The prosperous era of courtyard houses

Chapter 187, Quantitative Reduction

The days are as dull as water.

Three months passed quickly, and it was the end of August 1960.

The Siheyuan was particularly lively today. The neighbors all got up early. Today was a big day for the Siheyuan, and no one was not active.

Yes, today is the 25th, the day when the grain station distributes food stamps every month, so the residents got up early to wait for the food station staff to come and distribute this month's food stamps.

In the Imperial Capital, the grain station issued food stamps on a regular basis every month only after the famine in 1959. Residents who originally held the Imperial Capital's grain book purchased grain directly with "vouchers".

Later, famine appeared and affected the city. The imperial capital once had difficulty in transferring food, and the emergency food reserve was less than six days.

At that time, the city's population was less than 400 million (the "non-agricultural population" who enjoyed the benefits of commercial grain). In compliance with the central government's instructions: low-standard supply of residents' rations, the residents' "voucher" grain supply implemented since the "unified purchase and marketing" in 1954 was changed to "voucher" grain supply Supplied on a ticket basis.

Everyone with an official household registration in Beijing (the so-called "commercial grain eater") is issued food stamps on a monthly basis.

The food ration depends on age and varies from person to person, ranging from 3 pounds for a baby, 6 pounds for a child, 8 pounds for a child... to 21 pounds for an adult.

In addition, the indicators vary according to different statuses, such as college and middle school students, government cadres, special types of work... there is a slight increase.

Among them, flour supply accounts for 20% of the total ration, rice accounts for 10%, and the rest supplies coarse grains—cob noodles, dried sweet potatoes, and sometimes sorghum noodles, fresh sweet potatoes and other grains.

Like Li Weiguo, he is a light manual worker and has a ration of 38 kilograms of grain every month, including 12.5 kilograms of fine grains and 25.5 kilograms of coarse grains.

The people with the largest ration of food in the courtyard are the first and second uncles. These two are not only senior technical workers, but also highly physical workers. Therefore, their monthly food ration is 46 kilograms, which is considered the best in the imperial capital.

"Here you come, here you come, the staff of the grain station are here!"

The third uncle had been waiting at the gate of the courtyard early in the morning. When he saw the staff from the grain station approaching from a distance, he turned around and shouted into the courtyard.

In the middle courtyard, the first uncle Yi Zhonghai heard the shouts of the third uncle and immediately called all the households in the courtyard to start lining up.

"Quick, quick, every household should line up in order and actively cooperate with the work of the comrades at the grain station. If you are slow, you will be scolded!"

Everyone in the courtyard heard the command from the first man and did not dare to delay. They hurriedly followed the previous order. A representative from each household came to line up in the center of the courtyard, while the rest stood aside to watch the excitement.

Because Li Weiguo lived in the front yard, he stood closer to the front, followed closely by Yuyu, Jia Dongxu, Aunt Ma and others.

Silly Zhu was not happy to line up, so he let Rain wait in line for him, while he followed the old man there and pretended to maintain order.

In front of the team, an Eight Immortals table and a bench were specially set up for the comrades at the grain station, waiting for him to come over and take charge.

Not long after, the staff of the grain station arrived.

"Hey, Grain Payer Zhang, you're here. Please come in and have a sip of tea in the courtyard to moisten your throat." The third uncle was waiting at the door and took the lead in greeting the staff at the grain station.

Zhang Fuliang seemed to be in a bad mood today. Facing the enthusiastic third uncle, he laughed dryly and waved his hand to stop him.

"Haha, Teacher Yan, you are not busy. There is an announcement today. Let's talk about it after reading out the superior's announcement."

"notify?"

The third uncle was startled. Seeing that Mr. Zhang was in a wrong mood, his right eyebrow twitched. He felt like something big was about to happen. However, he didn't have time to think about it, so he had to follow Mr. Zhang into the hospital first.

After entering the courtyard, we went straight to the middle courtyard. At this time, the first uncle Yi Zhonghai and the second uncle Liu Haizhong had been waiting for a long time.

The first uncle, Yi Zhonghai, saw Zhang, the food clerk, coming over. He quickly took out his cigarettes and offered him one.

The second uncle, Liu Haizhong, was even more attentive and immediately took out the matches and prepared to light them for the food payer.

Zhang, the food clerk, forced a stiff smile, raised his hand to stop him and said, "Master Yi, Master Liu, don't rush, there is a notice today."

Upon seeing this, the first uncle and the second uncle looked at the third uncle in confusion, wanting to ask what was going on, but the third uncle didn't know what was going on, so he had to shake his head to express that he was unclear.

Seeing that everyone in the courtyard had already lined up, Zhang, the food clerk, took out a document from his bag and said: "Dear neighbors, I will read out the notice from my superiors and ask everyone to be quiet."

"Notice: Due to the impact of natural disasters. In order to ensure the minimum ration supply for the urban population, starting from September this year, except for employees at high altitudes, high temperatures, underground and those who are responsible for high-intensity and high physical labor, all adult residents with non-agricultural registered permanent residence in the Imperial City will be exempted from The monthly ration will be reduced by two kilograms, and the rest of the urban population will have their food ration reduced as appropriate.

I hope that the general public will carry forward the spirit of not being afraid of hardships and difficulties and overcome all difficulties."

"Wow!!"

This time there was a thunder, which blew up the entire courtyard, and the residents of the courtyard were instantly shocked.

Since the original ration supply was changed to "vote-based" supply, many families have often had to eat the same amount of grain. This time, each person has lost two kilograms per month.

This time it will cost my life.

"How. How could this happen?" Third Aunt asked in disbelief.

Not only the three mothers, but there are also several families in the courtyard whose family conditions are not very good. It is somewhat unacceptable to hear that you want to lose two catties suddenly, and even the words are trembling.

The first uncle Yi Zhonghai was shocked and asked quickly: "Zhang Fuliang, did your superiors say when the rationing will be restored?"

Zhang Fuliang shook his head and said bitterly: "It's not clear yet. There is no accurate statement above. Master Yi, let's get everyone prepared and find ways to overcome the difficulties. The current disaster is nationwide, and it is impossible to organize it." Even if everything is covered, you still have to figure it out on your own.”

"Hey, what should I do now?"

The families with a large population in the courtyard suddenly started to complain.

In the team, Yushui standing behind Li Weiguo tugged at the corner of Li Weiguo's clothes worriedly: "Brother Weiguo, what should we do?"

Since He Daqing ran away, Silly Zhu, a stupid guy, didn't take good care of her. This little girl must have suffered enough, and she was panicked for a while.

Li Weiguo looked back at Yu Yu, who was frowning, patted the back of her hand, and comforted her: "Don't worry, the famine will kill the cook. Your silly brother usually eats in the factory. You can save one meal a day, and the food should be is enough.

Besides, with the two of us here, how can we starve you of a little girl? Right, Brother Zhu? "

Silly Zhu on the side nodded in agreement: "That's right, why panic? The cook won't starve to death no matter what the famine, so don't worry!"

Other people may be worried about not having enough food, but Silly Zhu is really not worried. At most, the quality of food is just lowering.

Hearing this, Yuyu felt warm in his heart, narrowed his eyes with a smile, and nodded obediently: "Yeah, yeah."

Suddenly, Li Weiguo seemed to have thought of something again, and turned to Yui Yu and told him, "By the way, from today on, Yu Yu will take care of the food stamps by himself. Don't give them to that idiot of your brother, otherwise it won't be enough for him." Ask him for the money to buy the grain, and from now on the food at home will be yours."

Li Weiguo knows better than anyone what kind of fool Silly Zhu is. Coupled with a bunch of calculating people in the courtyard, it’s hard to say how many grains of rice the family will have left after one month with the food stamps in Silly Zhu’s hands. .

So Li Weiguo still has to remind him, lest he almost starves to death like the original drama.

Upon hearing Li Weiguo's arrangement, Shazhu immediately became unhappy: "Hey Weiguo, I'm still here."

Li Weiguo turned around and glared at him disdainfully: "What's wrong here? Do you have any objections?"

As he spoke, he broke his fingers into a "click" sound, which meant to loosen your bones if you disagreed a lot.

Seeing this, Silly Zhu smiled coquettishly and said, "Hey, hey. You are the leader. You have the final say. Whatever you say will be done, no objection."

If you don't accept it, he has seen Li Weiguo's fighting prowess. Anyone who dares to stab him will definitely be punished and knocked down with a kick.

Compared with the optimism of Li Weiguo and Shazhu, the mood of the others was not so wonderful.

The first person to bear the brunt is the third uncle's family. There are six members in the third uncle's family. He is the only one who works. With his salary, he can afford the food rations for the whole family.

But the four children are growing up, and their appetites are bigger than those of the couple. It is not easy to feed them in normal times, not to mention that some of the rations have been reduced now. The rations are not enough, and you can't buy them even if you have money. Serving food, the third uncle and his wife had a sad face and were very worried.

Except for the third uncle's family, the Jia family's faces are not very good-looking either.

There are three adults in the Jia family. According to regulations, the food rations must be reduced by six kilograms every month. What to do now? Qin Huairu, who is in charge of the family's food, is also very worried.

After reading the notice, Zhang Fuliang felt that the atmosphere in the courtyard was oppressive and uncomfortable, so he quickly opened the record book and laid it on the Eight Immortals table, and then started to register and distribute food stamps according to the list of each household.

Soon, the food stamps were distributed to more than a dozen households in the courtyard. Zhang, the food clerk, did not stay long, said hello, packed up his things and left in a hurry.

After receiving the food stamps, each household had its rations reduced to varying degrees, and the courtyard became gloomy for a while.