Zhou Wenzhong followed behind, pulling a cart without rubber tires that made a "squeaking" sound.
"Hurry up! Why are you so stupid! Don't keep pushing forward, just press on the handlebars!"
"Oh, got it!"
Zhou Wenzhong pulled the cart over a small slope and finally came to the real grain reserve.
What comes into view is a large warehouse of more than 1,000 square meters, with pillars one after another. Stacks of grain packages are neatly stacked on the ground. Countless!
There are slogans hanging above the head.
[Follow the red flag of xxx thought and move forward bravely.]
【Comply with the municipal rationing system.】
【Carry forward the spirit of carrying a basket and serve the people wholeheartedly.】
【Build socialism quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively.】
………………………
Looking at the bags of grain, Zhou Wenzhong sighed with emotion: "If I were to eat all this grain by myself, I probably wouldn't be able to finish it until the next century."
Zhang Xiufang turned back to look at the already shocked Zhou Wenzhong, and couldn't help but sigh. Another person who had never seen the world had this expression on everyone who came to this warehouse for the first time.
"Don't look at me. I'll take care of you. I'll let you hit the corn cobs. Pull the car over and park it here."
"oh."
Zhou Wenzhong came to his senses and pulled the cart over according to the command.
Zhang Xiufang raised her hand and pointed to the nearby sacks and said: "The large sacks are 200 kilograms per bag. The medium-sized sacks are 150 kilograms per bag. The small-sized sacks are 100 kilograms per bag. You can carry the small sacks with your small physique.
Already."
"good."
After Zhou Wenzhong finished speaking, he climbed up the pile of sacks. Standing on the top, he felt like he could see all the mountains. He bent down and grabbed the corners of the two sacks and lifted them up hard.
"Well...I can't lift it."
Zhang Xiufang raised her head and shouted: "You are stupid! Just push the sack down."
"Get out of the way! I'm just afraid that I might accidentally hit you and send you away again."
He looked down and saw that Zhang Xiufang had already moved away.
"boom……"
The 100-pound sack was pushed down by Zhou Wenzhong, stirring up a burst of dust. Then came the second bag, the third bag...
It wasn't until the fifth sack landed that Zhang Xiufang's voice shouted again.
"That's enough! No matter how much you say, you can't pull it. This cart is so heavy. Get off now!"
Zhou Wenzhong climbed down from the top and wiped the sweat on his head with his sleeve. Zhang Xiuying looked at him with contempt.
I've just dropped five 100-pound sacks and I'm already sweating. I might as well be more energetic!
"I'll hold down the handlebars for you and quickly load it into the car. This will save you from having to lift the cart later."
Zhou Wenzhong pulled the sack to the side of the cart, but was in trouble again. He couldn't lift it! The cart was too high.
"You untie the sack and put half of it on the cart first. It will be easier for you to lift it later. Remember the steps to untie the sack. After you break the corn cobs later, you have to put them back again according to the technique.
In the sacks, the sacks must be tied according to this tying method."
"knew."
Following Zhang Xiufang's instructions, it took about 10 minutes to complete these tasks.
"Pull the cart back first. It's still parked at the operating table. I'll find you a kitchen knife." After saying this, he left.
Zhou Wenzhong pulled the heavy cart and walked towards the warehouse just now.
"This old car is so heavy that it's heavy as hell."
I came to the operating table and unloaded all the sacks. Zhang Xiufang also happened to find the kitchen knife.
"I'll demonstrate it to you. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask."
"good."
Zhang Xiufang bent down under the operating table and turned on the electric switch. The belt of the crusher started to rotate and the sound became noisier.
"Buzz buzz..."
Holding a kitchen knife in one hand and a corn cob in the other, he demonstrated to Zhou Wenzhong.
"If it's moldy or blackened like this, use a kitchen knife to chop it down. Be sure to collect the chopped corn cobs. I have to keep counting! They all have to be accounted for! Do you understand?"
Zhou Wenzhong nodded. If he spoke softly, the other party would not hear him. If he spoke loudly, his throat would hurt. He is not stupid.
Zhang Xiufang took an empty small sack, opened the opening of the sack, placed it at the exit of the machine and said, "Throw the corn cobs in through the opening on the crusher. Be sure not to put your hands in. Someone just said that before.
I threw the corn cobs in and found a moldy spot. I reached in to get them without thinking, but..."
Zhou Wenzhong became excited when he heard this! He quickly asked.
"What happened? Tell me quickly!"
Zhang Xiufang replied with a somewhat unkind tone: "In the end, he made room for you!"
"Hey...I thought he rescued the corn cobs."
"After people leave the operating table, be sure to turn off the machine! Don't let it idle! These are all safety hazards!"
Zhou Wenzhong nodded again. When Zhang Xiufang started to explain the operation, he nodded like a woodpecker and almost felt dizzy.
Zhang Xiufang closed the machine after another round of work, took a breath, pointed to one side of the sack and said, "Come here and take a look. Just put these stick noodles into this position of the sack. It's about 100 kilograms. Anyway, it has to be weighed in the end.
.”
After Zhou Wenzhong looked at it, he asked with some confusion: "Can't you just point out this position on the sack to me? Why do you have to do it yourself?"
After hearing this, Zhang Xiufang rolled her eyes and thought for a while.
He was right! Why hadn't I thought of this before? Every time someone came here, I would have to break a sack of stick noodles.
"Okay! Just keep busy, I have other things to do. You can put the broken stick noodles aside first, and then seal them after I check the quality."
"knew."
Zhou Wenzhong also started working with a kitchen knife, and Zhang Xiufang left after watching for a while.
Watching the corn cobs being thrown down one by one, and then flowing out after being broken, I sighed: Time is also fate.
The five bags of corn cobs were quickly finished, and the chopped corn cobs were kicked aside with their feet. They pulled up the cart again and embarked on the "journey."
This time I loaded 6 sacks and returned, and the machine rang again.
I don’t know how much time has passed, and there is no clock on the wall. I can only judge by looking at the sky. 26 sacks have been piled next to the machine. Zhou Wenzhong has collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. His whole back hurts, and his waist also hurts.
My whole body feels weak, I haven't eaten at noon, I don't even think about eating, I've long since lost my energy from hunger.
At this time, Zhang Xiufang also came over. Seeing Zhou Wenzhong's state, she smiled, then lifted up the sleeves of her cotton-padded jacket, bent down and put her hand into the sack, stirred it up, and took out a handful of stick noodles from the sack.
After taking a look, I finally checked each sack.
When I walked to the corner, I pulled over a scale and adjusted the dial to a certain position.
Zhou Wenzhong looked at her actions with disdain.
"Hey...give me two magnets, and I'll make you lose 20 kilograms per bag. I'm familiar with this job!"
"Stop sitting there and get on the scale quickly. We'll get off work soon."
Zhou Wenzhong stood up and patted the dirt on his body. His waist hurt! His back also hurt! He didn’t know if he would be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
With a sudden force, the sack hit the floor scale.
"Take it easy, I still need this scale! This is a new scale!"
"knew."
Zhang Xiufang held an iron dustpick in her hand and looked at the scale. She either grabbed some from the sack or added some to it.
Zhou Wenzhong was leaning over to look at the bottom floor, which read: Guangzhou Weighing Instrument Factory, produced in 1959.
In fact, the unified standard of 10 taels per catty was achieved in 1958.
The old scale is 16 taels per catty, which is 31.25 grams per tael.
From after liberation to 1958, in addition to the three northeastern provinces, other regions, including the capital, also used old scales.
In 1956, the 18-liang scale was implemented for a while. That is, 16 liang plus 2 city liang.
These are the two differences between old scales.
In 1958, the 16-liang system was officially abolished across the country and unified into: 10 liang per catty and 50 grams per liang. Therefore, weighing instrument factories across the country made adjustments in early 1959.
"Don't look at it, carry it down quickly and change it to another bag."
Zhou Wenzhong removed the sack from the scale and replaced it with a new one. He held a rope in his hand and tied the mouth of the sack. He tied it first, then made a loop with the rope, pulled the sack into it, folded it again, and finally
It is fastened with a buckle and speaks in its mouth.
"This work is not difficult. I made 26 bags in one afternoon. If I come here to work in the morning, I can make 50 bags in a day. Each bag costs 1 cent. My daily salary is 50 cents!"
That’s 15 yuan a month.”
"Hey, you can count pretty fast! What's your education level?"
"junior high school."
"It turns out I graduated from junior high school, no wonder it happened so quickly. You forgot to mention something. You must have one day off every week. Four days off a month."
"Then I can spread out these four days' work evenly."
"Haha, wait for you to say this in a few days. Go to the north wall. There is a white line drawn on the ground. This is the boundary where you and Ma Erbao stack sacks. When he comes tomorrow, you can work with him.
Work. How to divide the specific results of labor? You two will decide it tomorrow."
Zhou Wenzhong looked at the clearing she mentioned, and then asked: "Can't I do it myself?"
"Do it yourself? Let's talk if you can lift the sacks. Do you think this job is easy? You'll know when you stack them up. I guess neither you nor Ma Erbao can do it. The more you stack them up,
, the harder it is!”
Zhou Wenzhong looked at the mountain of sacks next to him and gave up on his previous idea. He then looked at the way other people were stacking sacks in pairs and climbing up and down in coordination with each other.
"If you want to drink water, there are thermos bottles on the table at the door. They are all boiled water. Remember to get an enamel jar."
"I can not afford it."
Zhang Xiufang did not continue the topic and helped Zhou Wenzhong tie the rope.
"There are 25 bags in total. The remaining half of the bags will be put away for now and will be weighed tomorrow. You can pull these sacks back and stack them horizontally so that I can keep track of them. Be sure not to put them vertically."
"knew."
Zhou Wenzhong grabbed the sack and placed it on a thin wooden board, then bent down and pulled it towards the position just mentioned, and there was a stinging sound...
Looking at the lined sacks, Zhou Wenzhong gasped, reached into his arms, took out the bowl from the space, walked to the door, took the rattan thermos and poured a bowl of warm water, rinsed his mouth first, and moved aside
I vomited it on the ground, and then drank two bowls of it.
"belch……"
He poured out some more water to rinse the bowl and poured the water on the ground. He straightened his waist, stretched his arms and legs, put his hands on his lower back, and twisted around with his belly held out.
Sitting next to him was a regular employee of the grain station, a middle-aged woman in her 40s who looked at Zhou Wenzhong's behavior with some amusement.
"Are you going to be a member of the cultural troupe? Are you here to perform?"
Zhou Wenzhong glanced at her and said, "My back hurts!"
"Haha, your back hurts? Do you know where your waist is at such a young age? You still have back pain. Hahaha..."
These old ladies scared Zhou Wenzhong so much that he ran away.
"Take advantage of me! Bah."
As soon as he ran back to his workstation, Zhang Xiufang came over from a distance holding a notebook. Zhou Wenzhong put the bowl back into the space and opened his palms to pinch the worn dead skin on it.
"hiss……"
"You can wear gloves before working."
"Does the grain station distribute gloves?"
"Of course I won't send it out, I will prepare it myself."
"Oh, I can't afford it."
Zhang Xiufang handed over the notebook and a pencil, and Zhou Wenzhong took a look at the numbers in the box above.
"Look at it, I've written it down for you, right? No problem, just sign your name and your salary won't be paid until the 10th of every month. You just came to work today, which happens to be the 31st, and it will be paid to you on the 10th of next month.
Twenty-five cents."
"It doesn't matter if you give me less money. Anyway, the money won't fall into my hands in the end."
After finishing speaking, Zhou Wenzhong signed his name like a dragon and a phoenix, occupying three frames.
Zhang Xiufang frowned and looked at the words on it, and said angrily: "Can't you write well? If you write like this, I won't be able to use as many notebooks as you want!"
"Won't!"
"If you don't know how to write smaller characters, just carve a seal. Forget it! I already know, you can't afford it."
"Isn't it just a notebook? It will be deducted from my salary next month. It doesn't matter!"
Zhang Xiufang was so angry that she no longer knew what to say.
"Can I go home from get off work?"
"Arrange your clothes, shake off your exposed face. If you have pockets, turn them over. If there is no problem, you can leave."
Zhou Wenzhong untied his cotton-padded jacket and gave her a look, then lifted up his cotton trousers and exposed his ankles as a gesture.
"No problem. Remember to come at 8:30 tomorrow morning. If you come early, the door will not open."
"Don't worry. I've never been in the habit of arriving early."
Zhou Wenzhong shook his head coolly, then left the warehouse and walked towards the door.
Zhang Xiufang stood there, muttering: He is probably a fool! A fool with a junior high school diploma! He doesn't even care about his salary.