On the small table in the house were 40 kilograms of rice, 50 kilograms of brown rice, 30 kilograms of white flour, and the rest were some oil, salt, pork and other items.
See Second Aunt blaming Second Uncle.
Chen Xinli hurriedly explained: “Second Aunt, the price of grain in the town has been rising in the past two days.
When I went to the county the day before yesterday, rice was already ten cents per pound.
Qinghe Town has convenient transportation, and the price of grain is one cent cheaper than in the county, so I bought more."
Wu Yuehua: "Ten coins per pound?"
Zhang Fangju: "Isn't this too expensive? Let's just buy more brown rice!"
Chen Xinli: "Second Aunt, there is brown rice. The price of brown rice is the same as the grain in the county, which is five cents. We have to stock up on it. This little bit of food is only enough for our family to eat for about three or four months.
If the wheat harvest fails, these grains will be enough to make up for it.”
Speaking of wheat, Shen Jinshan went to the field today and found that the wheat leaves had shown more signs of yellowing.
The grains could not be filled, so they were not even half as big as in previous years.
"Yes, one of the village wells has run out of water, and the other is only producing half its capacity. If a famine strikes, we won't have anywhere to buy food."
Shen Jinshan added on the side.
"Ali is right. Even though there was a drought last year, we still harvested over 30 dan of grain. This year, I don't think we'll even harvest half of that from the ten mu of land.
If we only rely on the crops in the fields, our family will starve when winter comes. We really need to stock up on food right now."
Shen Fugui quickly gave everyone a summary based on the current situation.
Looking at the bags of food in front of them, the family's mood was like a roller coaster. They originally thought it was a lot, but they didn't expect that it wouldn't even last the winter.
"Father, Mother, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, we still have more than three taels of silver left from selling the bamboo fan and selling our children today. Can we use it all to buy food?"
Knowing that this was what the uncle and nephew had just earned today, the family was no longer surprised.
“Okay, okay!”
"A-Li, ask the gods if their hair has grown back. I'll improve the recipe!"
Second Aunt said with a smile in her eyes.
Chen Xinli's face froze: "Well, it's quite useful. The immortal told me."
…
“Ding! Ding! Ding!!!”
Under the old elm tree in the village, the sound of iron hammering came.
It was specially made by Zhao Lizheng a few years ago for the convenience of notifying people. It was used several times last year during the drought and hail.
"Fellow villagers, come under the old elm tree!"
Zhao Lizheng's old and strong voice spread throughout Qianniu Village.
The sun had not yet completely set, and the orange sunlight shone on the land, dyeing the compacted yellow soil a deep orange.
Before the Shen family had time to continue discussing, they heard shouts at the door.
Everyone invited each other and walked towards the old elm tree at the entrance of the village.
Chen Xinli put the food and other things back into the space before going out with the family.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the huge elm tree was full of people.
A few new branches sprouted from the old and gnarled branches of the elm tree, swaying gently in the evening breeze under the reflection of the orange sunlight.
The voice sounded like that of a weathered old man, sighing with melancholy.
Seeing that people were arriving one after another, Zhao Lizheng stood up with a hunched back.
"Everyone, listen to me. Our county magistrate recently issued a notice. I'm sure everyone who has been to the county has already heard about it..."
There was a commotion in the crowd.
"I heard that the county magistrate offered a reward of 100 taels of silver to anyone who could divert water."
"What? As long as you can divert water, you will get one hundred taels of silver!"
"If he could really bring water, I would kowtow to him a hundred times!"
"Even the county magistrate can't come up with a plan, what can ordinary people like us know?"
For a moment, there was a lot of discussion.
“Ding! Ding! Ding!!
"Quiet!"
Everyone looked in the direction of Zhao Lizheng.
“It seems everyone knows.
Yes, the county magistrate did issue a notice that whoever could find water and lead it out would be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver.
Anyone with an idea can go to the county and find Li Zhubu. As long as the method is feasible, the county magistrate will reward you accordingly."
Seeing that Zhao Lizheng had officially spoken.
The commotion in the crowd suddenly broke out again!
"Oh my God, has our Northland provoked the wrath of the heavens? Who dares to go against the heavens?"
"Yes, even the village well has run dry. I'm afraid we're all going to die of thirst!"
"It's been a drought for so long. If it could be solved, it would have been solved long ago!"
…
Seeing that everyone had been led astray again, Zhao Lizheng said with a bitter face:
"Everyone, please be patient. The drought is not limited to Xiping County. The entire northern region is suffering from drought. The other day, County Magistrate Zhang personally came to our town to investigate the situation.
The county magistrate will not ignore us, and the imperial court will not ignore us either."
Zhao Lizheng's powerful words dissipated much of the unrest in the crowd. Seeing that everyone's expressions had calmed down, he continued in a deep voice:
“Although the imperial court will not ignore us, we still have to find a way out on our own and cannot just sit back and wait for death.
They've all been farming for decades, and they've got all the tricks and tricks passed down from their ancestors, and now they're getting paid for them!"
The old men in the crowd looked at each other but still said nothing.
Instead, a few young men started talking.
"It would be great if we had a reservoir. I heard that all the water in the south is stored in reservoirs and can be used during droughts!"
"Yeah, what Aniu said makes sense."
"I don't know if there's water on our mountain, but there are wolves and big beasts deep in Qianniu Mountain. We don't dare to go in and look for water!"
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