Chapter 88 Going Starving
After sitting on the kang in a daze for a while, Fubao wanted to lie down again and continue sleeping.
She wanted to continue dreaming this dream to see how large the scope of the famine was and whether a famine would also occur in City A where Brother Dingkun was.
However, when she lay down again, she couldn't fall asleep, so she had no choice but to get up.
After getting up, she heard sounds coming from the kitchen and knew that it was Liu Guizhi who got up early in the morning to steam dry food.
Now Gu Shengtian and Fubao are twelve years old and in the sixth grade of primary school. They will take the junior high school entrance exam this summer. Gu Yuejin and Gu Yuehua are already in junior high school, one in the third grade and the other in the second grade. They both live in the middle school in the commune and come back once a week to get dry food.
They carried dry food and pickles back to school in net bags, and they would carry them for a whole week.
Today is Saturday. Mom must be thinking about her two brothers coming back, so she got up early in the morning to steam dry food for them so that they can take it to school tomorrow.
Now their family lives a good life and has no shortage of food. Mother usually steams dry food by mixing corn flour with a little bit of sweet potato flour. For a rural family with four children, this is a good life.
After all, the food consumed by the poor family can be eaten by four children, so the food consumption is really huge.
Fubao frowned slightly. She would have to talk to her mother about this later, letting them know that famine was coming and that they had to eat frugally. They had to plan ahead for everything. If the family had any extra money, they had to rush to the black market to find some food. And as for the cornmeal, if they could exchange it for sorghum or sweet potato flour, they had to do it. After all, they would all have enough to eat. Cornmeal was precious; one pound of cornmeal could be exchanged for one and a half pounds of sorghum flour and two pounds of sweet potato flour.
But before that...
Fubao got off the kang, took out the paper and pen for homework, spread it out, thought for a while, and started writing the letter.
She wanted to write a letter to Xiao Dingkun.
She has been in contact with Xiao Dingkun since she learned to read and write in the second grade of elementary school. Now that Xiao Dingkun has turned 18, he was introduced by her sister to work as an apprentice in a machinery processing factory. He is doing well now and is paid 20 yuan a month and given a lot of food coupons.
Xiao Dingkun would also send her some popular science books he bought in the city, and occasionally some food, such as biscuits.
Fubao didn't know how widespread the famine was. If it affected the city, life in the city would be even more miserable than in the countryside. In the countryside, at least one could grow something in one's own private plots, or at worst, one could go to the mountains to hunt for food or dig tree bark. But what was there in the city? There was nothing in the city. When people were really starving, they could only starve and there was nothing they could do.
In this letter, she first talked about her studies, then about her recent situation, and asked about Xiao Dingkun's work at the machinery factory. Finally, she brought up the famine: "Brother Dingkun, have you stored food in the city? I've been having dreams lately where I feel like I'm starving. If you have any extra money, please buy some food."
After Fubao finished writing, he read his letter again from beginning to end.
She knew a little about the current situation. Occasionally, Huo Jinyun would tell her something in private, and she would reveal some of it in her words. Although it was very vague, she roughly knew the meaning.
She was also a little worried that if her letter was seen by someone, they would accuse her of misleading others.
Then she thought about it and revised it again, saying, "I've been having dreams lately that there seems to be no food at home, so I asked my father to take the food coupons and money to exchange for food."
Such a sentence couldn't be more ordinary. Even if someone else saw this letter, no one would think much of it. As for Brother Dingkun... Fubao bit her lip. She vaguely felt that Brother Dingkun could understand what she meant.
She carefully put the letter between the books, thinking that when her brothers Yuejin and Yuehua came back from the commune, she would ask them to help her put the letter into the mailbox and send it to her brother Dingkun.
After finishing all this, she came to the kitchen. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw Liu Guizhi opening the lid of the big pot and piling the steamed cornmeal cakes out of the pot. The golden cornmeal cakes still had a crispy crust, which made people like to eat them at first sight.
Although it was only April and not hot, Liu Guizhi's forehead was still sweating. When she heard the noise, she raised her hand to wipe the sweat off her face and looked at Fubao with a smile: "Fubao, come and try it. It's fresh out of the pot. It's delicious while it's hot."
Fubao looked at the cornmeal pancake.
The cornmeal pancakes steamed by Liu Guizhi are soft and hot on the inside, with a crispy crust on the outside. They are really delicious. Although they are not made with much oil and sugar, they taste fragrant and sweet.
Fubao took the cornmeal pancake, tasted two bites and put it on the steamer on the stove. Then she sat on a wooden block and helped burn firewood in the stove.
While fiddling with the firewood stick in his hand, he said, "Mom, do you think our production brigade will have a good harvest this year?"
Liu Guizhi looked at Fubao in surprise. "Of course I can. I see the sorghum cobs are growing well this year, and the wheat seedlings are all in full bloom, green as if coated with oil, and strong. This year is definitely a good year."
For several years in a row, the Pingxi Production Brigade has had bumper harvests. Liu Guizhi feels that life is good and there is hope. She firmly believes that their family will never go hungry again.
Fu Bao thought for a moment and asked, "Did Uncle Fu tell us what quota the higher-ups have given us this year? How much grain do we have to pay?"
Liu Guizhi was stunned: "How would I know? I just pay whatever they ask me to pay."
Fubao sighed softly.
She didn't know the cause of the famine, nor did she know what kind of accident would happen next. She only knew that if she said it rashly, few people would believe her.
But she still had to say it.
Knowing that she could not save everything by herself, nor could she save everyone from hunger, she could only try hard to make those around her believe in her.
So Fubao raised his head and looked at Liu Guizhi: "Mom, let me tell you something. I had a nightmare today."
Liu Guizhi: "Nightmare?"
Liu Guizhi was quite alert to Fubao's nightmares. Gu Weidong also mentioned this to Liu Guizhi, saying that what Fubao said sometimes came true and one had to believe it.
Fubao then talked about his nightmare: "I just woke up from a nightmare. I dreamed that there was a famine here. We confiscated a lot of food, and we still had to pay the tax. Many people here will starve, and life will be very difficult."
Liu Guizhi was shocked: "Ah? How could it be!"
Fubao lowered his eyes.
Twelve-year-old Fubao is no longer the soft and tender little baby she was at the age of six or seven. She is tall with a long and beautiful white neck and thick, slightly curled eyelashes. When she lowers her eyes, her graceful white neck also lowers, with the elegance of a swan drooping its neck by the lake.
Fubao continued, "Mom, I don't know if it's true or not. Maybe it was just a dream, but I'm scared, so I told you anyway. What if it's true? I was thinking, shouldn't we stock up on food? It doesn't matter if it's coarse grains or fine grains, we need to stock up. Otherwise, if there's a famine, it won't be a small matter."
Liu Guizhi didn't say anything for a long time.
Life has been really good in the past few years. We have a good harvest every year, and the harvest from our own private plots is also good. We live frugally and have enough food to eat. We can also eat cornmeal frequently.
This kind of well-fed life lasted for so long that Liu Guizhi almost forgot what it felt like to be hungry.
But Liu Guizhi had experienced hunger before. When people are extremely hungry, they will eat anything. The little kid was so hungry that he would grab a handful of dirt from the ground and stuff it into his mouth.
Liu Guizhi sighed: "I'll discuss this with your father. If it doesn't work, we can just - stock up on some food."
Actually, she believed in Fubao. After all, Fubao was a blessed child. She was very good at speaking and had predicted things correctly many times before. But after all, stockpiling food was a big deal and she couldn't rush into it. She had to discuss it with Gu Weidong.
When Fubao heard her mother say this, she knew that she believed most of it, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She wasn't actually too sure about this matter. After all, it was just a dream. What if it wasn't true?
But somehow, she felt that it must be true.
Liu Guizhi quickly told Gu Weidong about this matter, and Gu Weidong was shocked when he heard it.
He reacted much more quickly than Liu Guizhi. He immediately called Fubao over and asked him carefully about his dream.
Fubao tried hard to recall and told Gu Weidong everything he had dreamed about.
After hearing this, Gu Weidong frowned deeply and fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he looked up and said, "You and Dingkun have been in contact through letters. Why don't you write to him and ask him what he means? He's in a big city, so he might be well-informed."
Fubao: "Well, I have already written the letter. I thought I would wait for my brother to come back and have them take it to the commune and mail it out."
Gu Weidong nodded repeatedly, then frowned and walked back and forth in the room. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm going to find Chen Youfu. I have to go to Chen Youfu to find out some information!"
He was more decisive than Liu Guizhi, and believed more than Liu Guizhi that Fubao was a smart kid.
Although there seemed to be no signs of anything happening now, he felt that Fubao would not say this for no reason, and would not have such a dream for no reason.
Gu Weidong immediately went to see Chen Youfu and asked about the production team's targets for this year. Chen Youfu was very optimistic: "We will definitely have a bumper harvest this year, and all the members will have enough to eat! When the time comes, we will distribute pork, corn, and flour to everyone."
When Chen Youfu said this, he smiled broadly, showing his white teeth: "Life in our Pingxi Production Brigade is getting better and better every year!"
When he said this, he thought of the production brigade next door. The Taitou production brigade next door was not as good as them. Comparing yourself with others is really frustrating!
Just thinking about it makes him feel proud. Seeing the members having a full meal, Chen Youfu is in a good mood.
Gu Weidong looked at Chen Youfu and thought it was not the case, so he asked again, "Do you think we will have a famine this year?"
Chen Youfu suddenly looked at Gu Weidong and frowned: "What are you talking about? Don't say such unlucky words!"
Both of them are in their thirties. They were born before liberation and still remember the famine and hunger before liberation. They never want to go hungry again in their lives!
Gu Weidong opened his mouth again: "I am blessed, but the world is unpredictable. What if——"
However, Chen Youfu clapped his hand heavily on his shoulder and said word by word, "There is no such thing as a single event."
Gu Weidong was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly understood.
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