Chapter 69 The Moon of Yesteryear
Aunt Liu has been in a particularly good mood these past few days. She can't help but hum folk songs while cooking. Xie Ning looks at the newspaper in her hand, a faint smile in her eyes.
The Red Army crossed the Wujiang River and occupied Zunyi, where they held a meeting that ended the rule of Wang's "Left" adventurism and established the correct leadership of the new Central Committee represented by Mao. It was a crucial turning point.
"Teacher Xie, come quick!" The little boy hopped and skipped around; he was a small, round ball, but surprisingly agile.
Xie Ning shook his head, tied his scarf properly, and then braved the wind and snow to go out. When he arrived at the restaurant, there was already a long queue. Aunt Liu was distributing porridge, Yun Yuanyuan and Liu Zi were making black steamed buns, and there was also a monk dressed in cloth clothes helping out.
It was the same monk who had begged for alms at the door this morning. He said he would go back and cook the rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts, and other ingredients he had collected into Laba porridge to distribute to the poor, which is also known as Buddhist porridge. The temple where the monk lived was not far away; it was just a small, dilapidated temple, and life was very difficult for him.
Two consecutive years of drought, floods, and locust plagues have brought a large influx of refugees to this remote town. With nowhere to live, they build shelters on the grasslands to survive.
There's a dock there; you can earn a living by doing manual labor, at least you won't starve.
Today is a holiday, and when Aunt Liu saw the monk, she immediately asked him to stay and cook two pots of hot porridge and steam a few baskets of buns so that the homeless children huddled in the street corners could have something warm to eat.
When Xie Ning arrived, the people in the shop praised Aunt Liu for her kind heart. After finishing their food, they even left a few extra coins as a small token of their kindness.
"Miss Xie, where should we put these things?" The two shop assistants each carried a large package, and their lips were purple from the cold.
Xie Ning called Liu Zi over to distribute the two bags of cotton-padded clothes. They were all ready-made clothes from the shop, not very good, but they were thick enough to keep out the cold. Hopefully, fewer people will die this winter.
Xie Ning said to the two waiters, "It's a festival today, come in and have a bowl of Laba porridge."
It's very cold outside, so having a bowl of hot porridge can at least warm you up.
When Xie Ning went into the kitchen, Xiao Yang was still cooking porridge. She put the ginger in her hand on the stove and said, "Let's make another pot of ginger soup later to warm ourselves up."
Before she could finish speaking, the simple-minded boy ran in from outside, "Teacher Xie, Teacher Xie, someone has brought something!"
It turned out that nearby merchants, tourists, and residents saw the restaurant distributing porridge and spontaneously brought some things over, including rice, flour, grains, old cotton clothes, old coats, and shoes.
Life is tough for everyone, but we can still lend a helping hand if we can. These past few years have been filled with disasters everywhere. The north is fighting Japan, and the interior is fighting our own people. Who knows, one day we might be the ones ending up on the streets. We should help out as much as we can.
It's not easy for anyone.
When Xie Ning went out, she saw Wu Ya. A tall, strong man was standing next to her. When Wu Ya saw Xie Ning, her little face, which was red from the cold, lit up with a smile. She shook the man's hand and said, "Big brother, big brother, this is Teacher Xie!"
The man was carrying a basket of red beans and black rice, along with eggs. "Thank you, teacher. This is a small token of our appreciation from my family."
"Thank you on behalf of the disaster victims." Xie Ning turned around and brought over two bowls of Laba porridge for them to drink. They had been in the cold wind for at least half an hour on their way here.
Wuya took a sip of the sweet Laba porridge and looked at Xie Ning with bright eyes. "Teacher Xie, my mother said that if we drink Laba porridge with red beans, the children won't get sick again!"
Xie Ning rubbed Wu Ya's head without saying a word, his gaze falling on the emaciated people in the group. Hunger was the worst disease.
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