At noon that day, every household ate pork.
Even if wild boar meat is tough and an extra ladle of water was used, no one cares.
Li Lao Er and Li Lao Si brought wild boars into the city. Wild boars were not as expensive as domestic pigs, but the butcher shops still readily accepted them.
Moreover, the two pigs were given eight taels of silver, which was one tael more than usual.
Not for any other reason than because it's so rare!
This year's severe drought has resulted in a complete crop failure, and people are struggling to feed themselves. Who would want to raise pigs?
In the county town, some butcher shops have already run out of stock.
Some people wander around the villages outside the county town and buy piglets that most families can't afford to raise; a pig weighing seventy or eighty pounds is considered good.
The Li family sent over these two large pigs, each weighing nearly 300 jin (approximately 150 kg). They can render a considerable amount of lard…
Li Lao Er and Li Lao Si were also very satisfied, and after leaving the butcher shop, they wandered around the city.
Since the drought began, they have rarely come to the city. Now, the streets are more desolate than ever before.
A long queue formed in front of the grain shop, everyone looking anxious and peering inside.
The wooden sign in front of the grain shop displayed the grain price, which had more than doubled...
Another place with many people is the four deep wells dug when the city was built.
There are three wells in the county town, one in the southeast, one in the northwest, and one in the southwest. Because they are dug deep, even during such a drought, water can still be drawn with difficulty.
The county government specially assigned yamen runners to supervise the process, and each household was only allowed to take half a bucket; they had to endure whether it was enough or not.
The two brothers were thinking of Jiaren, so they made a special trip to the academy.
Jiaren quickly ran to the back door and was very happy to see his father and uncle.
Jiaren was somewhat thin, but his lips didn't look particularly dry.
Li Lao Er felt a little relieved and asked carefully.
It turns out that the academy's dean, during his youth as a student, witnessed the devastation of a severe drought. When the academy was built, he spent a hundred taels of silver and dug a deep well, even deeper than the four wells in the city.
The college's water usage has not been significantly affected in recent days.
Jiaren, also concerned about his family, said...
"Dad, talk to Grandma about it. Let's move to the city! We can rent a yard nearby, and I'll bring water home every day. It might not be enough, but at least we won't get too thirsty."
Li Lao Er was pleased that his son was filial and understanding. He whispered that there was water in the family's well, and Jia Ren's eyes welled up with tears of joy.
"That's great, that's great! I'm always afraid in my dreams that there won't be any water at home. Grandma always says that Fu Niu is lucky, and our whole family benefits from it."
Looking back now, Grandma was right. Our house is on higher ground than most in the village, but our well is the only one with water.
Li Laosi was delighted to hear this, since Fu Niu was his daughter. He immediately gave Jia Ren two taels of silver from the sale of the wild boar.
"At this time, stay here for self-defense. If things get tough at the academy, go home as soon as possible."
"Understood, Fourth Uncle." Jiaren did not refuse.
After exchanging a few more casual words, Li Lao Er and Li Lao Si left the city and went home.
Leaving aside the two brothers rushing home, let's talk about Wu Cuihua in the large courtyard in the north of the city, who was cooking sorghum porridge and was sweating profusely from the heat.
As soon as the porridge was cooked, it was all gone in the blink of an eye.
Wu Ergou held the large bowl and slurped it down.
Standing on one side were Liu Laifu and Guo Shi, the mother and daughter, each with a large bowl, drinking while complaining.
"Hey Cuihua, can't you put a little more rice in your porridge? Look at this porridge, you can see your reflection in it."
Guo's lips were pursed so much they looked like they were about to fly to the sky; her face was full of displeasure.
Wu Cuihua was furious and could no longer hold back. She snatched the bowl from Guo's hand.
"Have you no shame? Ever since you moved into this yard, you've been coming here to freeload every day. Do you think it's easy for me to do hard labor and earn a little food? I'm exhausted every day, jumping around like an animal! You complain that this porridge is too watery, so why do you still come to eat it? When you were secretly making porridge, why didn't you give me a bowl?!"
Guo was so angry that she jumped up and down and tried to snatch the porridge bowl back, but Wu Cuihua drank the porridge all in one gulp.
Guo, hands on her hips, cursed, "You lowly hussy, giving you a sip of porridge is already a favor! I'm your aunt, it's only right for a junior to show respect to their elders! We came to you for help, why don't you take care of us? We haven't eaten your mountains of gold and silver, and you're already fussing over a sip of porridge! Once our family becomes wealthy, you won't even be able to find a door to curry favor with us!"
Wu Cuihua was not to be outdone and immediately retorted with insults.
"When our family came to you for help, you didn't care about us at all, did you? Our two families have long been estranged! What kind of aunt are you? Stop pretending to be important! You don't eat your own food, but you come here every day to take advantage of us! If I had known this would happen, I would never have helped you rent a house!"
She was filled with regret, her guts were burning with rage.
Her younger brother had sold her food rations, and she had no choice but to wash an extra basin of clothes every day to appease the old lady of the house, who then treated her better and was willing to give her the washed clothes to send out.
She was lucky to have met a wealthy family who had a legitimate son, and the family gave her a reward.
She took the opportunity to kowtow and say auspicious words, and finally got a piece of silver from the nobleman. She bought some grain, but before she could have a full meal, the drought began.
Water was scarce in the city, so the laundry business naturally disappeared. Although she didn't have to work, the old lady of the house stopped providing food. She had to find her own way to survive, taking any job she could find, even emptying chamber pots from house to house.
They barely managed to survive, and they still had to guard against their younger brother stealing money from time to time.
Then, the Liu family followed Liu Laifu to seek refuge here.
She was overwhelmed by the Liu family's flattery and helped them talk to the old lady of the house, renting two empty rooms in the courtyard. This was the beginning of her endless troubles.
Before, it was Liu Laifu who came to freeload meals, but now, the whole family is eyeing her rice cooker.
Whenever she cooks, everyone in the Liu family, young and old, eats it.
Scolding didn't work, arguing didn't work; if she hadn't hidden it so well, they probably would have taken the grain sacks away.
She missed the days in Qingshui Village immensely, when she had her husband's family to protect her, and even the ruthless Li Laosi made the Liu family afraid to pass by her gate.
At this point, they're taking advantage of her abilities!
Guo wiped her mouth, feeling a little regretful for the half bowl of porridge she hadn't finished.
Every bite she takes here means less rice for her family. She doesn't care if people point fingers at her.
"You unfilial brat, no wonder your in-laws don't want you. You curse them like this even though they only eat a bite of your porridge. Humph, they're doing you a favor by eating your porridge!"
She sauntered back into the house, not forgetting to leave behind a comment.
"You should be grateful. The villagers are probably dying of thirst. It's good enough that your mother-in-law's family didn't come looking for you."
"If you provoke me again, I'll send Su Niang back to deliver a message. See what you'll do then; you won't even have a place to sleep, let alone food."
Wu Cuihua immediately shut her mouth.
Although she didn't know what was going on in the village, she couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't good.
Guo, don't jinx it. If they all come looking for her, what will she do? Will she have to work to support the Li family?
But thinking about it this way, she also felt relieved.
The Li family probably didn't expect that kicking her out would actually save her.
Actually, she was worrying for nothing. The Li family not only had water to drink, but they were even eating meat right now.
The wild boar meat had been stewing for almost two hours, and it was thoroughly cooked.
Not to mention the young and old in the family, even Jiayin was eating a bowl of meat porridge with relish.
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