Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

In the office, Zhuang Zhongchen concluded the department's work meeting and conveyed the spirit of the superior's meeting.

At the recently concluded plenary meeting, a major reshuffle of cadres was indeed carried out.

The good news is that Zhuang Zhongchen has successfully shed his "acting" label and truly become a level 19 cadre, with his administrative rank promoted to the level of a full section chief.

The news was neither good nor bad—Zhuang Zhongchen remained the head of the Vocational and Technical Section, with no change whatsoever. But as before, he was still one of the most peripheral section-level cadres in the unit.

The bad news is that due to the increased number of engineers, the company has implemented a new on-call system. From now on, there's no longer a need to specifically manage fire safety. However, on their on-call days, Zhuang Zhongchen and his team will have to handle everything. In fact, this has actually increased their workload considerably.

And each week I have a shift, which is a 24-hour shift. Even my working hours have increased considerably.

After the meeting, the colleagues sat together and chatted.

"Zhuang Ke, I wonder what kind of New Year's goods we'll be distributing this year? Will we be able to surpass last year's?"

"Probably? I heard they'll be distributing a lot of pork this year."

"Huh? Pork?"

"Breaking news: The city's ice storage facilities seem to be overflowing with pork, and the Commerce Bureau and Supply and Marketing Cooperatives are worried. They might soon mobilize all enterprises and institutions in the city, requiring every employee to contribute to the purchase. We're stipulated to buy quite a lot."

"what?"

Everyone burst into laughter, finding it unbelievable. Last year, pork and other non-staple foods were in high demand, but this year there's not even enough to eat?

In reality, the past few years had indeed terrified the market, leading to a frantic production of agricultural and sideline products domestically. Furthermore, Beijing was a key area for ensuring food security, resulting in a massive influx of pork and other agricultural products from various regions. Unexpectedly, this led to a farcical situation: there was enough pork to eat, but the cold storage facilities couldn't hold it all?

That's true. In those days, ordinary people had ration coupons for meat and oil. The quantities seemed quite small. But there were still bargaining counters where people could buy meat, eggs, and oil at negotiated prices.

Additionally, restaurants and eateries generally only accept grain coupons, not meat or oil coupons. For example, buying a few large meat buns can still provide some nutrition; it just costs a little more money.

Therefore, it certainly couldn't compare to the later freedom to eat meat, and conditions were indeed quite difficult. But it wasn't as bad as one might imagine. For ordinary people, eating meat every day was impossible, but they could still enjoy meat every now and then.

Here's a little-known fact—China's average meat consumption in the 70s exceeded that of South Korea in the 8s and 90s. Can you believe it?

If you don't believe me, you can look at old photos of Beijing's native inhabitants. Aside from exceptionally gifted individuals like Feng Xiaogang and Ge You, most of them have large heads and ears. Doesn't that look like signs of malnutrition?

Of course, there are still significant regional differences, as the capital city provides priority support. Rural areas are much more difficult, with many places still relying on government-supplied grain.

Here's something to note: the urban-rural divide is enormous. Especially for those from Beijing and Shanghai, they do enjoy many hidden benefits. Don't blindly apply this to other places, especially rural areas. Doing so would make those from Beijing and Shanghai laugh their heads off.

Another issue is that people in the midst of it are often unaware of the reality. Ordinary people in that era had absolutely no sense of the "hardships" they were experiencing. No matter how bad things were, it was still much better than before the founding of the People's Republic, right? Not just a little better, but exceptionally better!

Just like the housing policies I mentioned before. Looking back now, how come the living conditions are so poor? Why are illegal structures required? And why should my privately owned house be considered a state-owned property?

But in the eyes of ordinary people at that time, it was simply a matter of the government holding the title while providing housing to the people almost for free. Although there was a symbolic rent, the housing management office would also provide free maintenance. What difference did it make?

Moreover, with the support of government agencies, one feels especially secure in their own home.

Don't forget that people like Uncle Yi and Uncle Er, who were born and raised there, witnessed it all firsthand.

Those powerful and tyrannical officials, regardless of whether it's private property or not, will still seize it by trickery and force, leaving many ordinary people homeless. Every winter, hundreds and thousands freeze to death by the roadside. The bodies of abandoned infants float everywhere in the rivers…

Does anyone want to live like this? Believe me, if anyone dares to say that the house doesn't belong to the government, I'll make sure they regret it!

Let me reiterate—times change, and so do the logic of behavior. Some policies that seem absurd actually have their reasons.

……

Sure enough, as New Year's Day approached, various enterprises and institutions began distributing New Year's goods, and there was even a competition among the courtyard houses to see who could give the most gifts.

"Wow, your steel rolling mill is much better; you even have naked carp. We only have broken ribbonfish."

"Of course. We're a key unit. But this piece of pork of yours is good, with so much fat."

"Why don't you guys say you sent out a lot? Oh, you even have a frozen chicken? Damn!"

"..."

The Huangyu fish originated from Qinghai Lake. During that period, it was transported to Beijing by the train carload. The larger ones were over a meter tall and had thick layers of fat, making them incredibly delicious. However, they later became unavailable, becoming an endangered species, requiring a minimum survival time of three years.

The ribbonfish is quite strange. As one of the four major economic fish species along the coast, the other three almost became extinct due to overfishing, but the ribbonfish just can't seem to be completely caught?

Marine resources were also very abundant during this period. Wild large yellow croaker, also known as yellow croaker, was even cheaper than ribbonfish?

That said, the distribution of New Year's goods is always a time for those bastards at the steel rolling mill to show off. Their New Year's goods are not only diverse and of high quality, but also come in huge quantities.

"Let's all help each other out and freeze them first! We need to ship another batch before the Spring Festival."

"I have some good news to announce: the neighborhood committee has announced that our courtyard house has been recognized as a model of civilized courtyard house. Each household will be awarded 1 jin of meat coupons, 1 jin of oil coupons, and 10 jin of grain coupons."

"Really? With so much food at home, how are we going to eat late?"

"If you can't finish it, you can give it to us, right? Hey gentlemen, and a few of you brothers, how about coming over for drinks tonight?"

"Sure! Don't spend all your money, we'll each bring some. Shall we have Zhu Zi help with the cooking?"

"Leave it to me. Want the old lady to come along too?"

"Alright! I know you're all filial children!"

"..."

The courtyard was filled with a joyful atmosphere. When Zhuang Zhongchen returned home, he also took five eggs and two packs of cigarettes.

Although the benefits of working in government offices are much worse than those of large state-owned factories like steel rolling mills, Zhuang Zhongchen is still a minor cadre, isn't he?

During holidays and festivals, there are always many social interactions, so there are often many gifts exchanged at home.

"Chenzi, do you still have the pickled cabbage you gave me last time?"

"Yes, yes, I'll bring you one. Do you need some fermented bean paste?"

"Okay! Bring some hot sauce too."

"..."