Hard times: I worked as a truck driver in the county town

Three loaders and one security guard helped with loading and unloading. A truckload of goods weighing about four tons wouldn't take long to unload if they weren't checking and counting the goods as they moved.

Many small items are packed in wooden baskets. A hundred pounds or so is nothing to the loaders; one person can easily move them.

The loading and unloading workers at the supply and marketing cooperative had a relatively easy job. For example, the rice sacks at the grain station, which weighed about 200 jin each, were carried by one person on their shoulders, and they were constantly loading and unloading without much rest.

After the goods were handed over, the escort from the city stayed behind. He worked with the delivery driver to figure out how to repair the vehicle or tow it back.

Jiang Cheng quickly drove back to the county town; he was starving and hadn't eaten lunch yet. These days, everyone's short on food, and it seems like no matter how much you eat, you get hungry again very quickly.

The monthly ration for adult male residents in the county is only 29 jin (approximately 14.5 catties), averaging less than one jin (approximately 0.5 kg) of food per day. Truck drivers are skilled workers, but it is also physically demanding work, so truck drivers are classified as having heavy physical labor.

Jiang Cheng's ration booklet clearly indicated his job and ration, and it was stamped by the county grain bureau. His ration was forty catties per month, but if he didn't eat any meat, forty catties wouldn't be enough.

The car returned to the county town and entered through the secondhand furniture gate behind the supply and marketing cooperative. In earlier years, you could buy decent quality tables and chairs at this secondhand furniture store, but now there's no "source" left; most of it is what's left over after the selection process.

This secondhand furniture market is actually just a large warehouse storing used furniture. The managers have categorized the furniture by different materials. You won't find any bargains here; you won't find furniture made of good materials at cheap prices.

The county supply and marketing cooperative's warehouse, office area, and canteen are all located behind here. After Jiang Cheng drove the car in, he waited for the people here to unload the goods, and then filled out a dispatch form.

This vehicle dispatch document is very important to the transportation station because Station Manager Chen will be coming here to handle the finance department's records for the dispatch expenses later. The number of kilometers traveled and the amount of cargo transported must be clearly stated.

Generally, drivers will inflate the distance by a few kilometers, as the fare per kilometer is about two cents. Inflating the distance by a few kilometers only adds up to a few dollars or eight cents, and this extra money doesn't end up in the driver's pocket.

Drivers fill in extra kilometers to get extra gasoline; the extra gasoline makes it easier to run private jobs.

"Master Jiang, are you hungry? Come to the canteen for a quick bite and try the food at our supply and marketing cooperative canteen," Director Liu said.

Jiang Cheng really helped the supply and marketing cooperative a lot today. This supply and marketing cooperative is the county's general cooperative. Now that the New Year is approaching, the goods that have been delivered are not only for distribution by the general cooperative, but also for several other supply and marketing outlets in the county, as well as the grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives, which are now the supply and marketing cooperatives in the communes. They all get their goods from this general cooperative for distribution.

When Director Liu called him to dinner, Jiang Cheng gave a somewhat naive smile. He didn't refuse; who wouldn't want a free meal? It's just that he was too shy to agree directly.

If someone is experienced, they wouldn't just accept an invitation to dinner. If it's mealtime, they'd even proactively ask if there's food available at the other person's workplace.

Jiang Cheng followed Director Liu to the canteen. The canteen was small, with only about twenty people in the county's supply and marketing cooperative. However, the supply and marketing outlets in the county were also considered part of the cooperative, and each outlet usually only had three to five people, as they did not need purchasing agents, loaders, warehouse keepers, or the like.

Although employees from other supply and marketing cooperatives in the county do not need to work at the head office, their employment status is registered here, and their salaries and benefits are paid here.

Jiang Cheng was the driver, and since this was an invitation to help, the lunch could be considered a reception meal. However, different people have different standards, and a driver wouldn't get the same special treatment as when receiving a leader.

Sweet potato rice, stir-fried radish slices, and a little fried tofu. This is usually the standard meal for the driver; in February, there aren't many kinds of vegetables available.

However, Jiang Cheng was a driver at the transportation station, not a delivery driver for the municipal supply and marketing cooperative, so Director Liu asked the canteen staff to fry some scrambled eggs for him.

Rice is a refined grain, and a person's monthly ration is only about seven or eight catties of refined grain. If the supply and marketing cooperative were to serve the drivers pure rice, they could eat quite a lot.

It's all rice mixed with sweet potato, rice mixed with pumpkin, and even rice mixed with shredded radish.

Sweet potato rice, stir-fried radish slices, and pan-fried tofu were readily available. After Jiang Cheng and Director Liu got their food, neither of them stood on ceremony; they were both hungry and immediately found a seat and started eating.

Although Liu Kaihong is the deputy director of the county supply and marketing cooperative, his position is a mental profession, and he receives the same ration as ordinary residents: 29 jin of grain per month.

Today, Director Liu benefited from Jiang Cheng's favor; even this kind of reception meal isn't something you can just eat whenever you want. The main advantage is that it's free, and no tickets are required.

They ate heartily, without any regard for elegance or refinement; filling their stomachs was the key.

Both of them ate three bowls of sweet potato rice, with a much higher proportion of sweet potato than rice. Finally, the cafeteria chef fried some scrambled eggs, which was really delicious.

After Director Liu finishes this temporary reception meal, he has to sign it off; otherwise, the amount of ingredients used in the kitchen will not match up, and all of this needs to be recorded.

After finishing the meal, Jiang Cheng felt really comfortable; the portion size wasn't enough. Normally, even if everyone ate a large bowl of rice, they wouldn't feel hungry at that moment. Actually, everyone could eat quite a lot more; they just had to restrain themselves.

It can be said that in this era, the vast majority of people rarely had enough to eat.

Just as they were finishing their meal, Jiang Cheng and Director Liu chatted for a while, which can be considered as establishing a basic understanding between them.

The county only has one truck at the transportation station, and Jiang Cheng is the only driver. This driver using the official vehicle for personal purposes is like a cook in a kitchen sometimes taking leftovers home; it's an unspoken rule in the industry.

Occasionally, someone might use the car privately for errands, and even if they are seen doing so, no one will report them.

Director Liu has connections to get a small amount of gasoline. If Jiang Cheng can help, their supply and marketing cooperative can go to other counties to purchase some things.

Jiang Cheng won't get any discounts when buying things at the supply and marketing cooperative. However, for certain items, like pork, they can reserve the fattier cuts for him. And for items where others have to queue, Jiang Cheng can use connections to get in.

When Jiang Cheng went to drive the truck, the goods in the cargo compartment had already been moved out, and it had even been given a simple cleaning by the supply and marketing cooperative staff. This made him feel much better. Although the truck belonged to the company, Jiang Cheng was still responsible for cleaning and maintenance. If it were to be frequently dirtied while transporting goods for certain organizations, they might not be willing to transport anything for them in the future.