When they arrived at the state-owned restaurant, there were only a few people inside. Ren Jingxiao helped Ningxia sit down and ordered a few dishes and dry biscuits.
There's really nothing good about it. The meat he gave to Uncle Hu probably won't be distributed to the state-owned restaurants, and it's not even enough to be distributed to the factories here.
The state-owned restaurants can only wait for government assignments from above, but there are not enough to go around in the provincial capital, let alone here.
People who come to state-owned restaurants all want to taste some meat. If there is no meat, not many people will come, and it will be deserted all day long.
"Oh, this year is not interesting at all. In previous years, there was a bit of meaty smell, but this year there is nothing."
"You should be content. At least we are not starving here. Many people in the countryside are starving. I heard that some people even died of starvation this year."
"Yeah, take the Transportation Department for example. In previous years, they gave us good stuff like free money, but this year, there's nothing at all. There's no point in looking at other factories either."
"Speaking of the disturbance caused by those families at the Ministry of Transport a few days ago, well, they were just desperately hungry. There was nothing we could do about it."
Not long after Ren Jingxiao and Ningxia sat down, they heard a few people sitting next to them chatting happily.
One moment they heard them say that there was a shortage of meat at the end of the year, something they knew about in the provincial capital. Then they heard them talk about the family compound; it seemed the food problem was more serious than they had imagined.
"Xia Xia, let's plant more grain next year!" After listening for a long time, Ren Jingxiao came up with an idea. He sold a lot of grain from the Dahei Mountain during this autumn harvest.
The remaining food was enough for them to eat for a year with some left over, but seeing how everyone was so short of food, Ren Jingxiao thought about planting more next year. Even if there was no shortage of food, one had to be prepared for the worst.
"Okay, we'll plant more next year. I just heard they said something happened at the Ministry of Transportation. What happened?"
Ningxia was not curious, but just thought that if there was something wrong with the provincial capital's transportation department, it would be fine, but why did something happen to the county transportation department here?
"I don't know. Anyway, we are far away from there." Ren Jingxiao has never cared about anything except Ningxia.
Ningxia just asked without wanting to get to the bottom of it. After dinner, the two of them walked back home.
Just as he arrived at the doorstep, he saw Ma Desheng pushing a cart towards home. Ningxia saw firewood everywhere, not only were they tied under his armpits, but there was also a lot of it on the cart behind him.
When Ren Jingxiao saw these, he knew that they were brought from the brigade. There was no land and no firewood in the county town.
"Brother Ren, do you have enough firewood at home? I'll ask someone to buy some, do you want it?" Ma Desheng saw them looking at him and greeted them warmly.
"No need, I have enough charcoal at home." Ren Jingxiao helped Ningxia make some room.
"By the way, Brother Ren, you know the former driver of your Transportation Department who later went to our steel plant, right?" Ma Desheng looked at the firewood blocking the door of Ren Jingxiao's house, and hurriedly put down the firewood in his hand to tidy up the door.
"Yeah." Ren Jingxiao was obviously not interested in his topic.
"He's still living in the Ministry of Transport's staff quarters, right? He's been causing trouble at home several times, and this time he even went to the staff quarters. It seems to be quite serious, and even our factory director is upset."
Ma Desheng lowered his head and didn't notice the impatience in Ren Jingxiao's eyes at all. While talking, he also took the firewood down from the cart.
Ren Jingxiao frowned, perhaps guessing who he was talking about. Then he thought about what he had heard at the state-owned restaurant. It seemed this was a big deal, considering the Ministry of Transportation and the steel mill were the county's top officials.
The county town is so small that a small thing can easily spread like wildfire. Ren Jingxiao didn't intend to meddle in other people's business, but the next morning, Lu Hai came to share gossip with him.
"Brother Ren, I thought you went back to Beijing for the New Year! You didn't even tell me. I came to look for you several times, but I only found out about it because your next-door neighbor told me."
Lu Hai came here every few days. When he finally saw someone, he was so excited that he didn't know what to do.
"You came to see me?" Ren Jingxiao was not surprised to see Lu Hai coming to his house early in the morning. He also guessed that Lu Hai would definitely come to see him during their trip to the provincial capital.
"Yes, I came to look for you several times, but you were never there. It was only when the family next door said you went to Beijing for the New Year that I realized you were not at home. Please leave me a message next time you go."
Lu Hai entered the yard and kept chattering around Ren Jingxiao until Ren Jingxiao glared at him and he shut up.
"Keep your voice down, my wife is sleeping." Ren Jingxiao's words made Lu Hai shut up quickly.
"Oh, I see." Lu Hai lowered his voice several tones. If he woke up his sister-in-law, Brother Ren would definitely kick him out.
Lu Hai didn't think it was strange that his sister-in-law didn't get up so late. He was used to it. He thought it was normal for Brother Ren to treat his sister-in-law like this.
"What happened in the family compound?" Ren Jingxiao looked at Lu Hai and asked casually.
"Brother Ren, don't you know? Dagen and Erwa's families are having a hard time this year. Those who returned to the countryside have returned, and those who moved out have moved out. This year hasn't been easy for anyone. It seems like something happened to those two families later on. Anyway, they're having a hard time."
"They can't stand the hardship anymore, so they came looking for those two again. They used to have some dignity, but now they're willing to give up everything. They're making trouble all the time, demanding they support their entire family. They've been causing trouble at the factory and in the staff quarters. There's been a lot of howling these past few days."
Lu Hai felt a headache when he thought about those days. It was very annoying that the two families came to the family compound to make trouble every day. Later, the minister came out and drove those people out, and the problem was temporarily solved.
"Oh." Ren Jingxiao had no interest in what Lu Hai said. Most of the time, Lu Hai was talking and Ren Jingxiao only replied once after a long time.
Lu Hai was talking until his mouth was dry. Ren Jingxiao was cooking and cleaning on the side, occasionally responding a few words.
Lu Hai slowly couldn't continue. When would Brother Ren say more when chatting with him?
"Big Tiger, I'm hungry." Ningxia woke up and called Ren Jingxiao out of habit. Ren Jingxiao, who had not said a word just now, suddenly jumped out.
Ren Jingxiao seemed to have forgotten about Lu Hai outside. He took Ningxia out of the bed, coaxed Ningxia to put on her clothes, and then took her out to wash.
"Big Tiger, what did you cook this morning? Your daughter and son are hungry!" Ningxia put her arms around Ren Jingxiao's neck and acted coquettishly, rubbing Ren Jingxiao's neck.
"I made some chicken soup, it's warming in the pot. I'll use it to make you a bowl of noodles. Let's go brush our teeth and wash our faces first, and I'll bring it to you when we're done. After dinner, I'll take you to a movie. Chinese New Year is coming soon, and we..."
Ren Jingxiao was muttering to himself while holding Ningxia in his arms. Lu Hai on the other side was dumbfounded. He was such a grown man, how come he couldn't see either of them!
Oh! Anyway, he is used to it, how can he compare with his sister-in-law!
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