Chapter 003 mowing the shuttle

It's better to act than to move. In his previous life, Yang Xia just thought too much, and when he acted, he either fell behind or stopped, thus missing a lot of opportunities.

Thinking of this, Yang Xia jumped up, grabbed the sickle and the basket, and ran towards the mountain behind the village.

Rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, rely on the water to eat the water. At the turn of summer and autumn, in the Nanshu/mountainous area, there are many valuable things growing, and at this time, Yang Xia is carrying a sickle to harvest a grass plant called "shuttle grass".

Shuttle grass, the leaf stem is more than five feet long, about one millimeter thin, the toughness is excellent, is an important raw material for weaving straw rope. The sturdy straw rope is very widely used in industry, agriculture and people's daily life [Note 1].

The shuttle grass is like a leek, which is cut raw, but it can only be cut once a year, because the toughness is not enough and the length is not enough, the supply and marketing cooperatives will not buy it.

Originally, it was best to wait for another ten and a half months to cut the shuttle grass, and the toughness of the shuttle grass at that time was enough. It's just that this shuttle grass is not unlimited, according to the experience of previous years, the most capable villagers can only harvest dozens of catties of shuttle grass in a summer, and the whole village adds up to only two or three hundred catties.

Shuttle grass grows on cliffs, and the higher the cliff, the more shuttle grass there is, the better it grows, so the business of cutting shuttle grass is also full of dangers. Yang Xia remembered that he had fallen off the cliff a year ago, but fortunately he fell down the cliff, except for the skin on his hands and legs, he did not hurt his muscles and bones.

Fortunately, in the hills of Shuzhong, the mountains are not high, and the cliffs are not high, otherwise, an ordinary child like Yang Xia can only sigh at the grass.

The grass can only be cut, not pulled together. The roots are kept, and they will sprout in the spring. Every nest of shuttle grass, there are dozens or hundreds, when enough handful, it is necessary to use a shuttle grass, tie it into a "put", go home and open a handful of dry in the sun, after the water is completely dried, you can sell, the price given by the supply and marketing cooperative, about 2 corners and 5 cents per catty.

From wet grass to hay, how much water is evaporated, the money is not so easy to earn.

"That's the fifth baby of the Yang family, hurrying with a basket on her back, where are you going?" Yang Xia didn't notice that the two grandmothers were sitting in the forest not far away and watching him.

"It's mung bean picking." A grandmother in a green shirt said.

"The person who picks mung beans has already gone, and in the west of the village, he is running to the east of the village." The grandmother in the black shirt said again.

"I'm afraid he's going to go up to Lao Ma Mountain, but in the past two days, what is there on Lao Ma Mountain?" Grandma Tsing Yi was a little puzzled.

The black-shirted grandmother echoed: "Yes, what does Lao Mashan have, except for tung oil and shuttle, it is worthless, but tung and shuttle grass are not yet there." ”

"It's not going to steal the production team's bread, is it?" Grandma Tsing Yi was suddenly startled.

"No, I watched this kid grow up, and his heart is high, and he won't do those things like stealing chickens and dogs." The black-shirted grandmother fluttered Yang Xia's words. In fact, the speculation of the grandmother in the green shirt is not unreasonable, hunger and cold give birth to stealing hearts, in this era, it is not uncommon to steal the food and fruits of the production team. Yang Xia remembers that when he was eight years old, he went to steal sweet potatoes from the production team because he was hungry. Sweet potatoes, raw can also be eaten.

"That's, that's, this kid is not only high-spirited, but also handsome, which girl finds him, it's a blessing." Grandma Tsing Yi began to gossip.

"There is a fart blessing, this child Cai Jiawan is afraid that he will not be able to keep it, I haven't heard that others have been admitted to Chiquan Middle School, and most of those who have been admitted to Chiquan Middle School have become public people, how can the Yang family come back?" The black-shirted grandmother said.

"That's right, Caijiawan is so poor, it's not interesting to come back." Grandma Tsing Yi agreed.

The two grandmothers were talking, and the topic changed in a big circle, but what Yang Xia was doing in Lao Ma Mountain, they didn't understand it in the end.

Laoma Mountain, 956 meters above sea level, relative height of more than 500 meters, in the hilly area of Shuzhong, can be regarded as a big mountain, but because it is only a lonely mountain, except for an elevation on the map of the city and county, it is not famous.

In later generations, Yang Xia also climbed Laoma Mountain many times, and the lush and lush scenery was deeply engraved in his mind, far from the bare appearance of this era.

The countryside in front of the package production is really poor, not only has no food, but also no firewood to burn, so poor that even the trees on the mountain can not grow branches, because a few branches are a little longer, they are shaved off by the peasants with knives and dried as firewood.

Looking at the bare trees, Yang Xia's heart seemed to be tugged at by something.

It is very strange to say that the difference between a large collective and a package of production to households is not only manifested in the over-harvesting of grain, but even in the firewood. At this time, Yang Xia's family allocated wheat orange stalks, grain orange stalks, straw, etc., which were not enough for cooking and cooking pig food, so he had to go to the mountains and forests to shave the trees and come back; However, as long as a package is produced to the household, not only the grain can not be eaten, but even the firewood can not be burned, this is not the reason for the use of coal, the rural areas of Shuzhong generally burn honeycombs, at least ten years to wait.

Although it has been implemented in Xiaogang Village in Fengyang today, it will not be implemented until after 1982 in Caijiawan, and the farmers in Caijiawan will have to wait for at least four years.

Aside from the dangers of being on the cliffs, it doesn't contain much skill in itself. It does not include technology, it refers to how to stand firm on the steep cliff after being familiar with the characteristics of the cliff and the shuttle, and how to cut the shuttle from the sickle and tie it up one by one. If you are not a farmer, it is estimated that it will be difficult to cut a handful of shuttle grass completely.

Yang Xia had been feeling his body and movements as he scurried up and down the cliff, but the result of his feelings was nothing different or abnormal, that is, he had not been taken care of by the heavens, and those fabulous golden fingers had not come with rebirth.

However, Yang Xia was not disappointed. After all, such an unbelievable thing as rebirth has been encountered, from 2014 to 1978, more than 36 years, not only 36 more years to live, but also 36 years to be able to read the file, this is already a golden finger that is better than anything.

The sun sets, the sky is getting dark, Yang Xia's back basket, carrying about 20 catties of shuttle grass home, these 20 catties of fresh shuttle, after drying, you can get 5 catties of hay, the price of each pound of hay is 2 jiao 5 cents, one afternoon, Yang Xia earned 1 yuan 2 jiao 5 cents.

As soon as the account was settled, Yang Xia's steps to go home became more brisk and powerful. Because, the people of later generations do not know how the soft sister coin of this era is "strong".

1 point for a water candy, 2 points for a match, 5 points for a bun, fry a plate of magnolia meat slices in a restaurant for 3 jiao, if you have a meat ticket to buy 1 catty of meat, it only takes 7 jiao 8 points, and if you don't have a meat ticket, you only need 1 yuan and 4 jiao; All kinds of side dishes, the most expensive will not exceed 2 jiao, and it is more than a few cents a catty; Fruits generally cost a few cents a pound, and the most expensive ones are only 2 jiao; Send a letter, an envelope is 1 cent, a stamp is 8 cents, and the local port only costs 4 cents......

In 1982, Yang Xia was admitted to Nanshu Normal University, and the family feasted guests and made a full 30 tables, except for food, everything else was bought, but it only cost 180 yuan. And the 180 yuan banquet has been talked about by the people of Caijiawan for a long time, because this is the most abundant dishes and the most meat dishes in Caijiawan for decades.

Of course, this banquet of the Yang family is nothing after ten years, others not only have chickens, ducks and fish, but also seafood and mountain delicacies, in addition to the nine big bowls in the countryside, they also add what fruit plates, platters, and cold snacks in the city, in short, the future meal will definitely be much more varied than the Yang family's time, and it is much more foreign.

How does earning 1 yuan, 2 jiao and 5 cents in an afternoon compare with villagers working in a large collective? Villagers work in large collectives, excluding the measurable work of picking mung beans, Caijiawan usually has a main labor force (male laborer) at most 12 points per day, and in the best year of income, every 10 points can only be divided into 2 jiao and 5 cents, from the perspective of money, Yang Xia's efforts on the cliff for an afternoon are equivalent to an adult man's labor remuneration for 5 days.

So, why don't others cut the grass and pick mung beans? This is the discipline of the big collective, a normal labor force, if it is not due to illness and does not work, not only will the grain be deducted, but also be criticized by the collective, the Yang family is a rich peasant in Caijiawan, and it will be even more tragic when it is criticized! In addition, the resources such as the shuttle grass are limited, not to mention the entire production team, even the women, and the shuttle grass on Laoma Mountain cannot withstand half a day of harvesting.

"Went mowing the grass in the afternoon?" Father Yang Guangyao turned over the back basket that Yang Xia was carrying.

"Yes, Dad." Yang Xia felt his father's silent concern.

"Captain Lin said, let you go to work early tomorrow morning." Yang Guangyao sat down and rolled his cigarette, and suddenly said something.

"Dad, I'm still underage." Yang Xia "resisted".

"It's not that you are asked to do heavy work, but that you are asked to subcontract the orange pole."

"Subcontract the orange stalks?" Yang Xia was a little surprised, this job was easy, but why didn't this job fall on his head in his previous life, Yang Xia tried hard to recall, and didn't seem to have remembered such an experience.

In the era of large collectives, some jobs are still relatively light and leisurely, and do not require much physical strength, but they require a certain amount of culture or skills. For example, accountants, cashiers, scorekeepers, foresters, etc., all year round easy work.

For example, going to Wuxian Temple to buy fertilizer and seeds, which is the business of the production captain and cashier, they can easily go to the field, and they can also enjoy a subsidy of about 2 dimes a day, and the Shaozi noodles of Wuxian Temple are only 1 dime per bowl.

In addition to the previous members, there are also some zero-hour light work, such as the work of distributing food and firewood to the members, which is called bookkeeping, no one supervises, and the arbitrariness is very large, and you can also give more points to your own family, by the way, Yang Xia has also done similar easy work, that is, to distribute taro to the members.

[Note 1]: The word Suocao is the old family of Erlong, what is its scientific name, Erlong still does not know, Cha Du Niang also does not know what to do, but the people in the countryside of Shu, have seen more of its things, and those who know its scientific name can leave a message on the page of the book, thank you.