At dusk, Cuihua held Nannan in her arms, Yan Xiaoqiang carried a tattered rice bag, and Grandma Yan held a basket with about thirty or forty eggs in it, all thanks to the three hens that had been feeding them recently.
It's about a 15-minute walk to the market. They decided to exchange their cornmeal and oil, and they'd decide on the rest later.
There were still quite a few people at the market. They found a corner to put down their rice bags and baskets, and soon a few people came over to ask about the price. Grandma Yan smiled and said:
"One pound of white rice can be exchanged for three pounds of cornmeal, and an egg costs one cent."
Without saying a word, a middle-aged woman took out five yuan and handed it to Grandma Yan: "Grandma, I'll take all your eggs. My wife is in confinement after giving birth."
"Here you go, girl, here's your change of one dollar and twenty cents. The basket is yours." Grandma Yan took out the receipt she had prepared beforehand, put it in the basket, and handed it to the middle-aged woman.
The woman took the basket but handed the money back to Grandma Yan. "Auntie, I don't have much money either. Could you give me another pound of rice? I'll cook some thin rice porridge for my grandson. My wife doesn't have any breast milk."
Grandma Yan felt a pang of sadness and asked her son to weigh out a pound of rice for the middle-aged woman. The woman didn't have a bag, so in her haste, she emptied the two large pockets of her clothes and put the rice into them.
A pound of rice wasn't much; two bags were enough. The woman left, thanking them profusely. And there were over thirty eggs—enough for her daughter-in-law to have during her postpartum period.
When the people nearby saw that there was white rice for sale, they all rushed over. Cuihua and Grandma Yan quickly hugged Yan Xiaonan tightly and hid behind her, just in case.
Yan Xiaoqiang stood in front of the three women, holding the rice bag tightly in his hand, and shouted, "Those who want it, line up, or I won't sell it anymore."
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly lined up. Yan Xiaoqiang loudly proclaimed, "I'm not selling this white rice for money, I'll exchange it for cornmeal. One pound of white rice for three pounds of cornmeal."
Oh, the people in the countryside definitely don't have enough to eat, so they're exchanging refined grains for coarse grains. An old lady squeezed through and said, "Brother, I have cornmeal, I'll trade with you."
He then shouted loudly to the back, "Old man, here, here you can exchange for fine grains."
An old man carrying a bag of cornmeal squeezed in, "Coming, coming, how do I exchange it?"
"One pound of white rice for three pounds, do you want to trade?" Yan Xiaoqiang asked.
"Exchange, exchange, the kids at home are waiting to eat, come on young man, here's thirty jin, I'll exchange ten jin for you."
Yan Xiaoqiang took out a rice bag, poured in cornmeal, then filled it with ten jin of white rice and handed it to the old man. The old man picked up the rice bag, grabbed the old woman, and ran away.
Everyone nodded. It turned out to be a food exchange. Those who had coarse grains at home hurriedly went back to get them, while those who didn't could only watch helplessly, as the vendors weren't selling them.
That's true, with food so scarce, I'd only trade, not sell. But some people are still waiting, hoping someone will eventually agree to sell.
In just one hour, Yan Xiaoqiang exchanged 100 jin of rice for 300 jin of cornmeal. He took out the carrying poles he had prepared beforehand, one on each end, and set off.
Cuihua, carrying Nannan and her grandmother, followed them back to the guesthouse. After closing the door, the family of four felt relieved. They would exchange another 300 jin tomorrow and then go back.
Nan Nan's stomach rumbled, and Yan Xiaoqiang quickly said, "Mom, how about we go to the shop next door and have a bowl of noodles?"
Grandma Yan nodded, and just as she stood up, someone knocked on the door. Yan Xiaoqiang, who was standing by the door, asked, "Who is it?"
The waiter's voice came in; it was someone checking the rooms.
Yan Xiaoqiang opened the door, and sure enough, two old ladies wearing red armbands and holding notebooks stood at the door. As soon as they saw Grandma Yan, they greeted her with smiles.
"Hello, ma'am, where are you from, and what brings you here?"
Grandma Yan replied with a smile, "Hello, we've come from Mushroom Village to take my granddaughter to the hospital for a checkup. This is my son and daughter-in-law, and here is our letter of introduction."
An elderly woman, who was probably literate, opened the package and nodded, "What's wrong with my granddaughter?"
Grandma Yan looked somewhat forlorn. "I don't know why, but I just suddenly fall into a coma. The village doctor told us to come to the county hospital for a checkup."
The two old ladies glanced at Yan Xiaonan and said, "Tsk tsk, what a pretty little baby. It's pitiful. You should get some rest and go to the hospital to see her tomorrow."
He returned the letter of introduction to Grandma Yan and went to knock on the door next door. Just as Yan Xiaoqiang was about to close the door, the two Zhao brothers stood at the door.
When Yan Xiaoqiang saw that he didn't recognize the door, he thought he had gone to the wrong door and was about to close it again when Zhao Weimin stopped the door with his foot. Zhao Weiguo said softly, "I came from the farmers' market."
With just one sentence, he managed to get himself and his brother inside. Yan Xiaoqiang looked at them warily and asked, "What do you want?"
Zhao Weimin habitually looked around the room, and when he saw Yan Xiaonan, he was stunned for a moment. "Sister?" he asked, shaking his head. "No, my sister starved to death a long time ago, and her age is wrong too."
But for some reason, seeing Yan Xiaonan made him unable to entertain the idea of getting something for nothing anymore.
Pointing to the rice sack on the ground, he said, "We're from the market and we want to do business with you. I'll take all your rice, and I'll get you whatever else you need."
Yan Xiaoqiang was somewhat skeptical, but Grandma Yan caught the boy's momentary daze when he looked at Nan Nan, guessing that he must have a story to tell.
"What do you want to do?" Grandma Yan was also going all out. The timid would starve to death, and the bold would be stuffed to death. It was definitely better to be stuffed to death than to starve to death.
Zhao Weiguo said, "The market price for a pound of white rice is one yuan and one mao. I'll buy your white rice for one yuan per pound. Just tell me what you want."
Grandma Yan asked curiously, "What do you have?"
Zhao Weimin laughed: "Auntie, rice, flour, oil, and sugar are all common goods, and grain coupons, oil coupons, and sugar coupons are not rare either. It's milk powder, malted milk powder, canned goods, cloth, and pork, beef, and mutton that are in high demand."
Grandma Yan's eyes lit up. Nan Nan wanted milk powder and canned food, but not meat—it was just a matter of closing her eyes. She also wanted cloth, malted milk powder, sugar, and oil.
Grandma Yan thought for a moment and said, "Young man, we planted three mu of rice paddies last year, and half of them survived. It's definitely not enough to feed us for a year, so we have to switch to coarse grains."
Zhao Weiguo's eyes lit up. According to the yield at that time, one mu could produce 400 jin of rice. If 1,200 jin were lost by half, that would be 600 jin. If they exchanged 100 jin today, wouldn't they still have 500 jin left?
"Great! We've struck it rich!" she exclaimed. She quickly asked, "Auntie, there should be about 500 jin left, right? Where's the rice? I want it all."
Grandma Yan shook her head and said, "It's not just five hundred. I also have brothers and sisters. They probably have several hundred catties of rice with them. The rice is in town. Why don't you go there to collect it?"
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