Chapter 6: Earning Work Points by Working

Zhao Weiguo knew that Li Lijuan was deliberately avoiding the task. In the past, he might not have said anything and just let Zhao Xiulan do it. But now that Zhao Xiulan was sick and Li Lijuan was fine, it was only fair for her to take on more responsibilities.

So, Zhao Weiguo expressed his dissatisfaction, “Can’t a girl like you even cook some porridge? What’s so difficult about that? Are you unable or unwilling to work?”

Although Li Lijuan was unhappy, she dared not say anything more and could only obey Zhao Weiguo’s orders.

However, she glared fiercely at Zhao Xiulan, feeling that it was all because of her that her stepfather made her do the work. Originally, cooking should not have fallen on her.

Zhao Xiulan’s lips curved imperceptibly into a smile, then she ‘sensibly’ said to Zhao Weiguo, “Dad, I’ll go work now and earn some work points.”

“Xiulan, are you sure you’re feeling well enough to work? Maybe you should rest at home!” Zhao Weiguo asked with concern.

“Dad, I’m fine. I can manage. Our family doesn’t have much grain left. Earning more work points now means we can get more grain, and then we’ll have more food at home,” replied Zhao Xiulan.

Hearing this, Zhao Weiguo felt even more proud of his sensible daughter compared to Li Lijuan. He realized he had neglected his daughter too much in the past and resolved to dote on her more in the future.

Breakfast consisted of watery porridge with hardly any grains, one bowl per person, plus a steamed bun. There was no strong reaction after eating.

However, in this era of scarcity, there weren’t many people who could eat their fill. Most just felt half full, and even that was considered fortunate.

After breakfast, like everyone else in the village, Zhao Xiulan went to the rice field of the production team to gather, waiting for the team leader to distribute the day’s tasks.

Once everyone who needed to work had arrived, the team leader Liu Gensheng distributed the tasks with a work points book in hand.

“Qian Weihua, go plow the field along the ditch near the Sunjia.”

“Li Wei Hong, go and cut the grass in the fields at the east end.”

“Wang Chaoying, Liu Fu bang, you two go and dig the ditch at the west end…”

After receiving their tasks, everyone went to work.

The tasks assigned by Liu Gensheng were based on gender. Basically, men did more strenuous physical labor such as digging ditches, plowing fields, and carrying loads, while women did slightly lighter work such as cutting grass, sowing seeds, and watering.

The work and the corresponding work points varied.

In this era, a full day’s work earned ten work points. Men doing heavy work would earn slightly more work points, up to ten points if they did well.

Women doing lighter work, even if they did well, would earn at most six or seven work points in a day, sometimes eight or nine, but usually three or four.

The amount of grain allocated was linked to the number of work points earned. The higher the work points, the more grain one could receive. So, every household wanted to earn more work points to get more grain and have more food at home.

Soon, Zhao Xiulan was also assigned a task – cutting pig grass!

Seeing that Zhao Xiulan had fallen into the water and had a fever, and seeing that her complexion wasn’t great today, Liu Gensheng decided to give her an easy task.

Zhao Xiulan realized that Liu Gensheng deliberately gave her an easy task, so she thanked him and then took the team’s tools, sickle, and basket, and went to the mountain to cut pig grass.

Those assigned to cut pig grass and those watching the cattle all went to the foot of the mountain.

Relying on the memories of the original host, Zhao Xiulan climbed up the mountain.

It was now the era of great famine, coupled with the massive deforestation in the past few years, many hills were bare, and there wasn’t much grass or vegetation. It was no wonder that even cutting pig grass could earn work points.

(End of Chapter 6)