The Ups and Downs of the Commoners 2 book cover

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This book is the second volume of the novel "The Ups and Downs of the Commoners". It will tell you about caused by the disastrous consequences of the "Great Leap Forward" and the People's Commune Movement in China in the middle of the last century to the livelihood of the Commoners, as well as the difficult path of study of the protagonist of this book, Fang Zhengben.


Year:
2015
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Submitted by zefu_g on August 31, 2022
Modified by zefu_g on December 17, 2024


								
After Principal Yang's speech, Teacher Tang immediately organized the students in the class to return to the classroom to implement the school's "setting food standards according to the size of a person" policy. Because of his small size, Fang Zhengben can only enjoy the minimum standard of "310 grams". According to Mr. Tang's arrangement, he made a new bamboo card and hung it on the enamel cup used for steaming rice. On one side of the sign is his name, and on the other side, from top to bottom, is written his standard for breakfast, noon and dinner, which are 90 grams, 120 grams, and 100 grams. The rest of the students did the same. Every meal, the master workers had to filling the rice for them with according to this standard and steam it. Since the implementation of "setting food standards according to the size of a person", Fang Zhengben suddenly felt that the rice in his enamel cup had become less and thinner, and the feeling of hunger when he was at home hit him again, but this feeling was not particularly obvious, because this standard was still much higher than when he was at home, so he still felt very satisfied. Fang Zhengben quickly spent four weeks at the school. It was Saturday, and when the fourth class was about to end in the morning, Teacher Tang came to the classroom to announce the news that he would take the holiday in the afternoon, and emphasized some precautions during the holiday: (1) The holiday period is from this afternoon to tomorrow evening. Every student must arrive at school tomorrow for dinner and participate in Night self-learning. (2) Students who did not bring labor tools must bring several labor tools when they go home this time: a hoe, which is necessary for growing vegetables in school and participating in social welfare labor in the future; The second is to prepare a carrying pole and two ropes, which will be used to carry firewood form the mountains in the future. (3) It is necessary to have a clear understanding of the political and economic situation of family members and major social relationships. After you return to school, you must fill in the "Student Basic Information Registration Form" and store it in the file. (4) Prepare enough living expenses for the next month. If you don't bring money or don't bring enough money, you have to go back and get it. Fang Zhengben after lunch form the student canteen and to return to the dormitory, put a piece of clothing that needed to be taken back and mended into his bag, and then came to the school gate accompany Zhu Zihong and Wang Dingjun. They happened to meet Meng Jingyu and Zheng Guoqiong there. The five of them then set out on their way home. When passing by the gate of the Xinghua Town Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Meng Jingyu said: "You wait a minute for me. I want to buy some candy for my mother." Meng Jingyu's uncle is an old Red Army Soldier who enjoys special living allowances, and her elder brother is a cadre of the county commercial bureau, and the conditions at home are better, and only she can buy something back home to her mother. Several classmates were standing outside the supply and marketing club waiting for her. Meng Jingyu walked into the supply and marketing cooperative and went straight to the glass case where the sugar was placed. Through the glass, she could clearly see that the sugar in the cabinet was the only kind of pastry that looked like red but not red and like black but not black. Seeing that someone came to buy something, a female saleswoman sitting on a stool stood up lazily and looked at her coldly. Meng Jingyu asked the saleswoman, "What kind of sugar is that?" "It's 'Leap Forward sugar'." The saleswoman replied. Meng Jingyu asked again: "Is there any other sugar?" "Not have." Meng Jingyu saw that she had no choice, so she handed over the 0.25 kg grain ration coupon that had been squeezed in his hand and said, "I will buy 0.25 kg of grain sugar." The saleswoman collected her grain ration coupons, took out 8 cuboidal pieces of "Leap Forward sugar" from the counter, and wrapped them in a small square of old newspaper. Meng Jingyu asked, "How much?" The saleswoman said, "It's 40 cent RMB." Meng Jingyu paid and walked out the Supply and Marketing Cooperative with the sugar. She saw that several classmates were still waiting for her outside, and said embarrassedly: "Let you wait for a long time! Let's try the taste of this Leap Forward sugar!" She said as she opened the newspaper bag to divide and eat the sugar piece. Fang Zhengben and a few classmates hurriedly stopped it, saying, "Don't take it apart, you want to take it back!" Meng Jingyu said: "It doesn't matter, I still have it here." Saying that, she opened the sugar wrapped in newspaper, took out a half-red and not black sugar cube about 10 centimeters long, 5 centimeters wide, and 1 centimeter thick, and gave each person a small piece. Fang Zhengben cherished put this small piece of sugar into his mouth, tasted it carefully, and found that this "Leap Forward sugar" was not only a little sweet, and also had a aroma of Rapeseed oil. Obviously, this "Leap Forward sugar" is made from the residue left after rapeseed has been pressed to remove the oil, plus some flour and cane sugar. However, for Fang Zhengben, at this time, a little of this "Leap Forward sugar" is already a delicacy. He is full of envy for "affluent" of Meng Jingyu's family and grateful for her generosity. After eating a piece of "Leap Forward sugar", the five of them walked out of Xinghua Town and walked together on the path they had walked when they came to school. At this time, the road has been dug into a mess. Along the way, men and women migrant workers drawn from the communes are widening the road with rudimentary tools such as hoes, carrying poles, steel brazes and hammers, and building it into a road from Xinghua Town to Taiqing Town. Several students saw and were sincerely happy for the construction of this highway. Fang Zhengben said: "Alas, when this road is repaired, it will be more convenient for us to go to school." Zheng Guoqiong echoed: "I think, when it rains, we will walk less muddy roads!" When they arrived in Taiqing Town, several classmates said to each other: "Goodbye!" "They went home. Because Fang Zhengben was farther away from home, he could only hurry alone. He longed to see his mother, who had been separated for a full month, sooner. Fang Zhengben arrived home before dark, just as his mother and young brother were at home. He called out "Mom" and stood in front of him. When the younger brother Fang Zhengzhong saw the older third brother return, he ran over and shouted "the older third brother", so he stood quietly on the side, listening to his mother and the older third brother talk.
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