In this way, the food debt of the Lin family will probably range from 5 taels of silver.
Don't underestimate the purchasing power of five taels of silver when the world is peaceful. Ordinary farmers may not be able to save one tael of silver after working in the fields all year round, let alone in today's chaotic times.
It will take about five years to repay the loan.
Everyone was a little confused by Lin Rui's calculations. After all, not every ancient person had studied mathematics as systematically as Lin Rui. Lin Changtai asked directly, "Hey, Patriarch, just tell us directly, how much debt does each person have?"
Lin Rui: "Excluding the food consumed by our family, Cao'er and her son, and the Fang family's own people, the debt that fell on everyone was about five taels of silver."
"What!" Zhang Dacui screamed in shock: "Five taels!"
"Too much, too much! How can food be so expensive? Chief, your last name is Lin, and we are all family. You can't cheat us!"
Lin Changhe glared at his wife. "You know nothing! What nonsense are you talking about? You've never seen the world! In this world, gold and silver are not as valuable as grain. How can the price of grain not go up?"
The young wife, Xiao Cui, also nodded and said, "Before I fled the famine in my hometown, the price of brown rice was already 700 coins per catty, and the price of fine grains was more than double that. Thousands of people died of starvation in our area because they couldn't afford to buy food. The price set by the clan leader is really not high."
Zhang Dacui wanted to say something, but her family covered her mouth. Lin Changhe looked at Lin Rui and said, "Chief, don't bother with her. She has a lot of hair but little knowledge."
Lin Rui also knew the character of his third aunt. She had to mutter a few words to feel relieved, so he didn't take her words to heart.
Without paper and pen, the testimony was still oral, and we agreed to provide written proof after arriving at a safe place.
Even though we're all in debt now, we're still happy. At least we're still alive. It's just five taels of silver, isn't it? If we can't pay it back in three years, we can pay it back in five. If I can't pay it back, I still have my son. It's much better than starving to death.
Lin Rui's refined rice gave everyone great courage. What was even more amazing was that after following the clan leader, they no longer ate dry bread and moldy brown rice. The worst food they had was thick porridge, and every now and then they had a meal of dry rice.
When eating porridge, it is not just plain porridge, but also some particularly delicious chicken and duck meat are added to make the whole bowl of porridge full of flavor.
Mudunzi Ermao, Niuniu and others ate without even raising their heads. After a period of time, Cao'er and her son gradually adjusted their stomachs and were able to eat normal food like everyone else. They also grew some flesh on their cheeks and bodies, and finally did not look like human anymore.
On the day of eating dry rice, everyone walked with a breeze on their feet. They watched the white steam with the fragrance of rice rising from the women's cooking pots, and then topped it with a layer of bacon slices and wild vegetables soaked in water. For them, it was the most delicious meal on the road of fleeing famine.
Since they started eating public food, everyone's life was like a dream. The more distance they traveled, the lower the price they could sell the people for. When they reached the same section as Lin Rui and others, a steamed bun could be exchanged for a contract to sell their body.
Zhang Dacui stopped talking after seeing this scene. Although their family owed so much debt, the clan leader was kind and did not urge them to pay it back. He provided everyone with good food and drink, and everyone's complexion looked much better.
Compared with losing freedom and becoming a slave, Chief Lin Rui's proposal to share the burden according to the market price of grain seems more humane.
The young wife's family now eats and drinks well every day. Fang Bing and his son can eat an average amount every day and have a full stomach. They can eat meat every two or three days, and no one says that Xiao Cui is a spendthrift anymore.
Xiao Cui loves to eat the fragrant meat cooked with thick porridge the most. Although Aunt Feng and Sister Susu said that the fragrant meat wrapped in various spices and exuding a strong meaty aroma is duck and chicken, she has eaten it once or twice at home before. How can chicken and duck meat be as delicious as the meat in porridge!
This was really a wonderful misunderstanding. Ever since Lin Rui's family had diarrhea after eating these chicken legs and chicken wings last time, no matter how his family members hinted that he was fine and that the diarrhea was a gastrointestinal problem and had nothing to do with these chicken legs and chicken wings, Lin Rui still refused for safety reasons.
This made Mu Tou Sanliang's eyes linger in the box every time his aunt and second aunt were cooking, trying to find the chicken legs and wings for that day's meal.
Seeing their eyes glowing green and their expressions that they would rather have diarrhea again than eat the chicken legs, he hid them in his space. Until one day, his brother-in-law Zhao Qing suggested that it would be a waste to leave such delicious meat alone. It would be better to chop it up and put it in the porridge pot to cook. Once it is cooked, all the dirt will be gone and he will definitely not have diarrhea again.
The reason they had diarrhea was that their bodies could not tolerate modern food additives. Lin Rui ate the same thing and nothing happened. It was estimated that his physique was similar to that of the original owner, so he had no reaction after eating it.
However, Lin Rui thought Zhao Qing's suggestion was worth a try. At least it would provide everyone with some meat. The meat porridge also had a light umami flavor and was easier to swallow than white porridge.
Now other disaster victims are racking their brains to think of how to avoid going hungry, but he has started to be picky about food.
The meals during the daily journey were the same as everyone else's, one meal in the morning and one meal in the evening, and the rest of the time was spent on the journey.
Sanliang, who was in charge of exploring the way ahead, suddenly came over excitedly: "Master, master! There are a lot of small puddles ahead, and there is a lot of mud in the puddles!"
"Really!" Lin Rui's eyes lit up. The appearance of puddles meant that they had finally left the drought-stricken area and could finally use water freely on the road.
Does God know how humble he has been in carefully maintaining the amount of water and afraid that others will find out?
Lin Ziyang immediately ran over, and when he reached the puddle, he scooped up the muddy water with his hands, tears in his eyes. He finally saw water and finally got out of this damn place!
But before he could finish his words, he was choked by the strong fishy smell and stepped back, hurriedly shaking off the water on his hands.
"Ugh! There's animal feces and urine in here, it stinks!"
"Look here, there is indeed moist soil. We must have left the arid zone!"
The place where they are now may have been a low-lying area with water flowing through it. The potholes are all small puddles with diameters ranging from 50 centimeters to 1 meter. The puddles are turbid and smell of urine. The wild wolves, rats and other animals nearby regard this place as a water source, and it is animal nature to urinate and defecate everywhere.
Finally we saw water. Even though it was sewage now, we couldn't help but feel relieved. At least we weren't dying of thirst!
Ermao, Dunzi, Sanliang, and Mutou all happily rushed back from the front. Sanliang pointed to a shallow puddle less than a hundred meters away and said, "Master, there are fish in the puddle over there!"
Fish? Everyone's eyes lit up. Although fish meat has many bones and cannot be compared with chicken, duck, goose or pig, it is still a blessing to be able to catch a fish to fill your stomach while fleeing famine.
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