Chapter 456 - 453: Delivering the Public Grain
The day to deliver the public grain arrived in a flash, and Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang headed to Lexing.
Along the way, they saw a steady stream of commune members pulling their grain deliveries toward the vehicle factory.
The Lexing area didn’t grow wheat, so they had to deliver public grain twice a year. That spring, the brigade had delivered rapeseed, so Lin Lan’s family only needed to deliver rice paddy. Next year, it would be rapeseed.
A portion of the harvest had to be handed over to the state for free to cover the agricultural tax. If the value of the delivered grain wasn’t enough to meet the tax requirement, they had to pay the difference out of their own pockets.
The Lin Guoliang brothers were waiting at home to deliver the grain together. Along with Li Xiangyang, they packed the carefully selected, golden, crisp paddy from their baskets into burlap sacks, loaded them onto a pushcart, and pulled it onto the tractor path by the gate. Just then, He Xianghua and Yang Meihua appeared, also pulling a pushcart as they walked from the direction of Shiqiao to meet them.
Seeing them struggling, Li Xiangyang and Lin Guoliang rushed forward to help push their cart onto the tractor path.
Yang Meihua wiped the sweat from her brow. "Lin Lan, did you bring the grain delivery form? And did you bring any extra paddy to top up the weight?"
"I have it. And I prepared the extra paddy too."
As Lin Lan took out the delivery form, she suddenly recalled her past life. After she had married and started a business, she still had to pay the "Three Retentions and Five Unifieds" to the village every year. The village even issued a payment booklet to every household.
It even specified the purpose of each fee.
The Three Village Retentions were: the public accumulation fund, the public welfare fund, and the management fee. The accumulation fund was for constructing irrigation and water conservancy for farmland, planting trees, purchasing fixed assets for production, and setting up collective enterprises.
The welfare fund was for supporting the "Five Guarantees" households, subsidizing families in extreme poverty, cooperative medical care, and other collective welfare projects. The management fee covered the salaries of village cadres and administrative expenses.
He Xianghua parked the pushcart and said with a laugh, "The folks at the grain station said there can’t be any moisture, grit, shriveled grains, or other impurities. It has to be brightly colored with full kernels to be considered acceptable."
Lin Guoliang said, "I’ve seen it. The requirements for individuals delivering grain are much stricter than for the brigade. I poured ours out to dry in the sun all yesterday afternoon, then winnowed and sieved it one more time."
He Xianghua nodded. "I had people go around and notify everyone, so they should all be aware."
The two families set off, pulling their pushcarts toward the Lexing Commune grain station.
When they got to the grain station, its large courtyard was already crowded with baskets, burlap sacks, pushcarts, and wheelbarrows. On the road, more farmers were still heading this way, carrying grain on shoulder poles.
However, everyone delivering grain had a smile on their face. Some were quietly murmuring that after this, they could finally cook a meal of white rice for their children.
Lin Guodong looked around. "Didn’t they say they were collecting from Lexing Commune first? Why are there so many people?"
He Xianghua chuckled. "Second Brother Lin, Lexing Commune is much larger than Dashiqiao Commune."
Lin Guodong thought about it and agreed. "We’ll have to come earlier next year."
Li Xiangyang had never delivered public grain before and was surprised they had to wait in line. He turned to Lin Lan. "Little Lan, it’s hot out. You and Meihua should head back first. We can wait here."
Seeing it was just Li Xiangyang and the other two men, He Xianghua said to Yang Meihua, "You should go home. With Xiangyang and the others here to help me, there’s no need for you to wait out in the sun."
Lin Lan and Yang Meihua had no choice but to agree. "Alright, we’ll head back first then."
"Go on!" Li Xiangyang waved them off. After the two women left, he said to He Xianghua, "Brother-in-law He, let’s go take a look inside."
He Xianghua nodded with a smile. "Sure. I’ll show you how the grain delivery process works!"
The two of them walked over to a platform scale not far from the warehouse. He Xianghua explained, "The first step is inspection. The inspector has to approve it and give it a grade. Then it goes to the winnowing machine, and after that..."
Li Xiangyang watched the inspectors. They were expressionless, each holding a long steel probe with a groove down the center. They would plunge the probe into a sack of grain and pull it back out.
The probe would bring out a sample of grain. The inspector would pinch a few kernels, pop them in his mouth, and bite down. "Second-grade," he’d announce, then wave for the sack to be taken to the winnowing machine.
He watched several farmers go through, but none of their grain was rated as first-grade.
One family was turned away. The inspector said their paddy wasn’t dry enough and had too many impurities, telling them to take it back, dry it properly, and then return.
The family dejectedly pulled their pushcart away.
The farmers who passed inspection happily pushed their wheelbarrows over to the tall winnowing machine, where a crowd was already waiting.
A worker stood on the machine, pouring paddy into the hopper. Below, at the grain and chaff spouts, others used burlap sacks to collect the clean kernels and the empty husks that were blown out.
Next, the sacks were carried back to the platform scale to be weighed. A grain station employee would record the weight, deduct for the weight of the husks, and do the final calculation.
Once they received the final slip, the farmers had to carry their grain, sack by sack, into the granary and empty it into the grain bins. Only then was the process complete.
He Xianghua laughed. "There aren’t that many people delivering grain today. You should have seen it last year. The grain in the granary was piled as high as a mountain. People had to carry their sacks across a wooden plank just to get to the top of the pile."
"Once those grain station guys are done inspecting, they just sit around drinking tea and shooting the breeze. They won’t even lift a finger to help you. It’s a little better here since we’re close to the city."
He Xianghua sighed. "Yeah... my little one isn’t cut out for studying. I’m just hoping he can scrape through junior high and then join the army. At least he’ll have a path when he gets out. Otherwise, he’ll be stuck tilling the soil his whole life."
"Boys mature late," Li Xiangyang consoled him. "Once he gets a little older, his grades will probably improve."
"Meihua told me your Little Douzi is starting first grade at City No. 1 Primary this year, right?"
"Mhm. We had to pull some strings, but the teacher said they’d take him as long as he could pass the entrance exam. I heard he got a perfect score on it."
"You can tell a person’s future by age three. That kid of yours has loved books since he was little. He can read my kids’ picture books and retell the stories perfectly. Mine stares at them every day, but if you ask him to tell you the story, he just mumbles."
"He’s always talking about getting into the police academy so he can be an officer just like Ding Bang."
"All kids are like that. They want to be soldiers or police officers." He Xianghua smiled at the memory. "I still remember when I was in my teens, I was most envious of the men in uniform!"
Li Xiangyang smiled and nodded. ’If not for what happened to my family, Ding Bang, Dongzi, and I would have enlisted together. Then again, if none of that had happened, I might never have met Little Lan...’
When they returned to the line, they saw it had moved forward a bit. They had arrived at six, but it was almost eleven by the time it was their turn.
The men hauled their grain to the inspection point. He Xianghua greeted the inspector with a smile, offering him a cigarette. "Mr. Wang, thank you for your hard work!"