Chapter 43: Educated Youth Standard
When farmers invite pig slaughterers to slaughter pigs, they have to give them 2 yuan, plus two jin of meat and a few packs of cigarettes, and also treat them well with good food and drink. This is partly remuneration and partly "etiquette."
The more rural the area, the more importance is attached to this long-standing "etiquette." People look down on those who don't observe etiquette and are unwilling to associate with them.
Chen Fan came to teach how to slaughter soft-shelled turtles and cook soft-shelled turtles, which was a higher level of "skill transmission" than slaughtering pigs.
It was only because they had entered a new era, and the old feudal ways were no longer popular, and because Chen Fan was stranded here, that this kind of good thing would fall on his head. Otherwise, who would lightly pass on the skills to make a living?
Therefore, in this case, more importance should be attached to the return gift.
If they gave too little, people in Lujiawan would be laughed at by outsiders for the rest of their lives!
Zhang Guangwen took two puffs of his cigarette, his brows furrowed tightly. After a while, he said, "In the 1950s, when the agricultural technicians from the county agricultural technology station came to guide us, the rule at the time was not to charge a penny. However, those people also lived off the state, and it was their job to go to the countryside to guide us. We also slaughtered a pig to entertain them and provided them with good food and drink every day. We've never encountered this situation before, so I'm not sure what to do. Too little would be embarrassing, and too much we can't afford."
Then he looked up at Zhang Changjiang. "Oldest Brother, what do you suggest?"
It turned out that Zhang Changjiang and Zhang Guangwen were cousins. In this generation, Zhang Changjiang was the eldest, and Zhang Guangwen was the seventh.
Changjiang crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, frowning in thought. He had Zhangjust taken a puff of his cigarette, but he found that the tobacco in his pipe had already gone out. He tapped the pipe on the leg of the chair to knock out the ashes, wiped it clean with the cloth hanging on the pipe, and refilled it with tobacco.
After a long while, he exhaled a long breath, turned to look at Xiao Liewen and Ye Shubao, and said, "Yesterday, we were busy notifying the production teams and forgot about this. Let's discuss it now. I have an idea. First of all, let's not give money. Although the bad guys were overthrown last year, and the higher-ups have started talking about developing the economy, we still have to be cautious. Except for official business, we should try not to handle money privately."
The two deputy leaders nodded together.
Xiao Liewen smiled. "That's a wise saying. I have no objection."
Ye Shubao raised his hand with a grin. "I agree too."
Zhang Changjiang smiled and continued, "Secondly, the production brigade should pay for the bulk of it. There's nothing good in the small teams. Even if you let them take it out, they wouldn't be able to take out anything good even if they turned everything upside down. It's better for the production brigade to pay for the bulk of it and take out some good things, so it'll be presentable."
Ye Shubao nodded and asked, "Then what kind of things should we take out?"
Xiao Liewen laughed from the side, "If you're talking about giving a bicycle, that would definitely be presentable, but the key is that we don't have bicycle tickets!"
These words scared Zhang Changjiang so much that he quickly waved his hands and shook his head. "Give a bicycle? Are you trying to scare me?! You might as well sell me and see if you can exchange me for a bicycle."
He, the brigade leader, didn't have a salary like the team leaders below. He only had 365 full attendance points a year, which was 3650 work points. Based on this year's work point value standard, that was 237 yuan and 25 fen. In addition, plus the work points he earned from working, this was all the income of the brigade leader of this production brigade.
And a Phoenix bicycle cost 160 yuan, plus a bicycle ticket. He would have to go without food or drink for a year to buy one. This value was too high. Not to mention whether he was willing to give it away, it wouldn't be appropriate for Chen Fan even if he really gave it away.
Ye Shubao grinned, "That won't work. An old person in the family is like a treasure. You are our brigade's treasure. How can we exchange you?"
Then he looked at Xiao Liewen. "If we're going to exchange someone, we'll exchange Old Xiao. He's valuable. The county armed forces department has long wanted to transfer him to the county. They can definitely exchange him for a bicycle."
Then he was met with two eye-rolls and two "get lost."
Zhang Changjiang took a puff of his cigarette and continued, "My idea is this. Chen Fan floated to Old Yang from the water. We don't know where he'll go in the future. Just based on his current situation, he has nothing but the clothes on his back.
Old Yang told me that he gave him a cotton quilt and two pairs of cloth shoes. The storekeeper in their team gave him a set of cotton-padded clothes and pants plus a pair of cotton shoes, and Accountant Liu gave him two sets of light clothing.
If Constable Zhu can help him find his family, then everyone will be happy. We can even give him a pig to take back with him, and it won't be embarrassing."
Xiao Liewen interjected, "A pig also costs one hundred forty or fifty yuan, which is almost the same as a bicycle. It's definitely not embarrassing."
Zhang Changjiang nodded. "I'm just saying that. We definitely can't give him a pig. First of all, we don't have enough pork in our team. On average, each person only has three or four jin, which is barely enough to get through the New Year. Secondly, he can't finish eating a pig even if we give it to him. It's better to give him something useful."
Then he looked at Ye Shubao. "In case, I mean in case, Constable Zhu doesn't find his family, what kind of things do you think he'll need?"
Ye Shubao's eyes lit up. "Then there are a lot of things."
Then he started counting on his fingers. "First of all, he needs to prepare two or three sets of clothes inside and out, bedding, toiletries for washing his face and brushing his teeth, and also a thermos, enamel basin, soap, flashlight, kerosene lamp, padlock..."
He suddenly slapped his thigh and said with excitement, "There are still a lot of supplies in the warehouse that are specifically for educated youth. Why don't we just give him these things? They're all ready-made, save money and are practical, and we don't have to look for tickets!"
Xiao Liewen also nodded repeatedly. "This is a good idea. I think it'll work."
Zhang Changjiang was calm and composed, as if he had already known this, and smiled while smoking. "That's what I mean. Let's give him a special allocation of supplies and equip him according to the educated youth standard, and also give him a few extra sets of clothes.
This way, we'll save money and effort. For him, it'll solve his immediate needs, and he can take it with him and continue to use it after he finds his family, and it won't be a waste."
Ye Shubao grinned and laughed. "That's why people say Old Zhang is the stabilizing force of the team. His brain just turns fast."
The educated youth supplies in the warehouse were all allocated through special channels.
After the new educated youth arrived, the local educated youth office would complete the procedures for them and issue them tickets and settlement fees. The educated youth would then take the tickets to the designated supply and marketing cooperative to buy living supplies.
Or the local area would directly allocate the supplies to the production team, and then the production team would issue them to the educated youth according to the tickets. The money would be deducted from the educated youth settlement funds.
The supplies in the Lujiawan production team's warehouse were the second situation.
It was just that the educated youth in the past two years were not like the educated youth in the first two years when they first started. At that time, people came here from big cities, from Beishang and Nanhang. They came here from thousands of miles away and didn't know how long it would take to go back, so they naturally had to take all the supplies back with them.
The educated youth now were basically locals and didn't lack these things at all. Some families with good conditions were even too lazy to travel far to the brigade headquarters to collect supplies.
As a result, after seven or eight years of accumulation, there were more than a dozen sets of inventory in the warehouse.
If there was no Chen Fan, these things might continue to accumulate. When new people came, they would issue the old goods and then store the new goods for future people. When there were no more educated youth coming, they would be used as surplus supplies in the production brigade and issued as prizes to the advanced elements in the team.
But now, it was just right!
(End of Chapter)
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