In the capital right now, the most valuable thing is labor.
Ordinary people are never afraid of expending energy. What they are afraid of is that their energy will be useless, or that their efforts will be in vain and they will not be able to exchange for a grain of rice.
According to the normal market conditions, Su Yi would be snatched up for 50 cents to do this job, let alone 1.5 cents?
You will be paid one yuan and fifty cents for three trips of goods. This job is considered a "high welfare" for any low-level people, let alone Qin Huairu, who has been struggling for food and clothing all year round.
Three years ago, Qin Huairu's husband Jia Dongxu died unexpectedly. Qin Huairu, who was still pregnant at the time, took over Jia Dongxu's shift and became an apprentice in the factory.
According to logic and regulations, the salary plus subsidy for an apprentice who just joins the factory is sixteen yuan and fifty cents. The apprenticeship period of a fitter is three years. After three years, he can become a regular and become a "semi-worker" first-level fitter, and he will receive twenty-five yuan.
The salary plus subsidy is 27.5 yuan a month.
But Qin Huairu has an elder and a younger one, and it is impossible to survive on a monthly salary of sixteen yuan and a half to support a large family.
Qin Huairu's mother-in-law, Jia Zhang, went to the factory several times to make trouble. The leaders of the factory sat together to discuss, and the deputy director Li Xinmin came up with a good idea.
That is to pay Jia Dongxu's compensation and pension in the form of wages monthly to Qin Huairu, who takes over the shift, so that Qin Huairu, as an apprentice, can enjoy the treatment of a first-class fitter three years in advance.
In this way, although the factory suffered a bit of a loss in general and had to pay Qin Huairu a lot more money and food, it solved the survival problem of Qin Huairu and his family, which was the best of both worlds.
I have to say that Li Xinmin handled this matter very well. This plan was unanimously approved by the leaders of the factory, and Qin Huairu's family happily accepted it.
Is a salary of twenty-seven and a half yuan enough to support two adults and three children?
It depends on how you say it.
If you are running low on food, don’t buy new clothes or any big purchases. Try to buy as little or as little as possible, and keep your family of five from getting sick. These five people live on twenty-seven yuan.
In the capital city of the 1960s, one could barely survive on fifty cents.
This kind of life is much better than in the countryside.
In the 1960s, the subsistence allowance level in Beijing was five yuan per month. Generally speaking, the subsistence allowance standard issued by the state was the level that guaranteed a person would not starve to death.
For example, now, in 2022, the subsistence allowance in Beijing is 800 yuan a month. Can you survive on 800 yuan a month in Beijing now?
It can only be said that if you spend almost all your money on food, you will never starve to death.
Qin Huairu's average salary for a family of five is only 5 yuan and 50 cents, which is 50 cents higher than the subsistence allowance level.
Calculated based on the average daily income, it is 90 cents a day.
At this time, the cheapest whole grains such as stick noodles cost almost eighty-nine cents per catty. Even if all the daily income was spent on buying whole grains, I could only buy ten kilograms.
Is ten pounds of whole grains enough to feed her family of five for a day?
It's enough if you don't eat enough. This is really no exaggeration.
At that time, there were no vegetables or oil, let alone meat, to eat. We only relied on food to cope with hunger, and the consumption was huge that modern people can hardly imagine.
Even an old man like Jia Zhang can easily eat more than a pound of whole grains in one meal if he eats them openly.
This is unimaginable in modern times. Nowadays, an adult man may not be able to finish even two taels of noodles in one meal.
A half-grown boy like Bangge, when he is growing up, will eat more in one meal than an adult would eat in two meals. This is an astonishing amount of food, so there is a saying that "half-grown boy eats the poor".
With an average daily income of 90 cents, Qin Huairu can't just buy whole grains. It's hard to swallow whole grains every day, so she also has to eat some "two-in-one" (coarse grains and fine grains mixed together).
In addition, there are water, electricity, coal, firewood, rice, oil, salt, and various sewing and repair expenses at home. Her small salary can only ensure that the whole family will not starve to death.
If she wanted to prevent her children from starving, go to school, and have new clothes to wear, she had no choice but to find ways to take advantage of every opportunity to get money and all necessary supplies.
Looking at this situation today, it is like a Beijing resident relying on more than 4,000 yuan a month to support an old man and send three children to school.
Such a heavy burden of life would crush even a grown man.
Poverty breeds treachery, while wealth breeds conscience. Everyone says that Widow Qin sucks blood, Widow Qin is hateful, and Widow Qin does not want Bilian. In fact, the fundamental reason lies in one word - poverty!
So as the old saying goes, hateful people must be pitiful. It is difficult for ordinary people to imagine how a pretty widow with three children and a mother-in-law can survive in this dangerous society with so little money.
of.
Of course, you cannot be poor and you are justified. Since Qin Huairu got the disease of poverty, she has indeed become distorted and turned herself into a leech.
When Qin Huairu heard Xiaodang telling the whole story intermittently, Qin Huairu was surprised, happy, angry and regretful.
What surprised her was that she didn't expect that the college student who was envied and praised by all the female workers in the workshop would actually live in her compound and become neighbors with her.
Fortunately, this college student is so rich and generous!
If you hire someone to move something, you’ll be paid one dollar and fifty cents!
This is simply taking money instead of money!
If he could build a good relationship with such a wealthy and generous neighbor, wouldn't he be able to help himself in the future?
What she was angry about was the bad things that happened, and the third aunt was shameless.
What a pity is that the 50 cents were snatched away by the third aunt.
Otherwise, how great would it be to earn an extra two yuan today, which is more than her two days' salary?
It's fine now. I lost fifty cents in vain and let the third aunt take advantage.
"This guy who succeeds more than succeeds but fails more often than not deserves a beating. He let the third aunt take away fifty cents for nothing!" Qin Huairu became angrier as she thought about it, as if her own money had been stolen.
"Mom, I promised him to wait for him at the factory gate," Xiao Dang stopped crying and said anxiously, "It's all my fault that my brother didn't let me go find Uncle Silly. It took me so long and I don't even know if he's gone.
"
"You can't go to Silly Zhu for this matter!" Qin Huairu's eyes flashed, and she was making calculations in her head.
Although Silly Zhu can "bully him", Qin Huairu also has a way to let Silly Zhu do the work and keep the money in her own pocket, but she thinks that what is more important than the one dollar and fifty cents is to have a good relationship with the college students.
If a woman wants to have a good relationship with a man, she will inevitably say something flattering, and it is easy for someone to take advantage of her. If Silly Zhu is here, stop being jealous and beat him up.
Wouldn't that turn a good thing into a bad thing?
So this matter must not be brought to the attention of stupid people.
You have to do it yourself!
Qin Huairu quickly thought about what to do to leave a good impression on the college students. She turned to Xiaodang and said: "Xiaodang, take Sophora japonica and hurry to the factory gate to wait for the uncle. Don't miss it! Mom
Let’s go find a scooter!”
"Mom, aren't you looking for my stupid uncle?" Xiaodang asked.
"Haha, your stupid uncle may not be able to lend out the carts in the factory!" Qin Huairu chuckled.
Silly Zhu is upright and has offended many people. Banerche belongs to the purchasing department, and many people in this department have been offended by Silly Zhu.
In fact, in the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, Shazhu was not as happy as Qin Huairu.
"Xiao Dang, if I meet your stupid uncle, you must not tell him this!" Qin Huairu warned again worriedly.
"Why mom?" Xiao Dang didn't understand.
"You don't understand even if I tell you, just listen to me!" Qin Huairu didn't bother to explain, and waved her hands to tell her two daughters to leave quickly.
"Mom, I want to eat donkey and roll around!" Xiao Huaihua said.
"The donkey rolling around is not delicious. When you make money, mom will buy you some bean curd candies." Qin Huairu petted little Sophora japonica's head lovingly.
Although the so-called bean root candy is called sugar, it is made from soybean flour. It has a slightly sweet taste and is very chewy.
This thing was one of the cheapest children's snacks in the north in the 1960s.
"Okay!" Little Sophora Flower immediately smiled happily.
Children are easy to deceive.
Xiaodang took his sister to the factory gate, and sure enough, he saw Su Yi coming out soon.
"Uncle! Uncle!" Xiao Dang immediately greeted him happily.
"The joy from Jia Dang +88..."
Su Yi smiled and nodded, still a little surprised why he didn't see the "premium customer" stick figure?
At this time, Banggeng has contributed a lot of malice and anger to Su Yi, and he has a deep resentment towards Su Yi.
"Uncle, my mother has already gone to look for a carriage, and your affairs have been taken care of for you!" Xiao said seriously as if he were a young adult.
"Where's the car?" Su Yi asked with a smile.
"She's not here yet, but my mother asked me to tell you that she will be here soon." Xiao Dang said hurriedly, "Uncle, just wait a moment and she will be here."
wait?
Not knowing how long the wait would be, Su Yi was too lazy to stand at the entrance of the factory.
"In this case, when your mother comes, you ask your mother to go directly to the door of the department store to wait for me." Su Yi said to her, "I have something else to do and don't have time to wait here."
"Ah?" Xiaodang was a little dumbfounded.
"Maliciousness from Jardan +19..."
"Uncle, are you not keeping your word?" Xiao Dang asked suspiciously.
Su Yi smiled and took out the money from his pocket, took out a fifty cent note and handed it to her.
"Now, here's the deposit. You take it first. I'll give you the remaining dollar after the work is done."
"The joy from Jia Dang +99..."
"The joy from Jia Huaihua +99..."
"Thank you, uncle!" Jia Dang said happily as he took the money.
"Aren't you afraid that I will run away this time?" Su Yi said with a smile.
"I'm not afraid anymore!" Jia Dang shook his head vigorously and smiled from ear to ear.
Children don't have any scheming ideas, and whatever they say in their hearts is displayed on their faces.
Su Yi smiled, waved his hand, turned and left.
Behind him, two little girls were hugging each other, laughing and dancing.
"Second sister, take me to buy bean curd candies!" Little Huaihua had already begun to swallow her saliva.
"No, we have to give the money to mom." Xiaodang shook his head and refused, "We are children, we can't spend the money casually."
"How can I do that?" Xiao Huaihua questioned, "If I were here, I would have taken us to buy it!"
"My grandma will protect me even if I spend money. If I spend money, I will be beaten to death by my grandma!" Xiao Dang said to Xiao Huaihua seriously.
"Grandma is partial." Xiao Huaihua said.
"That's right! Grandma is biased!" Xiaodang wrinkled his nose, "Fortunately, mom is here, otherwise we would have to starve to death!"
The two young ladies were chatting with each other when they saw Qin Huairu riding a three-wheeled scooter not far away.
"mom!"
"Mom, I want to take a big car!" When the little Sophora flower saw the tricycle, she immediately forgot about the bean curd and jumped up happily.
Qin Huairu ignored her and asked Xiaodang eagerly: "Is the person here?"
Xiaodang nodded repeatedly, handed her the fifty cents and said, "He told you to wait at the door of the department store. He also said that this is a deposit, and the remaining one yuan will be given after the work is completed."
Qin Huairu suddenly beamed with joy, took the money, picked up Xiaodang and kissed her hard on the face: "Our Xiaodang is still the best! If your brother was that heartless kid, he would have taken the money and ran away.
It’s time!”
Xiaodang was very proud of being praised: "Mom, am I more obedient than my brother?"
"Xiao Dang is the most well-behaved and obedient!" Qin Huairu was in a good mood and praised her without hesitation when she saw the cash before doing anything.
She then touched the head of the little Sophora japonica with big eyes and round eyes, and said: "You two go home first, and when mom is done, she will buy you something delicious!"
"I want to eat bean curd candies!" Little Sophora Flower suddenly remembered it again.
"Okay, okay, I'll buy it for you!" Qin Huairu said with a smile, "Don't run around, mom is leaving first."
As he spoke, he kicked his feet hard and pedaled the tricycle away along the road.
On the other side, Su Yi held "a lot of money" and a lot of tickets, and felt more secure. He went directly to the non-staple food and grocery department and bought enough condiments, melon seeds, candies, canned cakes, etc., a lot of big and small bags.
.
After spending more than seventeen yuan on miscellaneous things, he turned back and walked towards the department store.
Su Yi enjoys his current state very much. The things he is doing now are tedious, boring, and even meaningless, but isn't this the greatest meaning of life?
He is ready to experience his life well in this world.
From a distance, Su Yi saw a woman wearing dirty overalls leaning on a tricycle standing at the entrance of the shopping mall and looking around.
No need to think, this must be Qin Huairu.
The loose clothes did not show whether she was fat or thin, her hair was a little brown and messy, her facial features were delicate, and her pair of peach blossom eyes were very charming, but in this era, most people's skin color was dark yellow due to lack of nutrition, Qin Huairu also
No exception.
It is said that Qin Huairu is a pretty widow, but as the saying goes, a man relies on his clothes and a horse relies on his saddle. It is difficult for Su Yi to have any thoughts about Qin Huairu's "purely natural" image.
He walked straight towards Qin Huairu. The latter also noticed Su Yi and looked at it hesitantly. His eyes especially stayed on the large and small bags Su Yi was holding for a few seconds before he stopped talking.
, wanted to raise his hand but took it back and said: "Hey - you... are Comrade Su Yuanchao, right?"
Every movement and every tone is designed with more than a dozen thoughts...
Su Yi didn't tell the truth, and deliberately frowned and said: "Are you the little girl's mother? Oops, I may not have made it clear. There are many big things I want to pull. I'm afraid you, a lesbian, can't do it, right?"
Qin Huairu said "Hi" and pushed a strand of hair behind her ears, smiling and saying: "Women can hold up half the sky, you can't underestimate us lesbians. Comrade Su, you are a mule or a horse, you will know it when you pull it out for a ride?"