The Feng family had a very pleasant dinner. The multi-grain dumplings mixed with fresh wild vegetables had a unique sweet taste, and the sweetness lingered in the mouth after eating them. The taste was quite good.
The Feng family wasn't the only one who enjoyed this meal. Throughout Wangjia Village, anyone who ate the freshly dug shepherd's purse thought it was incredibly delicious, a wild vegetable that left them feeling warm and indescribably comfortable.
The shepherd's purse appeared bizarrely, and eating it made people feel warm all over, which was very comfortable. The people in Wangjia Village couldn't help but murmur in their hearts, maybe this shepherd's purse was a miracle from heaven, who couldn't bear to let them starve to death?
The people of Wangjia Village eat dinner early, usually finishing around 4 p.m. When it gets dark around 6 p.m., everyone goes to bed. Firstly, there's little entertainment after dark. Secondly, more sleep and less activity help keep you from getting too hungry.
But today, Wangjia Village was clearly not so peaceful. Shortly after dinner, someone started having diarrhea, and soon after, everyone in Wangjia Village started running to the toilet.
"It's bad!" Jiaojiao suddenly thought that the shepherd's purse she took out from her space might make the entire team run to the toilet all night.
Old Lady Feng had obviously thought of this as well. Oh no, it couldn't be said that she thought of it, but rather that she smelled it.
The entire Wangjia Village was filled with an indescribable smell.
Fortunately, the Feng family was some distance away from the main force, and there was almost no wind that night, so they were spared.
Wangjia Village had been restless all night, but the next morning, the entire brigade was unusually energetic, with people from every household out strolling and chatting.
The topic of conversation was nothing more than how delicious the shepherd's purse was yesterday. Of course, at the end, they couldn't help but talk about the fact that it stinked all over the village.
"Strangely enough, I had diarrhea a few times, but instead of feeling uncomfortable, I felt relaxed all over."
"Yeah, me too. We boiled water to take a bath in the middle of the night yesterday and we stank like crazy. How about you guys?"
"It's the same for us. The water tank at home is all empty. My two sons had to go to the river several times in the middle of the night to fetch enough water."
"It's the same in our family. My son Er Mengzi even said he saw your kid fall on the road..."
"This shepherd's purse is truly a treasure! Do you want to go see if there's any left today?"
"Hehehe...my little ones got up early this morning and went up the mountain."
"You old boy..." The person who spoke hurriedly ran home and called his family to go up the mountain to dig vegetables.
At this time, more than one family went to the mountain to pick wild vegetables. Many people woke up feeling refreshed and knew that shepherd's purse was a good thing. The first thing they did after getting up was to go straight to the back mountain.
After one night, the shepherd's purse on the mountain grew densely again.
"This must be a gift from the gods!" Many people knew it well. They had been working with the soil since childhood, and they knew only too well how quickly shepherd's purse grew. Every spring, during the famine, which family didn't rely on these wild vegetables from the fields?
"Thank God!"
While the people of Wangjia Village barely survived on the shepherd's purse that kept popping up every day, other villages were not so lucky.
In Zhoujia Village, just a mile away from Wangjia Village, a meeting was being held in the village committee courtyard. Many families in Zhoujia Village had run out of food.
Everyone was talking at once.
"Village chief, please think of a solution. Several families in the village have run out of food. The trees around the village have been stripped bare of their bark. If this continues, people will starve to death again!"
"Can we apply for relief food? Even if it's a small amount, we can only think about it after we get through this difficult time."
"How many people died in the county next door last year? Look at us now, we're almost the same as them. Last year's harvest was poor, and we can't survive this spring."
"I won't talk about others, but my family is about to run out of food. There are fifteen people in my family, young and old! We have to think of a way to get through this period."
"Yeah yeah……"
Zhou Xianyong gestured for everyone to quiet down. "I've been going to the county every day lately, and I'll give you a rough overview of the situation. It's probably going to be hard to get relief grain in the short term. The best thing to do right now is for everyone to talk to friends and family and find a solution. The spring famine is an annual occurrence. The good years are harder than the bad months. We just have to get through this month or so."
"Village chief! We can't make it any longer!" the village accountant burst into tears. "I'm more frugal than you all. After all the calculations, I can barely make it through March. But what about April? My little grandson is so hungry that he can't even lift his head. He lies in bed every day, too weak to move. I can't make it any longer... I can't make it any longer..."
He was crying miserably with tears and snot.
The other people in the brigade headquarters couldn't help crying, covering their faces and weeping. For a moment, the entire Zhoujia Village brigade headquarters was filled with sorrow and sadness, and there was only crying.
Mengzi sat among the crowd. He was a hunter by trade, and besides farming, he often went hunting in the mountains. With meat now valuable, he wouldn't sell his kills, but would secretly trade them with the villagers for food. They were all from the same village, and Mengzi's price was low, so everyone was willing to trade with him.
His wife was skilled in weaving straw hats at home after finishing her farm work. Each hat could fetch a few dimes, which was a good source of income. Although these were not legitimate, they at least helped the couple save some money.
Last year, Mengzi's wife became pregnant, and the couple worked hard to survive the spring famine. Before the Lunar New Year, Mengzi spent every day in the mountains, hunting a lot of game and exchanging it for food with several nearby teams.
Now, his family has enough food to last until the autumn harvest. However, when someone comes to borrow food, they can't bear to refuse.
After all, those who can sacrifice their reputation to borrow food from their family can no longer survive.
We can only take things one step at a time. We must keep food for my wife, and we can find another way to feed him!
After a fruitless morning meeting, everyone dispersed. Mengzi went home to pack his bow and arrows and went up the mountain to hunt.
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