Chapter 6: Working to earn points

Zhao Weiguo knew that Li Lijuan was deliberately declining the task. In the past, he might not have said anything and would have asked Zhao Xiulan to do it. But now, Zhao Xiulan was sick, while Li Lijuan was fine, so it was only fair for her to take on some extra responsibilities.

Zhao Weiguo expressed his dissatisfaction, saying, "Can't a girl like you cook some porridge? What's so difficult about that? Are you unable or unwilling to do it?"

Even though Li Lijuan was not happy, she dared not say anything more and could only obey Zhao Weiguo's orders.

However, she glared fiercely at Zhao Xiulan, feeling that it was all because of Zhao Xiulan that her stepfather made her do the work. Originally, the cooking task should not have fallen on her.

A barely noticeable smile appeared at the corner of Zhao Xiulan's mouth, and then she "understandably" said to Zhao Weiguo, "Dad, I'll go to work later and earn some work points."

"Weiguo, are you feeling unwell? Can you work? Or should you stay at home?" Zhao Weiguo asked with concern.

"Dad, I'm fine. I can manage. We don't have much food at home. If I earn more work points now, we can get more rations for the family," Zhao Xiulan replied.

After hearing this, Zhao Weiguo felt even more that his daughter was sensible. He realized that he had neglected his daughter too much in the past and that he needed to cherish her more in the future.

Breakfast was a watery porridge with a few grains of rice and a steamed bun. There was hardly any reaction in their stomachs after eating.

However, in this era of scarcity, there were not many people who could eat their fill. Most people were just half-full, and being able to fill their stomachs was already considered good.

After breakfast, like everyone else in the village, Zhao Xiulan went to the rice field of the commune to wait for the day's tasks.

When everyone who was supposed to work had gathered, the head of the commune, Liu Gensheng, began to distribute the day's tasks using the work points book.

"Qian Weihua, go plow the field in Sun's ravine."

"Li Weihong, go cut the grass in the east field."

"Wang Chaoying, Liu Fubang, you two clear the west ditch..."

After receiving their tasks, everyone went to work.

The tasks assigned by Liu Gensheng were based on gender. Generally, men did more physically demanding work such as digging ditches, plowing fields, and carrying loads, while women did slightly easier tasks such as cutting grass, sowing seeds, and watering the fields.

The amount of work points varied according to the type of work. In this era, a full day's work earned ten work points. Men doing heavy work could earn more points, up to ten if they did well.

Women doing lighter work, even if they did well, could earn at most six or seven points in a day. Usually, they would earn three or four points, or four or five points.

The amount of rations received was linked to the work points earned. The higher the work points, the more rations one could receive. Therefore, every household wanted to earn more work points to get more rations and have more food for the family.

Soon, Zhao Xiulan was also assigned a task - cutting pig grass!

Liu Gensheng knew about Zhao Xiulan's fever from falling into the water, and seeing that she didn't look too good today, he decided to give her an easier task.

Zhao Xiulan realized that Liu Gensheng had deliberately assigned her an easier task and thanked him before taking the commune's tools, a sickle, and a basket, and went to the mountain to cut pig grass.

Several people assigned to cut pig grass and those tending to the cattle all went to the foot of the mountain.

Relying on the memories of the original owner, Zhao Xiulan went up the mountain.

During the great famine, coupled with the large-scale steel production in the previous years, many trees were cut down, leaving the mountains somewhat barren. There wasn't much grass and wood, so it was no wonder that cutting pig grass could also earn work points.