"Good?" Fan Damu asked casually, "How good can things be?"
Having lived in the village for decades, how could he not know?
Black noodles with a bunch of vegetables, boil them, add plenty of salt, and once you're full of water, that's it.
Yes, last year the villagers followed Fan Jin and earned a lot of rice. Rice can be exchanged for silver, but didn't they use that silver to build houses? There wasn't any left over.
This year, we've only exchanged rice a few times before the flood hit. After the flood, I'm afraid Fan Jin's whole family won't even have enough rice, and they'll have to eat potatoes to fill their stomachs every day, let alone exchange rice with the villagers.
In the face of famine, how can one care about others?
Only a few households in the village grow potatoes. Do you think they wouldn't share them with the other villagers? Dream on! You can have anything in your dreams.
“They eat three meals a day now, at least two of which are dry, and they can even eat eggs and meat from time to time. Their lives are much better than before,” Fan Erzhu said, feeling frustrated.
Although I don't want to admit it, I have to admit that the lives of other families in the village are vastly different from what they used to be.
Fan Damu, who had been leaning against the door frame, straightened up, his nonchalant expression vanishing, and his voice darkening: "The rice harvest is a complete failure, the fertile fields have all been destroyed, and winter wheat can't be planted either. How can we possibly have three meals a day? How can we possibly eat meat and eggs?"
The chickens, ducks, and geese raised at home can reproduce, but in the past, they would be gathered together and taken out to exchange for salt!
Not to mention meat, there are only a few chickens, ducks and geese. Once they are killed, they are gone. How can we bear to eat them?
Have the villagers gone mad? Don't they want to live their lives anymore?
He looked at the three people in front of him and asked incredulously, "Did they sell their children? Is that why they have food?"
Fan Qian and the other two looked grim and stammered for a long time.
They're the only family in the village who's sold their daughter; wouldn't it be shameful to say it now?
Fortunately, Zhao Di was sold to one of his own brothers, not an outsider, and adoption is not a big deal.
Fan Qian, feeling guilty, said hesitantly, "No, it's just that Zhang the Bald sold more than 20 mu of land to his sister-in-law and exchanged it for a lot of cornmeal, enough for the whole family to eat."
Fan Sanzhu hurriedly explained, speaking in detail and clearly: "Last month, Master Bai hired people to transport potatoes to Nanning. The price he offered was quite good, and most families earned three or four taels of silver. At that time, the price of black flour had just risen, but it wasn't as expensive as it is now. People in the village bought several hundred catties and stored them at home."
Now, with income from selling rabbits, there's no need to use the eggs to trade for salt; they can eat them themselves during the busy farming season.
He couldn't help but swallow hard when talking about eggs. His playmate said that now they collect eight or nine eggs a day, and seven or eight of them can be cooked and eaten!
The mushrooms he picked earlier could be exchanged for eggs at his second uncle and aunt's house. The black noodles paired with the eggs made even the black noodles smooth and fragrant.
Fan Erzhu and Fan Qian felt a little sad. Their family was one of the few who had only earned one or two taels of silver. However, when they thought that Zhang Tuzi's family hadn't even earned that one or two taels of silver, their frustration and dejection vanished.
"Busy farming season? What busy farming season is it now?" Fan Damu asked bluntly, focusing on the key point.
Potatoes were already planted in the first half of the year, so are we going to plant winter wheat again? But the fertile soil in the village's fields has been washed away, leaving the soil compacted so that crops can't take root. Not only will it be a waste of effort, but it will also waste wheat seeds!
"The villagers are planning to plant another crop of potatoes at the end of this month or the beginning of next month. The old village chief and the others found an unclaimed hill, and each household in the village carried soil from there to their own fields to plant winter wheat." Fan Qiansheng had a feeling that something was wrong with Fan Damu.
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