Chapter 172: You still want me to deliver food?
Gu Yuehuai did not continue to provoke Liu Er'er, but walked aside with the drawing board.
The afternoon passed in a flash, and soon the bell for the end of work rang.
The educated youth left the breeding place wailing. It was not easy for them to take care of cattle, sheep, and pigs, which were excreting feces at any time. The two female educated youth, Lan Tian and Pan Ruoyin, retched repeatedly and rolled their eyes because of the stench on their bodies.
Gu Yuehuai took the drawing board, sent it back to the educated youth point, and then went home with the lunch box.
When she returned home, Gu Zhifeng and Gu Tinghuai had already returned. They were both doing hard work, and the backs of their patched jackets were soaked. When she came back, she saw them wiping their sweaty necks with hot water.
As soon as Gu Zhifeng saw her daughter, a smile appeared on her face: "Nannan is back."
Gu Yuehuai smiled and nodded, "Dad, shall we have fried chicken and hot pot tonight?"
She wanted to invite Yan Shaoyu to her house for dinner today, and chicken hotpot would be the most suitable dish. However, she didn't know if he would still be in the mood to eat when he saw Shaotang.
"Chicken hotpot?" Gu Tinghuai looked surprised, as he had never eaten it before.
Hot pot was not popular in the village. Every household had a shortage of food and vegetables. Being able to fill their stomachs was good enough. Who would bother to think about whether the food was good or not? Moreover, he had never seen chicken hot pot in a state-owned restaurant.
Gu Xihuai looked at Gu Yuehuai's room with some doubt: "Do we still have chickens at home?"
Gu Yuehuai said calmly: "Of course I have it. I know best how much food we have at home and what we have."
After saying that, she went into the room, and when she came out she was holding a fat old hen in her hand, but it was already dead.
Gu Tinghuai came over and took the old hen from Gu Yuehuai's hand, checked it, and said with emotion: "It's cold now, the meat won't go bad if it's left at home, it still looks fresh."
Gu Yuehuai interrupted, "Brother, boil some water and clean up the chicken."
Gu Tinghuai nodded and started to boil water. During this time, Gu Yuehuai looked at Gu Zhifeng, who was sitting on the kang and eating walnuts. After thinking about it, he decided to repeat what He Lanzhang said so that his family would have some idea.
She said, "Dad, a friend from my commune came over today and told me something."
Gu Zhifeng was stunned, and said in a gentle tone: "What's the matter, Nannan?"
Gu Yuehuai organized his words and said softly, "He said that several brigades under the jurisdiction of Huangying Commune began to be short of food after paying the public grain. Some people who knew about it started to buy food in advance. It is estimated that they will not be able to survive this winter."
Hearing this, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.
Gu Tinghuai turned his head and looked at Gu Yuehuai in shock. After a while, he asked in a complicated voice, "Lack of food? Our team is also short of food? Is this true?"
Gu Zhifeng also came to his senses. He had experienced the difficult times and knew best the days when people were hungry and cold, and had to go up the mountain to eat tree bark every day. Thinking back on it, his scalp almost numbed: "Yes, Nannan, you can't say such nonsense."
Gu Xihuai was calm. He and Gu Yuehuai had already discussed this topic, and now he felt more calm when talking about it.
He said, "Dad, big brother, think about it carefully. What have the Party branch secretaries been like recently? Ever since they paid their taxes, they haven't seen anyone every day. Even when they occasionally meet, they don't bother to talk. Can't you see how worried they are?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Gu Zhifeng and Gu Tinghuai looked at each other, and both were speechless.
They had indeed guessed it and felt something was wrong, but they did not expect the food shortage to be so serious.
Gu Zhifeng frowned tightly: "Are several nearby brigades short of food?"
Gu Yuehuai nodded: "Well, everyone knows that grain production has decreased this year, but we don't know the specific circumstances. After the public grain was handed over, the commune did a statistics, and the overall production decreased by 60% compared to last year. The work points and grain do not correspond."
"Sixty percent?" Gu Zhifeng's voice changed and his eyes were horrified.
"Such a huge reduction in production? There's no way to match work points with grain. By then, the members of the brigade will probably be in a rage." Gu Tinghuai's expression was a little ugly. Born in the countryside, the thing he feared most was not having enough grain and not having enough to eat.
Years of famine always bring about many chain reactions and are also the times when accidents are most likely to occur.
Suddenly, Gu Zhifeng thought of the food piled up in her daughter's room, and frowned: "Nannan, did you know about this a long time ago?"
Gu Yuehuai's eyes flickered slightly, and she pursed her red lips and said, "It's not that I knew it early, it's just a guess. After all, I have been in the breeding place for such a long time, and I have made some preparations early. The food at home is enough for us to eat for several months."
After hearing this, Gu Zhifeng breathed a sigh of relief, but when she thought of other members' families in the brigade, she felt a little sad.
At this moment, the bell for recording work points suddenly rang.
"Hey, it's time to record the work points. Let's go." Gu Zhifeng got down from the kang, put on his shoes, and called Gu Tinghuai to go to the breeding area together.
Gu Yuehuai thought about it, and said to Gu Xihuai: "Third brother, you watch over the water, I'm going to go to the educated youth site."
She was going to call Yan Shaoyu over to save him from having to prepare the meal himself.
"You go." Gu Xihuai nodded, put Yan Shaotang on the side, and added firewood to the stove.
When Gu Yuehuai went out, the members were rushing to the breeding area, each with a smile on their face, gathering in groups of three or four to talk about interesting things, completely unaware of what was about to happen tonight.
When Gu Yuehuai arrived at the educated youth point, the meal was not ready yet.
Yan Shaoyu was washing rice, apparently preparing to make brown rice porridge.
Gu Yuehuai stood at the door and called out, "Yan Zhiqing!"
Huang Sheng sat at the table, glanced at Gu Yuehuai, a sneer appeared on his face, but he didn't say anything sarcastic. Now he just wanted to let this country woman play with Yan Shaoyu's feelings, so naturally he wouldn't interfere in these trivial matters.
Song Jinan moved his lips, as if he wanted to ask something, but felt that it was inappropriate under the current circumstances.
Yan Shaoyu came out holding the bowl, raised his eyelids slightly, and opened his lips: "What's the matter?"
Gu Yuehuai's brows relaxed and he said, "It's like this. Since you don't want me to send you meals anymore, I don't know how much I should refund you. Just come to my house tonight for dinner. After this meal, I won't send you meals anymore."
Yan Shaoyu glanced at her and said calmly, "No, you don't need to return the money to me."
After saying that, he took the rice-washing bowl and prepared to go back, and suddenly heard Gu Yuehuai's chuckle from behind him: "Okay, since you still want me to bring you food, then I won't embarrass you, I'll bring it to you later!"
Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away behind him, a hint of annoyance and helplessness flashed across Yan Shaoyu's eyebrows.
He turned to look at Gu Yuehuai's back and frowned, "Wait!"
Hearing this, Gu Yuehuai turned around, smiled at Yan Shaoyu with curved eyebrows. The smile was bright and charming, with a hint of cunning and cleverness of a successful plan, which made Yan Shaoyu stunned for a moment.
He sighed, put the bowl back, put on his jacket, and followed Gu Yuehuai to her house.
As the two passed by the breeding area, they heard some commotion and agitation coming from inside.
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