Reborn in 1977

Chapter 14: The Matters of Raising Pigs

Of course, although there were many potential clients waiting for him to help them fulfill their quotas, Chen Fan understood the principle that haste makes waste.

With his current physique, if he went out and offered to help, people would probably think he was just trying to freeload.

It would be good enough if they didn't chase him away with a broom; helping? He was thinking too much.

Therefore, for the sake of sustainable development, Chen Fan felt he should first understand the basic situation of the production team: which families were struggling the most and needed help the most, and which families had simpler problems that were more feasible to address.

Then, he would create a table, prioritizing tasks based on the actual situation, and proceed gradually.

As for now?

He thought of what Team Leader Yang had just said about butchering the New Year pig, and that it was at his house?

Weren't the production team's assets supposed to be public? How could there be privately owned pigs?

With some confusion, he walked to the door of Jiang Lili's room. Before he could speak, Jiang Lili came out, "Team Leader Yang came by just now. Was there something he needed?"

Chen Fan stood at the door, smiling, and said, "Oh, Team Leader Yang said they're butchering the New Year pig at his house the day after tomorrow morning and asked us to help out."

"Ah?"

Jiang Lili looked doubtful. "He asked me too?"

Chen Fan was slightly stunned. "Yes, that's what he said."

Seeing that Jiang Lili's expression didn't seem quite right, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Lili lowered her head. "I've been here for three years, and he's never asked me before. Only when the team butchers the New Year pig would he ask me to go, but that's when everyone goes."

Chen Fan's eyes darted slightly. "But he really did say that just now."

Could it be just a polite invitation?

Jiang Lili was also a little confused. What did the team leader mean?

Chen Fan thought for a moment. "Anyway, he really did say it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have told you. No matter what, you should come with me to take a look the day after tomorrow. If there really is a task for you and you don't go, that wouldn't be appropriate, right?"

Jiang Lili thought about it carefully and felt that Chen Fan was right, so she nodded. "Okay, I'll go with you the day after tomorrow morning. If there's nothing for me to do, I'll come back."

Chen Fan smiled and asked again, "Hey, just now I heard you say that the team also butchers New Year pigs. Are the pigs raised by the team and private individuals separate?"

Jiang Lili shook her head gently and said, "Not completely separate, but there's still some connection. The country is calling on production teams across the country to raise more pigs and raise them well. Then, they allow members of the commune to raise some chickens, ducks, and pigs themselves. If they can't finish eating them, they can sell them to the food station. So, in addition to having a pig farm with a dozen pigs, the production team also suggests that each household raise two pigs.

The production team only keeps the two or three smallest pigs each year and slaughters the rest to distribute the meat to all the commune members. The meat is also distributed according to work points. Whoever earns more work points gets more meat. Those with fewer work points may only get pig head meat or even pig offal.

Of the two pigs raised by the commune members, one large pig must be sold to the commune's food station. However, the food station only accepts pigs weighing over 120 jin (60kg). Any pig under 120 jin is rejected. The remaining small pig can be kept for personal consumption."

Chen Fan crossed his arms and pinched his chin, leaning against the door frame, thoughtfully saying, "That's not bad. In addition to work points, villagers can also raise chickens and pigs, and they can get a lot of meat at the end of the year."

In the past, when reading novels about that era, it was said that people in rural production teams could only eat meat once a year during the New Year. Now it seems that not all places were very poor.

Jiang Lili raised her head and glanced at him, then lowered her head and whispered, "That's not true."

"Ah?"

Chen Fan looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Jiang Lili patiently explained, "Raising chickens, ducks, and pigs all requires feed. Chickens and ducks can dig up some worms in the fields and eat them, and adding some rice bran and grass can also keep them alive. Raising pigs is much more tiring. You have to collect pigweed every day, and you have to do it early, or you won't be able to keep up with the team to work, which will delay work, result in criticism, and deduction of work points.

Then, pigs that only eat pigweed are not easy to fatten up. If they are not strong, they are prone to illness and die before they grow up. Even if they can grow up, the food station may not accept them before the twelfth lunar month because they don't meet the 120 jin requirement.

Some commune members feed their pigs a lot of pigweed on the morning of the slaughter in order to reach 120 jin, but if the pigs eat too much, they are easily stressed and get diarrhea when they are hung up and carried over."

Chen Fan saw that Jiang Lili's face was flushed as she spoke. She was so easily embarrassed.

At the same time, he also realized that it was still the 1970s. Lean-meat pigs had not been widely promoted and were only raised on a large scale in a few places. Unlike lean-meat pigs, which had been successfully improved over nearly a century, native black pigs and spotted pigs were small, slow-growing, and prone to various diseases, resulting in very low breeding efficiency.

Later, those "native pigs" all over the country were actually improved after decades of research. Otherwise, a disease could bankrupt a pig farm. In addition, their size has also increased a lot, allowing them to grow more meat.

Currently, the vast majority of pigs raised across the country are unimproved native pigs. There are even several different breeds within the same province. In this case, the breeding efficiency is certainly not high, and the situation of not being able to grow big or grow long frequently occurs, which is not surprising.

Jiang Lili's ears were a little hot. She lowered her head and continued, "When the pigs are carried to the food station, if they weigh enough, they can receive more than 30 yuan and some ration coupons. If they don't weigh enough, they can only be carried back.

Pigs that don't weigh enough can't be sold casually. If the meat is not kept for personal consumption and is to be sold, it can only be sold to the production team. The production team calculates work points for the commune members based on the amount of meat. The meat is either handed over to make up for the production team's deficit, or it is converted into dividends along with other physical objects and distributed to the commune members."

After she finished speaking, Chen Fan understood. "So, raising pigs is not necessarily profitable for the commune members? And not all commune members are willing to raise them?"

Jiang Lili nodded and shook her head again. "If they have the conditions, the commune members still want to raise pigs, because if they only rely on work points, they may not be able to eat meat all year round. If they raise pigs, a pig can be exchanged for more than 30 yuan and some ration coupons at the end of the year, which can subsidize a large part of the household expenses, and their family can also eat a few meals of meat.

However, raising pigs is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. The strong laborers have to earn work points and don't have that much time to take care of them. Some families are unwilling to raise pigs, or they only raise one to meet the requirements. If they can raise it to 120 jin, they will sell it for money and coupons. If they can't raise it to that weight, they can still subsidize it a little, but they may not have any meat to eat themselves.

Only families with many children will raise two or even three. They can keep one for themselves and sell the others to the food station. Children can't earn many work points by working, so they specialize in collecting pigweed and cooking pig feed. Moreover, pig manure handed over to the team can also be exchanged for work points."

Chen Fan listened, first feeling amused, and then feeling only heartache.

Even the labor of children is calculated so clearly. Life in the commune is not easy.

After a moment of silence, he shook his head, turned around, looked around, and asked, "Doesn't the educated youth spot raise chickens or pigs?"

As soon as he said this, Jiang Lili didn't answer immediately, but was silent for several seconds.

Chen Fan's eyes darted slightly. Did he say something wrong?

At this time, Jiang Lili said, "The educated youth spot originally raised a few chickens, but before they went home, they killed them all, stewed them in a big pot, and ate them. Raising pigs is too tiring and has a strong smell. Some people are unwilling to raise them, and even if they do, they are unwilling to take care of them. Over time, the pigsty at the educated youth spot became empty."

Chen Fan nodded in realization. So that's how it was.

Then he was stunned again, turned to look at Jiang Lili, and thought of what she had just said.

They ate them all before going home?

Didn't leave any for her????