MAC’60s Chapter 36.1

Tian Youfu never intended to let the commune members raise the sheep individually. He had firmly decided to find someone specifically to take care of the herding, but he was also concerned that just herding sheep would be too easy a task—if the work points were set too high, everyone would compete for the job; if too low, no one would want to do it.

After all, while raising sheep wasn’t physically demanding, it did take time.

Wang Ying first mentioned how much her own pigs had grown in weight, and then, quite tactfully, brought up the idea of collective pig farming. Upon hearing this, Tian Youfu immediately saw the great potential.

Raising pigs and planting sweet potatoes—the sweet potato vines could feed the pigs, the sweet potato residue could also feed them, and the pig manure could be used to fertilize the commune’s fields…

Whichever way he looked at it, it was a great deal!

Even though Wang Ying didn’t offer many suggestions or interfere much, Tian Youfu had already filled in all the blanks on his own.

“Then let’s do this,” Tian Youfu said. “We’ll publicly bring up the matter of pig farming at the brigade meeting and have everyone vote by a show of hands to decide whether to approve Qian Juhua to take charge. If there are no objections, we’ll let her live in one of the old houses by the back of the mountain. That’s also where the pigsty will be built, and it’s conveniently close to the downstream part of the stream — easy access to water.”

Tian Youfu added, “We’ll take this chance at the meeting to find someone else to manage the sheep!”

But Qian Juhua immediately spoke up: “I can manage the sheep too!”

Wang Ying remained silent, but Tian Youfu looked skeptical. “Juhua, I know you have a heavy burden, but you can’t overwork yourself. A few pigs are already enough to keep you busy. If you take on the sheep too, will you really be able to handle it?”

Qian Juhua responded firmly, “I can!”

After all, herding sheep wasn’t difficult work. Her eldest daughter at home could help too — she could manage just fine.

It was then that Wang Ying finally spoke up. She wasn’t opposed to Qian Juhua managing the sheep, but she offered another perspective.

“Our brigade still has those two ‘sent-down’ girls, right? I’ve noticed they’ve been well-behaved lately. I think we should let the younger one of the two handle herding the sheep during the day — just take them out to graze and bring them back. Juhua can still oversee them. Also, Captain, didn’t you say the sent-downs should be picking up manure? Why not have them handle the pig manure instead? It’s all nearby anyway — they can just be Juhua’s helpers.”

Wang Ying had thought about this for a long time.

First of all, she knew Qian Juhua wouldn’t be able to handle pig farming all on her own. Her original idea was to have Cheng Yu and Cheng Shufen help out.

There wasn’t much to say about Cheng Yu, but for Cheng Shufen, things hadn’t gotten better even though spring had come and it was no longer cold. She lived far from the rest of the brigade, and once she started hauling manure, she would inevitably be seen by others.

Hauling manure was usually assigned to men — not only because of the physical labor but also because it was a degrading task.

Especially since the brigade had public toilets, with separate sections for men and women. Sending Cheng Shufen to the men’s toilet to haul manure would be a major humiliation. And Wang Ying knew well that some of the bachelors in the brigade — those who couldn’t find wives — were often filthy in their speech.

If they saw Cheng Shufen hauling manure, they’d definitely make lewd comments.

Cheng Shufen could probably handle the physical work, but she might not be able to endure that kind of verbal abuse.

Wang Ying thought that assigning her to the pig farming work was the most convenient solution.

And it was easy to persuade Tian Youfu too — after all, Cheng Shufen was classified as a “bad element,” and getting too close to regular commune members could have a negative influence. Keeping her stationed far away was better.

Cleaning pig manure was still considered work. She would also help Qian Juhua plant sweet potatoes and feed the pigs. There was plenty to do — definitely not an easy task — and it clearly met the goal of “reform through labor.”

As for Cheng Yu, if she had to make three trips a day into the mountains, it would definitely attract attention. But if she were herding sheep? That was easily justified. After all, sheep graze freely — if they wanted to go up the mountain, they would go up.

Wang Ying felt that her plan was seamless. It achieved all the goals and had no downsides.

Tian Youfu thought it sounded pretty good too.

He honestly hadn’t known what to do about Cheng Shufen’s “sent-down” status.

Hauling manure was a fixed job role, but lately the brigade didn’t even lack people for that. Old Gou’s shift was covered, and there was also Wang Yongshun. Maybe even Wang Yaozong.

These days, with so many headaches going on, even the job of hauling manure had a waiting list!

But they couldn’t just keep letting these two sent-down girls idle around forever.

Wang Ying’s suggestion about pig farming was perfect: they’d be working, isolated from others, fulfilling the labor requirements — and with no additional concerns.

It was solid!

Sure enough, after seeing the large fat pigs raised at Wang Ying’s home, Tian Youfu became even more confident in the plan.

They had to raise pigs! Besides the pigs needed for quotas, the brigade had been granted permission to raise one additional pig for self-use. And the same went for sheep — they could raise one more!

Tian Youfu decided: a total of six pigs and three sheep would be raised collectively as brigade property!

By the time of the “double harvest” period, if the pigs had reached the target weight, he could distribute pork to everyone before then — it would help people get through the intense labor of the harvest.

As for the sheep, if they were raised well, they could distribute mutton for the New Year celebration!

Tian Youfu had everything well thought-out. He brought it up directly at the next brigade meeting.

As soon as he spoke, a few households that usually got to raise pigs weren’t happy. Normally, after turning in the quota pigs, the rest could still be kept for themselves. If they were raised collectively now, wouldn’t that personal benefit disappear?

But their complaints were quickly drowned out by everyone else’s approval.

“I think it’s a great idea! Our brigade should’ve done this ages ago!”

“Exactly, I remember the neighboring brigade does collective pig farming — their pigs turned out great.”

“Most importantly, this way it’s fair for everyone.”

In those days, nothing mattered more than the word “fair.”

Tian Youfu made the final call: six pigs would be raised collectively for quota, and the rest would be distributed by drawing lots.

Someone objected: “Why draw lots? Didn’t we always assign people directly before?”

Tian Youfu’s expression turned serious. “That was when the brigade was taking care of certain widowed or childless households. But this year, with collective farming, we’ve got fewer pigs left for distribution. It’s better to be fair and let luck decide.”

This was something Tian Youfu had been thinking about since last year, after resolving the legal dispute between Wang Ying and Wang Yongshun.

He had reflected on himself.

He used to be a soldier and had always looked out for elderly widows and children of martyrs.

But this wasn’t the army. If you gave people too many benefits, they started to take it for granted and grew entitled.

Just like that Wang Yongshun — always leeching off relatives. Some families, once favored for too long, even started looking down on others in the brigade.

Tian Youfu figured: better to stop all that. Drawing lots it was! Whoever got picked, got picked. Let fate decide!

Once the lottery was agreed upon, Tian Youfu acted swiftly. He instructed the accountant to prepare the slips of paper and moved on to discussing who would handle the collective pig farming duties.

At first, everyone was quite enthusiastic.

Raising pigs wasn’t hard work, and you didn’t have to go out to the fields. By the end of the year, you’d surely get an extra cut of meat.

What could be better?

The women, especially, were fighting to get the job — each wanting to be the one to raise the pigs.

The most aggressive among them was none other than Tian Er Zhu’s wife.

She was the kind of person who couldn’t stand to see any benefits slip past her. She wanted to hoard all the good things in the world for herself.

She jumped up and volunteered, “I can do it! I’m great at raising pigs! I guarantee I’ll raise plump, healthy pigs for the brigade!”

Tian Youfu didn’t say yes or no. Instead, he asked, “And what if the pigs get sick or die?”

Tian Er Zhu’s wife lowered her hand awkwardly. “They won’t. I definitely won’t let that happen.”

So what if they did? These were the brigade’s pigs, not her own. What, were they going to make her pay for it?

Tian Youfu gave her a cold look. He didn’t think much of her to begin with. Her family’s private plot was always half-heartedly managed — how could anyone expect her to take public work seriously?

Impossible. She was just trying to slack off under the guise of volunteering.

In fact, most of the people raising their hands were doing it for the easy work.

Just then, Wang Ying whispered something to Qian Juhua.

Qian Juhua gritted her teeth, raised her hand, and shouted, “I’ll do it! I promise I won’t let the pigs get sick, and if I do, I’ll pay for it myself!”

Her words caused a stir.

Everyone already knew that after arguing with her husband, Qian Juhua had taken her daughters and moved out.

If it hadn’t been for Wang Yaozong’s chicken-stealing incident, Qian Juhua’s divorce would’ve been the hottest topic in the village.

Now this local celebrity was boldly declaring she would raise the pigs?

Before Tian Youfu could respond, Tian Er Zhu’s wife snorted, “Don’t make me laugh. You’ll pay? With what? Anyone can make bold claims — I could say I’ll pay too!”

Qian Juhua bit her lip and declared, “I’m willing to forgo my work points for now. Give me credit for each pig I successfully raise, and if any die, I’ll make up for them — if I don’t have money, deduct it from my work points.”

That was a heavy statement, and it completely silenced Tian Er Zhu’s wife.

Wait a minute — wasn’t she going a bit overboard just for the pig-raising job?

Everyone else was in it for a light workload, but why was she making it so serious?

But what they didn’t know was that for Qian Juhua, raising pigs was her lifeline.

After splitting from Tian Dazhu, she had three daughters to feed. Her youngest was born prematurely and weak, and she herself couldn’t handle heavy labor.

All these factors combined — this was the only path left for her.

Others could treat it as a gamble, and if it didn’t work out, they could always go back to working in the fields. She couldn’t. She couldn’t do that kind of work. Raising the brigade’s pigs was her only shot at living a stable life.

Qian Juhua didn’t know where her courage came from.

Wang Ying had told her to go all in, to put herself out there — after all, if she made such bold statements, no one else would dare compete.

As for the actual work, Qian Juhua felt nervous, sure, but she was ready to give it her all. Wang Ying had even promised to help check the pigs’ health and prevent disease. Grateful, Qian Juhua made up her mind to raise those pigs well!

Others had a safety net — they could fail and still go home to eat. She had nowhere else to go. Raising pigs was her only road forward.

Tian Youfu saw that Tian Er Zhu’s wife was quiet now, and the rest of the group couldn’t match Qian Juhua’s commitment. So he made the decision on the spot to assign the pig-raising to her.

He was satisfied with this choice.

After all, to others, raising pigs was just a job. But to Qian Juhua, it was her career. The mindset was entirely different.

As for planting a small patch of sweet potatoes to feed the pigs, Tian Youfu didn’t even mention it. That was a trivial detail. The land wouldn’t be given to Qian Juhua — she’d just be planting a small section, nothing worth discussing.

Qian Juhua’s face flushed with excitement. She finally understood what Wang Ying meant by “living for yourself.”

Her motivation came from herself, and the results would belong to her. Even though there were still uncertainties, this kind of stability was something she never felt when she was with Tian Dazhu.

Back then, she was always anxious — worried that someone would take her harvests, that her hard work would benefit someone else.

Now she realized that all she had to do was kick out the man, and all that anxiety disappeared.

With the pig-raising settled, it was time to draw lots for the pig quota.

The accountant came in with a pile of white slips, only six of which had numbers written on them. Whoever picked a numbered one got a pig.

So everyone in the brigade excitedly began to draw lots.

Wang Ying was fairly far back in the line. The first five numbers had already been picked. Only one was left.

Wang Ying held her breath and chose the one she thought looked most likely.

She opened it. Blank.

Just then, a shout came from Wu Guihua — she had picked the final numbered slip.

Wang Ying just smiled. She was calm. It felt like scratching off a prize card in a previous life only to reveal, “Thank you for participating.”

Ah well. People can’t be lucky all the time.

Just then, the accountant smacked his forehead: “Ah! I forgot to count one of the pigs in the brigade’s quota. I’ll make another slip.”

This time they collected all the blank slips and added a new one with the number 7.

Wang Ying took a deep breath and went to draw again, still towards the back of the line.

“I got it!”