Recently, there haven't been many leftovers in the cafeteria, and everyone is feeling sad.
When the group went to work, they locked the door, leaving only Aiguo and Zhao's mother at home. Every now and then, they could hear knocking on the door—some were beggars, some wanted to borrow things, and some were people with ill intentions.
In short, the two of them were relatively safe at home. That day, the old woman and the child were at home. Zhao's mother sat in the yard, basking in the sun and knitting a sweater, while Zhao Aiguo squatted on the ground, playing with ant holes. Just when everything was peaceful, they heard a wail from the old Mrs. Li next door, "That damned person is not human! How could they steal my half-month's worth of food? How am I supposed to live? God, I can't live like this!"
Zhao's mother stopped knitting, quickly tidied up, and led Zhao Aiguo into the house. This kind of thing happened quite often, and it's been happening more and more frequently this year. Actually, judging from the food Zhao's father and Zhao Dahu brought back every day, it was clear that the cafeteria wasn't a place where they could eat as much as they wanted.
The amount of oil in the dishes decreased day by day, and for a month it was all just clear soup and water. When they came back, they had to add a little lard and salt. Sometimes they really couldn't eat it, so they would open a can of meat and put it in the dishes to eat together.
Zhao Aiguo could no longer guarantee one egg a day. The grocery store would run out of stock as soon as it opened, and even if you had ration coupons and money, you couldn't buy any, which was a real headache.
There was enough grain at home, but not much fresh vegetables. He sighed and soaked a ladle of soybeans, preparing to sprout some soybeans to eat.
I soaked a handful of wood ear mushrooms, waiting for the Zhao father and son to bring back lunchboxes for dinner that evening.
While I was still half asleep, I heard the door lock click. Everyone from the Zhao family who went to work had returned home.
As if by magic, Zhao's father pulled out two meat buns wrapped in oil paper from his pocket and said, "Aiguo, look what Grandpa brought you."
Zhao Aiguo, still half-asleep, quickly got up, opened the package, and exclaimed happily, "Oh, meat buns! I love Grandpa so much!" He then picked one up and held it to his father's lips, saying, "Ah, Grandpa, have a bite." His father happily took a small bite and said, "Okay, Grandpa, eat your fill." Zhao Aiguo shook his head, "Grandpa, don't lie to me, take another big bite." His father said contentedly, "Look how sensible my grandson is! Okay, Grandpa will eat." He carefully broke off a small piece, then gave a bite to each of the adults, only eating the rest himself with satisfaction. He brought back cabbage and tofu, dried cabbage and tofu, shredded radish and potato. His mother added some wood ear mushrooms and a little lard, tasted it, and thought it was a bit bland, so she added a little soy sauce. A hot pot of stew was ready, and everyone ate two steamed buns, enjoying a warm meal.
While I was eating, I heard the old lady next door hysterically shouting, "Mom, Mom, what's wrong with you? My God, why are you so desperate?" It turned out that in the morning, the old lady Li went to buy grain, but on her way back, she was hit by someone and her grain was stolen. Her family was short of food for half a month, and in a moment of despair, she hanged herself.
Such incidents happen every month or two, so all one can do is sigh. The Zhao father and son became even more determined not to let Zhao's mother and Zhao Aiguo go out. Zhao Dahu was responsible for picking up and dropping off Wei Shuqing from get off work.
By the time Qi Zhijun returned to the Qi family, it was already late autumn. When he came back and saw that Qi's mother and Qi Zhifang each had a bowl of thin porridge that was barely better than water, he felt heartbroken. He learned that Qi Zhifang had lost her job and was sweeping toilets on the street, and that she and Qi's mother were pasting matchboxes every day. He also learned that since he went to Tongzhou, Xiao Cui had moved to the dormitory. He couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his heart.
There wasn't much he could do, after all, he only earned ten yuan a month, barely enough to eat his fill. Thinking of this, he decided to go check on Xiao Cui…
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