Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s-Chapter 27 - 0 On the way to work

Tian Bajin and Mr. Tian took a break together to smoke a pipe and sip some tea to dispel the alcohol, sitting for a while before standing up to call everyone to work. Although it wasn't yet time to start working, as the village Party Secretary and family member of the military, he had to set a good example and could not let down Ai Guo and the nephews Chaohua and Guanghua from the army.

Tian Man Yin filled a large kettle with hot water to take to the fields for drinking. The group hustled away, emptying the living room once more. Tian Qinghua had already returned home to bring over Big Yellow, offering it some bones. Big Yellow sniffed and its eyes suddenly brightened as it began devouring the bones voraciously. Tian Qinghua affectionately stroked Big Yellow's head, muttering words from time to time.

"Big Yellow, eat slowly. Eat those two pieces; I gnawed on them but deliberately didn't finish the meat, leaving it for you!"

"Big Yellow, tastes good, doesn't it? You should really thank Ah Nan. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have this treat. Remember not to scare Ah Nan anymore; she's timid and can't handle being frightened."

...

Tian Sisi found this amusing, thinking that if dogs could understand human speech, then dogs would be too clever. At that moment, Granny Zhao was discussing with Li Yuedi about sending meat to Man Tong and a few of their married daughters. Meat was scarce in every household, and now that they had so much, they wanted everyone to enjoy some freshness. Mr. Tian, sitting beside them, interjected, "Send it everywhere else, just don't send any to Tian Man Lan."

Granny Zhao's hands paused as she beseechingly looked at Mr. Tian, hoping her husband would agree to send some meat to their youngest daughter. However, Mr. Tian paid no attention to his wife and emphasized once more, "Don't you go behind my back and send it there again, hmph. I said before, if she doesn't listen to me, as far as I'm concerned, it's as if I never had her for a daughter. Whether she's dead or alive has nothing to do with me."

Mr. Tian was always livid when it came to this youngest daughter who had rejected the factory job he had arranged and instead married a good-for-nothing loafer; she had thoroughly disgraced Tian Liu Jin. Mr. Tian caught his breath with difficulty, coughing violently which frightened Granny Zhao into hastily agreeing, "Alright, alright, we won't send any. Calm down, don't get angry."

Tian Sisi quickly handed Mr. Tian a cup of water and helped to pat his back to aid his breathing. It took quite a while before Mr. Tian's breath eased, but his face was still flushed red as he panted heavily. Mr. Tian's lungs had been injured before; he had two shell fragments removed from his left lung lobe. So every winter, he struggled and couldn't get too upset. Given his health, he really shouldn't smoke, but Mr. Tian had a stubborn temper, claiming that denying him cigarettes was akin to taking his life. No one at home could persuade him; they could only limit the amount of tobacco to make him smoke less.

Tian Sisi remembered there seemed to be a recipe for wine that was good for nourishing the lungs in the Space. Perhaps after making the glutinous rice wine, she should try that recipe. If successful, she could let Mr. Tian drink it. Tian Sisi suddenly recalled something her mother, Juying, had mentioned in a previous life, that Mr. Tian had passed away from emphysema at the age of twenty of the original owner. Did that mean Mr. Tian had only ten more years to live?

No, Mr. Tian must live to be a hundred, not just because he loved her so dearly. She was determined to find a way to improve Mr. Tian's health. Tian Sisi resolved to make that lung-nourishing wine.

On the other side, Granny Zhao had started cutting up the rabbit meat. Li Yuedi quietly said, "Big sister-in-law, there's no need to send any to Man Tao and Man Ju."

Both Tian Man Tao and Tian Man Ju were Tian Bajin's daughters, and they also had a second daughter, Tian Manxing, who was the most beautiful and had married off to Shanghai, rarely coming back.

Granny Zhao shot her a look, then swiftly and neatly divided the three rabbits into halves with a kitchen knife. After arranging the six halves into a basket, padded with dry grass, she instructed Tian Xinhua to ride a bike to deliver meat to his little uncle and several aunts, whispering to him to also visit his little aunt and deliver the meat. Tian Xinhua nodded in understanding. Tian Shouhua, on the other hand, had gone with Tian Bajin and the others to work in the afternoon. He was supposed to go in the morning as well but took half a day off to accompany Tian Sisi up the mountain.

Tian Xinhua pushed out Tian Manjin's treasured bicycle, hung the basket on the rear seat, and when Tian Sisi saw it, she insisted on tagging along. Granny Zhao initially refused, but she couldn't resist Tian Sisi's coquettish behavior and agreed. Tian Sisi hurriedly changed her clothes, put on a hat, gloves, and a scarf, and happily hopped onto the back seat to go with Tian Xinhua to deliver meat. Donghua, Qinghua, and Tian Qinghua, after each receiving a piece of milk candy from Tian Sisi, contentedly went to gather firewood at the foot of the mountain, no longer clamoring to follow along.

When Tian Bajin and the group arrived at the fields, the day's task was to compost the manure. At that time, there were no chemical fertilizers or urea, and all farming relied on natural manure. Although the yield was somewhat lower, the resulting food was truly green and organic.

Several women followed Zhu Aiqing to another area to work. In the village, men and women would work separately; men did the heavy tasks like hoeing, plowing, and carrying loads, while women performed lighter jobs such as transplanting rice seedlings, harvesting rice, and threshing. Thus, a woman's full workday was valued lower than a man's, with women earning 10 work points for a full day, and men earning 13 work points (this figure was inquired from the elders by Old Yang, and there might be some inaccuracies), where 10 work points constituted a full workday, and one workday was equivalent to about sixty or seventy cents in RMB.

It may seem like the villagers earned a decent amount each day, but the reality was quite the opposite. First, few men or women ever received the full work points, and getting two-thirds was considered good. Older and weaker individuals often only earned half. Additionally, even if one did earn the full work points, the money received in hand wouldn't be the full amount; after deducting production costs and any money villagers had advanced, a typical family would end up with only a few to a hundred yuan at the end of the year.

Take Sisi's house, for instance, where Zhu Aiqing and Tian Manjin both received full work points and never advanced money. They worked hard all year and, in the end, earned just under two hundred yuan, which was less than Mr. Tian's monthly salary and even less than the average city worker. Therefore, in the seventies, farmers greatly envied those who could work in a factory, as becoming a worker meant earning a salary and receiving meat tickets, cloth tickets, oil tickets, and all other urban benefits.

Villagers began arriving one after another, and under the allocation of the village chief, everyone enthusiastically began their labor. The village chief was from Zhongjia Bay, named Zhong Boqiang, in his fifties and a bit younger than Tian Bajin. Zhong Boqiang had a good relationship with Tian Bajin. They were both captured by the Japanese as forced labor and later escaped together, making them revolutionary brothers who had shared adversity. Zhong Boqiang's left pinky finger had also been cut off by a Japanese whip.

Zhong Boqiang had a son in the army, in the same unit as Tian Aiguo, but with a lower rank, currently just a Captain. So even though Zhong Boqiang was the village chief, he always looked up to Tian Bajin as the leader, effectively making Tian Bajin the actual leader of Yuequan Village.

After allocating the labor tasks, Zhong Boqiang also picked up a rake and started working on the compost. He went over to Tian Bajin, sniffed, and chuckled, "Bajin, it seems you've been enjoying some good meals, had a couple of drinks at lunch?"

"We farmers wouldn't dare waste grain on making alcohol; our family had lunch over at your elder brother's place," Tian Bajin replied while raking the manure and chatting with Zhong Boqiang.

Zhong Boqiang felt the sting of shared distress, as he too enjoyed a drink occasionally, but he had abstained these past years. Why? If there wasn't enough food to fill his children's bellies, how could he justify drinking? Alas, if only everyone were as fortunate as Brother Bajin, to have an elder brother's support. Unlike himself... The thought alone brought a sour feeling.

Noticing the expression on Zhong Boqiang's face, Tian Bajin knew he must be thinking again of his family, killed by the Japanese. Who in Yuequan Village hated the Japanese the most? That would undoubtedly be Zhong Boqiang and Mr. Tian, the two brothers. While other families in the village also lost relatives to the Japanese, the families of Zhong Boqiang and Tian Bajin were completely wiped out, except for the three of them.

At that time, Zhong Boqiang had a little brother who was just learning to walk, who was brutally thrown to death by the Japanese. The fair and tender little boy lay there, mangled and bloodied, and Zhong Boqiang had passed out in shock at the sight. The Tian Family also suffered the total loss of their family at the hands of the Japanese. Since then, Mr. Tian resolutely enlisted in the military. Zhong Boqiang and Tian Bajin also wanted to join, but Mr. Tian firmly stopped them, saying that the two families must continue their lineage; otherwise, the ancestors would be displeased. Therefore, they stayed behind to work the land and married early, focused wholeheartedly on continuing their family line.

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