In a fine mood, Chen Haichao headed home with more than forty yuan tucked in his pocket. He walked much faster on the way back, empty-handed and happy to have made money.
Mother Chen had expected him back around dinnertime. When he returned so early, she didn't think much of it, assuming he had simply walked fast and come straight back.
He had just reached the door when he heard his father snoring. Paying it no mind, he put an arm around his mother's shoulders and whispered, "Mom, something big happened. Let's talk inside."
Mother Chen thought he had found out the old widow's name. She hurriedly tossed her broom against the foot of the wall and followed him inside.
Then Chen Haichao pulled four Great Unity notes out of his pocket, and her eyes went round.
"Where did you get so much money?"
He lowered his voice. "I made it selling dried shrimp."
"Ah?!!!"
Her mouth fell open in an O.
Chen Haichao told her exactly what had happened, leaving nothing out.
Mother Chen was so excited she no longer knew which way was north. "Twenty jin of dried shrimp sold for forty yuan? Good heavens, why would we eat any of it? Nobody in this family is allowed to eat it. Those are little nuggets of gold-we have to sell them!"
"Oh!" She slapped her thigh and said regretfully, "How much of that good stuff have we eaten before? What a waste."
"The stuff from before wouldn't have kept until now anyway. I just happened to get lucky this time. Otherwise, who would take it out to sell? Around here, nobody even wants to pick it up."
"Right, right. Shh, keep your voice down. Don't let anyone else find out. When the tide goes out tonight, we'll go to the shore and scoop up some more. There are plenty of these little shrimp lately, and nobody wants them. I only thought I'd dry some for your sisters to eat, or I wouldn't have bothered with the work. The production team used to dump the ones they caught every day straight into the pig feed..."
As she spoke, the pain of it struck her again, and her face twisted with regret. They had all been dumped into the pig feed and eaten by the pigs. The production team's pigs were living like royalty.
As long as there were no strong winds or heavy waves, the fishing crew of the production brigade went out to sea every day, then took their catch to the state-run aquatic products purchasing station at the town dock that same day.
Land had not yet been allocated to individual households, nor had work been assigned by boat. Everything operated under "unified purchase and sales," and regulations required the catch to be sold to the official purchasing station at the dock.
Only after meeting the mandatory purchasing quota could the production team dispose of the remaining catch.
Basically, anything that could bring in some money went to the purchasing station. Whatever the station didn't want, or whatever remained after the quota was met, was brought back and distributed to the members. Anything the members didn't want went to feed the pigs.
The goods distributed to the members weren't free, either. Their value was deducted from work points, and the final accounts were settled at the end of the year. The more you worked, the more you earned.
Chen Haichao handed her the money. "Don't dwell on what's past. Think about how we can dry more shrimp instead. It's a shame the production team is on holiday. Otherwise, the fishing crew would bring back plenty of these little shrimp in their nets every day."
"Yes, it's a shame. Nobody wants those little shrimp. I'll take your sisters to scoop up more tonight. We have to go just as the tide starts to go out. We can't go at high tide, and once it's all the way out, the shrimp will have escaped."
"Mm."
Clutching the Great Unity notes, Mother Chen grew excited again. "Oh, we were given a big pile of fish yesterday, and I salted or dried all of it. Would that boss want any?"
"I don't know. He didn't say. He only said he wanted dried shrimp, as much as we could give him."
At this time, dried fish was also classified as a category-two commodity, and large quantities couldn't be bought freely. Perhaps he could ask the man if he wanted any.
Things that couldn't be bought and sold freely had to be bought on the sly. It was only because they lived by the sea, with its abundant resources, that they could scrape together enough food and clothing. People in the mountains still didn't have enough to eat or wear, much less seafood.
"Then let's get it all ready together. What if he does want it? We can't let it go to waste. The production team handed out a big pile of fish yesterday, and I dried and stored the fish we got before that too. We've got a whole lot at home. I'll take it all out and sort it for you!"
Mother Chen was full of energy, itching to haul it over and exchange it for money right away.
"All right. Take it all out and get it ready. If he wants it, we can turn it into money. If he doesn't, we won't lose anything."
"I'll find everything we've stored right now. If I'd known, I'd have given your two sisters less when they came home a few days ago. What a shame..."
Muttering to herself, Mother Chen found a clean sack and began rummaging through every chest and cupboard in the house. She didn't even cook the meal, taking down everything hung from the beams and walls to keep it safe from mice.
"Aren't you going to put the money away in your room first? There's no rush to sort the dried fish."
"I'm in my own home, not going out anywhere. I won't lose it. Let me find everything first. This money can go toward getting you a wife. This year was pretty good. After our grain rations and seafood were deducted, our family still got a total of 312 yuan for the year, and now there's another forty coming in."
Chen Haichao: "..."
Five working people in the family had only earned 312 yuan in a whole year? That was incredibly low. On average, an adult worked a whole year for less than sixty-three yuan.
And that was considered good. In fact, based on the work points earned through attendance over the year, the family's total wasn't low, but mandatory deductions were made for each person.
Those included grain rations, wear and tear on the brigade's fishing gear, and all kinds of production tools.
Grain was distributed according to the "seven parts per person, three parts by labor" system: seventy percent of the rations was distributed per person, and thirty percent depended on work points.
A work point was worth eight fen, but after mandatory deductions for grain rations and production tools, only thirty percent remained as cash in hand.
That was still a good outcome, with no major natural disasters, such as typhoons.
If there were a few more typhoons over the year, a work point might be worth only six fen. If there were fewer, it could reach one mao in a bumper year.
That was why his mother had been reluctant to marry his sisters off too early. After all, there was a whole bunch of younger brothers and sisters below them, all mouths to feed, with little labor to contribute before they grew up.
Keeping a big family fed was no easy feat these days. Even if they were allotted two or three hundred yuan a year, there wasn't much left by year's end.
Food and drink, social obligations, weddings and marriages all cost money. If someone came down with a headache or fever, or suffered an injury, that cost even more.
The real problem was that they couldn't do business and could only depend on the output of collective labor. It was hard.
No wonder his mother and sisters had been beside themselves with excitement when they saw that dried shrimp could sell for forty yuan.
He had thought that forty-odd yuan was the equivalent of less than two months' wages for an ordinary worker. It turned out to be far more than that: it was what an adult in their family earned through over half a year of hard work.
As she busied herself, Mother Chen suddenly turned around and reminded him, "Oh, right. We mustn't talk about this outside, not to anyone. We'll just sell it secretly ourselves. There are plenty of green-eyed people in the village who can't stand seeing others do well, and even relatives aren't necessarily all good people."
"Even though we're only selling our own local produce, not buying cheap and reselling at a profit, we can't stop other people from getting jealous."
"If we bought it cheaply from other families and resold it, that would make us guilty of speculation and profiteering for sure. We absolutely can't do that-we'd be arrested, sent to prison, and shot."
"We'll just sell our own things and save up some money to get you a wife. We'll work a little harder at night and have the whole family go to the shore to scoop up more shrimp."
Chen Haichao sighed. Making money was hard. He even felt guilty for keeping two yuan for himself.
"All right. It actually sold for forty-two. I kept two yuan."
Mother Chen glared at him. "You've learned to be sly, have you? Well, since you kept it, keep it. A grown man can't go without any money in his pocket."
"Hehe."
She hesitated again. "Should we tell your eldest uncle's family?"
His father was the second child, with a younger sister who had married into the neighboring town. He had also had two other younger siblings, but both had died in accidents.
His eldest uncle's family lived next door, and his grandmother lived with them. His grandfather had died years ago after encountering a typhoon at sea.
His family was on good terms with his eldest uncle's family, and the two households always helped each other out when something came up.
"Do whatever you think is best."
"Then I'll tell your eldest aunt later. Our two families can sell it secretly together. When the time comes, your eldest male cousin can take the goods over with you. We'll all be grasshoppers tied to the same rope, so they won't tell anyone either. We just have to keep the children from finding out."
"Mm. We're just selling agricultural products normally, not speculating or profiteering. There's no need to be too nervous."
"How could I not be nervous? That's a lot of money. Even if it isn't against the law, we can't let anyone else know."
Mother and son talked for a while. He still hadn't seen his third or fourth sister, so he asked curiously, "Where are Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi?"
"They went to the river to wash the whole family's shoes. It's almost New Year, so the house needs a good cleaning. Everything that needs washing and scrubbing has to be done."
"Once I'm finished with all this, I'll have to use the New Year break to ask around and find husbands for the two of them. And I still have to find you a wife. I'm run off my feet."
"You should take a little interest too. If there's a girl you like, tell me, so I'll know who to ask about and won't have to ask people for introductions..."
The moment Chen Haichao heard that, his scalp tingled, and he walked straight outside.
His marriage in his previous life hadn't been a happy one either. Poverty brought trouble to every aspect of a couple's life: they had a small quarrel every three days and a big one every five. His wife was strong-willed, and after their two children had each taken the college entrance exam, she had insisted on a divorce. Afterward, they each went their own way and lived well.
It had all been caused by a lack of money. Ninety-nine percent of family conflicts came from poverty, and on top of that, their personalities hadn't been very compatible.
So he had no desire at all to discuss marriage through blind dates now. A marriage without a foundation of love depended entirely on money and conscience to hold it together.