Aunt Zhang's family are now staunch supporters of Fan Jinshuiqing.
Upon hearing that it was delivered by them, the first person to step forward said, "I don't need to try it, count it as a family portion!"
Her family had no fields, only wasteland and hills. As long as the food was not poisonous or harmful, they would eat anything!
Besides, if Fan Jin, a scholar, can eat it, why can't his family?
Many people then followed suit and raised their hands in support.
At noon, the old village chief had his eldest daughter-in-law go door to door explaining that the cold weather was unusual. The elderly people in the family also agreed, and they were worried about how to feed themselves next year.
These days, if they refuse food delivered to their door, it's like God is feeding them; they not only won't eat it, they'll smash the bowl.
Fan Jin's gaze fell on his mother in the crowd.
Fan's mother squeezed through the excited crowd, grabbed a piece of kudzu root chopped into small pieces from the table in the middle of the courtyard, took a bite, and spat it out with a "pui" under Fan Jin's expectant gaze, cursing, "Bitter!"
Is this even fit for human consumption? It tastes awful; even coarse flour would be better.
Aunt Li, who was standing nearby, advised, "Sister Fan, chew it carefully. I just ate some. The first bite was bitter, but it became sweeter and sweeter as you chewed, with a subtle aftertaste."
Mother Fan glanced at him sideways and said sarcastically, "Are you so hungry that you'll eat anything smelly or bitter?"
"I'm a very picky eater; I can't stomach this kind of rotten tree root stuff."
Aunt Li's face was grim, but considering that this was Fan Jin's biological mother, and considering that Fan Jin and Shui Qing had helped her family a lot, she couldn't say anything unpleasant.
"Make way! Make way! Let me try it and see what this rare thing is all about." Sun Jinhua squeezed in from behind.
She picked the thickest piece, took a big bite, and then finally tore it off. "Ugh, what is this! It's so hard to chew, I almost broke my teeth."
"Brother-in-law, are you sure this is human food? You eat your own rice and flour, you wouldn't be feeding us pig feed, would you?"
Fan Jin lowered his head, his gaze unfathomable.
The old village chief frowned and said to the two men, "Fan family, your daughter-in-law is ignorant, and you're just making a fool of yourself too."
You've been through many famine years before, and you knew that tree roots and bark were edible, so why can't we eat this?
Mother Fan, with her neck stiff, said proudly, "I have never eaten tree bark or roots. Those are for families without land."
My family is wealthy and blessed; why would I need to eat with poor people?
Back then, my family had over fifty acres of fertile land. We could eat as much corn and millet as we wanted, and we also had rice and wheat flour every two or three days.
In years with poor harvests, selling one or two acres of land is enough to feed oneself.
Fan Jin pursed his lips, not uttering a single word.
Sun Jinhua shouted, "You guys are all out of your minds! What's so great about planting something that looks like a tree root? Can you even eat it?"
It's a waste of energy and effort. If you ask me, I'd rather use that time to till the soil in the fields more thoroughly and compost it for a better harvest next year.
Zhang the Bald originally thought that sowing seeds wasn't too tiring and was ready to raise his hand to count him in, but after hearing Sun Jinhua's words, he changed his mind and thought that since they were useless and inedible, why bother with the effort?
Lying down is so nice.
“Dad, it’s a lie. We don’t even know if it’s edible. They’re making us plant it. What if it turns out we can’t eat it?” Zhang Chunhua muttered from the side.
Zhang the Bald Man grunted in agreement. "Let's go home."
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