In August, the fruits on the mountains were so heavy that they weighed down the branches.
Ma Gensheng went to Su Ye to solve the problem. "Teacher Su, our village's fruit harvest is coming soon. There are so many fruits this year, but we can't find a market for them. I feel bad for them rotting in the fields. If we feed them to pigs, they won't be able to eat them all!"
Last year, Ruan Ruliang used the manure of pigs, chickens and ducks as fertilizer. The farm had so much manure that the experimental field could not use it all, so the excess was dumped on the mountain. Ruan Ruliang specifically researched fertilizers suitable for fruit production, and he was focused on high yields.
This year, with sufficient rainfall and fertilizer, the fruit production is four times that of previous years. This does not include the oranges that ripen in late autumn, and the output will be even more exaggerated when the oranges ripen.
Unsaleable fruits are a very tricky thing. They are difficult to preserve and transport, and if sellers cannot be found in a short period of time, they will rot in the fields.
For Su Ye, more fruit is a good thing, and low fruit production is a rare thing. This year, the weather has been good, and Ruan Ruliang mentioned to Su Ye before the New Year that the fruit production in Shanggou Village would not be less than the grain production.
Can a living person be suffocated to death by urine
Su Ye asked others with a smile, "Everyone, what do you think?"
Teacher He thought for a moment and suggested: "Should our village build its own fruit canning factory?"
When he went to Hong Kong, he found that canned fruits from Europe and America were very popular. They were sold at HKD 10 each. Canned fruits are durable in storage and transportation. Many businessmen like to bring a few cans of canned fruits when they go on business trips. It is also very decent to give them as gifts. Although they are expensive, many people still buy them.
As for money, Shanggou Village is not short of it. There is still a sum of money for tea in the account, and there is a steady flow of income from selling meat and eggs every month. It is more than enough to build a fruit canning factory.
Su Ye shook her head after hearing what Teacher He said. No? Before she could speak, Zhou Yi had already finished her words, "Teacher He, where do the cans in the canning factory come from?"
Well, a can of food is probably worth more than ten boxes of fruit. Steel is an important strategic material with a very low output. Every year, it is given priority in supplying military machinery and civilian manufacturing.
Su Ye smiled and pursed her lips, affirming Teacher He's idea, "Teacher He's idea of solving the problem on the spot is quite good, and this is worthy of praise."
She took out a proposal and said, "Although we can't afford to can fruit, we can make fruit juice. We don't have cans, but glass bottles are not difficult to find."
The country has experienced three years of famine. Winemaking requires a large amount of fermented grain, and the winemaking industry was the first to be affected. The country specifically ordered a suspension of the development of the winemaking industry. Many wineries could not continue to operate and closed down. The glass factories that survived on them are also struggling. Now is the time when the production capacity of glass factories exceeds demand.
Several people gathered together to look at Su Ye's proposal for building a fruit juice village factory. Teacher Su is really reliable!
She decided to build a fruit factory in the early spring and started constructing the factory this month so that the navel oranges can be ripe in November, just in time for juice making.
The more they thought about it, the more excited they became. Glass bottles were not valuable, and fruits and labor were readily available. Once the factory was built, they would no longer have to worry about the sale of fruits every year. It would be a permanent solution.
After the autumn harvest, Su Ye began to prepare to build a factory building. The wood, cement, and sand cost a total of 10,000 yuan. All the laborers in the village went to build a factory that could accommodate 1,000 people. Su Ye contacted Director Lu of Changyou. Director Lu learned that she was preparing to build a juice factory and gave her some advice.
"There is a brewery in City C that is selling equipment. You can use some of the equipment, and the price is not expensive."
The production lines for cleaning and filling are similar in breweries and juice factories. Su Ye handed the purchase of equipment to Teacher He, who patted himself on the back humorously and said, "Leave it to me. I guarantee you'll get the cheapest equipment."
Director Lu said to Su Ye, "The peanuts your village supplies this year are very good."
Unfortunately, Shanggou Village is only a small area, and the oil factory consumes more than ten tons of oil every month. He is considering Su Ye's previous suggestion that the factory and the village cooperate, provide funds, technology, and production materials to let farmers grow this kind of peanuts, so that Changyou will have its own oil supply base.
The peanuts from Shanggou Village have full seeds and good quality, and the oil yield is 4% higher than that of ordinary peanuts. Director Lu knows that this is a high-yield peanut specially developed by Ruan Ruliang. Although the concept of patent has not yet been born, Director Lu is willing to pay for Ruan Ruliang's technology.
Su Ye came back from City C and sent a message to Ruan Ruliang, "Director Lu wants to buy your seeds and planting techniques. He wants to find farmers to grow peanuts himself. Teacher Ruan has been thinking about how much money to charge these days."
Ruan Ruliang glared at Su Ye, meaning how dare you take money
"You can ask Director Lu to come. We can sell him our peanut seeds at cost. The planting technology is not a secret. Ask him to send a few key personnel to learn the technology from me."
Ruan Ruliang was a little guilty about holding the title of technical engineer of the factory. Although he did not receive a salary, he was still taking advantage of the factory. When he was in X University, he was either facing rare college students or professors who had returned from studying abroad. Ruan Ruliang held the title of Changyou technical engineer, and wherever he went, people respectfully called him "Engineer Ruan" or "Teacher Ruan".
Besides, Changyou is a state-owned factory and it actually works for the country. Ruan Ruliang's idea is very simple. Since it is working for the country, there is no need to spend extra money.
After Ruan Ruliang's repeated refusals, Director Lu finally gave him a "technical subsidy" of 50 yuan.
Su Ye was impressed by the noble character of the intellectuals of this era. Not only did he buy the patent rights to the high-yield peanuts for fifty yuan, but he also got an expert consultant for free, and even waived the training fees.
…
In September, Mr. He bought the three production lines of the brewery, namely, washing, fermentation and bottling. Ma Gensheng called on the whole village to build a factory. The whole village went crazy about building its own juice factory.
These days everyone is trying their best to move into the city and work in the factories in the city, but they never expected that a factory would open right at their doorstep
Their ancestors have all been farmers. Will they be able to become workers and eat state-provided food in the future
Ma Gensheng couldn't hide his blushing face and explained to everyone one by one: "The factory in our village is collective in nature, not state-owned, so it can't be considered as eating state food. But everyone working in the factory is considered a worker and gets paid every month."
Everyone will be satisfied if they can become workers even if they don’t have to eat state-funded food!
They worked harder and harder while building the factory. They got up early and worked late, working all day and reluctant to leave even when the sun went down, as if they were not building bricks and tiles, but a better future. Everyone worked voluntarily, and they were awarded ten work points after a day's work, but the effort they put in was more than ten work points. There was someone on the construction site who was responsible for cooking, and you could vaguely see minced meat in every meal, and sometimes even slices of meat.
I heard that a pig was killed specifically to reward everyone for their hard work.
This group of high school graduates from No. 1 Middle School had just arrived and caught up with the lively factory construction and plant building activities in the village. They were proud to see a row of blue brick and cement factory buildings rising from the ground and witness the completion of the first fruit juice factory in the village. They wrote letters to their seniors who graduated from here in the previous year, describing the rapid changes in Shanggou Village.
The juice factory was completed in October. In November, when the navel oranges were ripe, farmers harvested the oranges and sent them to the factory for juice making.
Liu Gang sent a package to Li Ming and Lin Yuan respectively. The package contained dried meat, local sausages, and a bottle of orange juice from Shanggou Village.
Li Ming was so excited that his face turned red in the cold winter. Their village actually built a factory! It was a small bottle of fruit juice, golden in color. You could clearly see the fruit flesh when you shook it slightly. The slogan was "Drink a cup of Jianmeibao every day, and you will be healthier!"
He looked at the falling snow and drank the sweet fruit juice from Shanggou Village, his eyes moistened. The familiar taste brought back his memories, reminding him of the time when everyone sat under the tree together in the evening after work, peeling oranges and eating them.
Although he only stayed in Shanggou Village for a year and a half, the days when they worked together and went from hardship to a life of plenty are unforgettable.
Lin Yuan received a letter from Liu Gang, in which he mentioned that a factory had been built in the village. The juice packaging was very simple, with the words "Jianmeibao" printed on the bottle, and small words on the back saying "Made in Shanggou Village Juice Factory". After drinking the juice, she washed the bottle and placed it beside the bed as a souvenir.
Five years later, Lin Yuan graduated. That year, Jianmeibao had already started making canned meat. Jianmeibao canned pork was very famous and was a must-have for long-distance travel. Lin Yuan bought two cans of meat from a store in Beijing with industrial coupons, and took the train and ate canned meat all the way back to Shanggou Village.
…
In January, the north wind made the mountains whistle.
Liu Gang tied red peppers and white garlic bulbs into strings and hung them under the eaves. The red peppers looked very lively. He blew out a breath of hot air and said with a smile: "Good morning, Teacher Su, Teacher Zhou, Teacher He, and Teacher Xiao He!"
It was almost the end of the year, and Zhou Yi was busy calculating the accounts and the year-end dividends for everyone. This year's accounts were much more difficult to calculate than last year's. There were more income and more expenses. It took him a whole week to add up all the details.
He stayed up all night last night and finally settled the accounts before the end of the year so that Ma Gensheng could distribute food and dividends to everyone at the end of the year.
Zhou Yi smiled and said, "This year, one work point is 0.51 yuan. It's time to treat myself to an extra meal."
One work point is worth 50 cents! Liu Gang was a little shocked. He quickly calculated how much money he could get. He worked 189 days this year, a total of 485 work points, wouldn't he be able to get 250 yuan? Liu Gang was so shocked that his hand, which was stringing garlic, trembled and he almost stabbed himself with a needle.
If you spread it out evenly, it's equivalent to a monthly salary of 20 yuan. Liu Gang calculated silently in his mind that if you take into account the grain, pork, cotton, eggs, and tea distributed by the brigade at the end of the year, which were all free, their treatment was far better than that of the city workers. The city workers had to spend money to buy food after receiving their wages, but they didn't have to spend money.
Liu Gang looked up at Zhou Yi in surprise.
Zhou Yi said modestly, "The juice factory made a small amount of money this year."
The other items of income were not small either. Each of grain, meat, eggs, fish, and tea was profitable, especially meat and eggs, which were very popular. The purchase price of special-grade meat and eggs by government agencies was slightly higher than the market price.
Su Ye smiled and said to Liu Gang, "Captain Ma is distributing food today. Ask a few people to go early and ask him to give us some good food."
After stringing the garlic, Liu Gang quickly led the new educated youth to the production team to collect food. Ma Gensheng distributed food to everyone directly beside the granary. The scene was so lively that Liu Gang doubted whether the food could be distributed until dark.
Men, women, young and old all took part in the work. The strong laborers were out of breath as they carried food on their backs, and their foreheads were covered in sweat in the middle of winter.
I don't mean anything else, I just have too much grain this year and I can't carry it all over.
The more diligent and strong laborers received 500 kilograms of grain, the labor activists identified by the production team even received 600 kilograms of grain, and even a 16-year-old boy who just joined the labor this year received 400 kilograms.
Ma Gensheng distributed food to the entire village, and it took three days to distribute it all. After distributing the food, he distributed cotton, eggs, and tea. On the last day, the team slaughtered pigs and went to the river to catch fish. Each household was given 20 kilograms of pork.
The New Year pigs in the pig farm are round and plump, each weighing 300 kilograms. Usually, the members feed the pigs with sweet potato vines, corn and wheat bran. The pigs are so fat that the water used by the butcher to wash the knife is covered with thick oil.
The fat of a freshly slaughtered pig is as white and greasy as snow, and is three fingers thick.
Secretary Ma led the members to go fishing in the river. They caught fat fish one after another and brought them ashore. The river fish were black, shiny and strong, and the waves stirred up by their tails were five meters high.
The old Party Secretary handed a black catfish to Su Ye, "You can't buy such a fat fish outside. Teacher Su, take it and eat it. Don't be polite!"
He specially picked the fattest and largest catfish.
Freshwater fish is a nourishing food with a delicious taste. The old secretary said to Su Ye happily, "Don't tell me, this fish is not available for ten yuan outside. It is very rare!"
Su Ye didn't know the quality of the fish, so Liu Gang's eyes lit up. "This fish is good, with few bones and tender meat. It tastes so delicious. Teacher Su, you just wait and eat it tonight!"
This kind of catfish is used in state-owned restaurants to make their main dishes. If a restaurant sells such a big catfish for less than 30 yuan, it will be a loss. Liu Gang happily trotted back with the fish on his back.
The scene of fish distribution was very lively. All the men went down to the river to cast nets and catch fish. The river was rich in aquatic plants, and the fish that had been raised for a year were plump and delicious. Each family could get three large fish, which were as heavy as pork. The fish were taken home and kept in tanks.
At the end of the year, the village distributed dividends to the villagers. Everyone received a lot of money. They dared to look at things that they usually didn't dare to buy. They bought several kilograms of kerosene, a whole carton of cigarettes, and several bottles of rice wine in one go from the department store. Unmarried girls shyly bought snow cream and clam oil. Families with large families even thought about pooling money to buy a bicycle next year.
Every household put up Spring Festival couplets, and some families even bought firecrackers, planning to celebrate the New Year in a lively manner.
New Year's Eve.
As soon as it got dark, sporadic sounds of firecrackers were heard in the village.
The dormitory was filled with warmth, and the flames from the stove slowly licked the copper pot. Liu Gang cut the pork into thin slices, which were as thin as cicada wings and had an orange-pink hue. They were as beautiful as clouds when picked up. The fiery red soup base started to boil, and it took only a dozen seconds for the pork to be cooked.
The fish meat is as thin as gauze, crystal clear, and so tender that it makes people exclaim in delight.
Among the new educated youth, there were two who were good at cooking, their movements were neat and tidy, even Liu Gang praised them highly. One of them made particularly delicious stewed food, and the other was good at making cakes and snacks. He could make more than 20 kinds of cakes with just any kind of glutinous rice. Before the New Year was over, Ruan Ruliang had gained three kilograms.
He Meimei teased Su Ye, "Could it be that Teacher Su went to a middle school and picked her out specifically?"
Su Ye thought that this time it was not the case. She just randomly picked up a few cookbooks for them to learn. Students these days are very good at hands-on work, smart and hardworking. If they are allowed to think about it for a while, they can make ordinary food into something fancy.
Teacher He used the special coupons to buy a few bottles of the best Moutai. Since the village had a juice factory, it had more contacts with major factories. He often dealt with factories and collected a lot of these strange coupons. Teacher He always remembered that Su Ye loved to drink Moutai, so he specially exchanged Changyou's peanut oil coupons for Moutai's special coupons.
He poured wine for Su Ye and toasted her. He saw the new countryside in her mind, where everyone had enough food and clothing and lived and worked in peace and contentment.
At the end of the year, Zhou Yi went to the province for a meeting and reported these data to the leaders: the grain output of Ruan Ruliang's "Fengshi Series" has been rising year by year, Qingxi County's trial sweet potato harvest this year has been very good, Shanggou Village's autumn grain harvest this year is four times that of last year, the village's meat and egg farm supplies an average of 1,000 kilograms of eggs and 500 kilograms of poultry to the city every month, the village's newly built factory sells more than 10,000 bottles of fruit juice, fishery farming is profitable, and the village's per capita annual income has exceeded 100 yuan.
The "Shanggou Village Model" has been proven to be feasible. In the early spring of next year, Teacher He and Zhou Yi will hold a commendation meeting to report the Shanggou Village Model to various leaders.
Teacher He's heart is filled with emotion and tenderness. Perhaps in a few decades, they will really be able to surpass Hong Kong City.
At midnight, the bells of the vigil came from the temple in the distance. At that moment, it was as if thousands of cannons were blasted at the same time, and firecrackers in the village rang out in a lively manner. The shining flames could be seen from a long distance. Children carried lanterns to visit each other after eating, and adults smiled and lit firecrackers. There were not many entertainment activities in the countryside. In the past, as long as it got dark, everyone went to bed. But on New Year's Eve, every household tacitly lit the oil lamp, and for the first time, they generously lit the kerosene lamp until dawn.
Anyway, it's not a big deal to die, but it's just a waste of a pound or two of kerosene. They can afford it.