: Not even enough to fill a tooth gap!

The only problem is that it uses a lot of coal briquettes.

But so what?

There's no limit to the quantity of coal briquettes, and tickets are easy to get, so there's no problem at all.

"Xueru, you should go to sleep first. It's still early. I'll keep watch over you," Liu Dong said.

About two hours later, another group of people finally entered Courtyard No. 7.

"Meeting time! Meeting time! Time to issue invoices!"

With a "whoosh," Yi Zhonghai shouted, and everyone in the courtyard rushed out and crowded into the central courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai, his face flushed, bowed and scraped as he greeted the officials from the street office: "Good morning, leaders! I'm Yi Zhonghai, the newly elected 'Grandpa' of our institute. Just give me any orders!"

"Okay!" the man replied. "Come on over, let's start issuing invoices!"

"Jia Dongxu! Is Jia Dongxu here?"

He was the first one I read aloud.

Jia Dongxu immediately raised his hand: "Yes!"

The staff member flipped through the notebook: "Is there a couple in your family?"

"No!" he quickly corrected, "Three people! Me, my wife, and my mother!"

"Your wife doesn't count," the other person said coldly. "She hasn't transferred her household registration, so she's not considered a local. You only have enough for two people. Here, this is your family's food ration book."

Jia Dongxu took the notebook, his smile freezing for a moment. Shining the light on the ration book, Jia Dongxu immediately exclaimed, "Comrade, this isn't right! Three people in our family, and this is all the grain we have for a month? What good are sixty-two jin of coarse grain?"

"That's right." The clerk didn't even look up. "Ordinary residents get 28 jin per month. You're a fitter, so you're considered heavy laborer, so add 6 jin, making it exactly 34 jin. Together, that's 62 jin."

Sixty-two jin sounds like a lot, but what about when it's spread over three people?

On average, each person is in their early twenties? They can't even get a pound of flour a day.

The key problem is—there's no oil or fat in it! Just relying on that little bit of flour to get by, let alone winter, you'd be staggering just walking.

"Boss, there's a special situation in my family, my wife..." He was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"Stop talking!" The neighborhood official waved his hand. "The policy is there, it can't be changed. If you transfer your wife's household registration here, you can receive your grain rations at the citizen rate next month. But not this month!"

The crowd immediately erupted in uproar.

"Next up, Yi Zhonghai—62 jin!"

"Liu Haizhong, take your family's ration book!"

"Where's Yan Bugui's? Hand it over!"

After calling out names one by one, it was finally Liu Dong's turn.

"Liu Dong—you two, right? Show us your notebooks!"

He opened it and saw: fifty-six jin.

Both worked in the steel rolling mill, but he wasn't in a technical position and his work wasn't physically demanding. His monthly ration was only 28 jin (14 catties), and like Chen Xueru, it consisted entirely of coarse grains.

So-called coarse grains are a mixture of cornmeal and wheat flour, which is dark and sticky when cooked.

Seeing this number made Jia Dongxu feel a little better.

Hey, you really are six pounds lighter than me! There are three mouths to feed in my family, and three mouths to feed in yours, but I actually have an extra mouthful of food, so I guess I've recovered a bit.

Just then, someone shouted from above:

"Quiet down! Quiet down! We're about to issue the meat tickets!"

"Let me first explain the rules: Ordinary people receive one tael per person per month; cadres and employees receive two taels!"

These words caused an uproar on the spot.

Food shortages can be endured with gritted teeth, after all, no one will starve to death.

But what about the meat?

One or two ounces a month?

What can it do?

Not even enough to fill a gap between your teeth!

"What nonsense!" Madam Jia slapped her thigh in anger. "How many pieces can you make from one ounce of meat? Ten ounces only make one pound. Tell me, who in their family usually eats meat by the coin?"

Although the Jia family wasn't wealthy before, the aroma of meat wafting from the pot could be smelled every few days. On average, the family consumed a pound of meat every five days, totaling at least eighteen pounds a month. Now, however, the entire family has shrunk to the size of a sheet of paper.

"Don't get agitated, calm down!" The staff member pressed down with both hands. "Everyone is the same, it's perfectly fair! No one in Beijing is an exception!"

"Alright, alright, let's continue—Jia Dongxu, three taels of silver for the meat."

"Yi Zhonghai, one tael."

"Liu Haizhong, six taels."

"Liu Dong, four taels."

In less than half an hour, the place was deserted.

The entire courtyard sounded as if it had been drained of all its noise.

Too little.

The amount is alarmingly small.

The staple food was barely enough to keep us alive, and everything else was insufficient. Meat was only a tael or two, and the oil was even more plentiful—six jin a year, which, when spread out, amounted to half a jin per person per month.

Half a pound of oil? Not even enough to sauté a spicy crayfish!

After a long silence, Yi Zhonghai stood up and broke the silence:

"Alright, stop standing there. Besides these major items, what other tickets do we need to apply for? Tell me what you need right now, and I'll go to the neighborhood committee tomorrow!"

"That's enough, go inside and get under the covers!"

The group gradually returned to their rooms.

The snow outside was falling heavier and heavier. At first, it was just small snowflakes the size of rice grains, but later it turned into large snowflakes, rushing and dancing wildly in the wind.

The lights in the room went out one by one.

Only Liu Dong's room still had the light on.

Chen's mother frowned as she held the receipt in his hand: "Isn't this too little? Wouldn't it be more generous at the front gate?"

Liu Dong shook his head: "No. It's the same all over the country, not just Qianmen."

"Is this happening all over the country?" the old woman raised her voice. "Isn't this making it impossible for people to live?"

With a sigh, she muttered, "Sigh, your brother is such a lazybones, I'm really afraid he won't be able to handle it..."

"Mom, don't worry," Liu Dong comforted her. "The whole country is a unified whole, and no one can afford to take more than their share. Life is tough right now, but we have to hold on and do our part for the country."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Besides, your tickets are all stored at Qianmen. Two people can eat enough for three people. As long as they're careful with their food, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Chen's mother was still worried: "What about you? Xue Ru is pregnant; she can't afford to not get enough nutrition!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xueru quickly interjected, "That's enough, Mom! We've saved up some food before; it should last us a month or so!"

She was shrewd and dared not tell the truth—her family had quite a lot of stockpiled goods, but she knew that if she revealed it, her brother would definitely come over every few days to freeload and ask for supplies.

Begging isn't scary; what I fear is attracting attention.

If you attract envy and then get investigated by higher-ups, that would be asking for trouble. It's best to keep these things to yourself.

The next morning, Liu Dong pushed open the door.

The world was a blanket of white. The thick snowdrifts were almost level with the threshold.

Fortunately, Liu Dong's house had three steps raised, and there was a porch outside to block the wind from entering the house and the snow from reaching the door.

But this snow is really strange; it snowed heavily last night and hasn't stopped yet. Just as dawn was breaking, the snowflakes were still falling, though less sparse than during the night.

"Liu Dong's up?" His mother-in-law, who had been busy preparing food, saw him and said, "I'll get you something hot!"

"Mom, you rest, I'll take care of it. You go and look after Xue Ru."

The cellar has plenty of grain stored up, all of which are treasures that Liu Dong accumulated in his early years. He doesn't have to worry about cooking a meal at all.

Breakfast was simple: a plate of scrambled eggs with scallions, and half a pot of fried rice with cured pork. The aroma was irresistible.