Han Yongfang gave him a sideways look, “Would you like me to take the account book and calculate how many work points you two earn in a year? After deducting the rations for you and your children, do you want to count how much are left?”
If the rations were not enough, one would have to give back the prorated amount of money earned through working. If there were more rations than required, the money would be calculated and divided back.
With the amount of work the Second Family did, they weren’t even capable of feeding their own children.
Dafu and Xiaofu’s rations had to be supplemented by the work points of Eldest Brother Han and Old Man Han.
Although Han Yongfang was domineering, he had always been hard-pressed to do things. Since he wanted to preside over the family division, he naturally tried his best to think of all aspects and made preparations in advance.
The couple from the Second Family were lazy and playful. He knew about their nature and naturally, he had countermeasures against them.
With that, the two stopped talking.
Han Yongfang ended up stating, “Merely separating, it’s hard to get anything done, so you’ll get 40 Yuan.”
Although the Second Sister-in-law was not happy about it, she knew that she had taken advantage of the First and the Third Family for a while, so she didn’t harp about fairness any longer.
Han Yongfang added, “For Haotian, I will give them 50 Yuan.”
“Why does he have more than us?” Second Sister-in-law Han immediately became unhappy.
“Would you like to calculate their work points in the ledger?” Han Yongfang glared at them. It was already embarrassing enough that a grown man couldn’t earn more work points than a 16-year-old boy.
“Eldest Brother Han is still at home and hasn’t been separated yet,” Second Sister-in-law Han muttered.
“Your eldest brother did not leave so he could stay behind to take care of your parents. As a filial child, he should be given more,” Han Yongfang said.
He looked at the situation before scratching his book with a pen and clicked the abacus a few times, “That’s how the money will be divided. The grains will be divided according to each person’s ration and there will be no difference in distribution of the food— just do it the way the Brigade does it.”
Everyone had no objection to the latter. The distribution itself was always based on population and work points.
Basically, if there was a general rule for it, just follow along.
Haotian nodded, “Grandfather, I agree with this division.”(3)
(T/N: Pretty sure I mentioned this before but calling elders your uncle, aunt or even grandfather etc. is a sign of respect in Chinese culture. Han Yongfang is not Haotian’s grandfather, it’s just a term to show respect when you look at their age difference)
Han Yongfang added, “Then let’s talk about taking care of the elderly.”
According to the village’s regulations, every commune member must participate in labour. Unless one was seriously ill, unable to move or was perhaps pregnant, there was no reason for even women to slack off.
The act of collective labour did not support idlers. As long as one was capable of working, Han Yongfang was not going to tolerate idle adults.
A deduction of rations were on the line should one decide to miss out on work, so there really weren’t many slackers in the village.
Naturally, Old Lady Han had to think about this too.