Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 63 - 062 Tail Cutting Second Watch

Chapter 63: 062 Tail Cutting Second Watch

At six in the evening, Li Xianglu and her aunt made lamb stew with sliced noodles that delighted everyone. There was originally a piece of lamb weighing about two jin that was meant to be saved, but Grandpa Lan insisted on not taking it, claiming he could eat anything he wanted in the city. So, Li Xianglu went ahead and cooked it, to avoid Grandpa Lan feeling like he owed too much to the Lan family.

Just before nightfall, the jeep returned to take the three of them back, as the two elders had discussed earlier. It was less conspicuous to travel back during the day, so it was decided it was better to leave after dark and just drive slowly.

After exiting the cadres’ rest house and onto the main road leading to Jigu County, they encountered a bicycle ahead of them.

It was getting dark, but they could still clearly see a woman sitting on the back of the bicycle, who quickly let go of the arms she had wrapped around a man’s waist, and lowered her head as though she did not want her face to be seen.

However, Li Xianglu widened her eyes in recognition—it was none other than Qin Miao.

Qin Xi, sitting beside her, looked on with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile before turning her head.

Li Xianglu stealthily shook Qin Xi’s arm and blinked her eyes.

Qin Xi, amused, nodded solemnly as if to confirm.

Only then was Li Xianglu sure she wasn’t mistaken.

The man riding the bicycle had caught a serious look from her earlier, appearing to be about forty years old, she recalled hearing that Qin Miao was just seventeen this year—how could she be involved with a man so much older than herself?

But these were not the things she should be thinking about. The situation did, as the two elders had guessed, start to tense up shortly thereafter.

In June, several cadres from the commune arrived, conveying the higher-ups’ directives to cut off the tail of capitalism. Limits were placed on the rearing of poultry, pigs, and sheep in every household.

Even vegetables were restricted; for example, each household was not allowed to grow more than three hundred garlic plants, and the quota per person for cabbage was thirty, with corresponding allotments set for radishes and potatoes.

Li Xianglu was nearly in tears. The watermelons in the small courtyard, having been secretly grafted by her, had started bearing fruit, growing as big as basketballs, and they would be ripe enough to eat in less than half a month. Now, having to remove them would be such a waste. The vegetables in the private plots could still be managed, by picking and storing them in the Storage Ring to prevent spoilage, but what about the watermelons?

At the end of April, Grandpa exchanged thirty chicken eggs for five chicks, five geese, and five ducks. Now they had all grown to about one jin each, and with the directive to cut the ’tail’ of the livestock, each household was allowed to keep only two of each species. Li Xianglu felt even worse, as she wondered why the troubles flared up just when things seemed to be getting better—was this the darkness before the dawn?

The Qin Family was skillful in handling the situation. They had kept three of each type of poultry and immediately started slaughtering them after the members’ assembly. The surplus chickens, ducks, and geese from both families were all taken care of.

However, with things like the watermelons, Qin Xi suggested waiting a bit before taking any action, as there might still be some time before inspection from the authorities.

Lately, Mr. Li had been talking to Qin Xi a lot, often holding secret conversations, and he had sent out quite a few letters a few days ago.

Li Xianglu didn’t inquire further; they obviously had their reasons for not including her.

Half a month later, the watermelons grew as big as basketballs. Qin Xi came over and helped pick them all and store them in Li Xianglu’s cave dwelling. That same evening, as it got dark, they cut open one of the large ones along with five or six small cantaloupes, and everyone, including Li Jianqing who came back from school, enjoyed a sumptuous feast.

Li Jianqing took entrance exams for the county’s middle school on April 20th.

On the day of the exams, following Li Xianglu’s advice, he went to the office and found Wang Aidang and in front of everyone expressed his gratitude to Teacher Wang for letting his sister off, and apologized for his mother’s wrongdoing, hoping that Teacher Wang wouldn’t take it to heart.

This confirmed the rumors that had been circulating among the teachers, revealing the truth about the Wang family’s troubles—the brother of the victimized family had come forward.

In front of so many people, Wang Aidang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, almost dying of anger, yet for the sake of his reputation, he had to deal with this annoying kid Zhou Xuan.

Then, Li Jianqing successfully passed the exam and three days later, he started attending the second year of junior high school.

However, he had to live in the school. He could come back once a week, and while the junior high girls had dormitories, the boys simply slept in the classrooms. At night, they would set up the tables and spread out their bedding in the corner, the conditions were extremely tough. But in order to get an education, most people got through it this way.

Li Jianwen, on the other hand, was now in his first year of high school, adding even more weight to Er Fu’s family’s burden. With two kids in school, they had to bring food whenever they visited weekly, as well as giving them one yuan or fifty cents for a warm soup or something.

After the trip to the county to collect food in April, Mr. Li refused to let her go to the county again. He didn’t go himself either, but left the food book, the non-staple food supply book, and some money to Mr. Lan, asking him to help with the purchases. It was just a matter of bringing it back when there was a car going to the county for business.

Li Xianglu secretly gave Li Jianqing one hundred yuan and three kilograms of food tickets, telling him to buy some study materials and to treat himself to some food, not to be too stingy, as sixteen was the age for growing.

It was a coincidence that just three days after eating the watermelon, the county’s inspection team came down, registering and inspecting from household to household, causing trouble for many families who had thought the previous meeting was just for show.

As the head of the team, Li Dafu strictly adhered to the county’s directives. His house and Li Erfu’s house both had no issues. However, other households had some minor problems, either with too many vegetables or excess chickens and ducks, resulting in fines per item.

For a time, the entire production team was full of complaints, but they couldn’t blame Li Dafu, as they had been informed early on. If they didn’t listen, they had only themselves to blame.

Mr. Li’s household had just three sections of land, growing corn and mung beans that went unchecked, as they were food crops not subject to the tail cutting campaign. Only the planted garlic sprouts were counted, luckily the numbers matched, and the count of chickens, ducks, and geese in the yard was accurate as well, so they all passed the inspection.

After the watermelon vines were cut and shredded to feed the chickens, ducks, and geese, the ground was turned over and Li Xianglu cut potatoes into pieces to store in the Storage Ring for a while, and later scattered water on them and planted them in a small garden. Although it was a bit late, she firmly believed that they could be harvested before the weather turned cold, thanks to the growth of the watermelons before.

Life in the countryside went on day by day without major incidents, but in mid-July, Li Family Village Production Team had big news - Qin Shouren was transferred back to the city, and the Qin Family was vindicated.

Li Xianglu, while slightly surprised, was also curious about what kind of family the Qin Family was.

Qin Shouren had to leave, but his two children could not, as they were of the age to be sent to the countryside, so they had to stay.

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