Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 81 - 079 Discuss

Chapter 81: 079 Discuss

Except for a few plots of private land, all the land was collective, and everyone was assigned different types of grains to plant and turn over to the commune. Everyone worked together, many slackening their efforts and not working as hard as they could.

Later, the leaders of several production teams learned to be cunning and simply divided everyone into groups, letting the group leaders manage people underneath them. Each person was allocated tasks and could leave once they finished early and the group leader had checked and recorded their work points.

The leaders conducted spot checks, which indeed sped up progress significantly, and the grain yield grew considerably, but it still couldn’t match the yield of the privately-owned land.

The land of the Li Family Village Production Team was barren, but luckily, it was close to a water source, so the yield was still quite good. After harvesting the grains for the year, several officials in the team office began to calculate the work points.

Of course, this wasn’t something they could finalize; they could only tally it up before handing it over to the officials sent by the commune.

Li Dafu, on the other hand, wasn’t worried; he felt very content. This year’s harvest was substantial, with lots of grain and livestock left over after what was turned over, and the money converted from the work points was considerable; he felt very pleased.

It was already late December when the commune staff came to verify the records.

Qin Xi was rolling up her sleeves, washing Chinese cabbage, while Li Xianglu was busily chopping and mincing on the cutting board.

Mr. Li sat beside the warm dining table, reading a newspaper.

This newspaper was brought back by Qin Xi from the county yesterday, delivered on behalf of Mr. Lan.

Mr. Li looked quite troubled as he read the newspaper; it was almost 1975, and yet things seemed to be becoming chaotic again.

Qin Zhen ran back from outside, panting. Seeing his brother washing vegetables, he shrank his neck, quickly washed his hands in a nearby basin, and went over to help.

Actually, Brother Qin had told him at noon, asking him to come home early and not to play around outside, as they needed to pickle vegetables at home, but somehow he had forgotten while playing.

Li Xianglu finished preparing the spicy peppers and dried radishes, put the spices in a jar, sealed it tightly with a gauze, and made two flavors of pickled radishes, one very spicy and one slightly spicy.

There were also two kinds of sauerkraut, a large vat mixed with Chinese cabbage and wombok, and a smaller vat of spicy Chinese cabbage.

By the time all this was done, the sky had already turned dark.

Mr. Li helped cook a thick porridge of millet and dates, and the cornbread of two-mixed flour was heated up.

Li Xianglu washed her hands, stir-fried the cabbage with glass noodles, and added a small half-bowl of bacon slices.

Dinner was late today; Qin Zhen was already very hungry. He grabbed the chopsticks and eagerly snatched a bun as Brother Qin brought it over.

The bun was much softer than those made by his father and brother; it was delicious even without any dishes.

A plate of dishes was served, and Li Xianglu also brought over the previously cut pickles.

Mr. Li, smiling, first served a large chopstick-full of cabbage and glass noodles to his granddaughter and then called out, "Qin Xi, Qin Zhen, eat up, we’ve added glass noodles to the dish today, so don’t leave any leftovers, it won’t taste good when reheated."

Qin Zhen quickly responded: "Grandpa Li, don’t worry, I absolutely won’t leave any leftovers!"

Li Xianglu snorted and laughed, saying irritably, "Who are you telling? Some people just know how to eat. What did Brother Qin tell you at noon? We needed to pickle vegetables in the afternoon, and you disappeared without a trace."

Qin Zhen dared not look at his elder brother, swallowed the bun in his mouth, and then hesitantly said, "I went to play and forgot about the time."

Qin Xi took a sip of porridge and then said to his brother, "Don’t worry, next April you’ll go to high school. If the university is still not recruiting, you can join the army straight away; that’ll cure all your little bad habits."

Qin Zhen was completely dumbfounded. What does his not worrying have to do with enlisting?

What, enlisting! Qin Zhen was so shocked that he stood up without even eating: "Brother, I was wrong, I will definitely change, please don’t make me enlist."

Qin Xi spoke without even looking up: "I don’t believe it, only the army can cure your sloppy habits. Besides, Jianqing is also enlisting next year. Isn’t it good that you two are together? Aren’t you reluctant to part with him?"

Qin Zhen immediately wilted, but it didn’t affect his appetite at all. After finishing the porridge and eating two steamed buns, he asked, "Can we be assigned together?"

Qin Xi shook his head: "I don’t know, but the placements for enlistment in Guanzhong are all similar, I guess even if it’s not in the same unit, it will be in the same military region, which is good."

Qin Zhen didn’t feel good at all, and after eating the last bite of cabbage in the bowl, he patted his stomach and said to Mr. Li, "Grandpa Li, have I grown taller recently?"

Mr. Li laughed and nodded, "Indeed, you’re eating as much as the big mule in the team; of course, you would grow taller."

Li Xianglu was drinking porridge; hearing the elder describe Qin Zhen’s appetite like that of a large livestock made her burst out laughing, causing her to choke on the porridge. Coughing non-stop, her face turned red, she couldn’t help but go outside.

Qin Xi immediately followed, continuously patting her back.

Qin Zhen’s eyes shone as he stared at their departing figures then looked at Grandpa Li, who was just smiling at the two going out, suddenly realized something like discovering a new continent and exclaimed: "Xiangxiang is going to be my brother’s wife!"

Li Xianglu, who was coughing outside, couldn’t hold back and started coughing violently again.

Qin Xi, angered, patted her back gently and said softly, "Alright, no rush to talk, how can someone your age still choke on porridge, only you."

It took a long time for the two of them to come back from outside.

Mr. Li and Qin Zhen were curiously staring at their faces, as if trying to see flowers on them.

Li Xianglu’s face was red from coughing, now somewhat embarrassed, she said irritably: "Fatty, aren’t you going to wash the dishes? It’s your turn to wash today, next time you run away, forget about eating sauerkraut."

Seeing everyone getting angry, Qin Zhen scratched his head, stood up, and started washing the dishes and chopsticks.

After wiping the table, Li Xianglu turned up the oil lamp and said, "Grandpa, are the introduction letters ready? Does the introduction letter for Qin Zhen and others need to be issued by the production team?"

Grandpa Li then took out a piece of paper from his Sun Yat-sen suit pocket and handed it over.

Li Xianglu opened it and saw it was an introduction letter issued by the community, stating that the two were members of their community, and they were going to visit friends in Shanghai.

It was also stamped with a red seal.

Mr. Li nodded and said, "Yes, the introduction letters for them need to be issued by the production team since their household registration is here, they belong to this community."

After writing something on a piece of paper, Mr. Li said, "The New Year is in February this year, we will go around in January and then come back in about seven or eight days. I plan to take Xiangxiang to live in the county for a while and return in March."

Qin Xi slightly frowned upon hearing this, but then asked, "Didn’t Grandpa Li say there are too many people in the county?"

Mr. Li laughed and said, "It’s a bit crowded, but it’s convenient to get food supplies in winter, and there’s nothing much to do in winter anyway. You and Qin Zhen can also come over, you helped collect coal for the whole year, even if the four of us live there, we won’t be cold."

Qin Xi felt relieved upon hearing this, nodded and said, "Alright, we’ll plan it then."

Author’s note: Just checked, we’ve reached third in subscriptions, awesome, comrades let’s keep it up, I’ll update more in the afternoon with 120 monthly tickets, I need to go out now, my friend is calling.

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