The Ups and Downs of the Commoners 2 Page #7

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.

• Novel

								

Fang Zhengben saw that the corn paste, which was not too runny, but the amount was pitiful. Each person of the family received only half a bowl, and the bowl in front of the mother was obviously less.
Each person pulled a bowl of mush in front of him, served it and drank it, and no one said a word.
Only a few "hoo-hoo" sounds were heard, and Fang Xinwen's half bowl of corn paste quickly entered his stomach. He looked at the bowl of his wife and son, and before he finished drinking, he pick up the clay basin on the table with his left hand, put his right hand into the clay basin, repeatedly scraped the corn paste adhered to the wall of the clay basin with his index finger, and then licked the corn paste off his index finger with relish and swallowed it into his stomach. He then licked the corn paste of attached the wooden spoon and the bowl.
Fang Zhengben pulled a bowl of corn paste in front of him, brought it to his mouth, and the edge of the bowl touched his lips and the tip of his tongue. He felt the edges of the bowl rough like serrations, and it hurt to scrape his lips and the tip of his tongue, but this did not affect the speed at which he drank the corn paste. He quickly finished half a bowl of corn paste. Later, like his father, he bent the index finger of his right hand to scrape the corn paste adhering to the bowl. The rough walls of the bowl ran brushed from his fingers like a steel brush. He put the bowl back on the dining table and took a closer look, only to find that the inner and outer walls of the bowl were as uneven as the skin of a toad, covered with small particles like emery, and densely distributed black spots like fly droppings, but on the outside of it were prominently written "Long live the Great Leap Forward" in large blue characters. He looked at the other bowls on the dining table, all of which were as rough as the bowl he used, with words such as "Long live the General Line" and "Long live the People's Commune" on the outside. Fang Zhengben asked puzzled, "Why are these bowls so rough?" Wang Qihui said: "Just blame your little brother!" He broke the original bowl of home to the point that there was not much left, so I had to go to the supply and marketing cooperatives and buy a few new bowls. Who knows that the current supply and marketing cooperatives sell all this kind of 'Leap Forward Style' products! ”
Fang Zhengzhong finished drinking half of his own bowl of corn paste, pouted his small mouth, and stared greedily at his mother's bowl. Wang Qihui knew that he had not eaten enough, and gave him the only bit of corn paste in her bowl. After he ate the corn paste, he saw that there was still a layer attached to the wall of the bowl, and buried his little head in the bowl, stuck out his tongue, and to the rough bowl wall, licked and licked, and  he wish he could to eat the whole bowl into his stomach.
Seeing his little brother's pitiful appearance, Fang Zhengben's heart suddenly felt a strong unease: the people in the family have such a difficult life, but I carry a bowl of rice at school alone, and I have more than 90 grams of pork every week, and I can't share it with my family. This holiday came back, and I had to share their already pitiful a bit of food. What am I going to do?
Fang Zhengben was still blaming himself, and Fang Zhengqing had gone to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
When the eldest son returned from washing the dishes, Wang Qihui said, "Let's go home!"
When the family returned to Huoshao Ping, the house was completely dark. Wang Qihui fumbled for most of the day on the double-drawer cabinet against the back wall, wiped a few matches, and finally lit the "lamp". Fang Zhengben then discovered that what burned and glowed in his mother's hands was not an oil lamp or a candle, but a string of pearl-like things worn with a thin bamboo stick. Curiously, he leaned over to take a closer look and asked, "Mom, what is this?" Wang Qihui said, "It's castor beans!" For some reason, the supply and marketing cooperatives of the commune did not sell kerosene for a long time. In the past, when kerosene was not used, rapeseed oil was used to light lamps in the countryside, but now they eat in the cafeteria, who still has rapeseed oil? There is no rapeseed oil, and you can't buy kerosene, so you can only touch the dark at night. I later thought that the field behind the house was full of castor trees planted by the forest farm, and the castor beans on the trees were ripe at this time, plus we had long known that castor beans were used to squeeze oil, so we peeled some castor beans and wore them on bamboo skewers and lit them. It's good to have these castor beans. Otherwise, I don't know how long we'll be in the dark! Wang Qihui said, placing a string of lit castor beans on the lamp above the lamppost.
The burning castor beans make a "whoosh" sound. After a while, a string of castor beans was about to burn out, and Wang Qihui quickly continued another string.
The family sat down and couldn't help but ask some questions about Fang Zhengben's study and life at school. Fang Zhengben also asked about the family situation and social relations according to the school's arrangement. Seeing that a string of castor beans was about to burn out again, the family had to sleep.
The next morning, Fang Zhengben went to the "Ammonium Chloride Factory" with his elder brother to sell the tree stumps, scraped together more than 6 yuan RMB, and went back to school in the afternoon.
On the second day of returning to school, Teacher Tang came to the classroom to talk about the students' stipend. He said: "The school is about to approve this year's students' stipend. The students' stipend is used to help those students whose families have real financial difficulties and who perform well to complete their studies, which is the concern of the Party and the government for our young students. Students whose family finances are really difficult, and who perform well in person and have no foreign aid can apply. However, please understand that the number of students' stipend is very limited, the proportion is about 3%, and not every student who wants to apply can enjoy it. Please consider carefully. Students who feel that they meet the conditions and are willing to apply can come to me to receive the "Application Form for People's Stipend", fill it out by themselves, and hand it back, which will be reviewed by the class for the first time, and then submitted to the school for final approval." When Fang Zhengben heard the news, his heart was excited. He feels that his family is undoubtedly one of the most financially difficult families in the class, and his performance is not bad, and there will definitely be no problem in applying for financial aid. If it could really be approved, wouldn't it save my mother a lot of trouble? After class, he ran to the office, found Teacher Tang, received a "Stipend Application Form", and filled it out and handed it to Teacher Tang in that day. He has been eagerly watching the approval results of teachers and schools.

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