That being said, many people might consider this a distant matter. But Shen Yuan Chao knows that relying on individual farmers to purchase grain in small quantities is a difficult task. The challenges were already evident in 1952!
During the 1952 grain procurement season, from July to October, the amount sold exceeded the amount purchased. This was the opposite of the same period in 1951. In the first half of 1953, the sales plan was significantly exceeded, but the procurement plan was not completed!
In early 1953, wheat did not enter the market. While some grain did arrive, merchants controlled the market, hoarding supplies and driving up prices!
When Liu Hui Zhen went to buy coarse flour, she noticed that the grain was 20% to 40% higher than the listed price. In some places, the price had even doubled!
However, people were buying more and more, as the rising prices fueled their panic. Some farmers even sold their livestock to stockpile grain!
Even government agencies were participating in the grain buying frenzy!
Based on Shen Yuan Chao's memory, in 1953, over 35 million acres of farmland across the country were affected by natural disasters!
If the grain prices continued to rise like this, people would die!
To solve the grain problem, there was only one solution: Implement procurement in rural areas and rationed distribution in cities. This "procurement and purchase" approach was the only way to overcome the current grain shortage!
The word "procurement" is a scary one. Without implementing procurement, the grain supply would be disrupted, the market would be chaotic, and the city would be in turmoil!
But if implemented, the countryside would be in turmoil!
In conclusion, the new nation's struggles were more closely tied to the farmers. Therefore, the chaos in the countryside would be less severe!
So, in the end, it was decided to implement procurement!
However, the word "procurement" was associated with the rationing of the previous puppet regime, and there were concerns that it would cause further panic among the people. So, it was changed to "planned procurement" and "planned supply," or simply "unified procurement and marketing"!
Unified procurement and marketing was not the first time it was implemented by the new nation. John Bull had also implemented it for a while, and it was very successful!
Therefore, unified procurement and marketing was necessary!
Otherwise, Shen Yuan Chao would not have crossed over and been constantly worried about securing a Beijing household registration for his family!
Liu Hui Zhen said, "I know, but without a local registration, I can't adopt Yuan Chao. Now that we're in this situation, we can only take things one step at a time!"
Xu Fu Gui sighed and shook his head, leaving. However, Shen Yuan Chao did not miss the gleam in Xu Fu Gui's eyes!
Shen Yuan Chao's eyes flickered. It seemed that this Xu Fu Gui was after his family's house.
The main attraction was Liu Hui Zhen's west courtyard!
The house in the west courtyard had three rooms, with a small back room located at the easternmost end. However, it had been unused due to a pile of debris inside. The entrance to the courtyard had two rows of brick paving.
Liu Hui Zhen had built a small kitchen there, so the three rooms in the house became two bedrooms and one living room that doubled as a dining area!
The east room was currently empty and was considered the main room of the west courtyard. It had the largest windows and a large crabapple tree at the entrance.
Currently, Liu Hui Zhen, Shen Yuan Chao, and the two bean sprout sisters were living on the kang in the west room. It was a large bunk bed that could sleep about five or six people without feeling crowded!
Therefore, Da Ma also temporarily lived there.
The east room was temporarily used to store unused items!
The three rooms, combined, were about eighty square meters, no smaller than Sha Zhu's main room!
The most appealing feature was the courtyard, which was also over a hundred square meters!
The courtyard was planted with cabbages and other vegetables. It was these vegetables that allowed Liu Hui Zhen to keep her three children from starving!
Shen Yuan Chao thought that they could open a small gate in the west courtyard and block off the one leading to the main courtyard. This would make it a separate dwelling!
But Shen Yuan Chao was still young, and it was not something he could plan for yet!
Liu Hui Zhen had mentioned earlier that when they had money, they would clean up the east room and the small back room in the east, and use them for Shen Yuan Chao to get married someday!
Xu Fu Gui chatted with Liu Hui Zhen for a while and then rode his bicycle out of the courtyard.
Watching Xu Fu Gui leave, Sha Zhu quietly walked out of the house and crouched outside the courtyard!
Xu Da Mao and Sha Zhu had been sworn enemies in the courtyard since childhood!
Who understood Xu Da Mao best in the courtyard?
Not his parents, but Sha Zhu!
Similarly, who understood Sha Zhu best in the courtyard? It was also Xu Da Mao!
This mutual understanding was something even Lou Xiao E, Xu Da Mao's wife, could not match, even in the future!
On New Year's Eve, Sha Zhu had smelled the scent of alcohol coming from Xu Da Mao's house.
Xu Fu Gui had forbidden Xu Da Mao from drinking, but knowing Xu Da Mao like he did, Sha Zhu was sure that he would be drinking in secret as soon as Xu Fu Gui left!
Once he started drinking, he would have to go to the toilet!
Now, Sha Zhu only needed to wait in the alleyway, and he would surely catch Xu Da Mao in a drunken stupor.
Xu Da Mao was still young now, and he didn't need three cups to get drunk, let alone nine. Once he got drunk, he would black out and forget everything!
"The rat is cunning, the sparrow is bad, flies and mosquitoes are like rightists. They suck blood, bring disease, steal happiness and sabotage. Every household, rise up, beat the drums and sound the trumpets to eliminate the *害..."
Xu Da Mao hummed a little tune, unbuckling his trousers as he walked towards the toilet!
But as he reached the entrance of the toilet, a sack suddenly fell from the sky!
Xu Da Mao let out a wail, "Who! Who! Who! Let me tell you, this grandpa is no ordinary person. Beware, I'll catch you and deal with you!"
Sha Zhu held back his laughter and started punching and kicking Xu Da Mao. After Xu Da Mao was beaten to the point of being barely conscious, he stripped Xu Da Mao of his trousers and underpants!
Then he hummed a tune and returned to the courtyard.
But when Sha Zhu went back to the courtyard, he looked around the house and, remembering the conflict with the Liu Hai Zhong family, he let out a chuckle!
He saw the Liu Hai Zhong family's doors and windows were open. Er Da Ma was still keeping watch, Liu Hai Zhong had gone to the toilet, and the two Liu family children were kneeling in the corner, weeping.
Liu Guang Qi was reading a book. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Sha Zhu pried open the window and quietly stuffed Xu Da Mao's underpants and trousers into Er Da Ma's bed.
Then he turned around and went back to his room, lying down and waiting for the drama to unfold in the courtyard!
"Ouch, ouch, don't let me find out which rascal did this! I'll kill him!"
Xu Da Mao limped back to the courtyard, muttering curses!
Sha Zhu couldn't contain his joy as he listened to the sounds.
It served Xu Da Mao right, the rascal! He wanted to provoke him, so he got a beating!
Ever since He Da Qing left, Xu Da Mao had been protected by Xu Fu Gui, and Sha Zhu, with no father, hadn't given Xu Da Mao a good beating in a long time!
This feeling was simply exhilarating!
Xu Fu Gui, with a frozen nose and face, ran home.
Xu Da Mao's mother, Wang Xiu Lan, looked at him with heartbreak, "Da Mao, Da Mao, what happened? Who beat you? And where are your trousers? What about your underpants?"
Xu Da Mao, with tears and snot running down his face, sobbed, "Mom, I've been wronged, big time. I just went out to the toilet, and I don't know which rascal put a sack over my head and beat me up! He even took off my trousers! Waaaa!"