Qin Xiaoyun, with trembling hands, tore open a hole in her cotton jacket and took out thirty yuan. The grain-searching team snatched it away and walked away with a triumphant laugh.
"You're smart."
Qin Huai hurried to see the old man, only to find him pale and sweating profusely. He tried to persuade Qin Huai in a trembling voice, "If they want money, just give it to them. How can we win over the farmers by competing with them?"
"I never dreamed they would be so cruel."
The villagers looked at Mrs. Bai angrily. She said nonchalantly, "Why does he have money and food? What qualifications does he have for special treatment?"
Qin Huai shook his head and said, "Everyone, don't be angry with this kind of person. Xiaomi, go get Qin Xiaozui to treat Grandpa's injuries."
The brutal grain-searching team injured five people in the village. Except for Old Man Qin, the others were all elderly people from the families of village cadres.
They usually have great prestige in the village, but this approach is completely useless when used on these people.
The entire village was plunged into an atmosphere of despair. After disinfecting and bandaging the old man's wound, Qin Xiaozui said, "The other four have also been treated with medicine. Your old man's bones were only cracked and not broken, which is a blessing. The village women's director's mother-in-law refused to hand over the grain, so both of her legs were broken, and she didn't even get to keep the grain."
This was an era that Qin Huai had no idea about. He had always heard the old people talk about the past, saying that life was difficult, but he had never imagined it would be so difficult, caused by both natural and man-made disasters.
The old man's leg injury would probably take a long time to heal. After the crowd dispersed, the old man covered the wound on his leg and said, "My injury is not necessarily a bad thing. They broke my leg and stole thirty yuan, but the food I buried outside was saved. Be careful to eat it. It will last for a month."
Qin Huai wanted to cry after hearing this. He paid such a heavy price for just a few dozen kilograms of food. Old Man Qin said it was worth it, but was it really worth it?
Human life is not worth a few kilograms of food?
At night, Qin Huai and his friends' stomachs were rumbling. Qin Xiaoyun wanted to make some porridge, but the old man stopped her sternly, saying, "Just starve! Don't do anything stupid."
Qin Xiaomi said, "Brother, there's not a single smoke in the village today."
In rural areas, people burn firewood to cook, and the smoke is the cooking smoke, which is then looted by the grain-searching teams. Even if there is any remaining food, people dare not take it out to cook at this time, because those are things that can save their lives in the future.
When the women's director came back in the evening, her mother-in-law cried and talked about the violence of the grain-searching team and showed her daughter-in-law the injuries on her body.
The women's director said, "Mom, please stop talking. It's useless. When we were looting in other villages, we did the same thing as them and broke several people's legs."
The old lady immediately stopped talking and began to curse the world.
Qin Huai didn't know what to say after hearing this. He hadn't eaten for two meals, and his stomach was growling with hunger. Qin Xiaoyun said, "Brother, bear with it. If you're really too hungry, we can eat some beans tonight."
People in this era eat by the piece and never expect to have a full meal. They are lucky if they don't starve to death.
Being hungry is a really unbearable feeling. It is not my fault that this situation has occurred. It is the ordinary people who suffer.
The canteen in the village was running worse and worse. People couldn't go out to work in the fields in winter, so Qin Laoshuan had to hold various meetings before every meal. However, fewer and fewer people were able to speak and were willing to speak, and the whole village fell into a strange silence.
Qin Huai took his two younger sisters out early in the morning. Today was the interview session for him at "A Generation" organized by President Yu in the city. It was said that many readers would be present, and they would discuss with him the mental journey of writing this poem.
According to Qin Huai's idea, he didn't want to participate at first, but he heard Qin Xiaomi's stomach rumbling from time to time. When he tied his belt tighter and tighter, he was afraid that it was about to break. He immediately decided to give up and participate, even if it was just to have a full meal.
Before leaving, Qin Xiaoyun stuffed a few corn kernels into the old man's mouth. When chewed, these kernels were rich in starch. They couldn't fill the stomach, but they could keep the man from starving to death.
The old man said, "Don't think about me all the time. I'm old. It doesn't matter if I live one day more or one day less. I've lived enough."
When the three siblings walked out of the village, they saw long queues of people leaving early in the morning. Some went to the mountains to dig grass roots and peel tree bark, while others went to the city to beg for food.
The weather is cold, and everyone is in a miserable state.
All the food in every household was taken away. The commune canteen did the same thing every year, taking away the food of all the villagers. However, the canteen would close down after only a few days. During the long winter, people had nothing to eat.
When Qin Huai entered the city, he bought three big buns for everyone. The price of food had risen again. The price of bargain buns had increased from five cents to ten cents. He was shocked. It was just the beginning, and the price of food had risen so outrageously?
What would happen when all the food was gone? He felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and he dared not think about it.
Qin Xiaoyun said, "Brother, it's too expensive. Why don't you just not buy it? How much money do we have left to eat for a few days?"
Qin Xiaomi said, "Who cares? As long as I can have a full meal, it's worth it even if I starve to death in the future."
Qin Huai said, "Don't talk nonsense. I know how much money I should spend. I won't have enough money and watch you starve to death."
After eating three genuine buns, the feeling of hunger was relieved, but the stomach seemed to be even hungrier. Qin Huai patted his stomach and said, "I'll eat it first, and there will be something delicious later to satisfy your appetite."
Qin Xiaomi smiled and went to the guesthouse with Qin Huai. As soon as they entered, they saw a banner hanging on the door: "Warmly welcome Teacher Qin Huai."
Qin Xiaomi pointed at the plaque and said, "Brother, isn't this a welcome sign?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
