The two left first.
Fan Damu stood on tiptoe in the crowd for a while, then left.
Before the old village chief could speak, an elderly man advised, "You young people have never experienced a great flood. Do you think the harvest in the fields can be saved when the flood comes?"
The rice seedlings were all washed away! The water in the field was knee-deep. They'd been soaking for ten days to two weeks; how could those little seedlings withstand that? By the time the water dried up, their roots would have rotted.
"Years of famine are tough. When we run out of wild vegetables, we chop up all the wild grass and tree roots and boil them to eat. You've never eaten tree bark before. If you had, you would know that during a famine, eating this stuff that Shangjin boy brings is a delicacy!"
Sun Jinhua couldn't stand everyone praising her brother-in-law, so she said coldly, "Tch, tree bark can be boiled and eaten. This stuff is like tree roots; it's buried in the soil, and it takes a lot of effort to dig it out."
You said yourself that you won't have enough to eat, so where will you get the strength to dig for it?
The old man shook his head, his tone utterly helpless: "You think you can chew boiled tree bark? Can something you can't swallow fill your stomach?"
Children who haven't experienced famine think that eating tree bark means peeling it off and boiling it.
In reality, the fruit is peeled off, dried, ground into powder, and cooked into a paste to eat.
It was not easy and tasted very bad.
"Let's go, let's go. What's the point of talking to these poor people? They have nothing to eat, but we have enough to eat!" Mother Fan said to her eldest daughter-in-law with a sidelong glance.
From a distance in the crowd, Fan Jin spoke up, asking, "Mother, aren't you going to plant it?"
Mother Fan turned around and snorted, "Don't worry! Even if I'm starving, I won't eat this damn tree root!"
Besides, even if you starve to the point of selling your children, your mother will still have food. Oh, and who knows if there will be a flood? You guys believe things that are completely unfounded.
The authorities haven't even posted any notices, yet you all know? If you ask me, stop spreading rumors and misleading the public, or I'll report you to the authorities!
"Hey, Aunt Fan, if you don't want to plant it, then don't. Why say such unpleasant things?"
"We know you have food, we just hope you won't come looking for food from that kid next year!"
“The old village chief is thinking of the village, and Uncle Jin is also doing it for our own good. He doesn’t charge us money, nor does he force us to plant. Go ahead and report him to the authorities. We’ll be your witnesses for the old village chief and Uncle Jin!”
Furious, Fan's mother kept groaning. Seeing that she couldn't win the argument, she left, saying, "They're all destined to suffer!"
Sun Jinhua rolled her eyes and followed her mother-in-law home.
The old village chief looked at the silent Fan Jin and sighed, "If you don't believe me, then don't worry about it. We'll just focus on doing our own thing."
Fan Jin nodded. "Please help distribute them, old village chief."
Except for a few families, and a few households that thought they had enough food, the remaining twenty-three households all wanted it.
Wang Guifen took out the dried leaves of the large trees and wrapped up the seeds for each household to take back.
The old village chief's family had a large population and many barren mountains, so they received a considerable amount of seeds.
The second daughter-in-law had already taken out some wood ash from the stove and cooled it until it was completely cooled before carefully mixing the kudzu seeds.
Before it got completely dark, the three brothers, Li the eldest, the second, and the third, went up the mountain and scattered the seeds evenly on several hills.
The same applies to other households in the village.
Back home, Fan Jin told Shui Qing what had happened. Then, thinking of his father-in-law's family in Niutou Town, he asked, "What are your plans for your father-in-law and mother-in-law?"
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