Distributing the grain officially marked the end of the Autumn harvest.
Once enough had been given to the state, saved for the collective, what was left belonged to the people themselves.
As for the specific ratios, Feng Qingxue had been busy recently with childbirths and treating injuries and had not participated in the final tallying, so she was unclear about the rules. However, she knew that Wanglou Brigade, due to its high yield, had a far more substantial amount of food compared to most of the nearby production brigades.
Everyone below the age of sixty, regardless of gender, could receive 450 jin of food, children under three years old would receive 150 jin, ages three to seven would get 200 jin, seven to twelve-year-olds would get 260 jin, teenagers between twelve and sixteen and people over sixty would receive 360 jin of food each. This was all measured for a year’s supply.
Other production brigades with lower yields couldn’t even provide 300 jin of food per adult, let alone for the elderly and weak.
No wonder the people of Wanglou Brigade always seemed so full of energy.
This food was accounted as coarse grain -- including dry sweet potatoes, corn kernels, and the like -- all of it counted as unprocessed grain with its husks.
People could also request refined grains. According to the rules, they could receive refined grains worth thirty percent of their total grains, adhering to a coarse-to-fine ratio of 7:3, not exceeding this proportion.
This rule allowed for the exchange of 315 jin of coarse grain plus 135 jin of refined grain. Alternatively, one could choose to take 135 jin from their 450 jin allotment of grain and exchange it at a three-to-one ratio for refined grain.
The refined grains were wheat and rice. 135 jin of coarse grain could only be exchanged for 45 jin of refined grain.
This meant that each adult could receive, at most, 315 jin of coarse grain and 45 jin of refined grain.
Besides this method of exchange, people could also swap their coarse grain for freshly dug sweet potatoes at a rate of one jin of coarse grain for four jin of sweet potatoes.
Food couldn’t just be collected on demand. If an individual’s work points were sufficient, they could get all their grain. Those without enough work points could only take the grain their points covered. Those in debt would need to settle last year’s dues before the remaining work points could be applied towards this year’s food distribution.
This year, Wanglou Brigade had a bountiful harvest. Hence, every producing team’s income had naturally increased. After deducting various expenses and dividing it by the total number of labor days -- ten work points equaled one labor day -- the work value differed based on the team. Feng Qingxue’s team had a work value of fifty cents.
A work value of fifty cents meant ten work points worth fifty cents, a single work point was worth five cents. This was the highest amongst the Wanglou Brigade’s teams. The team with the lowest work value was the tenth team, which was only worth thirty-five cents.
Though it was only thirty-five cents, compared to Caohu Brigade’s work value of twenty cents, it wasn’t low at all.
Lu Tianjun’s father had earned a total of 1800 work points from the end of last year’s Autumn harvest to this year’s. According to work values, the total income was 90 yuan. Given that this year’s price for unprocessed grain was seven cents per jin, the income needed to first cover the cost of 450 jin of grain, which totalled 32.4 yuan. If there was no need to deduct the cost of fuel and other fees, he would end up with 57.6 yuan.
Lu Tianjun, Lu Tianzhi, Guan Cheng, Guan Yu, Feng Qingyun, and Feng Qingxue were all under the same household registration. Their work points weren’t high. Lu Tianjun had 965 points, Lu Tianzhi had 357 points, Guan Cheng had 560 points, Guan Yu had 226 points, Feng Qingyun had 165 points, and Feng Qingxue had 1360 points. The total was 3633 points, bringing in an income of 181.65 yuan.
Feng Qingxue received 450 jin of food, Lu Tianjun and Guan Cheng received 360 jin each, Feng Qingyun received 200 jin, Guan Yu and Lu Tianzhi received 260 jin each. The total for the whole family was 1890 jin, which required a deduction of 136.08 yuan.
The final remaining 45.57 yuan was first put towards covering the cost of firewood.
The corn stalks and wheat straw left after threshing were collective property and not freely distributed to every household.
Thus, considering every other expense, the entire Feng Qingxue’s family ended up with only twenty yuan and sixty cents, their year’s income.