After hearing the reason clearly, Li Jiakang and others were shocked.

"Most of the rice ears are empty? How much food is left? Besides, the first season's harvest wasn't good either. Can they even make it to next year?"

"Most families can make do until then. Although most of the rice ears are empty this time, the husks are edible. They are much better than tree bark and can sustain them for a while."

This is quite true. Apart from anything else, the bark of the trees in the city has long been stripped off, and there are not many thinner branches left. These can all be used to fill the stomach, not to mention rice husks which are easier to digest.

Then Li Jiafu said, "By the way, Dad asked me to tell you something. Starting this month, don't send food home. It's too dangerous."

They all knew that the danger came from those starving people. If they knew that they delivered food every month, they would definitely target them. The people who needed to be most guarded against were those from the Qinghe Brigade.

Li Jiakang hesitated, "If I don't send it, will it still be okay?"

Li Jiafu grinned, "That's great. You guys used to send a lot every month, and I still have quite a bit left. We're going to distribute the grain soon. Even if everyone at home eats well every day, it'll be enough to last a long time. Besides, we don't dare eat too much at each meal now. We only have a full meal every few days. If we keep eating this way, we won't have to worry about it for half a year. And in a few months, there will be grain back, so there won't be any problems."

This is because he has food in hand and is not worried, otherwise he would not dare to let Duan Xiaoyun take this leave.

Hearing this, Li Jiakang nodded and said, "That's fine. Have you already been to Xiaoqiang's place?"

Duan Xiaoyun, who was standing by, quickly chimed in, a grateful expression on her face. "We've been there. Xiaoqiang and the others told us. Thank you so much, brother and sister-in-law."

Sun Xiu waved her hand. "We're all family. What's there to thank me for? Besides, Xiaohua doesn't have a family right now. If you can't come, how can I, as your aunt, help you?"

"Second Aunt, if you had come a little later, my parents would have gone to Xiaoqiang's place. We had originally discussed bringing Xiaohua to live with us, and Guilan would take care of her during the day, so that Xiaohui wouldn't have to ask for leave. But we were afraid that Xiaoqiang would not agree. Now that you're here, we don't have to worry anymore." Li Ping also said with a smile.

Now Duan Xiaoyun and the others were even more grateful and thanked Hu Guilan and the others repeatedly.

Li Xu and others also tried to stop them.

It took a while for everyone to let go of this matter.

Then everyone started chatting about gossip, mainly Li Jiafu and his wife talking about someone they knew in the Qinghe Brigade who had died, or a family who had abandoned their child.

And one of Qin Hua's younger brothers also died.

Li Jiakang and others felt that this was expected. Last year, the Qin family felt that they could not survive because of the large population, so they set their sights on Qin Hua.

It is true that someone did not make it, but I didn’t expect that this person would die when the crops were about to mature.

Li Jiafu's face was filled with complex emotions when he mentioned this incident. "A few days ago, the Qin family came to my house to borrow grain. We refused, so they started making a scene. My neighbors and I beat them up, but nothing serious happened. Unexpectedly, one of them died while working in the fields."

"Why, do you regret it?" Li Jiakang asked in a calm tone.

Li Jiafu waved his hands. "Why would I regret anything? To be frank, even if I beat one or two people to death on the spot, I wouldn't regret it. Their deaths would be in vain. Everyone knows the relationship between our two families, and they still dared to come here and cause trouble. They deserved to be beaten to death."

Li Jiakang was silent for a moment, "Don't tell Xiaohua about this. After all, he is still her brother."

"I know. We had no intention of telling her about this, and even if we did, we couldn't have chosen this moment."

Everyone chatted for a while before Li Jiafu and his wife left.

After they left, Li Ping laughed again, "Now that Second Aunt is here, we don't have to worry about that stubborn donkey anymore."

"That's true. This saves me a lot of trouble." Sun Xiu nodded and said to Li Xu, "Xiao Xu, since your grandfather and second uncle don't need to send food now, you should bring less home every month."

Li Xu naturally nodded in agreement.

Now that this troublesome issue has been resolved, everyone is naturally happy.

Two days later, Li Xu heard Liu Gang say that a notice had been issued from above that Tang County would be exempt from all agricultural taxes this year.

In fact, although the drought in the past two years had some impact on the crops in Tang County, it was not to the extent that tax reductions could be made. Some people have not seen it with their own eyes, so they doubt the authenticity of the policy in their hearts.

Especially this year, with such severe drought, if the grain tax is still paid normally, farmers may have to use their own food to subsidize the tax to make up for it. Then people will really have no way to survive...

The people of Tang County are relieved to receive this good news.

This day is also the day when crops are ripe and ready to be harvested, and all the teams begin to get busy.

This year, Li Chen's school did not send students to the countryside to work like in previous years.

It's nothing. The current situation in the city is not as good as that in the countryside. Moreover, there are only a few people in the whole school who still insist on going to school. They are all listless. If people get exhausted after going to the countryside, then the school can be closed.

So the school thinks it’s better not to cause this trouble, and everyone should just take a few days off and stay at home this year.

In other words, Li Xu's family didn't know what the school was thinking, otherwise they would have told the teacher that Li Chen could be used at will.

After the holiday, Li Chen started clamoring to find his good brother Du Sen early in the morning. The two hadn't seen each other for a long time, and with the sudden holiday, he naturally wanted to deepen their relationship.

However, his shouting not only woke up Li Xu, but also scared little Wenbo into crying.

He didn't behave himself until Li Jiakang beat him up.

Li Xu didn't let him go either. After getting up angrily, he tried the tricks he learned that day on Li Chen.

The final answer from Li Chen was that this one hurts more.

However, Li Xu guessed that maybe his butt had been spanked too many times and he had developed resistance, so the test results were distorted, so he decided to find an excuse to test it again later...

After getting home from work that day, Li Xu heard Hu Guilan say that Qin Hua gave birth to a boy in the afternoon.

Li Xu was not in a hurry to go, but planned to go and take a look with Li Jiakang and others after dinner.

When Li Jiakang and his wife heard the news after returning, they were extremely happy.

They didn't talk much while eating. They finished the meal in just a few bites and then started preparing gifts.