Time had entered the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. The wind was biting cold and the weather was freezing.
It was so dark that no one could be seen. Guo Qing returned home with a steel shovel. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted,"I'm starving. Let's eat!"
His mother handed him a dozer, and Guo Xing took it and stood in the yard, pattering away the thick layer of dust on his body. As he spoke, his younger brother Jianshe also returned. He rubbed his hands and warmed his ears. He complained,"Cheng Wa is so cowardly. He's too ruthless. Seeing that it's dark, he refused to let everyone stop work and insisted on holding everyone back to flip that bit of land.”
When his mother heard this, she smiled and said,"Cheng Wa has always been like that!" He was ruthless and capable! He did it for the team! Didn't he know to go home early for dinner? Does he like the cold?"
Jianshe took the hammer from National Day and said with a smile as she hit the soil,""Mom, you're an active person! You don't know how cold it is in the field when you're sitting at home!”
"I rummaged through the closet for a long time in the afternoon and found a 'train head' face hat that your father used to wear. There's also a long scarf. Take a look at it. Wear it when you start work tomorrow.”
When Jianshe heard this, she immediately returned to her room and took out the two items. She said,"Brother, I'll use a scarf. Put on that face hat so your ears won't be cold.”
But Guo Qing shook his head and said," Jianshe, just take them all. I'm fine. I have an armed belt. Once I tie it around my waist, I won't be able to get wind. Our mother also has a scarf. I'll just cover my ears."”
The mother had already placed the food on the table and urged her two sons to eat quickly. He grumbled,"It's such a cold day, and you don't even let the members rest. You don't even let them have a few days of leisure all year round!"”
"I still want to relax for a few days. Today, I heard Cheng Wa say that from tomorrow onwards, you're not allowed to go home for lunch. He told everyone to bring dry food and eat in the field. The team will start a stove in the field and prepare to stir-fry vegetables and boil water.”Jianshe said as she ate.
"Listen, listen!" On National Day, he used his chopsticks to point at the broadcasting box in the yard. The speech of Director Han of the Commune was being transmitted from there." Seven in the morning and eight in the evening. Don't go home at noon. Work hard for twenty days and complete the task of leveling the fields this winter and next spring!”
Before Director Han could finish his sentence, the high-pitched horn of the brigade sounded again. The loud voice of the brigade secretary, Guo Zhenshan, came out."Tomorrow morning at 7 am, start work on time. Have lunch in the fields. The leaders of the community will come to our brigade for an inspection tomorrow. All the team leaders have to take responsibility.”
When his mother heard the broadcast, she angrily shouted,""It's winter. You don't want me to live! They're all crazy!" However, no one could hear her weak voice. The high pitch had long drowned out her voice.
Early the next morning, Guo Qing carried the steel mill and dry rations and stood under the big locust tree, ready to go to work with the members. The captain, Chen Baoxing, stopped him." It's National Day. Don't go to the market anymore. Pack up your accounts and get the team's annual final accounts as soon as possible. You must distribute the red money to the members before the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month so that the members can have money in their pockets to buy New Year's goods at the market!”
Guo Qing nodded and thought to himself, Alright! I won't be cold for the next few days.
Since he had just taken over the accounting during National Day and established the new accounts not long ago, the accounts had just been checked, and the grain, cotton, and oil in the warehouse had just been cleaned up. As long as the work points of the members were announced and verified, they could start to make the year-end final accounts for the members.
This year was the first year of the National Day, and he was not sure. If there was a mistake in the allocation of the final accounts, it would affect his image as a new accountant, but it would hurt the enthusiasm of the members! On National Day, he specially invited the brigade accountant, Yang Maohe, to help.
In the end, it only took one day for the team's year-end accounts to be finalized. The cash income of the whole team in that year, plus the price of grain, cotton and other agricultural and sideline products, minus the expenses, could be divided into 38 cents per working day. Seeing this result, Zhong Guoqing was a little discouraged and said,""Uncle, that's not right, right? A male laborer could only earn 10 jobs a day, which meant that he could only earn 38 cents a day from morning till night. He couldn't even buy a box of 'Big Front Door' with gold paper?”
"How much do you think it can be?" Yang Maohe smiled bitterly. This is even better than our neighboring village! I heard that there was a production team in Golden Gall Village that only earned 13 cents a working day last year. The members made up a jingle: working from morning to night, you can earn a total of 13 cents, weighing salt can weigh a whole catty, buying cigarettes can buy a box of green leaf cigarettes.”
"Aiya, it's indeed a little too little. No wonder young people want to go out and mingle. Even if they were contract workers or temporary workers, it would be much better than working in the village!”Guo Qing couldn't help but sigh.
"The county has a distribution plan, which is the policy. The reserve funds and public welfare funds that should be withdrawn cannot be less. The income can only be based on reality. Let's follow this plan first. Let the team officers study it tonight. If it passes, we'll calculate it tomorrow.”
That night, when the people returned from the fields, National Day went to find Captain Chen Baoxing and reported the final accounts. Then, they held a team committee meeting. At the meeting, everyone carefully calculated for a long time, but they did not find any new income. There was no way to leave any expenditure for the next year, so they could only pass it.
On National Day, he calculated for another two days. After calculating each household according to the points of each labor, the situation of each household's long and short items for that year was clear at a glance. He drew a large chart, copied it onto a piece of paper, and posted it for everyone to check.
On the 20th of December, National Day and the cashier, Ji Yonggui, went to the credit union to withdraw money and prepare to pay dividends to the members. The credit union was diagonally opposite the Xiangyang Commune. Standing at the entrance of the credit union, one could see everything in the compound of the Commune. Guo Qing saw the compound of the community and immediately felt nervous. He thought that if Guo Zhuye suddenly appeared at the entrance of the community, how should he deal with it? But at this moment, he heard a passionate and surprised shout,""National Day, wait a minute." Guo Qing turned around and saw Lu Youcai, his old classmate from junior high school, rushing over with a smile.
Lu Youcai lived in an alley not far from the community. After not seeing him for a few years, he seemed much more experienced. He said that he was also an accountant in his production team. He had been working for three years and often came to the credit union to handle the procedures. Why did he meet his old classmate today? Without waiting for a few greetings, he actually revealed a secret to National Day with a look of regret and disdain. He said,"Guo Zhuye from your village was not bad at school!”
"Yeah! What's wrong now?”
"Aiya, don't tell anyone else about this. I heard that she's gone bad. Some people say that she's already the mistress of the director of the public association! I heard that you even had an abortion!"
Hearing this, Guo Qing frowned and said doubtfully,""Nonsense! Did someone have a problem with Director Ma and deliberately spread rumors about him, bringing the bamboo leaves along? If he wanted to create such rumors about the relationship between men and women, he had to bring a woman along!”
"Mm! It didn't seem like a rumor. It was said that because of this matter, Director Ma, Ma Yongxiang, had been transferred away. Guo Zhuye also left the company a few days ago. It was said that she had gone to work as a salesperson in the county department store. Back in school, I heard from my classmates that Bamboo Leaf even chased after you. Is that true?”An old classmate stared at National Day and asked with a smile.
"No, we're all from the same village, so we definitely have to interact more. She's so well-off. Why would she like me?”
Lu Youcai's words shocked National Day. Although Guo Zhuye had ruthlessly rejected him, he still felt sorry for her. However, he still thought that his old classmate Lu Youcai's words were rumors created by some people with bad intentions. This was because he had heard too many such rumors ever since the "cultural revolution". Today, they said that this old cadre had some kind of problem and was immediately overthrown. The next day, they said that he was slandered and framed by a few people. Immediately, he was redressed and integrated into the leadership team. Who could tell the inside story?
That day, he withdrew 4,000 yuan in cash from the credit union. That night, he held a member distribution meeting in the team base and distributed the bonus to everyone. Before the official dividends were distributed, the captains gave speeches at the meeting and summarized their work for the year. Finally, with the help of the cashier, Ji Yonggui, National Day distributed the cash that should be distributed to the long-term households to everyone. Guo Qing watched as the representatives of the club members walked past the crowd proudly and steadily. They came to his desk with a happy and happy smile on their faces. They signed and stamped according to the procedures, then added saliva on their rough fingers that were covered with calluses. They counted the crisp, brand-new RMB from Ji Yonggui's hands one by one. Guo Qing's heart was filled with an inexplicable pleasure, and his entire body seemed to be more comfortable than those who received money. Those who received the dividends did not leave the venue immediately. They held a wad of new money tightly in their hands and discussed with each other what they were going to do at the market on the 23rd of December. Some wanted to buy new clothes for everyone in the family, and some wanted to buy a small flat car. Uncle Mancai from the Association of the Poor wanted to pay off the wish he had made to his daughter-in-law at the beginning of the year by buying a bee sewing machine. Zhang Guangzhi's third uncle wanted to marry his child before the new year and wanted to ask an acquaintance to buy him a Flying Pigeon brand bicycle.
On the second day after the dividends were given to the members, Guo Qing felt that it had been two to three months since he took over as an accountant. His work was on the right track, and it was time to take a breather. After breakfast, he tidied up the office appliances and account books on his desk, locked the drawers, and prepared to go to the construction site of the flat fields and work hard with the members for a few days. He felt that he was now a member, and he must not let others say that he did not participate in the labor in the name of accounting and sat at home to avoid the cold. It was just like the jingle made up by the sarcastic Li Zhiming in the team: Where did the stupid cowards go? Where did the spiritual cowards go? Where did the spiritual cowards go? He didn't want the members to call him a " wimp " who knew how to settle accounts and be despised by everyone. Just as he was about to leave, Li Zhiming, who liked to make up jingles, came to his door.
Li Zhiming was almost forty years old. He had a medium build, a square face, a small nose, and thin lips. Half an inch to the right of his mouth, there was a mole with a few fine hairs on it. Guo Qing knew that he used to be a teacher. He was the principal of a primary school in some village, but he quit and came back to the village. He could be considered a cultured person in the village.
"Teacher Li, what do you want to talk to me about?" Guo Qing asked enthusiastically.”
"I want to ask you for a small favor. I have something urgent to do. I want to lend you 50 yuan.”Li Zhiming revealed a fawning smile.
"Aiya, Teacher Li, although my family is stronger than in previous years, my family didn't get much from last night's dividends. The little money we got isn't enough to pay off our debts over the years!”Guo Qing said awkwardly.
"Oh, I know. I mean, don't you have 50 yuan in your team?”
"Sigh! The money in the team could not be touched. Moreover, even if there was, it was in front of the cashier.”Guo Qing wanted to bet on him.
"National Day, you see, there's indeed an urgent matter that can't be resolved immediately. The day after tomorrow is the 23rd of December. I plan to sell my pig at the market the day after tomorrow and pay back the 50 yuan. Look, it's just a turnover. Just think of a way to help me. It's only two days. I won't make things difficult for you.”As he spoke, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and stuffed it into Guo Xing's hand.
The young and shy Zhong Guoqing, who had just taken over as an accountant, couldn't stand Li Zhiming's pestering and finally softened. He waved his hand and said,"Teacher Li, I don't smoke." I have some money here. It's the food debt paid by the members. I haven't paid it to the cashier yet. You can use it for two days first. But let's agree that when you come back from the city on the 23rd of December, you have to pay back the 50 yuan no matter what. I've already told the cashier that I have to settle the accounts that night.”
"Alright, alright, alright! National Day, you helped me, I will keep my promise. People often say that it is not difficult to borrow again. This is a big help to me!”He immediately felt relieved and beamed with joy.
On National Day, he pulled open the drawer and took out 50 yuan. He counted again in front of Li Zhiming and said,"Teacher Li, please count it and write me an IOU.”
"Ah! Why are you still so serious? Alright, it's better to have a complete procedure.”As she spoke, she spat on his fingers and began to point at them one by one. After ordering, he immediately picked up the pen that Guo Qing had given him and wrote the IOU in a few strokes before handing it to Guo Qing.
Guo Qing took the note and read it carefully."Teacher Li's handwriting is beautiful, but she didn't write the date.”
"Oh my, you didn't write the date? Anyway, I'll return it the day after tomorrow. You said I still have to write it?”
Guo Qing thought about it and agreed. The note would be returned to him the day after tomorrow, so it was fine if he didn't write it. He nodded."Alright, alright."
After sending Li Zhiming off, he picked up the shovel and went to the field.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]