Courtyard House: After disbanding the Elderly Care Gang, I went to the countryside to cultivate immo

After paying their grain taxes, the villagers of Heisonggou Village finally felt a sense of relief and ease.

After working hard for more than half a year, the next task was to go up the mountain to collect firewood and mountain products, but this did not require being on time every day like going to work.

Soon, two days passed, and the loudspeaker hanging on the old locust tree started blaring Hu Guangming's signature, raspy voice again:

"Hey! Hey! Attention, comrades! Attention, comrades!"

The sound of the horn instantly tightened the lazy atmosphere in the village, and people who were sunbathing, mending clothes, or tidying up farm tools in their courtyards involuntarily pricked up their ears.

"This afternoon! After lunch, everyone in the village, young and old, must assemble in front of the brigade headquarters warehouse! Do you hear me? Everyone assemble in front of the warehouse!"

"We need to calculate this year's work points and distribute the grain among everyone! Each household needs at least one person in charge! Do you understand? This afternoon, in front of the warehouse!"

The announcement was repeated three times to ensure it could be heard in every nook and cranny of the village. Then, the loudspeaker went silent with a "whoosh."

But this silence lasted only a very brief moment. The next second, the entire Heisonggou village seemed to have been thrown into a pot of boiling oil, and it exploded with a "boom"!

"The grain is being distributed! The grain is being distributed!"

"We've finally waited for this day!"

"Honey, make dinner early this afternoon!"

The long-suppressed anticipation erupted into a frenzy of excitement at this moment.

The adults shouted at the top of their lungs, the children ran excitedly all over the yard, and even the usually calm old man couldn't help but lean on his cane and walk to the door to look out.

After working hard for half a year, facing the loess soil and turning to the sky, sweating profusely, isn't this the moment we've been waiting for?

Having food in hand means you won't panic, you can get through the winter, and you'll have something to look forward to next year!

The atmosphere here is even more festive and real than during the Lunar New Year! The Lunar New Year may just be about celebration and distributing grain, but it concerns the stomachs and lives of the whole family.

Families like Grandma Hu Liu's had been eagerly anticipating this for a long time.

The rice and flour jars at home were long gone, and every day they counted the grains of rice before cooking, barely managing to fill their stomachs by mixing in wild vegetables and bran.

Shuanzi and Yadan's faces have both gotten thinner.

Upon hearing the news of the grain distribution, the old woman's eyes reddened, and she kept muttering, "Thank God, we've finally waited for this... we've finally waited for this..."

At noon, smoke started billowing from every household's chimney earlier and faster than usual.

They ate their meals exceptionally quickly, swallowing them almost whole.

Before the appointed time, people had already begun to gather on the open space in front of the row of adobe houses used as warehouses next to the brigade headquarters.

People gathered from all directions, like streams, eventually converging into a noisy and excited sea in front of the warehouse.

Most of the men squatted by the wall or under the trees, smoking their pipes and asking each other how much they would receive this year.

The women gathered in twos and threes, some holding babies in their arms, others holding the hands of older ones, chattering away, their faces showing both anticipation and trepidation.

The teenagers darted around in the crowd, chasing and playing. They would be scolded by the adults a few times, quiet down for a moment, and then start playing again. The air was filled with their carefree laughter.

Directly in front of the open space, the two heavy wooden doors of the warehouse were wide open, revealing piles of sacks and the vague outlines of grain inside, emitting a reassuring aroma of cereal.

In the open space in front of the door, someone had already brought over an old, faded octagonal table. On it were thick ledgers, an abacus, inkpads, and a large, gleaming scale with its heavy weight placed to one side.

A chair was placed behind the table; this simple arrangement touched the hearts of everyone present.

More and more people gathered, forming a dense, dark mass; it seemed that almost everyone in the village who could move had come.

The children were sweating profusely from running around, and the adults were getting impatient, with some craning their necks to look towards the warehouse office every now and then.

Finally, as the sun began to set, Hu Guangming and accountant Hu Laogen walked out of the small office next to the warehouse, one after the other.

Hu Guangming walked ahead with his hands behind his back, while Hu Laogen carried a thick ledger and work point book under his arm, and wore a pair of old reading glasses with a broken leg and tied with thread on his nose, looking serious.

Upon seeing them emerge, the clamor of the crowd not only did not subside but intensified, with countless eyes focusing on the old octagonal table and the two people behind it.

Hu Guangming walked behind the table, but did not sit down immediately. He slapped the mottled tabletop hard.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

People gradually quieted down, and hundreds of eyes stared at him expectantly.

"Comrades! Quiet down! Listen to me!" Hu Guangming cleared his throat and shouted.

"Our fellow villagers of Heisonggou Village, young and old, aunties and grandmas! You've worked hard all year round, from spring planting and summer management to autumn harvest and grain delivery... Everyone has worked so hard!" He paused, his gaze sweeping over familiar, weathered faces.

"Today, we've gathered here to summarize this year's hard work and to distribute our grain fairly and reasonably to every household! So that everyone can have a peaceful winter and have the energy to continue working next spring!"

These opening remarks were sincere and resonated with everyone, drawing a chorus of approval.

"Me, the accountant Lao Gen, and a few committee members have been doing nothing but checking work points and calculating output these past two days," Hu Guangming said, pointing to the thick ledger in front of Hu Lao Gen. "Now, the results are in. I'll first announce the overall situation of our village and this year's distribution standards to everyone!"

Everyone held their breath and strained their ears, afraid of missing a single word.

Even the most mischievous children sensed the heavy atmosphere and obediently huddled next to the adults.

"Our Heisonggou Village has 112 registered households this year."

"The total number of formal laborers who participated in earning work points throughout the year, plus the part-time laborers, is 728." Hu Laogen adjusted his glasses at the opportune moment and added, "The accounts are all here, and every single one can withstand scrutiny."

Hu Guangming nodded and continued speaking into the loudspeaker: "Thanks to everyone's hard work this year, our harvest is slightly better than last year. After calculation, one work point for our village this year is set at eight cents!"

"Buzz—" The crowd stirred again.

Eight cents! That's five cents more than last year! Although it's just a small five cents, for farmers who toil in the fields and are so frugal with every work point they have, it's real progress and hope! Some people smiled, while others quickly calculated how much more money they would earn.

"Quiet! It's not over yet!" Hu Guangming raised his voice. "Regarding grain, the public grain has been fully handed over to the state, and seed grain, reserve grain, and feed grain have all been reserved in accordance with regulations. What's left is our rations and work-point grain!"

"According to the '70% per capita, 30% per worker' distribution principle uniformly implemented in our commune—" He emphasized this point, as it was a core policy concerning how much grain each household could receive, "that is to say, 70% of the total distributable grain is distributed equally per capita; the remaining 30% is distributed according to the amount of work points earned!"

"Based on this principle, and our actual total grain output this year," Hu Guangming opened a small notebook in front of him and read aloud, "after calculation, this year, each adult in our village will receive a basic ration of 360 jin per person! Each child under ten years old will receive a basic ration of 240 jin per person!"

When he read out the number, Hu Guangming's tone didn't show much joy.

The crowd below reacted in a rather complex manner, with a burst of discussion, but few were excited, while many were pondering or sighing.

Three hundred and sixty catties of grain per person sounds like a lot, but this is "raw grain" with the husk and skin still on.

Rice needs to be husked to become rice, and wheat needs to be ground into flour; there is considerable loss in the process.

If converted into clean grains that can be cooked directly, a strong adult laborer would only have a little over 200 jin of staple food a year, which averages out to less than one jin per day.

This needs to be eaten with wild vegetables and thin porridge just to barely fill one's stomach, let alone any oil or fat.

Compared to last year, I may have gained ten or twenty pounds, but I am still far from being "full".

With even fewer children, who are at the age of rapid growth, 240 pounds is a tight weight.

"There's also grain distributed based on work points!" Hu Guangming slammed his hand on the table, silencing the murmurs. "The grain is distributed according to work points. Each work point earns you two ounces of grain. Your family has more work points, so you'll get more!"

This point made those families with more laborers and who worked diligently see the potential.

"The distributed grain will be allocated according to type," Hu Guangming continued to announce. "It will be the same as last year, roughly 30% refined grains and 70% coarse grains. As for the specifics for each household, it depends on how you combine refined and coarse grains."

"Did everyone understand?" Hu Guangming shouted one last time. "If you don't understand anything, you can ask now! When we start distributing the grain, we'll do it according to the rules. No one is allowed to cause trouble!"

The buzzing discussion below continued, but no one stood up to voice their doubts.

The policies have remained largely the same year after year, and everyone has a sense of the scales in their hearts, knowing roughly how much they are entitled to.

More than anything, they were calculating how much basic food they would have, how many work points their laborers had earned, how many more work points they could get in grain, and what kind of refined grains they could get...

There was joy, after all, grain would soon be delivered to our homes, but more than that, there was the heavy thought of how to carefully manage the distributed grain, mixing it with bran and vegetables to get through the long winter.