Chapter 156: Ticket Era

In the cold winter month, the north wind made the Old Locust Tree in the courtyard creak. That evening, Director Wang, bundled in a cotton coat, just entered the Siheyuan when Yan Bu Gui, who was tending the flowers and plants in the courtyard, saw him and asked, "Director Wang, you came out in this bitter cold—do you have a new policy to announce?" Yan Bu Gui pushed up his glasses and, exhaling white vapor, asked.

Director Wang stamped his foot and said, "Teacher Yan, please help spread the word and have everyone gather in the Central Courtyard for a meeting."

Yan Bu Gui responded with a shout, raising his voice, "Meeting! Meeting! Everyone, assemble in the Central Courtyard!"

The door curtains of each house were gradually drawn back, and the neighbors, wrapped in thick cotton jackets, rubbed their hands as they headed toward the Central Courtyard. Li Ping'an, having just finished practicing his fists, stood at the entrance of the Xi Kua Yuan in his coat, watching.

Director Wang stood in the middle of the crowd, cleared his throat, and said, "I have an important announcement. Starting next month, purchases of rice, flour, cloth, and oil must be made with tickets!"

The crowd instantly erupted into a frenzy.

What tickets?

No tickets, and you still can't buy anything?

Director Wang pulled a stack of tickets from his satchel and said, "Here—this is a grain ticket, this is a cloth ticket, this is an oil ticket. From now on, money alone isn't enough; you also need tickets!"

Jia Zhangshi was the first to push forward and asked, "Director Wang, how many tickets will we receive each month?"

Town residents receive twenty‑five to thirty jin of grain tickets per month. For someone like you, it's twenty‑eight jin.

Only twenty‑eight jin? Jia Zhangshi's voice rose sharply, "That's not enough to eat!"

Yi Zhonghai furrowed his brows and asked, "Director Wang, how exactly are these tickets used?"

For example, buying grain, Director Wang explained patiently, you must take a grain ticket and money to the grain shop. One jin of grain ticket plus one mao two fen buys one jin of standard flour.

Yan Bu Gui adjusted his glasses and asked, "What if you travel far away?"

You have to exchange the local grain tickets for nationwide grain tickets.

Sha Zhu shouted from the back of the crowd, "What about eating out at a restaurant?"

You still have to pay with grain tickets for meals! A bowl of noodles costs two liang of grain tickets.

The crowd chattered incessantly, and Director Wang answered each question:

Each person receives fifteen chi of cloth tickets per year; making a garment consumes three to four chi.

Oil tickets are half a jin per month and must be used for buying soybean oil or rapeseed oil.

Coal tickets are issued per household and are the sole source of heating in winter.

There are also soap tickets and match tickets, one per household each month.

Director Wang added a special reminder: those who haven't transferred their household registration should hurry. Rural registrations cannot receive tickets in the city and thus cannot buy anything.

Jia Zhangshi became anxious at once: "That won't do! My family still has a few mu of land in the countryside, yielding several hundred jin of rent each year. If we transfer our registration, won't that rent disappear?"

Director Wang shook his head helplessly: "It's a policy regulation. Without a city household registration, you can't receive tickets."

Li Ping'an listened silently from the side. He recalled how, during his time in Korea, soldiers often talked about national construction, never expecting change to come so quickly.

After the meeting, Director Wang sought out Li Ping'an: "Comrade Ping'an, you're a cadre; your monthly grain allotment is thirty‑five jin. Moreover, the factory gives a combat hero like you an additional subsidy."

Jia Zhangshi, who heard this nearby, said sourly, "Being a cadre is great; you get five jin more grain than us."

Li Ping'an didn't reply, turned and asked Director Wang, "What exactly is the subsidy?"

An extra five jin of grain tickets and one jin of oil tickets per month. Director Wang lowered his voice, noting that Factory Director Yang Changzhang had specifically instructed it.

The news spread, and the courtyard erupted again.

"Why does he get five jin more grain tickets?" Jia Zhangshi stamped his foot.

Liu Haizhong puffed his belly and said, "Exactly! We work hard, don't we?"

Yi Zhonghai tried to smooth things over: "Let's cut the chatter. Ping'an earned merit on the battlefield; a bit more subsidy is only fair."

But behind the scenes, he muttered to Jia Dama, "From now on we'll have to keep good relations with Li Ping'an."

The next day a long line formed at the grain shop. Li Ping'an took his sister to collect grain, and the clerk glanced at his tickets, "Cadre grain tickets—do you want standard flour?"

"Give me ten jin."

Yan Bu Gui, who was waiting in line behind, saw this and that night spread it around the courtyard: "Li Ping'an bought standard flour! A full ten jin!"

Jia Zhangshi swallowed saliva, "How many grain tickets is that…"

What made others even more envious was that, a few days later, Li Ping'an pulled out a piece of deep‑blue khaki cloth.

The cloth was perfect for a Zhongshan suit. The master tailor at the sewing shop measured the dimensions and said, "But it will require eight chi of cloth tickets."

Li Ping'an smiled, "Make a new outfit for my sister as well."

Li Pingle spun around happily: "Brother, that's great!"

Only Li Ping'an's family lived comfortably. That evening after work, he actually carried back a bottle of fragrant oil.

"Brother, how many oil tickets does that require?" Li Pingle asked in surprise.

"It was exchanged with an industrial coupon," Li Ping'an smiled, "issued by the factory."

Outside the window, Jia Zhangshi watched the lights brighten in the Xi Kua Yuan and spat, "What are you so smug about! Sooner or later he'll get what's coming to him!"

Yet, after all that, the next day she still came with a pleading face to Li Ping'an: "Ping'an, could you lend me half a jin of grain tickets? I'll return them next month."

Li Ping'an looked at her and slowly shook his head: "Jia Dama, I'm not well off either."

Having been rebuffed, Jia Zhangshi shouted angrily in the courtyard, "Just because you have a bit of power, you think you're great? Bah!"

Li Ping'an, listening inside, said to his sister, "See? In this ticket era, people's hearts are most exposed."

Late at night, he gazed at the moonlight outside the window, recalling the current situation in Korea mentioned in Lin Xueqing's letter. Perhaps this is a stage that national development must go through.

Meanwhile, in the Siheyuan, every household sat under the lamp, tallying the dwindling tickets. This winter was destined to be longer than previous ones. Jia Zhangshi clung to her few mu of land in the countryside, refusing to transfer her household registration, unaware how much trouble this decision would bring to the daughter‑in‑law about to move in.