Chapter 202: Out of Food
Early the next morning.
"Mom, are you up? It's time to make breakfast." Sun gently knocked on Mrs. Chen's door.
Old Mrs. Chen tossed and turned all night without sleeping, and the meat that was about to reach her mouth was gone.
Her heart felt like it was clogged with a ball of cotton, unable to move up or down. She sighed in pain, but couldn't fall asleep.
I tossed and turned like a pancake and didn't feel sleepy until dawn. Just as I was feeling very sleepy, I heard a knock on the door.
He sat up suddenly and cursed unhappily, "Knock, knock, knock! You're calling me so early in the morning!"
Sun said angrily, "You didn't prepare the rice for this morning last night. I'm waiting for it to cook!"
The Chen family's food was locked in a cabinet by Old Mrs. Chen. Usually, the food for the next morning would be taken out the night before, and Sun could cook as soon as she got up.
Old Mrs. Chen was in a bad mood these two days because she had lost the money she had earned, and she actually forgot about it yesterday.
After finally falling asleep, Old Mrs. Chen was woken up by Sun. She was so angry that she got up, put on her shoes and went out.
He fumbled around and took out the key from his waist, opened the cabinet where the grain was stored,
But he found that the rice jar was empty and there was no food left at home.
Old Mrs. Chen's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. "Eat, eat, eat. I have to eat as soon as I open my eyes. I can't live like this anymore!"
Sun came in carrying a rice basin, glanced into the cupboard, frowned and complained, "Mom, you said a while ago that we wouldn't starve, but now everyone is waiting to eat. How can I cook without rice?"
Old Mrs. Chen's face turned pale. She had indeed said this. It was her fault. She secretly sold the family's food rations for her third son's studies. Otherwise, they would not have been able to survive until the autumn harvest.
There are still more than 20 days left before the autumn harvest. If we don't have food, we will probably starve to death.
I thought that if I could make that dead girl Chen Qingqing lose her innocence, she would have to marry Fan Tong, and I could get the betrothal money without anyone knowing. Not only would it solve the food problem, but the remaining money could also be used to build a yard. But now, all my efforts have been in vain.
He touched the thirty coins in his pocket and sighed helplessly, "Second brother, take these thirty coins and go to town to buy some corn. The crops in the fields will be ready for harvest in a few days, so we'll be able to get through this."
Sun looked at the money she handed over and smiled awkwardly, "Mom, Zhanliang's leg hasn't healed yet, I don't have the time to go to town to buy food, let my dad go!"
"Let Dabao go. He carries the work for that damn girl every day and doesn't do any housework at all. What's the point of keeping him?"
"I don't like what you said. Dabao gets paid for working for Qingyatou. How can you say he's carrying the work for her?"
Old Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes. "Since there is wages, why don't I see a penny?"
"How should I know? Dabao is not a child. He has the right to take the money he earns. As a mother, I can't control so much."
Old Mrs. Chen was so choked by Sun's words that she was speechless for a moment.
At this moment, Old Man Chen walked in from outside with his hands behind his back. "Okay, stop arguing. I'm going to buy some rice."
Old Mrs. Chen handed him the money and urged him, "Take the money and come back quickly. Don't delay."
"Don't worry, it won't delay lunch." Old man Chen took the money and went out.
After a long while, Old Man Chen finally came back panting.
Old Mrs. Chen looked at the half bag of rice and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Old man, how could you only buy such a small amount of food with thirty cents?"
Old Man Chen took a sip of water, took a few deep breaths, and then said, "The price of grain has increased. It used to be three cents a liter of corn, but now it has risen to six cents. You gave me thirty cents, and I only bought this."
Old Mrs. Chen was a little bit unbelievable, "You must have been cheated, how could the price increase so much all of a sudden?"
"I asked several rice shops, and they all had the same price. This year has been a bad year, and all grain prices have increased. Polished rice has already gone up to 40 wen per jin."
After Old Man Chen finished speaking, he paused for a moment, then sighed and said, "My dear, life is not going to be easy. I just heard in town that the imperial court will increase taxes this year. I'm afraid we won't have enough food to eat!"
Old Mrs. Chen's heart tightened. "What should we do? Is our family really going to starve?"
"Okay, don't worry about it for now. Just deal with it first. By next spring, if the third child can pass the exam and become a scholar, our family's difficulties will definitely be overcome."
"Yeah, that's all we have at the moment."
Old Mrs. Chen came out of the house carrying a small bag of corn. "Second brother, I bought some rice. Hurry up and make some porridge. I'm starving."
Sun came out of the thatched house on the side and looked at the small bag of corn. She said with a worried look on her face, "Mom, this little rice is only enough for three days. What are we going to eat in the future?"
"There will always be a way out when you reach the mountain. We can talk about it later. First, fill your stomach. Let's go cook!"
"knew."
Sun was in a depressed mood, and her life was becoming more and more meaningless. Her husband was foolishly filial. Ever since Old Man Chen carried him back from the Wild Wolf Valley, he had believed that Old Man Chen loved him very much. She had suggested dividing the family several times, but he would never agree.
Forget it, you can’t wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep, so let the division of the family take its course!
After realizing this, Sun turned around and went to the kitchen in disappointment.
At this time, Old Man Chen, who had come to rest, said, "Old woman, on my way back just now, I saw more than ten ox carts coming towards our village. The carts were all loaded with blue bricks. It looked like someone was going to build a big house."
"With more than ten ox carts, what a huge house would it take to build one." Old Mrs. Chen's eyes were full of envy. "Let's go and see who's the most powerful family."
Old Mrs. Chen said as she walked out of the courtyard...
Chen Qingqing knew that bricks were to be delivered today, and had already found a place to put them. When she saw the Lu brothers coming, she pointed to the open space on the side of the road and asked.
"Master Lu, can you unload the bricks here?"
"Okay, just unload it here!"
"Well, since you guys are busy, I won't accompany you."
The Lu brothers nodded. Chen Qingqing had something else to do at the sugar factory and knew they couldn't help much here, so they turned and went to the Wu family's old house.
When the old man and his wife walked into the yard, they saw a long row of ox carts pulling blue bricks parked at the door. They couldn't help but frown.
"Old man, you are right. Someone in our village wants to build a house."
"Why are they parked in front of our house? Could it be that that damn girl is really going to build a house?"
After this reminder, Old Lady Chen woke up as if from a dream, and she could not help but gnashing her teeth, "After such a thing happened, she started preparing the materials today. It seems that this damn girl is really going to make trouble."
"Looking at this situation, are you planning to build a big house?"
"Impossible. I'm not looking down on them. They're just poor souls who wouldn't spend their money even if they had it. They'd be lucky enough to build an ordinary brick and tile house."
"You're right. That damn girl is more cunning than a chicken and more cunning than a monkey. She'll be married off in a few years. That's why she's so reluctant to spend hundreds of taels of silver on building a house!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
