Chapter 82

"Is five thousand not much?"

Li Dong muttered softly, but this was heard by the Sixth Master standing next to him. Sixth Master, with the tobacco pipe in his hand, immediately struck Li Dong on the forehead. "Ouch!" Li Dong looked stunned, "Sixth Master, what are you doing?"

This Han Village, wasn't it a den of bandits in the old days? Why does everyone like to hit people?

"Brat, what do you mean not much? Five thousand is already a lot." Well, Li Dong hadn't even said anything after being hit, but Sixth Master was already fuming, almost ready to hit him with the tobacco pipe again.

Li Dong quickly moved away from the tobacco pipe and approached the young men around Han Weiguo. These guys all had big tempers, and the tobacco pipes were long, making it hard to avoid if you were too close.

"Brother Li, why did you provoke Sixth Master?"

"Who wants to provoke him? I just muttered that five thousand isn't much, and I got hit for no reason." Li Dong looked like a wronged child.

Han Weiguo rolled his eyes. "Brother Li, you deserved it."

"What? Is five thousand a lot?"

In the future, a good paddy field could produce about 1,200 to 1,300 pounds per acre, so four or five acres would yield 5,000 pounds of rice.

Han Weiguo was about to speak, but Han Guofu called for quiet from above. "Let Uncle Guofu speak first, and I'll explain later."

"The public grain and the state-purchased grain together amount to 14,000 pounds. Adding the over-purchased grain and the negotiated grain, each 2,500 pounds, we need to deliver a total of 19,300 pounds of grain to the commune." After Han Guofu finished speaking, the discussion below became even louder.

"19,300 pounds, isn't that a matter of life and death?"

"Yes, how much rice can we produce this year? More than half of it is gone."

19,300 pounds of rice, Li Dong calculated, and it made sense why he thought it was only 5,000 pounds. If calculated by the yield of Biji Village, which is 150 pounds per acre, Han Village would produce about 20,000 pounds in total. Removing 19,000 pounds, only 3,000 to 4,000 pounds would be left, which would be enough for each household to get 100 to 150 pounds of rice, or 60 to 70 pounds of milled rice.

How could a family survive until next spring with that? This wasn't a joke; it was a matter of life and death. No wonder Sixth Master hit him.

"Brother Weijun, how much rice do you think we can produce per acre?"

Han Weijun, hearing that they needed to deliver 19,300 pounds of rice, frowned. "We used high-quality seeds this year, and the team organized people to irrigate continuously. With sufficient fertilizer, we can expect about 250 pounds per acre, which is about 100 pounds more than Biji Village."

250 pounds per acre, so 5,000 pounds would be from about 20 acres, and 19,300 pounds would be from about 70 to 80 acres. Half of the rice would be gone, no wonder everyone was discussing it.

"Isn't the public grain too much?"

About 100 pounds per acre, Li Dong didn't know what to say. The public grain was almost half of the total yield.

"The public grain is at most 8,000 to 9,000 pounds. The rest is state-purchased grain, and the over-purchased and negotiated grain are the larger parts."

Sigh, there's no way around it. The Lishan Commune has a task, and the head of the brigade where Han Village is located is also the deputy secretary of the commune. They need to set an example. Gao Village also has a quota of 5,000 pounds, but compared to Han Village, Gao Village's yield is only about 200 pounds per acre, and they have fewer paddy fields.

Even so, Han Guofu argued with Secretary Gao a few times. In the end, although he agreed, he demanded many benefits, such as fertilizer, high-quality seeds, and even priority technical guidance. For this, Gao Jian was fuming.

Han Guofu listed a basket of conditions, but the most pressing issue now is the current problem.

Half of the rice needs to be delivered to the commune, and the 36 households in Han Village will have only about 17,000 pounds of grain left for the next five to six months.

This is a matter of life and death. With over 200 people, each person would have only about 80 pounds of grain, which is not enough for five months.

"Ah."

"I have already talked to the commune and will try to get more coarse grains."

Han Guofu said, "Each household should think of ways to cope. The commune has given a condition: each household can borrow half an acre of land to grow vegetables. The surplus can be sold to the commune for money, and the commune's supply cooperative will buy it."

A half acre of land for each household, this policy made everyone see a glimmer of hope. Growing more vegetables could reduce the need for grain.

Although they can borrow land to grow vegetables, it's already autumn. They can only plant some Chinese cabbage. If they could borrow the land earlier, it would be better. Each household planned to finish the autumn harvest and immediately go through the procedures to borrow the land and cultivate it to plant vegetables as soon as possible.

"That's the situation. Quiet down. Tomorrow, we will thresh the rice and try to finish in two days. The commune is in a hurry. Guobing, Weijun, you two need to keep an eye on it." Han Guofu sighed.

"I will go to the commune again tomorrow. For the 5,000 pounds of over-purchased and negotiated grain, the commune needs to give us some compensation, such as grain and oil tickets, industrial tickets. I will try to get some, and each household can decide what to buy, like iron pots."

Iron pots and other iron products require industrial tickets, which are usually exchanged for grain. This year, with the grain problem, there's nothing to exchange. Han Guofu plans to go to the commune to get some tickets, as the 5,000-pound quota must be compensated.

Otherwise, why would they do it? The others were quite interested in the industrial tickets, as some families have over ten people and might need a new iron pot.

Li Dong didn't care; his family already had two pots. He was more concerned about the threshing tomorrow, which was slightly better than cutting rice.

After the meeting, Li Feng called a few young men over. "Weiguo, Weidong, Weichao, don't look so gloomy. Come to my place, I have something to talk about."

"What is it?"

These young men, all in their twenties or early thirties, were originally planning to fix their houses and save money to propose marriage before the New Year. Now, they might have to spend a lot of money on grain.

This year's hard work is in vain. Forget about getting married; whether they can have two meals of meat during the New Year is still a question.

"Come over first, and I'll tell you."

Li Dong planned to guide these young men, especially since Weiguo once got lost and found some wild yellow-precious (a type of herb) that was over ten years old, which was unbelievable.

At Li Dong's house, he poured tea and grabbed some peanuts to offer everyone.

"Eat the peanuts."

The fragrant peanuts were scattered on the table. Han Weiguo and the others almost drooled, pinched a few, and put them in their mouths. They were crispy and delicious.

"These peanuts are really good."

Li Dong thought, of course, how could peanuts not be good? He took out a bottle of wine and a few glasses.

"There's no other dish, just drink first. I'll cut some beef."

He cut half a pound of beef, two large radishes, and two cucumbers, and added some peanuts to make four dishes with a bottle of wine.

Han Weiguo, Han Weidong, and Han Weichao were amazed. Beef, wine, and meat—it felt like the New Year. This was too rich.

"Come, don't just stand there."

Each person had a glass of wine. Li Dong raised his glass. "Let's have a drink."

He took a sip of wine and threw a few peanuts into his mouth.

"Try the beef. It's cooked, and I didn't add much seasoning. If you like spicy, you can add some yourself." He poured some chili oil next to the beef, and the three men swallowed their saliva, eating two pieces of beef. It was so delicious.

"Brother Li, what's up?"

Han Weiguo put down his chopsticks, knowing Li Dong must have something to say, or he wouldn't have prepared such a feast.

"There is something."

Li Dong raised his glass and gestured for everyone to eat. He picked up a piece of radish, which was quite good. The cold dish was well-seasoned, and the three men followed, eating a piece of radish and were stunned. It was so delicious. When did radish become so tasty?

"I plan to collect some yellow-precious and polygonum."

These herbs are the most famous here. If there are other herbs, I'll collect them too. You know people from the surrounding villages, so help