Chapter 724: The First Share Reduction 1

Chapter 724: The First Share Reduction 1

The courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, shrouded in night, is still the familiar central courtyard. Under the bare big locust tree, there is a dim electric light hanging. Almost all the residents are gathered here. The men are huddled together in twos and threes, smoking and talking in low voices, with bursts of laughter from time to time; the housewives are also in groups of three or five, whispering about the latest gossip; there are only a few half-grown children who like to join in the fun, constantly playing and fighting around.

The three newly appointed managers did not sit behind the shabby wooden table, but waited together at the gate of the courtyard.

The three uncles in charge did not take the initiative to call the whole courtyard meeting tonight. Instead, they learned about it from the residents when they just returned to the courtyard after get off work this evening. Just now, a clerk from the street office came to inform them that Director Wang of the Nanluoguxiang Residents Committee would be conveying important policies to the No. 95 courtyard at 7 o'clock tonight, and required that all residents must be summoned to attend the meeting.

The steward, Xu Fugui, Hao Aiguo and Yue Xiangqian were smoking and talking in low voices.

In the dim light at the gate, Hao Aiguo looked at Xu Fugui and asked in a low voice: "Old Xu, do you know what Director Wang of the neighborhood committee has to say in person?"

Xu Fugui frowned and shook his head slightly: "I don't know either. According to the previous rules, if there are any documents and instructions from the superiors, all the managers of the courtyards and the slums will be summoned to the neighborhood committee for a meeting, and then the managers will come back to hold a courtyard meeting to convey the information to the residents and tenants. But this time, Director Wang of the neighborhood committee came in person. Based on my experience, there must be something extremely important. Let's not think too much. We will know what it is later, right?"

Yue Xiangqian exhaled a puff of smoke, stamped his feet, and whispered, "This winter is really weird. The weather is so cold, but there hasn't been a decent snowfall since the beginning of winter. The few snowflakes that fell a few days ago melted as soon as they hit the ground."

Hearing Yue Xiangqian's words, Xu Fugui and Hao Aiguo could not help but shiver. In order to come out early to wait for Director Wang of the neighborhood committee, the three of them arrived at the gate early. Although they could avoid the biting northwest wind to some extent in the doorway, after a while, the three of them were already frozen all over. What they wanted most at this moment was to sit next to the stove, warm themselves by the fire and drink some steaming tea.

At this time, Hao Aiguo suddenly spoke up to remind him, "Director Wang and the others are here."

Xu Fugui and Yue Xiangqian quickly looked up and saw that Director Wang of the neighborhood committee, accompanied by two young staff members, a man and a woman, had appeared not far away.

The three of them subconsciously stood up straight, forced a smile on their faces, and waited for Director Wang to arrive.

As soon as Director Wang and his party stepped onto the stairs, Xu Fugui and the other two people greeted them with a smile.

Director Wang forced a smile and didn't want to waste time talking to the three managers. After all, her mission tonight was not easy and she had to visit several courtyards and compound buildings. So she asked directly, "Have all the residents in your courtyards been gathered together?"

Hearing Director Wang's question, Xu Fugui quickly replied with a smile: "Director Wang, the residents of our No. 95 courtyard are already waiting in the middle courtyard for you to convey the instructions from the superiors."

Director Wang walked into the gate and said, "That's good. Let's not waste time. We still have to go to several other courtyards and slums tonight to convey instructions from our superiors."

The group walked straight through the hanging flower gate and entered the central courtyard of Siheyuan No. 95.

Someone had already seen the arrival of Director Wang of the neighborhood committee and his group, and immediately whispered a reminder to the surrounding residents. Soon, everyone's eyes were on the neighborhood committee director and the two street office officials who were approaching. As for Xu Fugui and the other two managers, they had already become his little followers.

Director Wang walked through the crowd and stood under the big locust tree. He did not sit down at the shabby wooden table, but looked at the residents sitting in the middle courtyard and said directly, "Residents of Courtyard No. 95, I am Wang Xiuqin from the Nanluoguxiang Residents Committee. Now everyone should be quiet. We have called everyone to hold this meeting tonight to convey the latest instructions from our superiors."

After hearing what Director Wang said, the adults present quickly told their children to stop making noise, and soon the scene became quiet. Everyone's eyes were focused on Director Wang in the dim light under the big locust tree.

Before coming to Courtyard No. 95, Director Wang had already mentally rehearsed his speech several times. This was the first stop of the night, and there must be no mistakes.

Director Wang cleared his throat and said loudly, "Today, our Jiaodaokou Subdistrict Office received instructions from the city. Due to the widespread drought across the country this autumn, the autumn harvest was greatly affected, resulting in a significant reduction in production. The higher authorities decided that starting from January 1, 1959, the grain supply for all urban residents will be uniformly reduced by 10%."

After hearing what Director Wang said, many residents of Courtyard No. 95 shouted loudly: "Director Wang, the food supply on the original food list was barely enough to eat. Now it has been reduced by 10%. How can we survive?"

Director Wang glanced at Xu Fugui and the other two who were standing there in a daze, looking terrified, and couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. It seemed that the three newly elected managers were really useless, so he slapped the wooden table with his hand and shouted, "Everyone, be quiet. What's the point of making such a commotion? Just listen to me first."

Everyone present slowly stopped talking and looked solemnly at Director Wang, whose face was gloomy.

Director Wang let out a deep breath and said loudly, "The food supply is tight now. The superiors made this decision only to temporarily deal with the problem of food shortage. As long as the new grain comes down next spring, the food supply will be restored soon. We should all work together to overcome the difficulties at this time. The difficulties are only temporary. I hope everyone will try their best to think of ways to overcome the current difficulties. This is the instruction from the superiors, and we must strictly implement it. Okay, the next time will be handed over to the three managers of your courtyard. You should discuss it together. We also need to go to other courtyards and slums to convey the instructions from our superiors." Then he whispered a few words to the three managers, and Director Wang and the two staff members of the street office hurried away.