Dongnan and Xuemei followed suit, picking out the best meat from their bowls and putting it into their grandmother's and parents' bowls before picking up their own to eat. Beinan watched with a heavy heart, wondering how he could forget his grandmother and parents. Just as he was about to speak, Yan Xiaoqiang rolled his eyes at him, silencing him completely.
The pace of their eating slowed noticeably, and they even hesitated to pick up food with their chopsticks. Grandma sighed, picked up a piece of meat and put it in Bei Nan's bowl, then picked up another piece and put it in Xin Nan's bowl, telling them to eat as much as they wanted and not to be stingy.
If the family were truly so poor they couldn't afford to eat, that would be one thing, but right now Nan Nan clearly has a lot of rice, yet she insists on hiding it away. It's just too torturous.
Fortunately, Xuemei is a simple-minded child who always thought that her grandmother was the master of hiding things. All the good things in the house were hidden by her grandmother so well that even Zhongnan couldn't find them. So the rice, pork, malted milk powder, and the like that often appeared in the house were all the result of her grandmother's skill in hiding things.
A month has passed in the blink of an eye, and as expected, this year's spring planting yielded no harvest at all. All the rice was withered and died from drought, and everyone's hard work went down the drain. Everyone's face was filled with heartache and resentment, but no matter how resentful they were, they had to plant the winter wheat and pray for a good harvest next year.
Fortunately, the sweet potato harvest in October was decent. After a round of harvesting, the quantity was considerable, and each person received at least 80 or 90 jin (40-45 kg), which meant that the villagers of Mushroom Village would not starve to death this winter.
This winter, sweet potatoes replaced our staple food. At least sweet potatoes are good for keeping us full. We had sweet potato soup for breakfast, steamed sweet potatoes for lunch, and skipped dinner. There was no farm work to do, so why would we eat dinner? As for bloating, heartburn, belching, and flatulence from eating too much, those were nothing compared to being hungry.
The villagers sliced the sweet potatoes, dried them, ground them into powder, and then steamed them into buns. Some skillful people would grind the sweet potatoes into a paste, extract the starch, and make jelly. The Yan family ground the sweet potatoes into a paste and made jelly, as well as stir-fried jelly, which made Yan Xiaonan beam with joy.
Zhongnan has grown up, and there are no more rabbits delivered to the door at home. But every night, Zhongnan would crawl out of the dog hole and go up the mountain to find food. If he was lucky, he would bring back a pheasant or rabbit and give it to Yan Xiaonan.
This actually saved Cuihua and Xuemei some trouble; at least they didn't have to cook meat for Zhongnan every day. However, Yan Xiaonan always complained about the bloody smell on Zhongnan and wouldn't let it into the room until it was cleaned. Seeing Nannan nagging Zhongnan like an old lady, and Zhongnan's pitiful look of bowing its head in apology, everyone laughed until they cried.
In mid-November, the weather in the north was already getting chilly. Grandma Yan counted down the days, knowing that her eldest son, Yan Daqiang, was coming back to visit this year. Grandma Yan had already gone to town three or four times to buy all the quilts and sheets, washed them clean, and dried them until they were soft and fluffy, just waiting for Yan Daqiang to come back.
Yan Xiaoqiang had taken Dongnan up the mountain a few times, but this time they were very careful with Zhongnan, avoiding places where wild boars or large wild animals were likely to be found. They only hunted pheasants and rabbits. Once, they even caught a roe deer. Dongnan and Yan Xiaoqiang thought it was Yan Xiaonan who helped them, but when they got home and saw Yan Xiaonan talking to his grandmother, they were glad that they were really lucky.
Grandma Yan didn't sell any of these pheasants, rabbits, or roe deer. Winters in the north are very cold, and it's hard to find meat during the winter months. Some were pickled, some were buried, and all the meat was kept very well hidden by Grandma Yan.
Cuihua and Xuemei had collected enough rabbit skins and were gesturing on the kang (a heated brick bed). They planned to make a rabbit skin coat for Yan Xiaonan, as well as a rabbit skin hat and gloves. They also had enough leftover rabbit skins to make two vests for Beinan and Xinan to wear underneath. The two boys spent their days outside chopping firewood, digging for wild vegetables, picking hazelnuts, and bringing back some soft, miscellaneous fruits.
In the north, winter is inseparable from heating the kang (a heated brick bed), so the more firewood the better. Yan Xiaonan still wanted to bring back two wild boars. He would sell one to make money, since the family had run out of money after building the house. The other one would be enough to eat well all winter. How could they survive the winter with just a roe deer and a few pheasants?
But Grandma Yan disagreed. She was really afraid that her little granddaughter would fall into a deep sleep after using up all her magical power. What if the gods in heaven couldn't bear to see her like that and took the little girl back? So she disagreed, and firmly disagreed.
Cuihua always followed her grandmother's lead and would never do anything her grandmother disagreed with. When it came to his daughter's safety, Yan Xiaoqiang was exceptionally clear-headed. Although he agreed with Yan Xiaonan's idea, he firmly shook his head when he thought about how he had been unconscious for a day and a night to save Dongnan. Yan Xiaonan was completely isolated and helpless.
I really wanted to let the wild boar crash into the gate again, but I knew it was such a terrible idea. Not only would the villagers be suspicious, but even the most innocent Xinan and Xuemei would probably be suspicious.
Suddenly her eyes lit up. Rice could be exchanged for meat, candy, malted milk powder, and most importantly, a bicycle. She had pawned a hundred pounds of rice back then. Thinking of this, she whispered to her grandmother. When Xinan Nannan and Xuemei saw Yan Xiaonan whispering to her grandmother again, they thought that Nannan and her grandmother were so close. Only Cuihua and the others knew that the little girl was up to something again.
Yan Xiaonan's words reminded Grandma Yan of the matter of the hundred catties of rice. She nodded quickly, saying that this was a big deal, but she needed an excuse to go out. These days, you need a letter of introduction to go out.
It was time to get down to business. Yan Xiaoqiang shooed the younger children back into the house, then picked up Yan Xiaonan and carried him to Grandma Yan's room: "Mom, no need for any letters of introduction. I'll go and come back the same day. Just tell the two brothers when to come to town."
"We'll have to find a place in town, but isn't that too dangerous? It'll be easy to get caught," Grandma Yan wondered, her brow furrowed. But Yan Xiaonan pointed towards the mountains and said, "Grandma, the back mountain."
Grandma Yan thought for a moment and decided that the back mountain was a good place. Wolves had appeared there before, so the villagers wouldn't go there. She figured that if she took Nan Nan and was careful, there wouldn't be any problems. She could just have them come over when it got dark.
"Mother, should we exchange it for a thousand catties again this time?" Yan Xiaoqiang asked.
Grandma Yan nodded: "It's not easy to exchange grain once, so let's just exchange a thousand catties. When you come back, bring ten sacks with you. We don't have much cornmeal left at home, and we're out of wheat flour too. We just need to exchange these, as well as oil, salt, sugar, pastries, malted milk powder, and milk powder. Oh, and let's also exchange some pork and liquor."
Yan Xiaoqiang asked again, "Mom, where's that bicycle?"
Grandma Yan nodded: "Change it. When your eldest brother comes back this year, we'll have a good excuse. We can say that your eldest brother brought it back. We can also bring out that radio. Oh, and Qiangzi, let's get some more fabric and make some clothes for you all."
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