Chapter 178: The Difficulty of Procuring Off-Plan Supplies

On this rest day in September, at the Jia Family home in the Siheyuan, the eldest and second sisters were both present, telling Zhang Xiaohua about their lives over the past month.

"Oh my, I shouldn't have transferred my household registration back then; my guts are green with regret."

San Jie, Zhang Xiaohua, listened to her two older sisters talk about eating big fish and meat every day, and immediately slapped her thigh in deep frustration.

"Eldest Sister, Second Sister, do you still have grain at home?"

"What grain would we need? It's all been turned over. Everyone eats at the big communal canteen now; not only are we guaranteed to be full every day, but we can eat well, too."

"Is there any waste at that big canteen?"

"This..."

Looking at their expressions, there certainly was. Just like poor people who suddenly strike it rich, there will always be retaliatory consumption behavior.

"For families that turned in less grain, or the fact that pigs, cattle, and sheep are now under centralized management—if people who don't raise pigs are eating the pigs raised by others, does the family that raised the pigs feel mentally balanced?"

"And then there's the fact that everyone gets the same treatment regardless of how much they work; it's unfair to those who work themselves to the bone, while the lazy ones who slack off can now eat their fill."

"Also, did Li Zhiyuan and the others falsely report the grain yield per mu? When the numbers don't match up later, I'm afraid even your next season's grain will have to be taken to fill the hole."

"Your village-run big canteen probably won't last long; Eldest Sister, Second Sister, you two should prepare yourselves mentally."

"..."

"Okay." The two were frightened by what Zhang Ping'an said, and their initial self-satisfaction vanished.

"Keep what I've said to yourselves; don't talk about it outside. Go back and carry on as usual. If there's no grain at home, come find me. I haven't really touched the corn and wheat I've grown over these past two years."

"Okay."

"Ping'an, is it really as serious as you say?" After Zhang Ping'an's analysis, Zhang Xiaohua felt a lingering fear, yet she was also glad she had transferred her household registration.

"I don't know. I'm talking about the worst-case scenario. Sigh."

Although this situation would not last long, it was already severely damaging everyone's motivation.

Returning to the Procurement Section, he found most people in the office, all of them looking miserable.

"What's wrong?"

"Brother Zhang, now that Communes have been established in the countryside, aren't many things being consumed internally? The amount of goods we can procure has decreased."

Zhang Ping'an nodded to show he understood; this was something that couldn't be helped.

"Everyone just do your best. I believe the factory leaders will understand us. However, we must run around more. Going out doesn't guarantee a harvest, but if you huddle in the factory, you definitely won't get anything."

"Alright, everyone cheer up. Look at me—I'm already a Section Chief, yet I still turn in supplies every few days. People better than you are working harder than you; do you want to continue being lazy?"

Zhang Ping'an gave them a dry-mouthed pep talk, finally managing to get them fired up and spirited.

"That's right, the Section Chief is so excellent and still goes to the countryside to procure supplies every day; what right do I have to complain? I'm really not a human being." There were quite a few who felt this way, and one by one, they applied for tools and headed to the countryside to procure supplies.

"Brother Zhang, your skin is really thick. How can you praise yourself like that?"

"Ahem, I'm just stating facts."

"..."

Xu Kun thought about it; aside from often slipping away, Zhang Ping'an did indeed turn in plenty of supplies. But the others didn't know he was slipping away; they thought he was working hard in the countryside every day.

Returning to the Siheyuan, Zhang Ping'an ran into Xu Damao, who was about to head out. If you wanted to know who understood the economic situation of a village best, it was undoubtedly the Projectionist.

Whenever they went to the countryside to show movies, every brigade would treat them with good wine and food; by the scale of the banquet, one could tell the general situation of the village.

"Damao, when you go to the countryside to show movies, help me keep an eye on which villages have more supplies."

"Done."

"There is compensation: a bottle of Tiger Bone Wine."

"Got it! You can count on me; I'll definitely handle it perfectly for you." The previously wilted Xu Damao was instantly revived with full health.

"..."

That was the one good thing about Xu Damao: he did things if you paid him, which made him a bit like Li Huaide.

The next morning, back at the factory, Xu Damao immediately gathered the two projection teams, took out a pack of cigarettes he had bought the day before, and distributed one pack to each person. Trading a one or two-yuan pack for fifty yuan worth of Tiger Bone Wine was a great deal.

"Brother Damao, this..."

"Brothers, the Procurement Section is facing difficulties. When we go to the countryside to show movies, we need to record the economic situation of each Production Team. It'll make it easier for them to go for targeted procurement, and we'll be able to eat better when we come back, won't we?"

"Also, they'll remember our kindness, and maybe in the future, if we need supplies ourselves, we can ask them to help out."

"Right, right, right, Brother Damao makes sense."

"Yes, we should help each other."

"Alright, alright, everyone pack up and head to the countryside."

Projectionists almost always traveled in the morning, ate at noon or mid-afternoon, and showed movies in the evening, so they usually went to villages further away.

It was three days later when Zhang Ping'an received the information from Xu Damao. The economic situation of eighteen Production Teams was laid out before him; the notes were quite detailed, clearly showing effort had been put in.

"Mm, thank you for your hard work, Damao."

"Uncle Zhang, what are you saying? Isn't this just a matter of convenience?"

"Mm, go to my place later and get the Medicinal Wine, but keep recording."

"Got it."

Zhang Ping'an wasn't in a hurry to distribute the slips. Firstly, the pep talk hadn't cooled down yet, and secondly, eighteen Production Teams' worth of information wasn't enough to go around. Of course, out of these eighteen, only a small fraction were worth visiting.

Half a month later, the situation of ninety Production Teams was on Zhang Ping'an's desk. He distributed all the worthwhile Production Teams to the thirty people.

"What you have in your hands now are the relatively wealthy Production Teams. I believe you can procure quite a lot of supplies there, but the journey is long, so it's best to go in pairs."

"I'm relaxing the time requirements for everyone; coming back twice a week is fine. Also, safety first—do not return at night."

As Damao continued to provide lists, the procurement volume of Procurement Section Three gradually increased.

"Uncle, how did you suddenly procure so many supplies?" Jia Dongxu came knocking.

"Qiang Ge sent you, right? Here, this is the basic situation of thirty Production Teams. Have your section people go procure from them."

There were tens of thousands of Production Teams around Sijiucheng; relying on their Third Section alone, they wouldn't be able to finish running through them in three or five years. It was better to share resources, though of course, the resources given to them would be slightly worse than his own.

"Hehe, it really was Qiang Ge who asked me to come over and ask; Uncle, this... won't affect your section, will it?"

"It won't affect anything, just go ahead. I don't have many resources on hand right now, they were all collected with Damao's help. Come back and get them after you've finished your errands."

"Alrighty."

Jia Dongxu was the Deputy Section Chief of the Second Section; although he had to be responsible for the Second Section, he also had to ensure that Uncle was not put in a difficult position.

Time flew by to October. Ever since Li Aihua had completely recovered from her burns, she had become much more cheerful and lively. When she had nothing to do, she would drag Li Aiguo to visit Zhang Ping'an's home, and through these back-and-forth visits, they became familiar with each other.

She had a tendency to become best friends with Wang Xiaoling and Lou Xiaoe, and would come over almost every day off.

"Sister Xiao Ling, your belly is too big, it's much bigger than my sister-in-law's was when she was pregnant. Is it twins?"

"Mm, just about."

"Wow, you and Brother Ping'an are just too amazing. Weidong and Weijun are already twins, and now here comes another pair."