Chapter 172 The Ticket Era Begins

Nineteen sixty.

It is a very special year.

The "Quick-Acting Heart-Saving Pill" has undergone more than half a year of clinical trials, and the final experimental results are very good, allowing the country to officially use it as a good medicine for the treatment, prevention, and emergency treatment of heart disease, and to fully produce and sell it.

Several pharmaceutical factories that were approved began emergency production after processing the Chinese herbal medicines prepared in advance.

Soon, it will appear in many hospitals and pharmacies across the country, as well as in foreign markets.

A large number of patients with thoracic pain have their symptoms under control because of it.

The life of the emergency patient was saved.

Simultaneously.

This year, the difficulties remain the same and are even more severe than last year.

From this year on, tickets began to be implemented on a large scale, and basically all items involved in daily life were issued with tickets.

Even vegetables were officially classified as the country's second-class commodities in order to strengthen the "unified management of production and marketing" system, and were supplied to residents in limited quantities with tickets.

Anyone with a formal household registration in the capital is supplied with two taels of fresh vegetables per person per day, which is one hundred grams.

In June last year, the state issued the "Order on Unifying my country's Measurement System", stipulating that one catty should be equal to ten taels, thus officially ending the history of the sixteen-tael system that had been used in China for more than two thousand years.

This change is also to adapt to the internationally accepted decimal measurement system and to bring the country's measurement system into full line with international standards.

There will be more vegetables available in spring, summer and autumn. Due to climate reasons in winter, there are basically no vegetable greenhouses in the country, so the variety of choices is limited.

You can choose any one of radish, potato, cabbage, etc. Other types of vegetables are basically not available on the market.

In addition, a small amount of "onion tickets" are also issued. Holders of the tickets can buy a small amount of onions, ginger, garlic, etc. These are mainly arranged by the "neighborhood committee", with the focus on taking care of the families of military martyrs at the grassroots level.

But sometimes there are special situations where there are no vegetables to buy even with tickets. If there are no vegetables to buy in the vegetable store or market, you can still buy pickled vegetables or salted vegetables with tickets (pickled vegetables are also supplied with tickets).

The quantity of winter cabbage supplied to each household with the "Beijing City Residents' Non-staple Food Purchase Certificate" also depends on the supply situation, ranging from dozens to hundreds of kilograms.

In the years since this year, there has never been an unlimited supply like before.

noon.

Middle Court.

Although today is Thursday, because it is New Year's Day, all units have a day off.

Liu Haizhong had a bulging belly, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks and a steamed bun made of two kinds of dough in the other. Despite the cold weather, he sat on the bench brought out by Liu Guangtian.

A dozen neighbors from the courtyard also gathered around, squatting or sitting.

"Ahem, everyone has heard that the country has issued a lot of policies and regulations today."

"Uncle, what's the news? Tell us quickly."

Uncle Zhang, who was standing by, took a sip of cornmeal porridge, then raised his head and joined in the fun.

Uncle Zhang is a fence-sitter in the courtyard and will support whoever is in power.

When Yi Zhonghai was the boss in the courtyard, he would often respond in this tactful way.

Liu Haizhong glanced at Uncle Zhang with appreciation, and then said proudly: "In the morning, I met Sister Cao from the neighborhood committee, talked to her for a while, and got some inside information.

We all live in the courtyard, so I'm telling you in advance, don't spread rumors outside, the neighborhood committee won't notify each courtyard until the afternoon."

"Second uncle, please hurry up and tell me. If you delay, the neighborhood committee leader will come over to notify me."

Under the envious gazes of many people, Sha Zhu took a big bite of the steamed bun and urged in a vague voice.

In this courtyard, only he and Xu Damao's family often ate white flour openly in the courtyard.

Even Wang Mengde's family, in the eyes of outsiders, mostly ate Erhe noodles and steamed corn bread.

Sha Zhu was a chef at a steel mill because there were only two people in his family. When cooking, he could just cut off a little bit of the ingredients and it would be enough for himself.

Therefore, a lot of food coupons and food can be left over every month.

Xu Damao received a subsidy from his father-in-law's family, and he and Xu Fugui often went to the countryside to show movies for their fellow villagers. Every time they came back, there were large and small bags of local specialties hanging on the handlebars of their bikes.

They simply couldn't finish all the food at home.

"Silly Zhu, if you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb."

Liu Haizhong gave him an annoyed look and said angrily.

This idiot Zhu, every time he was about to show off, he would ruin his show and always call him "Second Uncle". A few times, he even called Yi Zhonghai "First Uncle" in front of him.

It made him feel very unhappy.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about Sha Zhu's reckless personality.

"That's right, Silly Zhu, an old man is kindly explaining the policy to us, why are you making trouble?"

Not far away, Xu Damao, who also had flour in his hand, started to stir up trouble.

"Shamao, what's wrong with you? Do you want to be beaten?"

When Sha Zhu saw Xu Damao talking about him, he suddenly became furious and was about to stand up with his fists clenched to scare him.

"Okay, silly Zhu, stop messing around."

Liu Haizhong frowned and said something, then said directly to everyone:

"From today on, the state has classified vegetables as 'second-category commodities'. In the future, when you go to the vegetable market or store to buy vegetables, you must bring a 'non-staple food book'.

By the way, there is also a limit on the daily purchase quantity. Each person is only allowed to buy two taels of vegetables per day, and no more than that.

Also, starting this year, a large number of goods will require tickets to purchase, including in all aspects of life.”

"what?"

After hearing this policy, everyone was shocked and their faces turned grim.

In the past two years, there has not been enough food at home. Many families go to the vegetable store or market to buy more vegetables and use them instead of meals to barely fill their stomachs.

Now even the purchase of vegetables is restricted. What will the whole family do from now on?

There is no oil or water in the stomach to begin with, so if they are not full, both adults and children will be sad.

As for other daily necessities, they also began to require tickets, and everyone sighed in their hearts.

"Since the country has implemented this policy, it must have a certain logic. We must firmly support it..."

Liu Haizhong seemed not to notice the expressions of the crowd, and continued to talk about some so-called "big truths", which were completely empty words, clichés and repetitive sentences.

Even Uncle Zhang didn't say anything. Everyone looked at each other in confusion as they digested the news.

After a while, seeing that he was still going on, Sha Zhu couldn't bear to listen any longer.

He put the last piece of flour in his mouth, chewed it for a few times, and then interrupted, "Second uncle, come on, stop talking.

From now on, there will be purchase limits on groceries, and people can hardly even afford vegetables, not to mention that other things also require coupons. How can you say this is a good thing? "

Before, when Sha Zhu spoke in the yard, no one was willing to listen.

But this time, everyone felt that Sha Zhu finally said something pleasant to the ear.

Even Xu Damao rarely refuted.

"Silly Zhu, who said this is not a good thing.

This is called a national chess game. Purchase restrictions are mainly to support other regions, and to prevent bad elements from speculating and profiteering.

If you don't even understand these, how can you be a glorious working class? In the future, you should spend more time caring about politics."

Liu Haizhong argued hurriedly.

Unfortunately, this affected their family’s quality of life in the future, so everyone kept silent and started to carry their bowls home one by one.

About things in the yard.

Wang Mengde didn't know that he had sent his grandparents back to Tiangezhuang in the morning. Originally, he planned to let Wang Jinghui and Wang Tian stay in the city for a while longer.

Replenish some nutrition and wait until spring comes before returning to the countryside.

But he couldn't persuade the two old people and had to go back.

In the end, he had no choice but to send the two people back during the holiday.

When he came back, it was almost time for dinner.

At the dinner table, Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo did not eat as voraciously as they did before. Instead, they took two bites absentmindedly and then stopped.

"Yuan Chao, Wei Guo, what's wrong with you two today? Don't you even want to eat?"

Wang Mengde asked curiously.

On weekdays, the two little calves’ appetite is almost as big as his. They won’t stop until they have eaten three steamed buns in one meal.

I only ate one today and I have no appetite anymore.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"Brother, we're fine. We're just not very hungry."

Wang Weiguo glanced in the direction of He Shengnan, then lowered his head, poked the porridge in the bowl with chopsticks, and spoke in a low voice.

Although he tried to cover it up, Wang Mengde still noticed his abnormality at a glance.

He secretly smiled in his heart, thinking that it must be his wife again, disciplining them both.

Ever since they had grandsons and granddaughters, Ran Xiaomei and Wang Hao, who used to dote on their two sons at home, have transferred all their love to them.

Two or three years ago, Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo would be beaten if they were naughty.

With the tacit approval and connivance of her mother-in-law, He Shengnan also began to restrain the two of them.

The two fearless devils finally got their due.

This sister-in-law has real kung fu skills and the unanimous support of the whole family. After several incidents, they finally behaved themselves.

"Meng De, I took their foreign guns away. From now on, you can only play with them for two days at most every month. Then you can come to me to get them."

He Shengnan glanced at her two younger brothers and said with a smile.

After winter, the game of pushing iron rings was played less frequently and was replaced by playing with match guns.

"Why? What trouble have they gotten into?"

"Nothing bad happened, but they just wasted too many matches. Today, the two of them used two boxes each."

"It's indeed a bit too much. Next time, both of you should waste less. Do you hear me?"

On the surface, Wang Mengde was educating his two younger brothers, but in reality he was trying to plead for them.

A box of matches costs two cents, and four boxes of matches costs eight cents, which is enough to buy two steamed buns made of two kinds of flour in a restaurant.

Of course, this amount of money is just a drop in the bucket for the Wang family.

"Meng De, you don't know yet. Aunt Cao from the neighborhood committee came to the courtyard this afternoon and told us that from now on, many things will require tickets, including matches."

Seeing that he didn't care much, He Shengnan explained in a low voice.

"You need a ticket for matches, too?"

Wang Mengde said with some surprise.

"Yes, from now on, not only matches, but also honeycomb coal, kindling wood, soap, chimneys, iron pots, etc., all of these will require tickets."

Wang Hao said on the side.

He looked a little solemn.

It was obvious that something was wrong.

As a D member, he felt heavy in his heart, but he couldn't say anything discouraging, so he had to keep it in his heart.

The same is certainly true for Wang Mengde.

There were some things he didn't dare to say, so he forced a smile and said, "Since you want the tickets, then you should stop playing with foreign guns and play with other toys."

Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo saw that even their brother was on their side.

Knowing that there was no room for negotiation, they all hung their heads in silence and ate their meals in small bites.

Over the next twenty days.

Just as people are trying to apply the comprehensive ticket system, the Spring Festival is approaching.

this day.

In front of the grain store and grocery store in Nanluoguxiang, a large number of residents, holding grocery books, lined up in long queues like several giant dragons, and the tail of the queue had already extended into another alley.

Seven or eight grain station staff members were busy weighing peanuts and melon seeds.

Starting this year, peanuts and melon seeds can only be purchased during the Spring Festival, and you need to bring a food coupon.

Each household was supplied with half a pound of shelled peanuts and two ounces of roasted melon seeds.

At other times, the grocery stores are out of stock.

This is something you can only enjoy once a year.

Peanuts and melon seeds are oil-bearing crops. As early as 53, they were listed as "unified purchase and sale" materials, and the relevant state departments have always kept a tight control over them.

With the poor harvests in the past two years, this type of material has become even more scarce.

After waiting for a long time, it was finally Wang Mengde's turn.

The staff member obviously knew him, and immediately put on a flattering smile and said, "Doctor Wang, please let me see the food supplement book."

After writing and drawing on the food book and handing it back to Wang Mengde, he deftly selected some plump peanuts and melon seeds, put them on the scale, and carefully picked out the rotten or empty ones.

"Doctor Wang, these are your peanuts and melon seeds."

"thanks, thanks!"

Wang Mengde thanked.

Behind him, the other people in line all looked envious.

They just saw that when others bought the products, they didn't pick out the broken or empty ones.

Whoever buys it can only blame himself for his bad luck.

The front yard of the Siheyuan.

Second Aunt Yang Ruihua frowned as she looked at the number of peanuts and melon seeds that Yan Bugui bought.

It’s too little.

On the night of the Chinese New Year, each person in the family of six could only get less than one or two pounds of shelled peanuts.

After thinking it over in his mind, he said in a low voice:
"Old Yan, you will move a table to the middle courtyard later and write couplets for everyone, and collect peanuts and melon seeds."

"It won't work this year. People are buying less. If we ask them to grab a handful of peanuts and melon seeds like we did in the past two years, no one will be willing to buy. It's better to ask for 1.5 cents."

Yan Bugui pushed the frame of his glasses, his eyes full of calculation.

"Yes, Old Yan, you have made a thorough plan."

"Hehe, if we don't think about it, our whole family will be in trouble."

"Hey, you said there's not much fat pork to buy this year, and there's not much fat either. How are we going to celebrate the New Year?"

"Don't worry. This morning, I saw Wang Mengde carrying a large piece of fat meat into the middle courtyard. I'll go to their house later to find out what's going on."

Yan Bugui thought for a moment and then said.

(End of this chapter)