Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 43 Standards for Educated Youth
Farmers would pay a butcher 2 yuan, plus two jin of meat and a few packs of cigarettes, and treat him to good food and drink. This was partly a payment and partly a courtesy.

The more rural the area, the more important these long-standing traditions of etiquette are. People look down on those who don't observe etiquette and are unwilling to associate with them.

Chen Fan came to teach how to kill and cook turtles, which was a higher level of "skill transmission" than killing pigs.

It's only because we've entered a new era, and the old feudal ways are no longer in vogue, coupled with Chen Fan's current predicament, that such a good thing has happened to him. Otherwise, who would easily pass on the skills to support themselves and their families?
Therefore, in this situation, the return gift should be given even more attention.

If we give too little, I'm afraid the people of Lujiawan will be laughed at by outsiders for the rest of their lives!

Zhang Guangwen took a couple of puffs of his cigarette, his brows furrowing deeply. After a while, he said, "Back in the 1950s, when agricultural technicians from the county agricultural technology station came to provide guidance, the rule at the time was that they wouldn't accept any payment. But they were government employees, and providing guidance in the countryside was part of their job, so we slaughtered a pig to entertain them and treated them to good food and drink every day. I've never encountered a situation like this before, and I don't know what to do. If I offer too little, it's embarrassing; if I offer too much, I can't afford it."

Then he looked up at Zhang Changjiang and said, "Boss, give me some advice."

It turns out that Zhang Changjiang and Zhang Guangwen are cousins. In this generation, Zhang Changjiang is the eldest and Zhang Guangwen is the seventh.

Zhang Changjiang crossed his legs, leaned back in his chair, and frowned in thought. He had just taken a puff of his cigarette when he realized that the fire in the pipe had already gone out. So he tapped the pipe on the chair leg to knock out the ash, then wiped it clean with the cloth hanging from the pipe and refilled it with tobacco.

After a long while, he exhaled a long breath, turned to look at Xiao Liewen and Ye Shubao, and said, "Yesterday we were so busy notifying the various production teams that we forgot about this. Let's discuss it now. I have an idea. First of all, we shouldn't give out the money. Although we defeated the bad guys last year and the higher-ups have started talking about developing the economy again, we still need to be cautious. Apart from official matters, we should try not to handle money for private purposes."

The two vice-captains nodded in unison.

Xiao Liewen smiled and said, "That's a mature perspective from you, and I have no objection."

Ye Shubao chuckled and raised his hand, "I agree too."

Zhang Changjiang smiled and continued, "For the second one, let the brigade come up with the main contribution. The squads don't have anything good. If you let them take it, they won't come up with anything good even if they turn the place upside down. It's better for the brigade to come up with something good. It'll be more respectable to talk about it from the outside."

Ye Shubao nodded and asked, "So, what kind of things should we produce?"

Xiao Liewen laughed from the side, "If you were to offer a bicycle, that would certainly be impressive, but the problem is we don't have any bicycle vouchers!"

These words startled Zhang Changjiang, who quickly waved his hands and shook his head. "Give me a bicycle? Are you kidding me?! You might as well sell me and see if you can get a bicycle in return."

Like the squad leaders below him, he didn't receive a salary. He only earned 3650 work points a year based on perfect attendance. According to this year's work point value standard, that's 237.25 yuan. In addition, he added the work points he earned from his own work. That was his entire income as the production brigade leader.

A Phoenix bicycle costs 160 yuan, plus a bicycle ticket. He would have to save up for a year without eating or drinking to buy one. The value is too high. Putting aside whether he is willing to give it away, it would not be appropriate for Chen Fan to give it away.

Ye Shubao grinned, "That still won't do. Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. You are the treasure of our brigade, how can we replace you?"

He then looked at Xiao Liewen and said, "If anyone's going to be replaced, it'll be Old Xiao. He's valuable. The county's armed forces department has wanted to transfer him to the county for a long time. They can definitely get him for a bicycle."

Then I got two eye rolls in return, and two "Get lost"s.

Zhang Changjiang took a drag of his cigarette and continued, "My thought is this: Chen Fan drifted to Old Yang's side from the water. Where he'll go next is another matter, but right now, all he has is a set of thermal underwear. Old Yang told me he gave me a quilt and two pairs of cloth shoes, the team's storekeeper gave him a cotton-padded coat, trousers, and a pair of cotton shoes, and Accountant Liu gave him two sets of single-layer clothing."

"If Officer Zhu can help him find his family, that would be wonderful. We'd even send him a whole pig to take home; it wouldn't be shameful to tell anyone."

Xiao Liewen interjected, "A pig costs 140 or 150 yuan, which is about the same as a bicycle. It's definitely not shameful."

Zhang Changjiang nodded. "I was just saying. We definitely can't send him a pig. First, our team doesn't have enough pork. On average, each person only gets three or four jin, which is barely enough for the New Year. Second, even if you send him a pig, he can't finish it. It's better to send him something useful."

Then he looked at Ye Shubao and asked, "What if, I mean, what if, Officer Zhu can't find the person for him? What do you think he would need?"

Ye Shubao's eyes lit up. "There are so many of those."

As she spoke, she started counting on her fingers, "First, you need to prepare two or three sets of clothes, bedding and luggage for sleeping, toiletries for washing your face and brushing your teeth, as well as a kettle, enamel basin, soap, flashlight, kerosene lamp, pin tumbler lock..."

He suddenly slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "There are still a lot of supplies in the warehouse specifically for educated youth. Let's just give them to him. They're all readily available, saving money and being practical, and we don't even need to find any more coupons!"

Xiao Liewen nodded repeatedly, "This is a good idea, I think it's feasible."

Zhang Changjiang, seemingly unfazed and as if he had everything under control, chuckled while smoking, "That's exactly what I mean. We'll give him some special supplies, equip him with everything he needs according to the standards for educated youth, and even give him a few extra sets of clothes."

This way, we save money and effort. For him, it solves his immediate problem, and when he finds his family later, he can take it with him and continue using it, so it won't go to waste.

Ye Shubao grinned and laughed heartily, "No wonder Lao Zhang is the pillar of the team, his mind really works fast."

The supplies for educated youth in the warehouse were all allocated through special channels.

After the new educated youth arrive at their destination, the local educated youth office will complete the formalities for them and issue them ration coupons and resettlement fees. The educated youth will then use the ration coupons to buy living supplies at the designated supply and marketing cooperative.

Alternatively, the local authorities could directly allocate the supplies to the production teams, which would then distribute them to the educated youth according to the vouchers, with the money deducted from the resettlement funds for the educated youth.

The supplies in the warehouse of Lujiawan Production Team fall into the second category.

However, the educated youth in the past two years are not like those in the first two years. Back then, people came from big cities, from the north to the south and Hangzhou. They traveled thousands of miles to come here, not knowing how long it would take to go back, so naturally they wanted to take all the supplies back with them.

The current educated youth are mostly locals, so they don't lack these things at all. Some families with good financial conditions are even too lazy to travel a long way to the brigade headquarters to collect supplies.

As a result, over seven or eight years, the warehouse accumulated more than a dozen sets of inventory.

If it weren't for Chen Fan's incident, these things would probably have continued to accumulate. When new people came, the old goods would be distributed, and the new goods would be stored for future people. When no more educated youth came, they would be used as surplus materials in the brigade and given as prizes to the advanced members of the brigade.

But right now, it's perfect!
(End of this chapter)