Cai Damei rejected Ye Yunniang's suggestion.

"We moved there so that we wouldn't tell others that we have grain and attract thieves."

"Then what should we do?"

"Tomorrow I'll take 20 jin of rice to the Zhou family. After that, it's up to your aunt and the others to decide what to do." It wasn't that Cai Damei was heartless and didn't care about her own sister. It was just that she had to take care of her own children first.

"Mother, should we talk to Master Bao about the Zhang family's affairs?"

"Your aunt and the others are afraid that the children will be affected, so they don't want to make a big fuss."

“The Zhou family’s place is empty, and Zhang Cai’er hasn’t shown up for a long time. Outsiders will definitely know what’s going on.” Ye Yunniang felt that the Zhou family’s actions were wrong.

Cai Damei had already said all of Ye Yunniang's things, and the Zhou family insisted on it.

"The Zhou family has made their decision. Let's not ask any more questions."

Ye Yunniang hummed in agreement and stopped talking about the Zhou family.

October has arrived slowly, and not a drop of rain has fallen since February.

Fortunately, Bao Min arranged for people to clean up the river and dig deep wells, allowing farmers to plant some drought-resistant crops.

Bao Min then submitted another memorial to the imperial court, requesting that this year's taxes be waived.

This ensures that the people can barely feed themselves and avoid having to flee the famine.

Many families in the city began to experience famine, and some families went out of the city to dig for wild vegetables to eat.

Every bit of food we can save is a bit more.

The Li family had enough food, so they didn't go digging for wild vegetables. But it wouldn't do for them to be well-fed every day while others went hungry.

Ye Yunniang reduced her portions at each meal, eating only until she was about 60-70% full.

The three children have visibly lost weight.

The children knew what was going on, and none of them complained; they ate each meal properly.

They don't talk about their family situation when they're out having fun, so as not to attract unwanted attention.

Early in the morning, Ye Yunniang got up and went to the market.

Due to the drought, nearly half of the shops have closed. The rest are still open, but prices have increased significantly.

Ye Yunniang went to the butcher shop to buy meat.

A pound of pork belly used to cost 15 coins, but now it costs 35 coins.

This was reserved by Qiu Fang with Ye Yunniang's help.

I bought meat, two pounds of shriveled fruit, and some yellowed vegetables.

Ye Yunniang hurried home.

When they arrived home, Li Pan and Li An had already gone to school.

After the weather turned cold, Du Fuzi's school reopened, and the children went back to class.

Cai Damei took the meat and went into the kitchen to prepare it.

In the evening, the table was set with braised pork, stir-fried greens with dried mushrooms, stir-fried bean sprouts, steamed eggs with dried scallops, and hand-pulled noodles as the main dish.

"Mother, is there something good happening today?" Li Pan swallowed hard, smelling the aroma of meat.

“Today is your grandfather’s birthday,” Ye Yunniang explained, offering the separately prepared noodles, dishes, and two jugs of wine before Li Min’s memorial tablet.

He lit incense and handed it to Li Pan, saying, "Please invite your grandfather and father up for a meal."

Li Pan took the incense and said, "Grandpa, Dad's eating." Then she held it above her head and bowed three times earnestly.

Li An and Li Ping followed behind Li Pan and bowed three times.

After the prayers were finished, Ye Yunniang led the children to sit down at the table and wait for Cai Damei to come and have a meal.

"No wonder Master Bao looked so unwell today," Li Ping suddenly remarked.

His grandfather's birthday, and his grandmother prepared so many nice things.

Last month was Bao Ye's birthday, and if Luo Xin hadn't mentioned it, no one would have remembered.

Luo Xin reminded her that Cai Damei had only asked Ye Yunniang to make a bowl of hand-pulled noodles.

"When does Master Bao ever look good?" Li An quipped.

Li Pan didn't speak, but nodded in agreement.

After news of the drought spread, undercurrents stirred in Jiangcheng.

There are too many things to worry about every day.

Bao Min only smiled at Cai Damei and Bao Shuyi; he had a cold expression on everyone else.

"The Master said, 'In the Jiangnan region, there has been continuous rain for two months during the autumn harvest. The rice harvest is severely poor.'"

Because of the drought, the family was starving. Knowing that his students were not concentrating in class, Master Du often talked about things outside the classroom.

Ye Yunniang heard a lot about the outside world from Li Pan.

For example, the mountain city closest to Jiangcheng is less affected by drought due to its mountainous terrain, and has a good autumn harvest.

Most of the grains, vegetables, and fruits currently sold in Jiangcheng are transported from Shancheng.

Furthermore, the border regions have been quite unstable lately. It is said that the grasslands are suffering from severe water shortages, resulting in sparse vegetation and the starvation of many cattle and sheep.

The grassland tribes are gathering their forces to attack the border city. There are reports that the imperial court may be conscripting soldiers or increasing taxes.

"Jiangnan is the imperial court's second largest granary. Many places are waiting for Jiangnan's grain to save their lives." Li Ping spent half a year doing accounting in the government office, which brought him a lot of exposure and helped him grow quickly.

“That’s not what I meant,” Li Pan interrupted Li Ping, looking at Ye Yunniang. “Mother, from now on, our family can’t eat only seven-tenths full at every meal.”

“You’re growing.” Ye Yunniang hesitated.

“Many of my classmates’ families now eat two meals a day. Some even only eat one meal a day,” Li Pan said, describing the situation of some of her classmates.

“My deskmate next to me replaced all the white rice and flour at home with taro and sorghum flour. Another family even bought cornmeal with corn cobs,” Li An added.

"Our family's pickled vegetables are almost sold out. Aunt Baise's embroidery shop is closed. We eat white rice and noodles for every meal, three times a day," Li Ping concluded.

“From now on, eat only three-tenths full at night, and seven-tenths full at breakfast and lunch,” Ye Yunniang compromised.

“No, I’ll only eat three-tenths full in the morning and at noon.” Li Pan disagreed.

“You are still young. If you starve yourselves, it will be a lifelong problem,” Ye Yunniang disagreed.

"Eat only three-tenths full in the morning and evening, and five-tenths full at noon. That's settled then." Cai Damei walked into the main room and settled the Li family's meals for the future.

After putting the children to sleep, Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei discussed opening the Baise Embroidery Shop.

Xiao Cai Ji is closing down; they need to find a way to make money from the outside world.

Cai Damei disagreed, saying that they closed down because they weren't making money before. Opening it now would only make them less profitable.

"If we only open for half a day, the items in the embroidery shop will easily attract insects if left unattended." Even if Li Pan and the others didn't mention it today, Ye Yunniang was also planning to reopen the Baise Embroidery Shop.

In that case, Cai Damei agreed.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law discussed buying some cornmeal mixed with corn cobs and sweet potato flour with sweet potato vines added.

After buying it, Ye Yunniang made cornbread using half cornmeal and half wheat flour.

Steam it, and let Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei try it.

It's so harsh on the throat.

I've never eaten such a terrible cornbread.

Back in the countryside, every time the grain was harvested, Li Min would always set aside enough rice and flour for the women in his family.

The two of them couldn't eat, but Li Pan and Li An ate with great relish.

"Mother, from now on, make these kinds of steamed buns for the school." Li Pan requested.

“No, you’re still too young. You’ll ruin your throats.” Ye Yunniang disagreed, thinking she would eat those herself. The children would still eat white flour buns or rice.

"Mom, I want to eat this kind of cornbread." Li Pan and Li An insisted, otherwise they would not eat lunch.

“We have enough to eat, why should we insist on eating like everyone else?” Ye Yunniang felt sorry for her two sons and couldn’t bear to see them suffer.

"Don't you two regret it?" Cai Damei asked.

"No regrets." Li Pan and Li An were firm in their stance.

“Alright. Starting tomorrow, all the cornbread you bring to school will be this kind.” Cai Damei made the decision.