In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

After chatting with the members of the joint defense team for a few minutes, Wang Xingguo continued walking home. There were quite a few pedestrians on the road. These days, the weather is hot at night, so people can't go to bed too early and there are many people visiting their friends' homes.

Unlike winter, when it's too cold and everyone goes back to bed early to warm up, nobody wants to go out for a stroll.

Back in the front yard, I chatted with the neighbors for a while, and everyone was discussing the rumors they had heard.

In fact, the grain rations were reduced for the first time starting in October, and almost everyone in Beijing knew about this in advance.

Because the contents of the meeting that discussed this matter back in July had already been leaked.

Therefore, everyone is discussing how to reduce food rations, by how much, and to what extent.

The reduction in food rations was inevitable, but some people were concerned about the prices of goods in private transactions, so they pulled Wang Xingguo, a street urchin, aside, offered him a cigarette, and asked him to talk to everyone about it.

Wang Xingguo tucked a cigarette behind his ear and said with a grin, "I really know about this. The price of an old hen has gone up from 2.5 yuan to 5.5 yuan, a local duck from 3 yuan to 6 yuan, and a goose from 4 yuan to 7 yuan. Eggs are the most needed nutritional food for everyone, and they've now gone up to 1.8 to 2 yuan per jin (500 grams). Duck eggs are even more expensive; there are only about eight or nine eggs per jin, and it generally costs about 2.2 or 3 mao to buy a jin of duck eggs."

Grandpa Yang couldn't help but ask, "Xingguo, with eggs this expensive, who can afford them? Tell everyone about fish prices. If these nutritional supplements keep going up like this, I don't know how I'm going to supplement my eldest son's nutrition."

Wang Xingguo shrugged and replied, "Uncle Yang, there are fewer and fewer people selling things privately these days, but there are more and more people needing nutritional supplements. This is called supply falling short of demand, and the principle of scarcity driving up prices. Everyone should understand that, right?"

"I understand, but the price is skyrocketing. With my meager monthly salary, I have to think twice before buying even a little extra egg..."

"That's right, I also wanted to get some meat coupons to nourish my daughter-in-law, but now each coupon costs 50 cents, and it takes seven coupons to buy a pound of pork. Just the coupons alone will cost me 3.5 yuan..."

"Hey, Xingguo, tell me about the fish! Has the price of fish gone up like that?"

Wang Xingguo clapped his hands and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Uncle Sun, you're really smart! You've really caught up with the heavens! Now, a carp costs at least 1.5 to 2.3 yuan per jin, and a crucian carp costs 1.2 to 2 yuan per jin, depending on the size. Most other fish cost 0.7 to 1.2 or 1.3 yuan, and the larger the fish, the more expensive it is."

The price wasn't set by Wang Xingguo; anyone can find out by asking around. There's no need for him to hide it from everyone.

The main reason is that he didn't actually want to sell fish to his neighbors at all!

Selling it at a high price might hurt the harmony with the neighbors.

He felt like he'd been ripped off for selling it at a low price.

So he really didn't think much about selling things to his neighbors. It's so much more comfortable to sell to others; take it or leave it, if they think it's too expensive, fine!

In this great capital city, there are plenty of people who have the money to buy these nutritional supplements.

With the meager wages of ordinary people, it's good enough to keep their families from going hungry; where would they find the spare money to buy these expensive meats, poultry, and eggs!

To put it bluntly, just like their neighbors in the courtyard, the Sun family has two full-time workers, one of whom is a mid-level worker. The combined salary of Grandpa Sun and his son is a little over 110 yuan a month.

An ordinary family only earns thirty or forty yuan a month. How can you compare to the Sun family?

Families who can save fifty or sixty yuan a month after deducting expenses are the main consumers.

Especially since Grandpa Sun's grandson has just turned one month old, they have to spend a lot of money to nourish their daughter-in-law so that she can produce more milk to feed their grandson.

So, without batting an eye, Aunt Sun gave Wang Xingguo five yuan to help her get eggs and crucian carp.

Ordinary families can't afford it, they're reluctant to spend the money, and they simply don't have the purchasing power.

After chatting for a while, Wang Xingguo walked back to the Intermediate People's Court.

The same was true at the Intermediate Court; everyone was sitting on small stools with palm-leaf fans at the entrance, enjoying the cool air and chatting.

Wang Xingguo greeted his neighbors and then went back inside to get some water.

It's common practice in almost every household to save tea leaves for entertaining guests, rather than using them at home.

In terms of sophistication and decorum, the people of Beijing are second to none.

It's often said that a person lives for their reputation, just as a tree lives for its bark. This is absolutely true, at least the people of Beijing have taken this saying to heart.

People in the capital would rather suffer in private than lose face in public.

After finishing his water, Wang Xingguo also went to the doorway to cool off.

The houses in the courtyard houses have relatively good heat dissipation. Generally, with the windows open for ventilation, you can go back to your room to sleep after 9 pm.

If it's not around this time, the room is quite stuffy and hot, making it difficult to fall asleep.

So it's not that they aren't tired from work and insist on gathering in the courtyard to chat; it's just that they have no other choice but to chat together to pass the time.

Just like the old ladies at the east end of the village, do you think they want to gather together and gossip?

In reality, they just don't have children to keep them company, so they can only huddle together for warmth.

Besides the Wang family, there is another Wang family in the Intermediate Court, but the two families come from different places.

Besides the two Wang families, there are also the Mo, He, and Chen families.

Besides Old Mrs. Jin, the backyard also housed the Li family, the Zhou family, the Zhang family, and the Xu family.

The entire courtyard housed fourteen families, but with thirteen different surnames, which is one of the unique features of this type of courtyard.

This courtyard belongs to the subdistrict office. Generally, if a factory is short of housing, it will contact the subdistrict office, which will then look for vacant houses in its jurisdiction and arrange for them to rent them.

These days, even having a detached house isn't enough. Unless you have a large enough family, you have to rent out the extra rooms to help the neighborhood committee alleviate housing pressure.

There is no room for refusal; refusal is seen as non-cooperation, a lack of awareness, or even a sign of ideological problems.

But what's wrong with these things?

The Wang family used to be an oppressed class, but now they've been able to turn their lives around and become their own masters, all thanks to the policies. They're more than grateful for them!

Just like the neighboring No. 15 courtyard, many of the former servants of the Jin family have now become masters of their own lives, with jobs and rental housing, living a life of equality.

Grandpa He suddenly asked, "Xingguo, are you going to the countryside tomorrow?"

Wang Xingguo nodded and said, "Uncle He, what's the matter? I'm planning to borrow a bicycle tomorrow to take a ride around the production team in Chaoyang."