"Honey, we've been here for so long and haven't even had a chance to shower. It's so inconvenient with so many people in the house. I feel really uncomfortable."
“There’s nothing we can do about it, Tingting. Look at how difficult things are now. We’re in the Northeast, and at least we have enough to eat.”
“You have no idea how difficult it is in other places, but in this situation, we can’t waste this water at home; we have to use it for cooking.”
"Honey, we've been storing water, haven't we? Tonight, while we wait for Mom and my older brother are asleep, we'll take turns watching outside so we can quickly take a bath, or we'll really start to stink."
"Okay, honey, there aren't any lights or anything for illumination right now, and everyone goes to bed early. Let's take a shower tonight."
"Honey, can we move out and separate? We can't bring anything out of this house, and we can't even eat anything good," Tingting said dejectedly.
“Don’t even think about it for the next two years. Even if we can separate and move away, where will we get the money? Even if we exchange grain for money on the black market, we’ll still have to watch out for you if you come to build a house,” Jianjun said.
"If we take out the money now, we're not far from our doom. Let's just stay put for the next two years and live peacefully."
"Alright, we still have to find a way to get some food. This porridge every day is making us dizzy," Tingting said with a worried look.
"How about this? Let's talk to our parents and have Mom take out some money and coupons, saying we're going to check if there's any grain, and then bring it back. That way we'll have an excuse."
“Honey, let’s try going tomorrow. Let’s go out and see if we can exchange some money and tickets. Having money in hand will put our minds at ease.”
"Alright, take a shower first, we can discuss other things later."
After showering in our private space, we took out the makeup we needed for tomorrow's outing. We had to disguise ourselves to be safer.
Organize the grains that need to be sold: 50 jin of cornmeal, 100 jin of sweet potatoes, 50 eggs, 50 jin of potatoes, and 20 apples. Use these to test the waters with brown sugar first.
"Honey, let's prepare these first. If it doesn't work, we can figure out something else later."
"Okay, let's do it this way. Go to sleep now, and get up early to discuss going to the city with your mother. If she doesn't agree, we'll say we're going up the mountain."
"Okay, go to sleep now, we have to go out tomorrow."
After they finished tidying up, they went to sleep and slept soundly without any dreams...
As soon as it began to lighten, Guo Jianjun got up early. "Dad, Mom, are you awake?" Guo Jianjun knocked on the door and asked.
"Get up, third brother, what's wrong?" the two elders said.
"It's like this, Mom and Dad. You said you don't know when these things will end. I want to try my luck at the black market."
“This is no small matter. You didn’t think about what would happen if you got caught. Even if you went, in this situation, who has any food left?” Old Man Guo said.
"Dad, I know what you're saying, but I want to try my luck. If it really doesn't work out, I'll come back as soon as possible. Xiaoting and I will go together so we can look after each other."
"Given the current situation, we don't know when it will end, and we don't know if our grain will last until spring planting."
“If this continues, we adults can go without food. Look at these children in our family, and look at how long it has been since any newborns were born in our village. Ting and I are not young anymore, and we don’t have any children either. It’s all because we’re not getting enough to eat.”
As Guo Jianjun spoke, he pinched himself and shed a few tears. When Guo's mother saw her son say this, and thought about the days they had been living, she also lowered her head and wiped away her tears.
Old Man Guo lowered his head and said, "Jianjun, you two go ahead. Be careful, and if things get too difficult, run away immediately. Your mother and I are getting old and can't take any more hardship."
Guo Jianjun nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, Mom and Dad."
Grandma Guo rummaged through the cabinet on the kang (a heated brick bed), took out a piece of cloth, and gave him the money she had.
"Jianjun, there's 50 yuan here, but no coupons. Buy all the grain you can get, everything. I understand, Mom, don't worry."
They called Tingting along, and the two of them set off quickly while it was still early.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
