Chapter 33: Reasonable Allocation
Hearing Chen Fan's words, Captain Yang's face also showed difficulty.
He smoked his cigarette pensively. "That is a problem."
If someone else had said that, he would have slapped them across the face. It was just a few steps. How could they not be able to walk?
But yesterday, the whole village had spread the word about Chen Fan carrying a few loads of water. The kid was wobbly even carrying half a bucket, making people worried that he would fall off the riverbank. His strength was indeed a little weak.
If he was just going to the two closest teams, he could manage, but the few distant teams were a bit of a problem.
Especially the farthest teams, 1 and 12, which would take at least two hours to walk to. With Chen Fan's physique, could he even make it? It really wasn't a small problem.
The entire Lujiawan was an area similar to an irregular triangle, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with riverbanks on both sides. The entire production team was arranged along the two riverbanks, from 1 to 12, forming a circle. Where the land was wide, the length was shorter, and where the land was narrow, the length was longer, ensuring that each team had basically the same amount of land. Because the west was shorter and the east was longer, the bottom of the map formed a diagonal line. So, teams 1 to 5 were in the west, and teams 6 to 12 were in the east, and the numbers were not equal.
In fact, the entire Nanhu Commune was a large enclosure (a low-lying area surrounded by dikes) surrounded by two rivers, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with the commune headquarters in the middle.
Lujiawan was at the narrower end, and only this one production team was on this side.
The wider side, with an area equivalent to more than four Lujiawans, was divided into four production brigades, plus the town of Nanhu, which had a history of several hundred years, jointly forming the entire Nanhu Commune.
In terms of geographical location, Lujiawan Team 6 and Team 5 were the closest to the commune. This was one of the reasons why the Educated Youth Spot (知青点) was set up in Lujiawan Team 6.
Why not put it in Team 5?
That could only be blamed on the fact that the houses in Team 5 were too good. Half of them were large brick and tile houses left by the Lu family, and the other earthen houses were newly built in recent years. How could setting up the Educated Youth Spot there reflect the spirit of hard struggle?
So, Team 6, not far from the commune and full of mud-walled thatched houses, became the best choice for the Lujiawan Educated Youth Spot.
But now they weren't going to the commune... Captain Yang suddenly thought, would Brigade Leader Zhang go to the commune to claim credit after he went to the brigade headquarters to do the same?
Very likely!
He glanced at Chen Fan, then at Liu Ju Jiang, and suddenly had an idea.
Immediately, he coughed and said, "In that case, Little Chen just fell into the water, and his body hasn't recovered. It's really not convenient for him to walk long distances. Old Liu is an old commune member, familiar with the environment, and his feet are tough. So, please work hard and run to a few of the distant teams. Also, in terms of allocation, we'll give Old Liu a few extra work points, and give you 60 work points. What do you think?"
When Liu Ju Jiang heard this, his face turned red with excitement, and he nodded repeatedly. "No problem. As long as Comrade Chen has no objections, I'm okay with anything."
He sat in his chair, smoking and grinning from ear to ear.
He wasn't afraid of the distance. He was just afraid of earning fewer work points.
Once the production team entered the twelfth lunar month, there was hardly any real work to do, so naturally, he couldn't earn many work points. Now that he had the opportunity to earn 10 extra work points, of course, he was happy.
Chen Fan was also happy. He didn't have to walk long distances, which saved him a lot of energy!
Although he had 10 fewer work points, he couldn't get rich with these work points. Compared to solving his identity problem, it was more important to win over the commune members in the team and establish good relationships with them.
Seeing that Chen Fan was so easy to talk to, Liu Ju Jiang was also a little embarrassed.
Speaking of which, he had learned everything from Chen Fan, and now he was taking advantage of him. It really wasn't right. After thinking about it, he said to Captain Yang, "Comrade Chen is also not having an easy time. Why don't you give him a few work points, and I can have fewer."
Before Captain Yang could speak, Chen Fan quickly said, "No, no, one thing is one thing. Doing as much work as you get paid for is a matter of principle. We can't make exceptions."
Captain Yang also waved his hand. "What's the use of a few work points? If you feel embarrassed, you can teach him a couple of your skills later, and that'll pay him back."
Chen Fan also smiled. "That's a good idea. I'll have the opportunity to learn more from Master Liu."
Liu Ju Jiang thought that was right. This kid didn't look like someone who would be a chef. Moreover, the villagers nearby only recognized him, not a little kid like him. That way, he wouldn't be able to steal his work. When he had the chance, he could teach him two of the local specialties, which would be a way to return the favor.
Yes, that's what he'd do!
Seeing that this problem was solved, Captain Yang said, "In that case, Little Chen will go to the 5 teams that are closest: 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. Old Liu will go to the other teams."
After a pause, he said, "Tomorrow morning, my family will be slaughtering the New Year pig, and we'll need Master Liu's help to make the slaughtering pig dishes. So, we'll start tomorrow afternoon. If there are no problems, I'll notify the brigade headquarters and let them prepare."
Chen Fan nodded and asked the last question. "Captain, should we bring our own rations?"
When Captain Yang heard this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You're going to teach people how to cook. Would they skimp on your food? Do you not feed people when you hire them where you're from?"
Accountant Liu, who hadn't said anything all along, laughed so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. "Little Chen just can't remember things."
Keeper Huang also laughed. "Little Chen's spirit is still good. He wants to figure out every detail clearly. It's better to figure things out clearly; then there's no trouble."
Captain Yang slapped his thigh and laughed at Chen Fan. "If they don't feed you, you come back and tell me, and I'll get you enough grain for the whole next year!"
Chen Fan widened his eyes. "What if I stubbornly refuse to eat? Can I still get it?"
As soon as these words came out, the room burst into laughter, filled with a joyful atmosphere.
...
Back at the Educated Youth Spot, Chen Fan first ran to Jiang Lili's door and took the initiative to talk about it. "Captain Yang wants me to go to a few nearby production teams to teach them how to cook soft-shelled turtle."
Jiang Lili walked out and stood at the door, widening her eyes in surprise. "Really?"
Chen Fan nodded, smiling. "It's not for nothing. They're giving 10 work points per team. If I go to 5 teams, I can earn 50 work points."
A delighted smile immediately appeared on Jiang Lili's face. "That's great. That's like working for 6 or 7 days for me."
So, she only earned 7 or 8 work points a day?
Chen Fan blinked and suddenly thought of what Captain Yang had said about "piecework recording."
He asked, "Hey, how do you usually calculate work points? I mean, some people can get 10 work points a day, but some only get 7 or 8. And some work is hard, and some work is easy. How do you calculate it?"
"Oh."
Jiang Lili said without hesitation, "There are several ways to record work points: 'fixed points and dead records,' 'fixed points and flexible evaluation,' 'piecework recording,' and 'contracted work.'
'Fixed points and dead records' is to assess the work points that should be earned per working day based on the strength of the labor force and the level of technical skill, and then record the points based on the actual attendance time.
This is also the most common daily scoring method in the production team. For example, a man can earn 10 work points for working a day. If it's during the 'Double Rush' season (双抢, the busy season for harvesting and planting rice) or when carrying loads, he can earn up to 12 work points a day. Women get fewer points, usually 7 or 8, and they won't get more than 10 at most. The elderly and children get the fewest points for working, some getting 5 or 6 points.
'Fixed points and flexible evaluation' is to score based on labor performance and achievements on the basis of 'fixed points and dead records,' and then multiply this score by the original standard score."
Chen Fan nodded slowly, understanding. It was like a performance coefficient.
Jiang Lili continued, "Piecework recording is to mark a task with a score. If the task is completed, you can record the points. Contracted work is similar, but it mainly targets the production team. For example, the task of carrying loads every year is that the commune contracts a section of the river dike to the production team, giving a total number of work points. The production team then arranges commune members to complete the task and distributes the work points based on the performance of the commune members."
Chen Fan blinked, not expecting that there would be such flexible distribution methods during the production team era. It was a bit beyond his imagination. He thought that everyone was treated the same, whether they worked hard or not.
(End of Chapter)
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