In the bedroom, Ding Xia, who had heard her parents' conversation quite clearly, couldn't help but frown: "Is our family's situation that bad?"
"Sister, it's not that our family's situation is bad, it's that everyone is the same. Prices are rising, and wages aren't. Isn't this the current situation? If next year isn't favorable weather,"
"I'm afraid the situation will only get worse."
Ding Yun wasn't too worried about herself, as she had the "Treasure Gathering Pot," so she wouldn't starve. However, the current situation was indeed not good, and her parents were clearly more worried.
This made her hesitate.
Should she help out in some way?
"That's true. It seems I need to be more frugal, and try to find a part-time job. If I can earn enough for living expenses each month, I can also relieve some pressure for Mom and Dad. I don't think this should be a problem..."
For Ding Xia, this was the only way she could think of to alleviate some of her family's financial pressure. Her monthly living expenses were two thousand yuan, and if she could become self-sufficient with her living expenses, wouldn't her family have an extra two thousand yuan budget? Even two thousand more was still more.
"I'm not sure, but I heard that when looking for a part-time job, the most important thing isn't how much you earn, or whether the job is good or tiring, but whether you encounter scammers. There are so many scammers nowadays. If you're really looking for a part-time job, you should first look online for guides on part-time job scams.
Once you understand most part-time job scams,
Finding a part-time job should be easier!"
Anyway, people always have to work and earn money. Getting exposed to society early isn't a bad thing; it can also help you understand the harshness of society sooner. Therefore, Ding Yun didn't persuade her sister to not take a part-time job and focus on her studies. She just warned her not to get scammed. Although scammers might not steal much money,
It's really a sickening thing.
Initially, she looked for a part-time job to earn some money, but ended up losing money to scammers. It's like adding insult to injury.
Bad luck always strikes when you least expect it!
"Six months ago, how did you become so mature? I'll be careful. But don't worry about this. Your most important task now is the college entrance examination."
"I know. I'll definitely pass my college entrance examination."
"I hope so, but don't be too careless!"
"Understood. You're calling me old-fashioned..."
...
No matter how prices rise, life must go on. If things are expensive, buy less. If a comfortable life can't be maintained, at least basic survival is not a problem.
This is because the price of staple foods hasn't increased much.
Rice, which originally cost fifty-eight yuan for twenty catties, only rose to seventy-eight yuan. This means that per catty of rice, the increase was only one yuan. Flour was similar. However, the price of coarse grains increased significantly, with red beans, green beans, and other coarse grains rising by two to three yuan per catty.
However, people eat less coarse grains.
So the impact was also not significant.
But this was only a small impact on the surface. In reality, even a slight increase of one or two jiao in grain prices could have profound effects, let alone an increase of one or two yuan. This is because grain prices directly affect the price of animal feed, and feed prices affect meat prices.
Many things are interconnected.
Initially, everyone thought that perhaps things would get better after the winter, and prices would definitely fall in the spring when everything revives. However, this winter was exceptionally long, and even in March and April, the temperature was still hovering below zero.
Sometimes the temperature is slightly higher, and as long as there is sufficient water, plants can still grow. But if the temperature is too low, many plants cannot grow at all.
Greenhouses can only grow fruits and vegetables; millions of mu of wheat and rice cannot all be grown in greenhouses.
Therefore, anyone who farms or understands farming can basically see that this year's grain yield in the local area is also uncertain.
The state, probably through big data or various meteorological predictions, has deduced the instability of future climate. Therefore, in early May, they took major action, separating the Grain and Oil Administration and having the state directly take over the national staple grain industry.
And formally began large-scale macroeconomic control.
The main operations are threefold.
First, adjust the national planting structure. With increasingly extreme weather, many plants are no longer suitable for growing in their original land, including planting and harvesting times. If adjustments are not made and sowing continues at the original times, there will be no harvest.
Therefore, specific planting plans for each region must be appropriately adjusted according to the existing environment. For example, Ding Yun and his neighbors could originally grow two seasons of staple grains a year, but now with the extended periods of extreme cold and heat, they can no longer grow two seasons of staple grains.
They can only seize the time between the extreme cold and heat to plant one season of staple grains. At the same time, this season's grain must be adequately watered and drought-resistant in its later stages, otherwise the yield will decrease.
At the same time, to ensure sufficient food for the entire population.
The higher authorities also require Ding Yun and his neighbors to plant a season of cold-resistant potatoes, which they would not have originally planted, after planting one season of staple grains. This is because in the sub-zero temperatures of autumn and winter, rice and wheat cannot be planted. However, leaving the land fallow for several months is a waste and could lead to a shortage of national grain supply. Therefore, it is necessary to plant cold-resistant potatoes that can grow in temperatures below minus ten degrees Celsius.
The country has too large a population and consumes too much.
The land cannot be left idle.
Importing grain is becoming increasingly difficult, so early planning is necessary. Food security must not be subject to others.
Second, optimize the grain industry chain and implement planned production control for all current food industries.
This is mainly to avoid waste.
Efforts should be made to ensure that all food produced from grain can be sold and consumed without waste. Some companies lack production planning and produce more when sales are good, and don't know what to do when sales are poor, resulting in overproduction and unsalable goods, which is a huge waste. Improving this aspect of control can reduce hundreds of millions of tons of grain waste annually.
As for the third point, it is naturally to reduce waste by ordinary residents and introduce a grain ration system.
Although the degree of food waste in China is far less than in some developed countries, it is still not to be underestimated. The amount of food wasted annually is enough to feed several moderately sized underdeveloped countries.
In the past, when grain production was abundant, advocating for "Clean Plate" campaigns and reducing waste was enough. But now, due to environmental issues and insufficient production, verbal appeals are clearly not enough. Therefore, manual control is necessary.
Specifically, fixed grain rations will be issued monthly based on household registration.
All staple grains must be purchased with grain coupons and money. All restaurant consumption must also include grain coupons, as restaurant operators also need to use grain coupons to purchase grain.
However, grain coupons are currently limited to the purchase of staple grains, which are flour and rice. Other coarse grains, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, cornmeal, and buckwheat flour, are temporarily not restricted, although their prices have increased significantly.
The standard for issuing grain coupons is sixty catties per month for all residents between the ages of twelve and sixty. Residents over sixty and under twelve will receive a monthly grain ration of forty catties.
This standard is actually very generous.
After all, how many people these days can eat two catties of rice a day? This is two catties of dry rice, not two catties of cooked rice. Even few people can eat two catties of cooked rice. Most canteen workers serve two liang at a time.
It is only because the current grain deficit is not very large, and to ensure that some heavy laborers do not go hungry.
That this standard was set.
However, if the situation continues to deteriorate in the future, the standards may be further subdivided, such as one standard for heavy laborers and another for intellectual laborers, or the scope of grain coupon supply may be expanded.
In short, this is only a provisional standard, and it will definitely change with the changes in the situation. If the situation is worse, the standard will be lowered; if the situation improves, the standard will be raised.
It may even lead to the abolition of grain coupons.