"Mom, let me get the book."
Ping'an's voice reached her ears, and Zhou Jiao handed it to the child.
"Son, it's so nice for you to be home with your mom. It's so hard to wait in line."
Ping An held the notebook tightly, looked up at Zhang Guoqing, and found that he was too short, so he stretched out his hands for him to hold, "I like Daddy, I want to be with Daddy."
The silly dad laughed happily after hearing this. He held the child in his arms and they chatted with each other with their heads down. He also did not forget to pull Zhou Jiao to answer questions.
The family dragged on, and it was already late. From a distance, Zhang's mother, who was in the group, saw her eldest son and his family and quickly called out to Xiaowu.
Zhou Jiao glanced forward and smiled. Her parents-in-law's charisma captivated the neighbors. It had been a while since she'd been back, and she was still surrounded by her old neighbors.
Zhang Guoqing greeted everyone, accompanying Zhang's father and a group of elderly men. Over there, Zhou Jiao had already been dragged away by Zhao Yuanyuan and the others. Every time they queued up to shop, it became a place for everyone to gather and chat.
An old man next to him reached out to grab the notebook in Ping'an's hand.
Ping An gently moved away and smiled at him.
"Oh, little guy, you're amazing. Do you know what this is for? Old Zhang, what does your grandson eat? My grandson is so skinny from starvation."
Zhang Meihao's father-in-law, Uncle Chen, interjected with a smile, "As for the child, he just eats some porridge. This child is mainly because his parents raised him very well. They leave all the good things for him."
The old man looked around at the children around him, shook his head and smiled, "No. This child is not only strong, but also smart. I heard that it is better for children to eat some supplements when they are young. Xiaowu, has your son taken any?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head. "He's too young. I don't dare give him any supplements. Even if I wanted to, I don't have the conditions. My son has a good appetite and eats everything. He's not picky about food. If you don't give him any candy, I guarantee he'll be fat and healthy."
Uncle Chen and Father Zhang exchanged a glance, smiling and nodding. He secretly thought to himself that Zhang Guoqing was being perfunctory again. His son did have a good appetite, but what did he eat? He hadn't seen it, but he always gave his grandson a lot of pheasant eggs. Why wasn't the child strong?
Another old man nearby listened and asked, "Your son is so hungry that he can't eat coarse grains? Will he make a fuss and refuse to eat?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled but didn't answer. He said to Ping'an, "Son, tell this grandfather what you usually eat?" He knew that no matter how much he said, no one would believe him, so it was better to let the little guy speak.
Ping An glanced at the old man, raised his little hand, and counted on his fingers, "Corn porridge, sweet potato porridge..."
Uncle Chen stepped forward and covered his little hand with a smile. "Alright. Stop counting. How can a little kid like you know so much? Ask your dad to buy you some meat buns from the restaurant, okay?"
Ping An shook his head, "No money left."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd around him burst into laughter.
After everyone stopped laughing, someone teased him, "Your grandpa eats rice and meat buns every day. Ask your grandpa to give you a ticket, and you can eat meat buns every day."
Ping An didn't wait for the other party to finish. He chuckled twice and said, "You're lying. My grandpa doesn't have a ticket. My mom said that my grandpa has no money and is hungry."
After saying that, he raised the supply book in his hand and shook it at the other party.
The people around him were provoked by him and burst into laughter again.
Everyone teased Zhang Guoqing, "Xiaowu, your wife teaches your child this way, aren't you afraid that the child will say you lied to him when he grows up?"
Zhang Guoqing laughed and said, "My father-in-law and his wife have always eaten in the company cafeteria. They are really poor. Now they eat almost the same as us."
"No way? Such a high-ranking official eats so poorly?"
"Hey, if you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. These days are not the past. Everyone is equal. It's really possible to eat the same as us ordinary people."
"Then being an official isn't a good thing. Look at our officials, they're just like us. Ordinary people still live a comfortable life."
Zhang Guoqing listened to the chatter in the crowd, lowered his head and patted his child, a smile flickering in his eyes. His father-in-law had indeed written a few days ago about the lack of good food. He wasn't lying.
Seeing that everyone was getting more and more outrageous, Father Zhang smiled and pointed ahead, "Look, is there any movement inside?" After saying that, he felt relieved to see that everyone's attention was distracted.
Soon someone came running over, shouting, "There's no egg supply this month. Everyone, don't go there. The place has already dispersed and there's no one queuing."
Everyone sighed upon hearing this. There had been no eggs since the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Having tickets was worse than not having them, and it only made people less eager to buy them.
Zhang Guoqing had thought about this long ago, so he didn't go to the grocery store today. He secretly thought that he should go up the mountain and eat up all the food. If he continued like this, he would suffer for the next few years, not to mention the future.
He was now worried about the sheer number of wooden boxes piled up in the space. Even with all the effort Zhou Jiao and he put in, they still took up most of the space. But no matter how valuable something was, it wasn't as important as survival supplies.
Seeing the grain store open, Ping An patted him and told him to go forward.
Zhang Guoqing moved forward listlessly. When it was his turn, there was not even brown rice available. All that was available were coarse grains like dried sweet potatoes and cornmeal.
After receiving the rations, he did not join in everyone's discussion. He just took his son's hand and carried dozens of kilograms of rations, then went back to wait for Father Zhang to go to the processing point together.
At the processing station, Zhou Jiao and Zhao Yuanyuan had been waiting in line for a long time. Finally, it was their turn, but their family members hadn't arrived yet, so they had to let the people behind them process first.
Soon, she discovered that many people requested to have the bran removed, adding two cents to the price for a second grind. Alas... the long-lost corn bran was once again on the table. Zhou Jiao's throat kept drying up at the thought.
When Zhang Guoqing and his companions came over, more than half an hour had passed.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao picked up her child and let them come forward. As for whether her family's food rations would follow the same pattern as everyone else's, she had no interest in observing. Life was getting harder and harder.
She flipped through the tickets stuck to the back of the supply book and discovered that many things she couldn't buy this month. She could only comfort herself by keeping them for later as a souvenir.
In the Zhang family, the Zhang mother always made the decisions on family affairs. This time, without hesitation, she asked the processing point to grind the leather.
Zhang Guoqing, who was standing by, took a deep breath after hearing this. He looked at Zhang's father with resentment. Why did his mother have to decide everything?
Father Zhang rolled his eyes at him. What did this foolish son know? He could save the extra rations for later use. Didn't he see that the village cafeteria only had one dry meal a day?
Now he and his wife are living on public rations, and they don't know how to thank God. Even so, if you still complain about something, you will get retribution.
Zhang Guoqing was glared at, then smiled. Never mind. If the eldest and second sons of Zhang were to eat, his family wouldn't choke. He'd save these for later. If it were his opinion, he'd rather have wild vegetables than bran.
Wild vegetables, the key is still wild vegetables. It seems that he must take his two brothers to the dense forest as soon as possible. Who would have thought that wild vegetables and weeds would become treasures?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
