Chapter 40 - 40

Chapter 40 Grain DistributionYun Huai smiled and said, "How about we give these two wild boars to the village to improve their meals?"Yun Ting looked at her second brother and understood. Was this her second brother's original plan? He wanted the villagers to remember this kindness so that they would take better care of her in the future. How could she not understand her second brother's good intentions?"Sure! No problem, let's get them down the mountain together." Yan Zheng and Zhou Yanghad no objections either, since they hadn't done much work on those two wild boars.They found some vines to tie up the wild boars.Yun Huai carried the largest one by himself,Zhou Yang gritted his teeth and carried the other one, and Yan Zheng and Yun Ting carried the Wild Chicken rabbit baskets together. The four of them slowly walked down the mountain.The setting sun cast long shadows of them. Yun Ting looked at her second brother's broad back and felt a warm glow in her heart. Her second brother seemed carefree on the surface, but he was incredibly thoughtful and considerate when it came to his younger sister." Take the wild chicken and rabbit back first, and be careful to avoid people, otherwise some people will gossip."" Educated Youth Yun is right, let's take it back first."Yun Huai and Zhou Yang struggled to carry the large wild boar towards the Threshing Floor in the village.They met some villagers on the way, and when they learned that the wild boars were for the village, they were very excited. Before long, the news spread throughout the village that Yun, a soldier, and Zhou, a student from Educational Youth, had hunted two large wild boars to improve the village's meals.Everyone rushed to Threshing Floor to see what was happening, and the village children ran around excitedly, shouting, "Meat! Meat!"The last time I ate meat was when I went up the mountain to find two female educated youthsand hunted a wild boar. It's been so long, and I've been craving meat ever since. Some families are a little better off and can occasionally eat some meat, but some families that are poor can't afford to buy meat.The Brigade Leader and the village chief were summoned to the Threshing floor. Yun Huaigreeted them and introduced himself."So you're the older brother of Young Yun, the one from the Educational Society? He's quite the handsome young man, no wonder he's a soldier. Look at how upright and good-looking he is!"The women were all talking about it, and some of the young women and wives blushed when they looked at Yun Huai." Comrade Yun, Educated Youth Zhou, thank you so much. Everyone can have a good meal today."" Brigade Leader, Village Chief, please take good care of my sister from now on. She's young and sometimes willful and doesn't know any better, so please be more tolerant of her. Also, she's timid and frail, so please don't bully her!"Timid? Weak? A huge question mark appeared above everyone's heads. Was this really referring to Little Educated Youth Yun? The Little Educated Youth Yun who rushed up and beat someone so badly they couldn't get out of bedwas timid?Yun Ting: "...Aren't you guys being polite? I'm clearly a delicate and frail woman.""Hehe... Comrade Yun, don't worry. LittleEducated Youth Yun is like a villager here, and everyone likes her very much.""Yes!" everyone agreed.Next, the pork was distributed in a cheerful manner. Although it wasn't much, with each household receiving just over a pound, it was free, so no one had anything to say."These wild boars were brought by Comrade Yun and Educated Youth Zhou. Give them ten catties each, everyone agrees, right?""No objections...""Why should they get so much? These wild boars belong to the community. If they get so much, what are we supposed to do?" An untimely voice came from the crowd.Upon closer inspection, everyone recognized Li Big Mouth." Li Big Mouth, if you're so capable, why don't you send your husband and son up the mountain to hunt a couple of wild boars!""Exactly, if you keep babbling, then don't bother dividing the meat.""Mom, what are you doing? Don't make us go hungry." Li Big Mouth's youngest son quickly stepped forward to stop her.Li Big Mouth was pulled away by his youngest son, and with no one making a fuss anymore, the scene became lively again.Everyone's faces were beaming with joy. Today they were getting meat, and tomorrow they'd be getting grain. It was truly a wonderful day."Everyone is able to eat this meat today, so remember how kind Comrade Yun and Educated Youth Zhou were! Remember to distribute the food tomorrow morning!" After distributing the meat, the Brigade Leader reminded everyone before they dispersed."I know, I won't forget.""Ha ha…"That evening, wisps of smoke rose from the village chimneys, and the aroma of meat wafted from every household.The next day! Early in the morning, Yun Tingtook her second brother to Threshing Floor. When they arrived, many villagers had already gathered there. They were chatting in twos and threes, their faces full of smiles.Yun Ting and the other later educated youth had never seen a grain distribution ceremony before. The scene was spectacular, and Yun Huaiwatched with curiosity. Every household was filled with joy, as if it were New Year's Day.That's understandable; after a year of hard work, they're counting on this food!During the winter, the family would rely on this food to survive. Some families with many members would not work during the winter and might only eat two meals or one meal a day.Xiangyang Brigade has Brigade Leader With such an upright and selfless leader, the local customs are quite simple and honest. The old village chief is too old to manage things much, so it's mostly the Brigade Leader who takes care of things.The villagers worked hard, and the diligent ones received more grain. Some families were lazy and slacked off at work, so they naturally received less grain and didn't even have enough to eat. They could only envy those who received more grain. However, people like Xiangyang Brigade were a minority.Every village has a few bad apples; it's impossible for everything to be good."Villagers, line up! Stop arguing, let's start distributing the grain."The villagers immediately quieted down and lined up to wait for their share of the grain.The Brigade Leader, village chief, accountant, and scorekeeper stood at the front, holding notebooks and scales, and began distributing grain according to each person's work points. Bags of grain were carried out, and everyone's excitement was impossible to hide.Several strong laborers were using wooden shovels to move the piles of millet and corn, which had been stacked into small mountains, toward the scale. The Brigade Leader, holding a leather notebook, called out names, his voice carried by the wind: "Li Erzhu's family, 120 jin of millet, 80 jin of corn... a total of 550 jin.""Coming right up…" A tanned man grinned and stepped forward carrying a burlap sack.Next, the grain was distributed to everyone in batches. Families with more laborers and who were more hardworking naturally received a lot, and they all had to bring carts to haul it away!The workload of distributing the grain was quite large. With more than 100 households in the village, plus the educated youth, it took almost a whole day to distribute it.Yun Ting arrived at the end of May. She did a good job at work, earning six work points every day. Now it's October, and after repaying the 30 jin of grain that the brigade lent her, she still gets 150 jin. Although it's not a lot, she's quite happy. This is truly what she earned through her hard work and sweat.She received mostly coarse grains, with only fifteen jin of refined grains. She didn't buy more, since she had plenty of food in her storage space anyway.Looking around, the new educated youths didn't receive a small share. Apart from Yin Jiao andLin Xue, Lin Xue was slightly better off than Yin Jiao. She pretended to be weak and used some of the male comrades in the village to help her with the work. Yin Jiao was really lazy and didn't work hard enough. She received few work points and only about 20 jin of grain after paying back the borrowed grain. If her family hadn't sent her money, she probably would have starved to death.If others are frugal, they will have enough basic food for winter. Of course, if they eat like Yun Ting, it won't be enough.The older educated youth are doing quite well; they received only slightly less than the villagers. Of course, this refers to the capable ones; some received less, and it's easy to understand why.