Chapter 121

Jia Dongxu glanced at the bicycle inadvertently and felt sad. Among the five brothers in the courtyard, he was the only one who relied on legs to walk.

"It's good to know!"

Xu Damao thought to himself, you, Jia Dongxu, are a big fool. You still don’t know that Li Zhiguo likes to betray his brothers, and you can still sleep well this morning. Then you definitely can’t be a welder.

Everyone was drunk but I was the only one sober, Xu Damao felt heartbroken.

……

At 7:30 in the morning, Liang Ladi arrived at the gate of the steel rolling mill and watched the large number of workers walk into the factory.

She waited until half past eight before going to the guard room. Fortunately, the old man recognized her and took her all the way to the office building.

"Little girl, just sign up here, and come out by yourself after you're done. Don't run around."

"Thank you, uncle."

Liang Ladi saw that there were already dozens of young people inside, all men. How could a country girl like her be selected?
She filled out the form nervously and asked her to go to the factory gate to look at the notice board the day after tomorrow.

"Jia Dongxu, you retired due to illness, and you're still a fitter, so why are you signing up?"

"That's right, I recognize you. You and my brother Tang Rude are in the same workshop. You are being immoral. If you come, do we still have a chance?"

"Jia Dongxu, you are ill and cannot apply. Even if you are offered a job, you will not be able to take it."

A group of young men surrounded Jia Dongxu. If beating someone wasn't a crime, they would have wanted to start a fight.

Liang Ladi passed by and became even more worried when she heard this.

……

"Li Zhiguo, are you up? Go to the street office to register."

Jia Zhang was shouting outside the Li family's window. She was not the only one shouting. The second aunt and others nearby were also going to the street.

"coming."

Li Zhiguo carefully put down the little Guan Xiang in his arms. This feeling was wonderful. Before he had a son, he felt like he was still a baby.

But when I really held my son in my arms, felt Xiao Guanxiang's breath and warmth, I gradually understood the emotion called fatherly love. Someone has taken care of me in my old age.

"Zhiguo, why don't you let mom go to the street? She's out buying groceries and will be back soon. You can sleep for a while?"

Qin Huairu had woken up a long time ago and was working on the sewing machine beside her.

"That won't work. People listed in the household registration book must go to register for review and get flour coupons."

This rule has always been a scam. Even the deaf old ladies in the orphanage have to go to the street.

"How do we get here, old lady? Is anyone at Old He's house?"

Li Zhiguo asked, the deaf old lady was his landlord.

"He Daqing is in the room."

Sun Erniang quickly replied, she understood what the bad boy wanted to do.

"Isn't this a coincidence? Let Lao He take the old lady over on his tricycle."

Li Zhiguo went to the He family and brought He Daqing out after a while.

Apart from anything else, in the original drama, after He Daqing ran away with the White Widow, the deaf old lady didn't do much to Sha Zhu.

After a while, He Daqing set off with Li Zhiguo and the deaf old lady.

We were not walking fast, and when we got to the street with the other middle-aged ladies, we saw a long queue had already formed.

"Please make way, the elderly should register first. These are the low-income households in our courtyard."

Li Zhiguo supported the deaf old lady and walked forward.

When the people in the queue saw the old lady's condition, knowing that she needed help to walk, they quickly gave up their seats and let her move to the front.

"Madam, where is your household registration book?"

"I'm taking it with me."

The deaf old lady took out a notebook and handed it to the staff, who quickly approved the fourteen kilograms of flour coupons per month.

At present, this calculation is not a fixed ratio, but is approximately 50% of the future quota, because the minimum denomination of flour ticket is four jin, otherwise the old lady should be able to get more than one jin of flour.

Once the grain books are issued in the future, accurate calculations can be made.

"Madam, this is the flour ticket. Please keep it."

The staff are very polite and respecting the elderly is a traditional virtue.

"well!"

The old lady held the flour ticket in her hand and didn't rush to put it away.

Li Zhiguo handed over his household registration booklet and said, "There are three people in my family. My wife and I are both workers and we get our tickets from the factory. My son was less than a month old."

"Well, Li Guanxiang, hey, that's a good name. A newborn baby will get four pounds of flour coupons per month, and the amount will increase as the baby grows older."

"okay!"

Li Zhiguo got the flour ticket, a small piece of paper, and he could sell it for at least 80 cents.

"Old lady, let me help you to the car to rest."

He sent the old lady back to the tricycle and asked He Daqing to take her back later so that he could also take a ride.

The aunties in the hospital were still waiting in line, but the processing speed at the front was very fast, so they would only have to wait for half an hour.

"Grandson, Madam will give you four kilograms of tickets, and the remaining ten kilograms will be given to Cuiyun."

The deaf old lady suddenly took out a ticket and handed it over.

Li Zhiguo was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Madam, I don't lack food coupons, you can keep them for yourself!"

"Grandson, there are five people in your family, and your mother-in-law doesn't have a ticket."

The deaf old lady was quite smart. She always knew how to bargain when selling food coupons. She would fight for every penny. It was unusual for her to be able to give away the coupons now.

"My family has enough food. Otherwise, Madam, you can save it for me. When I run out of food one day, I will ask you for food coupons."

Li Zhiguo was joking. He couldn't accept the old lady's favor as it was a hot potato.

What if the old lady suddenly locks the door one day, wouldn’t that increase the burden on his family?

"Hey! Then I'll save it for my eldest grandson and won't give it to anyone else."

The deaf old lady then put the flour coupons close to her body, sat on the tricycle, and felt happy when she saw the people queuing.

Li Zhiguo simply got in the car as well.

"Look, the bad boy can actually chat with the old lady."

"Do you think the old lady's flour tickets can be kept?"

"Not really. Li Zhiguo is immoral, but he has never cheated the old lady."

"I don't think so. Li Zhiguo treats the old lady very well."

As soon as these words were spoken, several middle-aged women stared at the man. It’s been so long now, haven’t you seen Li Zhiguo’s true face?

He didn't go there to take care of the old lady; he just didn't want to queue.

He Daqing was standing behind the aunties and also queuing. There were only a few men in the yard who did not work, and his family accounted for two of them. They were collecting food coupons, and he was the head of the household and could not let his younger brother come.

Then there was the cheap apprentice Jia Dongxu, but he went to the factory today, so only Li Zhiguo was left.

Suddenly, Jia Zhang turned around and said with a smile on her face, "Old He, what do you think about the matter we talked about before?"

"No, Cuihua, you are too greedy!"

He Daqing wants to hide and stop thinking about him, but it is simply impossible.

"You said you like white flour, but everyone likes it."

Jia Zhang has not given up yet. As long as He Daqing doesn't marry her, she still has a chance.

When she takes over as a worker in the factory, Lao He will figure it out.

Li Zhiguo was not in a hurry to leave. He waited until everyone in the courtyard had exchanged their flour coupons before going back together.

"Dongxu!"

Suddenly, he saw his brother.

"Li Zhiguo, why are you with the old lady?"

Jia Dongxu turned around and saw the crowd. He had just returned from the steel mill.

"Don't just stand there, come and help the old lady in."

Li Zhiguo called the Dongxu brothers over, so there was no need to hand it over to an old lady.

When they returned to the central courtyard, they couldn't leave for a while, so Mrs. Chen brought out a long bench and sat down to chat with them. The deaf old lady didn't go back to the house either.

"Dongxu, you come too."

Li Zhiguo stopped him and said, if they didn't talk to him, what if Dongxu really went back to the factory?

"Hey!"

Jia Dongxu quickly took out a small stool and sat down next to Li Zhiguo instead of sitting with his mother. Now that his status was different, he could immediately work as a worker again.

"Everyone, tell me, how are the white flour tickets determined? My Jie Di only weighs four catties, but Xiao Guanxiang and Bang Geng both weigh four catties."

"It seems to depend on age or something, I can't really tell."

"Li Zhiguo, you have the best brain in our hospital. Do you know how to calculate it?"

The conversation turned to the bad boy, who was hanging around outside all day.

"According to the quantitative quantity!"

Li Zhiguo simply said a few words: "Flour coupons are fine grains. The staple food of our residents is divided into dozens of quantitative standards. According to the quantitative standards, about 50% of the flour coupons are given, and the starting point is four catties.

The heavier the physical work, the higher the ration. For example, the furnace workers at the Iron and Steel Corporation had a ration of 60 kilograms, of which 30 kilograms were flour, which was almost the highest.

The workers in the steel rolling mill basically have a ration of more than 30 kilograms, including 18 kilograms of flour tickets!

In addition, the salary for brain-intensive jobs is low, and the salary of the third uncle is only 14 kilograms of flour.

Then there are those under two years old, three to six years old, six to nine years old... As the children grow older, the quota increases." When everyone heard this, some of them understood it immediately, and they pondered for a while and asked a few more questions before they figured it out.

Li Zhiguo was thinking that when the three difficult years came, the quota seemed to be cut in half to 20 kilograms.

An adult's daily food intake of more than 6 taels is just two steamed buns made of two kinds of flour and a handful of dried sweet potatoes.

"Li Zhiguo, you really know a lot. If we have the flour coupons, can we buy flour anytime next month?"

Sun Erniang asked, she had many children in her family and they were craving for white flour.

Li Zhiguo shook his head and said, “There will be enough flour on the first of next month, and there will be enough on the third and twenty-fourth of every month thereafter.

The amount of flour is uncertain. For example, there may be a ticket for 100 kilograms of flour, but there may only be 90 kilograms in stock.

But as long as you have the ticket, you will be able to buy it sooner or later, just don’t be the last one in line.”

"I see. Then we still have to get up early on the 1st."

"We have flour coupons now. What's the price? Will you still sell us grain at a high price?"

Some middle-aged women were concerned about the price. Even though there were not many flour coupons, they were reluctant to buy them.

“The price is about 1.8 cents, which is one cent higher than last year, but it’s much better than the private stores before.

By the way, sisters, if you have any flour coupons that you don’t have, you can give them to me.

I traded cornmeal for it, just like a normal exchange between neighbors, so I didn’t make any mistakes.”

He had specifically inquired about this matter. Nowadays, it is not a big deal to have a store where farmers sell their own agricultural and sideline products. There is a defined standard that is basically difficult to exceed.

It is not wrong for the residents to save some of their remaining coupons and give them away or sell them to exchange for something else. Otherwise, where would the farmers get the food coupons? How can the cadres eat white flour every meal?

But you can't buy a lot of tickets on hand.

When everyone heard this, some people were tempted. Although they all knew that the bad boy was immoral and often cheated people, they still couldn't stop him.

"Li Zhiguo, how do you change it?"

The one who spoke was Jia Zhang. She was craving for white flour, but Dongxu at home would soon be a worker, plus her daughter-in-law's, plus her own in the future.

There are three workers in the family, how can they finish all the flour?

"One pound of flour ticket can be exchanged for one pound of corn flour, or ten cents."

Li Zhiguo set a market price, because the quantitative calculation only had an algorithm but had not been implemented yet, and the white flour is now under control.

In addition to the capital, there are three other large cities serving as pilot cities. It is already the end of the year, and we will continue with the pilot program next year. By 1955, the whole country will follow suit and issue food coupons.

“That’s a lot, that’s good!”

Immediately, an old lady was tempted. The flour coupons were distributed for free. If she saved up ten kilograms of flour and gave them to the bad boy, she could exchange them for ten kilograms of corn flour or one dollar.

"No one should cheat, it's the same price, I'll buy it for myself. My little Jingru, my mother-in-law, and my brother-in-law who's in junior high school don't have tickets, and I eat out a lot, so I don't have enough white flour."

When this was said, everyone nodded, but the bad boy didn't think it was a heavy burden, because he earned a lot, and his father-in-law and brother-in-law were paying their salaries.

"Li Zhiguo, I'll give you 10 kilograms each. Just pay me and I'll buy corn flour myself next month."

Aunt Jiang was the first to eat the crabs.

"Okay, I'll give you one dollar right now."

Li Zhiguo made the transaction directly on the spot. The more white flour tickets he had in his hand, the safer he was.

"I'll give you 14 jin each."

Jia Zhang generously took out the flour coupons she had obtained, without leaving a single pound.

"Mom, you've changed them all, why don't you leave some for me?"

Jia Dongxu couldn't help but speak out, is this just living the life?

"What are you keeping, Dongxu? You are confused. The flour coupons can only be used next month. Will we still need coupons next month? Don't we still have your and Bihua's coupons here?"

Jia Zhang handed the ticket to Li Zhiguo and received one yuan and forty cents. Isn't this another sum of money she saved for her retirement?

"Li Zhiguo, can I use all 18 jin of flour coupons to exchange for corn flour? My family doesn't have enough food this month."

Another middle-aged woman directly broke the upper limit and her flour consumption reached the amount of a steel rolling worker.

"No problem. I'll go there this afternoon and buy some cornmeal."

The supermarket didn’t have the corn flour we have today, so you really had to go there to get it.

Now that I have more tickets in my hand, I can put them together into a complete set, that is, with tickets in all three denominations, commonly known as open tickets, which can be sold for 10,000 yuan in the future.

Now, for two yuan and twenty cents, or twenty-two kilograms of corn flour, there is a lot of room for appreciation.

At this time, Li Zhiguo was very happy when he got the 50 kilograms of flour coupons.

He was just about to finish work and go back to rest and wait for dinner.

Suddenly, a big order came in, and Auntie Three suddenly said, "Li Zhiguo, I want to trade for 46 kilograms of corn flour."

"How much? No, Third Aunt, you are a ruthless person. The family is not going to live like this anymore."

He was completely stunned. Third Aunt had gone all in, leaving only Third Uncle with 14 kilograms of flour.

"Why don't you just live your life? Here you still have your uncle's ticket, enough to buy some noodles with rice."

The three aunts are only thinking about making money. If they eat less white flour, they can earn only four yuan and sixty cents, right?

"Change!"

Li Zhiguo acted urgently because if he waited any longer until December, it would take at most a year. Once the quota was announced, the price of flour tickets would double.

"Hey!"

The three aunts quickly took out all the flour coupons they had obtained.

Li Zhiguo simply gave some money, completed the transaction quickly, and then went home.

That’s enough. I’ve already changed 98 kilograms. Anything over 100 kilograms would be eye-catching.

"This bad boy has a lot of money on him, more than ten dollars, he can just take it out easily."

"That's right. He bought high-priced food, which is equivalent to spending 28 cents to buy white flour."

"It's because he has a bad stomach and can't eat whole grains."

When Jia Dongxu heard this, his eyes turned red. He also wanted to have fine food every day. It would be soon, and he would go back to the factory to work.

October 22nd, Thursday, cloudy!

Early in the morning, Li Zhiguo went to the sink in the yard, turned on the faucet, scooped up cold water to wash his face, and then he felt a little more sober.

I have something to do today. I made an appointment to take my wife to a pregnancy check-up in the afternoon. The due date is around New Year's Day, which is very close.

"Li Zhiguo, good morning!"

Xu Damao has become more and more confident since he succeeded in living off his parents, but he suddenly felt down when he thought of that incident.

"morning!"

Li Zhiguo replied casually that he planned to go to the factory with his two brothers today.

"Well, don't forget what we said that day."

Xu Damao lowered his voice, this had to be kept secret.

"I can't forget it. I'll make an appointment for Tuesday, the day Dr. Liang is off duty. Chunyan will be the only patient, and no one will know about it."

He is not free recently, so he will arrange it when he has time.

"That's great!"

Xu Damao was satisfied and the money was not spent in vain.

"Let's go together later. I have something to do at the factory today."

Li Zhiguo picked up the toothbrush and washed his face.

Xu Damao also picked up the toothbrush, which he learned from the villain, and said, "Why are you going to the factory? Is it about Jia Dongxu?"

"It has nothing to do with him. I'm here to get the tickets. I'll send some to my brother-in-law after I'm done. Ugh!"

Li Zhiguo spat, but it was not directed at his brother.

"Okay, let's go together. I have a bicycle too."

Xu Damao grinned and started brushing his teeth vigorously. At least he was more ferocious than Li Zhiguo.

After breakfast, Qin's mother went to see Xiao Jingru off and wanted to go with the aunt in the courtyard, so they went their separate ways.

Li Zhiguo quickly went to the central courtyard and stopped Sha Zhu, asking him to be his driver.

"I'll carry you, no problem!"

Sha Zhu took the bicycle and hung the net bag on it, and that feeling came.

Xu Damao followed him out, and as soon as he stopped the car, he quickly put down his rolled-up sleeves as he had just washed the dishes.

Three people and two cars passed through the yard, which made Jia Dongxu in the house look envious.

"Dongxu, stop looking at it. You might be a worker again tomorrow."

Chen Bihua was operating a sewing machine. As there were not enough diapers for Banggeng, she was sewing two more.

"Hey!"

Jia Dongxu lowered the curtains and said, "I have to be chosen. My master will help greet people. I just saw that Li Zhiguo seemed to be going into the factory as well. I guess he was going to collect flour coupons. He should also speak for me."

"Yeah, Brother Li is a very nice person."

I haven't seen Chen Bihua for a while. She is in confinement after giving birth.

Jia Zhang was still holding half a steamed bun in her hand. She wanted to eat white flour, but there was only a little left at home. She had to ask her daughter-in-law for help so that she would have milk to feed her eldest grandson.

While her son and daughter-in-law were talking, she tiptoed to the kitchen in the corner, opened the lid of the pot and grabbed an egg in her hand, leaving one for her daughter-in-law, which was enough nutrition for her.

"Dongxu, please take care of the house. Mom is out buying groceries."

"Go ahead, Mom, get some meat. We're going to have a good life."

Jia Dongxu was greedy, so he waited for his mother to go out, and while his wife wasn't paying attention, he went over to open the lid of the pot and grabbed an egg from it. That was it. His wife didn't need this little bit of nutrition, she only ate white flour.

(End of this chapter)