Looking at the tightly closed door, Qian Xiao sighed, turned around, and went straight to her great-grandfather's house not far away.
"Erdan's here! Come in and sit down. What are you doing out in this cold weather?" Grandma saw that Qian Xiao wasn't even wearing a hat and quickly pulled him inside, feeling sorry for him.
Qian Xiao didn't stand on ceremony and climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed): "It's all because of my grandma. She said she missed me terribly. I've only been back for a few days and she's already bothering me. She's just trying to get me to come out for a stroll."
Grandma chuckled, "Perfect timing! I've been missing you. You barely said a word when you came the day before yesterday. This is a good opportunity to keep Grandma company for a while."
Qian Xiao tilted his head and looked around: "Where's my great-grandfather? Where's Gouzi?"
“Your great-grandfather went to see the old master, and Gouzi went back to his parents’ place. He’s already in junior high school, so he’ll have to go back sooner or later. He’ll go back to the county town for junior high.”
Oh right, she'd completely forgotten that her son is in middle school this year.
"No need to rush, he'll be back in a couple of days. Can he stay in the city during his vacation?" If we didn't keep him here, this brat wouldn't have gone back to his parents.
"Grandma, Grandpa, I'm back."
You know, people just can't help but keep talking about things; look, he's back now.
Grandma opened the door and saw her grandson had returned: "You came back by yourself, your parents are relieved."
"Grandma, what are you worried about? I'm a grown-up now. Oh my god, Erdan, what brings you here?"
"What are you saying? Can't I come to my great-grandmother's house? Why are you back even later than me?"
"I just finished my exam the day before yesterday, so I couldn't come back any earlier. What day did you get back?"
"I got home three days earlier than you. How did the exam go?"
Dog... are we not family anymore? Can you please stop asking such a difficult question as soon as we meet?
This guy, whenever you ask about his grades, he never says a word.
"Hey, is there any hot water? I'm so thirsty from walking all this way," he said. Unlike Erdan, who always gets picked up when he goes home, he always walks back by himself.
"Yes, yes, hurry up and get on the kang to warm up. I'll go get you a bowl of ginger water. Erdan, do you want some? Grandma will add sugar for you."
"Grandma, I don't want it. You can get it for Gouzi."
Dog... Look at this differential treatment, it's like Erdan is a relative and he's just visiting.
However, he could only think about it in his heart. He had received this kind of treatment many times since he was a child, so he could only secretly envy it. After all, he wasn't a little girl.
It's thanks to his good attitude that he didn't hate Erdan long ago.
"There's a big market in a couple of days, are you going?" Gouzi was in such a hurry to come back because he wanted to go to the market and join in the fun.
"Oh, why is it so early this year?" In previous years, there was also a big market here, but it was only in the last few days of the year.
"It's not that the harvest is bad this year, we thought we'd open the market early so that those families who really can't afford to eat can see if they can exchange something for something to take home."
"No way, you're so well-informed even in the county town? You know about this too."
The dog gave him a look that said, "Who do you think you are? I know everything that's going on in this area. Just tell me if you're going or not."
"Is there anything extra to exchange now?" In recent years, it's considered good for families to be able to fill their stomachs to the brim. Who would have any extra grain or anything to exchange for? Would there be any people at the market?
Speaking of this, the dog also looked insecure. "Yeah, we're barely making ends meet, how can other people be doing so well?"
"Then let's not go?" If there aren't many people around, this trip isn't absolutely necessary.
Qian shook his head: "I'm not going. There's definitely nothing to exchange. I'd rather go up the mountain and take a stroll, maybe even catch a rabbit for a treat."
When she returned, she heard from her second and third uncles that they had gone up the mountain quite a few times this year, but there was nothing there and they hadn't brought back any game. The family hadn't eaten meat for a long time.
Not to mention using meat coupons to buy meat. The meat processing plant didn't even have any pigs to slaughter. People weren't even getting enough to eat, so who would waste food to raise pigs?
The dog shook its head: "You haven't been back for half a year. You don't know, there's nothing left on the mountain. When I went up the mountain in the fall, all the fruits and things that used to grow were barely there. They looked so pitiful. The foot of the mountain is all bald."
“Some families have even started peeling tree bark to fill their stomachs. What are these people thinking? We told them to prepare more food back then, and we were so confident then, saying that the old folks in the village were talking nonsense and that there was no way there would be a drought. Look at them now.”
"What? Is it that serious? Doesn't the village still have surplus grain for emergencies?"
Gouzi glanced outside and lowered his voice: "I heard from my grandpa that there's not much left. We'll have to wait until spring to distribute the last bit of food. I'm afraid some people won't be able to manage their resources and will starve to death when food is scarce."
Qian Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was still some grain left to tide them over. The food shortage problem would not be alleviated until autumn at the earliest, and that was assuming it would actually rain next year. If things continued like this, the entire village would starve.
"As for wild vegetables, I never thought about storing more when they grow. Although they won't fill you up, they won't starve you either, right?"
"You didn't see how many people there were on the mountain in early spring, more than wild vegetables. This autumn, only about one-fifth of the harvest was made. If it weren't for our great-uncle going to the commune to cry every day, none of it would have survived."
Qian Xiao frowned. She was at school when the wild vegetables grew and when they were harvested in the fields in autumn, so she really didn't know about these things. Her grandparents never told her about these things either, for fear that she would worry about the family.
"Don't get upset. Our village is considered good. The water from the mountain has helped a lot. You didn't see how the men in the village patrolled every night during the autumn harvest, just in case someone stole the little bit of grain that had been saved from the fields."
“I heard from my grandfather that no one could sleep well during that period. It was only because there were more people in our village that we could get a good night’s sleep. If there were fewer people, we would have been robbed long ago.”
Qian Xiao listened with growing anxiety. When people are starving, they're capable of anything. God, please bless us so that next year will bring good weather and a bountiful harvest.
At this moment, Qian Xiao forgot all about feudal superstitions. As long as the weather could return to normal, she was willing to kowtow to God.
Thinking about the grain that would soon be collected from the space, she wondered if she should try to get some out, but what reason could she give? It was all new grain, and she couldn't explain its origin.
She should wait until tonight to discuss it with Sun Kaicheng in the space. She still sent some of the money to the black market last time she came back. The people in the black market here are not as generous as Brother Long in Long City. If it weren't for the space, she and Sun Kaicheng would have had a hard time getting away.
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