old debts" because they're worried our family will overspend again this year. If that happens, it'll be even harder to accumulate old debts on top of new ones.

Old Lin took a puff of his pipe and continued, "Regarding the family's situation, even if we pay off all the old debts by the end of this year, we'll still owe the team next year."

If we can actually make a name for ourselves on Canhong Island, that would be a valuable source of revenue, wouldn't it?

......

By 7 p.m., it was completely dark in Jiangxin Village.

By the light of the team's kerosene lamp, Lin Chuan was also calculating his family's expenses.

In his previous life, he remembered that his family's situation began to deteriorate starting from that year.

We haven't eaten meat much for several years, except for some meat during the Lunar New Year. Our only source of protein is some miscellaneous fish and shrimp from the river.

Lin Chuan took out his notebook and silently listed the family's monthly expenses.

This was also a habit he had in his previous life: he always had to organize his thoughts before he could start doing anything.

There are five people in his family now. He remembers that at the end of this year, the team calculated the work points as follows: 1 point is equivalent to 0.12 yuan.

Last year, my family owed 5320 work points, which is equivalent to about 638.4 yuan.

The work point system in 1980 only recorded work during the year, that is, Lin Chuan's personal work, and settled the total accounts at the end of the year.

Daily necessities are recorded in a separate main account, which is managed by an accountant.

The living supplies that each family receives from the team each month are distributed according to the "70% for people, 30% for labor" grain distribution rule.

For example, 70% of the food rations were distributed according to the number of people in the family, and 30% were distributed according to work points, meaning they were only distributed to the laborers.

The Lin family has five members, and naturally, the elderly and children have one less share of food.

Then there was the era of 1980, which had two mandatory deductions.

One is collective retention, which includes funds such as housing provident fund and public welfare fund. Their team retains 18% of these funds.

Secondly, there is the advance payment for the entire year's "population food" and deductions for the receipt of other necessary supplies.

After calculating, Lin Chuan concluded that his family needed to receive 30 jin of grain per month, which was approximately 16 yuan.

Grandpa's monthly medicine cost is 5 yuan.

In his previous life, Grandpa claimed he was cured but secretly stopped taking the medicine, which severely weakened the treatment effect. He suffered greatly from the illness when he passed away.

In this life, Lin Chuan absolutely cannot let such a thing happen.

Other supplies such as salt, kerosene, and soap cost about 3 yuan per month.

These are the most basic survival supplies, not including other supplies to improve the family's situation.

The family earns an average of 30 work points per day, which is about 3.6 yuan in RMB, totaling about 100 yuan per month. This is the family's income.

The fixed monthly expenses are 43.44 yuan, and the total monthly disposable income of the family is around 60 yuan.

Theoretically, the annual disposable income is 774.72 yuan.

However, this will only be calculated at the end of the year, after the team has settled all work points, the two ledgers have been cleared, and all outstanding payments have been settled.

The amount of money we have at home right now is pitifully small.

The main source of cash was the duck eggs produced by her younger sister, Lin Xiaoman, who raised ducks, and the money they saved from fishing in their spare time.

On top of that, I still have to pay back 5 yuan to the team every month to cover the debt. There are also my younger sister's school expenses.

This year, we've had a lot of household chores and borrowed a lot from our neighbors. The team has probably also given us a lot of advance payments.

Although his parents didn't tell him the exact amount, he roughly estimated it to be around 200 yuan.

All in all, after a year of hard work, I gained nothing.

No wonder the family has been struggling these past few years, and Grandpa even stopped taking his medication.

Looking at the accounts he had calculated, Lin Chuan couldn't help but smile wryly. He had gone through the same thing in his previous life, and he hadn't found it too difficult.

Looking back on this life again, I suddenly find the word "bitter" to be a very apt description.

I really don't know if it's the times that have changed, or if it's just that I've changed in different eras.

Now that he had a second chance, Lin Chuan naturally couldn't let his family continue to suffer like this.