Chapter Sixty-Six: Food Shortage

Given Zhang Jinhua's personality, he shouldn't be looking so gloomy.

After all, this wasn't the first time the islanders had encountered a typhoon.

"The food is all gone."

Zhang Jinhua didn't hide anything from Xin Li and briefly explained the situation at their post.

"At first, everyone brought some food with them, but as more and more people were brought over, that food was simply not enough to eat."

"Moreover, many people are taking chances and have kept a lot of food at home, and now I'm afraid it's all gone..."

Aunt Yang's expression also turned sour upon hearing this.

Seeing some people in the camp standing or sitting, looking as if they had lost their parents, he was filled with irritation: "These people are just too selfish!"

"I'm always worried that someone else will share some of my things."

"Now things are really bad, nobody has any food left."

“This area is now a vast ocean. Even if someone tries to dredge it, based on past experience, it will probably take three or four days for the seawater to recede completely.”

"Are we all supposed to starve for the next three or four days?"

Aunt Yang's words attracted the attention of others.

But those people didn't get involved.

Some familiar women gathered around and explained what they were carrying.

After taking a look at the statistics, Zhang Jinhua's worry became even more obvious.

"Sister-in-law Lu, are we going to run out of food?"

Zhang Jinhua nodded.

"The remaining food is not enough to eat."

"Moreover, this is all the food that everyone was saving for the New Year. Now that everyone has taken it out and distributed it, who will make up for the food shortage in these households in the second half of the year?"

"We can't be so selfish as to take other people's things as our own."

The others avoided eye contact after hearing Zhang Jinhua's words.

"Then what can we do?" one of the island's troublemakers said with a disdainful look. "We left home in a hurry and didn't bring much food. Since you say this place is safe, then you have to take responsibility for our food and safety."

"Are we supposed to starve to death here? We should have just stayed at home; at least it's our own home."

"The rain stopped today, and maybe the water will recede by tomorrow."

Several hot-tempered women couldn't hold back any longer and started hurling insults at the troublemaker.

"Then why didn't you just get off the ship? What were you doing coming aboard?"

"We warned everyone about the potential typhoon when it started raining, and everyone was advised to be careful. You didn't take any precautions yourself, and now you're blaming us?"

"Have you no shame?!"

"Others go through all the trouble to protect you, and then they give you the wrong thing?"

"Why don't you go out and see what your house looks like now? You still dare to say it's better to stay at home? Fine, then go back. You can't even see the roof of your house anymore. Let's see if you can live in the water when you go back!"

"Hey, how dare you talk like that!"

The troublemaker, his pride wounded, stood up with a displeased expression, clearly intending to bully the women just because he was a man.

Xin Li stood silently in front of those people, picked up a piece of firewood as thick as an adult's calf, and snapped it in two with a snap.

What do you want to do?

The troublemaker's eyes widened.

"you……"

This guy is a notorious troublemaker on the island, and not many people usually want to hang out with him.

He only knew that Xinli was He Mingzhou's newlywed wife, but he really didn't know that Xinli was so amazing.

Xin Li raised an eyebrow at him: "What?"

"Want to test if your bones are harder than firewood?"

"Hmph! I'm not going to stoop to your level! Isn't breakfast ready yet? I want to eat breakfast!"

The troublemaker's words drew disdainful looks from many people.

“Before, he would always make excuses when I asked him to do something, saying he wasn’t feeling well here or there, but he was very eager to say he was hungry.”

Others also disapproved of this troublemaker's behavior, but since everyone was currently in the area to avoid the natural disaster, they really didn't want to cause trouble, so they simply ignored him.

Aunt Yang was pulled aside by Zhang Jinhua for a "re-education" session because of her previous departure from the station, while everyone else got busy with their own tasks.

Xinli wanted to help, but everyone saw that she didn't know anything and was afraid that she would make things worse, so in the end they sent her to distribute the food.

How many more days can our supplies last?

Xinli took the opportunity to ask the aunt who was cooking.

The auntie said that so many people need to eat, and the soldiers who are always busy outside also need to eat. To ensure that those people are well-fed and have the energy to work, more food is needed.

Even if they cut back a bit, it still won't last two days.

"Actually, everyone lost quite a lot this time, and they were all unhappy about it."

"But no one dared to stand up and say it."

The aunt looked helpless: "That's how people are. Once they feel they've run out of things, they're not willing to take out anything else."

"But they are really ungrateful."

"This time, Dr. Zhang Chen's chickens were all wiped out, but I didn't see Dr. Zhang Chen making a big fuss or making sarcastic remarks like they did."

"Besides, we can't even mention that we couldn't hide the chickens and ducks in advance. We reminded them countless times before it rained, but they just wouldn't bring in the grain. Now that everything is gone, they're starting to complain."

Everyone has complaints about these things, and the issues always boil down to unequal distribution.

Xinli was unwilling to bail out those who had brought it upon themselves, but with so many people here, it wouldn't be right to treat them too differently.

The food she had stockpiled could feed these people for a long time.

But how and when to take it out is a question that requires calm consideration.

Xin Li decided to observe further and wait for He Mingzhou to return before making a decision.

At lunchtime, He Mingzhou and his group finally returned, bringing with them good news.

“One of the dikes has been breached. Now that the rain has stopped, it’s actually convenient for us. The sluice gate can discharge a lot of water, and I estimate that the water on the island will be drained out soon.”

A hint of joy appeared on Xinli's face.

"So, all we have to do now is wait?"

He Mingzhou took a big gulp of water: "Mmm."

Xin Li glanced at the other people at the camp, then pulled He Mingzhou aside.

"Sister Lu said that there is not enough food, and we cannot simply ask those who have made preparations in advance to take out their food and divide it equally among everyone."

"Others haven't contributed anything but want to reap the benefits. If this continues, conflicts will inevitably erupt sooner or later."

He Mingzhou frowned: "I'll handle this."

Xin Li looked at him: "What do you plan to do?"

He Mingzhou said, "I had some food stored up before, and now I can take it out."

"And not all houses were flooded. Once the water level drops a bit, we can go look for something to eat."