Chapter 28 I'm Sorry! I'm a Public Security Officer (Part )
He rode his bicycle to the Jiaodaokou Street Grain Office. He decided to use the grain coupons he got today. These grain coupons were monthly coupons, and it would be troublesome if he forgot to use them. There was no need to rush to use the other coupons. He would wait until he got home to see if there was anything missing at home.

In fact, supply based on tickets was not the first method adopted in China. After the October Revolution, the Soviet Union adopted a planned distribution of goods due to domestic instability and constant civil war. Due to the shortage of commodities, it issued various commodity tickets. The earliest Soviet ticket was the shoe ticket in 1916.

In 1953, China began to implement the policy of unified purchase and sale, prohibiting people from freely buying and selling grain. The grain supply plan was implemented, and people bought it in fixed quantities with coupons.

Food stamps are the product of the planned economy during this special period. The stamps cover a wide range of topics, are finely printed, and have temporal and regional characteristics.

The distribution of food coupons is based on population, gender, age, type of work, etc. Food coupons are divided into national food coupons and local food coupons. Local food coupons are only available for purchase in the local area; national food coupons can be used throughout the country. The current coupons include five catties, three catties, one catty, and half a catty.

The number of types of food coupons in China is known as the "largest in the world". More than 2500 cities and counties, as well as some towns and villages across the country, have issued and used various food coupons for planned supply. Some large enterprises, factories, mines, farms, schools, governments, institutions and other units have also issued and used food coupons.

…………

After a while, we rode our bike to the grain store near the Jiaodaokou Office.

We came to the food store. The door was higher than the road and had three steps.

To the west of the door is a window with a steel bar. This window is lower than a normal window. The bottom layer of the window is not made of glass, but wooden boards. There is also a blackboard on the wall next to it, on which are marked the prices of various grains for the day.

On the side of the board near the door, there is a notch shaped like the old doorway, rounded at the top and flush with the window sill at the bottom. Two grooved wooden strips are used inside to serve as a slide.

A piece of plywood is inserted inside. When the shop opens for business, the board is pulled out and people who want to buy grain just hand in their grain purchase book and money.

He took out from the space the food ration book that he had brought from home, a stack of food ration coupons for that month, and a stack of change, and handed them in without knowing how much there was in them.

The grain code was created around 1954. The government implemented a planned food supply for urban residents in terms of grain and oil supply, which was mainly targeted at non-agricultural populations and had nothing to do with farmers.

The "grain book" is the specific certificate for implementing the "commercial grain" household registration, and the grain book is implemented on a one-household-one-book basis based on the family unit.

This grain book is very important, just like the household registration book and ID card, it cannot be lost.

"Hello, comrade. Please buy some food."

There was a young man wearing a white work suit and a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Hmm, he looked familiar. He took the money and bills, and then used his abacus to make some crackling sounds.

Then he looked up and said:

"Comrade, you have a total of 108 jin of food coupons, right?"

"Which fine grains and coarse grains should I choose to buy?"

Liu Zhiye thought that his whole family was from the north, so he said:

"Buy white flour for fine grains and cornmeal for coarse grains."

After hearing this, the salesperson on the other side continued:

"According to the proportion of grain supplied this month, you can buy 37.8 percent of the fine grains, which means you can buy 0.17 kilograms of white flour. At 6.42 yuan per kilogram, you will be charged a total of yuan."

"The rest can be used to buy cornmeal at 70.2 yuan per catty, which is 0 yuan per catty. The total charge is 06 yuan."

"The total price is 10.63 yuan. This is the remaining money and grain book. Please keep it."

As he said this, he stood up and went to the warehouse next door to get some food.

Only after he got the food and walked out of the counter could he see Liu Zhiye's entire face clearly.

He pointed at Liu Zhiye with his eyes wide open and suddenly said:

"Excuse me, is your name Liu Zhiye?"

Liu Zhiye was also surprised by his expression. He felt that this person looked familiar and said puzzledly:
"Ah~ Yes, it's Liu Zhiye. Do we know each other?"

The young man said excitedly:
"Zhiye, don't you recognize me? Think about it, Kai Tak Middle School~"

Liu Zhiye suddenly realized:
"Hey~ Are you the Four-Eyes Guo—Guo Yunpeng? It's you~ After so many years, you've changed a lot. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Of course I remember you, and Teacher Zheng. Back then, we often fought together under the leadership of Teacher Zheng."

Guo Yunpeng said excitedly:
"Zhiye, you left with the army that year, and we didn't have time to say goodbye. Since then, I haven't heard any news about you. After all these years, how are you doing?"

Liu Zhiye gave him a warm hug. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time and were deeply moved!
"I'm fine, Yunpeng. I've been fighting for many years, through blood and fire, so it's inevitable that I've sustained some injuries. But now I'm back safe and sound, hahahaha."

"Yunpeng, let's not talk about me anymore. How are you doing after I left? What's Mr. Zheng's situation now?"

Guo Yunpeng told him in detail what would happen next.

"Not long after you left, the country was founded. The following year, after I graduated, I went to work in the subdistrict office under the arrangement of Mayor Wei. I was transferred to the grain station last year."

"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Zheng went to a city in the south to serve as the director of the Education Bureau..."

Time flies, and the years pass by. Liu Zhiye looked at this long-lost friend. He didn't have many friends in his memory, and this one was one of them. The two of them spent an unforgettable time together!

The two had a lot to talk about after a long separation, so they chatted for a long time. Seeing that it was getting late, he chose to say goodbye to Guo Yunpeng and made an appointment to go to a restaurant together another day. After leaving the grain store, he found a deserted place and threw the grain coupons into the space.

I got home just in time for dinner.

Liu's mother Deng Ru was extremely happy. She watched Liu Zhiye push the No. 28 bicycle into the yard. She couldn't let it go and touched it gently, fearing that she would scratch the paint if she used too much force.

Liu Jingzhai was quite puzzled. He was sitting on the kang in the room waiting for dinner. Where was the person? Why did he only hear the sound but never come into the room? What was he mumbling outside for so long?
Unable to bear it any longer, he got up from the kang and thought: I'd like to see what these mother and daughter are doing here.

After leaving the house, he was also staring at it. This brand new 28-inch bicycle was definitely the best in the yard, although there were not many bicycles in the yard. Men of all ages love bicycles, right? He walked over quickly, not caring about his hunger, and just touched it for a while.

Logically speaking, the Liu family is not in financial difficulty now. When Liu Zhiye was away, he often sent money home. In addition, Liu Jingzhai's job is more than enough to support a family of five.

Besides, the second child was admitted to the university and had a subsidy, so he didn't have to spend the family's money. There was only one little girl left, and the difficult times were long gone, so there was still enough money to buy a car. The reason was that there was no ticket.

Liu Zhiye looked at his father and saw how much he liked the car, so he said to his father:
"How's Dad, do you like it?"

Liu Jingzhai's mouth was stretched to his ears:
"Hey~ Look at what you said, I like it, of course I like it..."

Liu Zhiye said:
"Just like it, this car is for you~"

When Liu Jingzhai heard this, he smiled and waved his hand:
"I can ride it when I have time, but you can't take it. You are busy with work and need a car to get around, so you can't let this interfere with your work."

"Dad, just ride it. I'll get another one later. I'm not bragging, but getting a bicycle ticket is not a difficult thing for me~"

"That won't work. Wait until you get it. I appreciate your kindness~"

At this moment, the residents of the east and west wings next door heard the noise and came out to watch the fun.

Wei Dazhong:
"Wow~ This car of yours is really beautiful. It looks much bigger than Xu Damao's and his father's cars."

Hua Zi said:

"Uncle Wei, the one in the Xu family is a Fei Ge, and it's not as good as this Forever 28. There's still a big difference in the price between the two cars."

Everyone was surprised for a while, Wei Dazhong laughed and teased:
"Teacher Liu, you have just added such a valuable item to your home. Are you going to treat us?"

Hua Zi said to the side:
"That's right~ Uncle Liu should treat us~"

Liu Jingzhai was also unambiguous and laughed:

"It's my treat. Come with me into the house and have a drink. Let your aunt cook two more dishes."

Seeing that Liu Jingzhai was serious, Wei Dazhong quickly stopped him:
"Teacher Liu, don't, don't, don't~"

"We were just teasing you. We were almost done eating at home, and we heard some noise, so we came out to see what was going on. You guys stop busying yourself and go inside to eat."

Hua Zi also said, "Yes, Uncle, aren't we going to have a meeting for the whole school in a while?"

Liu Zhiye heard that a large-campus meeting was going to be held. This was the first time he heard of a full-campus meeting since he came back, and it was quite new.

He looked at his father:
"Dad, what's the meeting? What happened?"

Liu Jingzhai suddenly sighed and said:
"Let's go home and have dinner first and talk later~"

----

Around 7.30: in the evening, people from the compound carried stools and came to the central courtyard of the compound.

Meeting is a series of polite words:

"Have you eaten~?"

"My dear, I haven't seen you for a few days. Where have you been?"

"Hey~ Aunt Sun, you don't look very well these days, what's wrong?"

……

At the north end of the central courtyard, at the entrance of Zhuzi's house, there was a square table with a teapot and cups on it.

The first uncle, Yi Zhonghai, sat in the middle of the table with an expressionless face. The second uncle, with a sullen face, sat to his right. The third uncle, with his eyes rolling around, sat to his left.

The people below have almost arrived, including Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, Liu Guangfu, Liu Guangtian, Guan Dapeng and others who are standing! There are also several young men sitting, including Liu Zhiye, Shazhu, Xu Damao, Huazi, Dachengzi, Jia Dongxu and others.

Middle-aged and elderly people: Auntie One, Auntie Two, Auntie Three, Auntie Liu, Deng Ru, Auntie Sun, Qin Huairu, Jia Zhang, Liu Jingzhai, Guan Tianlin and Xu Damao's parents, Wei Dazhong and his wife, the Cheng family, the Gao family, Old Qiantou... dozens of people, young and old, came.

Before the meeting started, a group of people were chattering, joking with each other, and telling jokes. Their laughter and joy made the occasion so relaxed and pleasant, and everyone was immersed in this atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)