Huang Juan hid the grain carefully and instructed Song Dapeng: "You lie on the kang all day, keep an eye on the grain, don't let anyone steal it."
Song Dapeng responded with his eyes closed.
Hearing Li Zhen crying and shouting from the opposite house, Huang Juan worried that Li Zhen's family would not receive any grain this year and might try to sabotage them.
When people are starving, they're capable of anything.
Although their family, Song Dalong's family, and his mother lived in the same courtyard, they ate separately but shared a kitchen and cooked their own meals.
Fang Jie used to live in the same room that Song Dalong's family now lives in. Song Dalong's family shared a room with his mother. After Fang Jie's family was evicted, Song Dalong's family moved in.
Old Mrs. Song only drank a sip of corn porridge in the morning. She hadn't eaten anything all day and was so hungry that she felt dizzy and thought she was about to die.
Although she lost all her money, she initially considered suicide, but she didn't have the resolve to do so.
When she was really starving, Old Lady Song called out, "Da Long! Da Long! Mom is hungry, get me something to eat."
"Da Long! Da Long, can you hear me?"
No one answered her, so she called for her other son.
"Dapeng! Dapeng! Mom's hungry, bring me some food."
...
"Haitao! My grandson! Grandma's hungry, bring me some food, Grandma's hungry..."
Li Zhen rushed in and yelled, "You deserve to starve! We have no food for you. Because of you, our family isn't getting any grain. How are we supposed to survive?"
Old Mrs. Song pleaded humbly, "Second son's wife, please give me something to eat. I'm starving; I haven't eaten all day."
"No! It's all your fault! If you hadn't hidden the money, would it have been lost? Would our family have missed out on food? If you had given me the money to keep safe earlier, would things have turned out like this? It's all your fault!"
"It's because you two are lazy that things have turned out this way, how can you blame this old woman?"
"How can it not be your fault? It's all your fault! In previous years, you always gave us money to buy work points, which is why we didn't have to work this year. Who knew you would lose the money this year? It's all your fault!"
Old Mrs. Song was so angry that her chest and head ached.
Was it her fault that she gave them money to buy work points? She should have made the couple work themselves to death! Ungrateful wretch! Heartless! Ungrateful wretch!
Although she was angry, she was also very hungry.
"Second son's wife, could you get me some food first? Once I'm better, I promise you won't go hungry."
"You have no money left, what guarantee do you have?"
“I’ll have your older brother send me money and tickets. Da Rong gives me 10 yuan a month, that’s enough for us.”
Li Zhen's eyes lit up. Since she couldn't find 500 yuan right now, this was a good idea.
Li Zhen wiped her eyes and immediately ran to the kitchen. A short while later, she brought Old Lady Song a bowl of corn porridge.
After drinking it, Old Lady Song finally came back to life.
Li Zhen said, "Mom, let's write to my older brother tomorrow and ask him to send 100 yuan back. I'll talk to the brigade leader and ask him to give us some time. With this money, our family can get our share of grain."
Old Mrs. Song frowned, "Da Rong can't come up with that much money all at once."
She knew her son well; he didn't have that much money. He gave her a considerable portion of his salary, and after spending some on himself and giving some to Fang Jie, there was hardly anything left.
Li Zhen said, "If you don't have any, you can borrow some from his comrades."
Grandma Song thought Li Zhen's suggestion made a lot of sense; it was a good idea.
The grain distribution in the village was a one-time event; if you missed it, you couldn't buy grain even if you had money. You had to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to get coupons to buy it, but they didn't have any. Even Song Darong's few coupons weren't enough to feed his whole family.
Right now, buying work points with money is the most cost-effective option.
“Okay, call Da Long over and have him write a letter to your older brother.”
Song Dalong attended school for two years and can write a few characters.
Li Zhen immediately went to call Song Dalong.
The next morning, Song Guoqiang sent Song Erzhuang to the Song family to remind Li Zhen to apologize to Fang Jie in front of the entire village.
Li Zhen was unwilling, but Song Erzhuang kept staring at her and wouldn't leave.
Fang Jie's family was having breakfast when they heard a commotion outside the courtyard. Song Fanxing's bright eyes flashed, and she immediately ran to open the door, followed closely by Song Yaohui and Song Yaohua.
Outside the courtyard, Li Zhen walked along the village road, calling out, "Sister-in-law, I'm so sorry! I wronged you, I'm a pig!"
A bunch of kids followed behind, making a fuss and laughing loudly.
Song Haitao and Song Xiaomei are hiding at home, too ashamed to come out! How can they stay in the village after this?
Song Dalong also felt ashamed and stayed inside the house, refusing to go out.
Huang Juan took Song Dani and Song Erni out to watch the excitement.
Li Zhen walked past Song Fanxing and his two siblings, glaring at them fiercely.
Song Yaohua pointed at her and laughed heartily. It was so satisfying! That wicked woman dared to bully his mother; now she's getting her comeuppance.
He also admired his sister, who, despite being so much younger than them, had come up with such an idea to deal with their annoying second aunt.
Song Yaohui held his little sister's hand tightly. Thanks to his sister, he felt so relieved!
More and more people came out of the village to watch the spectacle, and Li Zhen's face turned as black as charcoal.
The village was small, with only 36 households. In just one night, everyone knew about the Song family's affairs.
They all privately cursed Old Lady Song for being heartless and swindling so much money from her eldest son over the years.
500 yuan! Even if these families didn't eat or drink for ten years, they couldn't save that much money.
Now that Granny Song's money has been stolen, everyone feels relieved.
Serves you right! You got what you deserved!
Li Zhen deserves it. Old Mrs. Song has used Song Darong's money to subsidize their family over the years, and now she's turning around and accusing the woman's daughter-in-law of stealing money.
shameless!
Fang Jie glanced outside and then went about her own business.
She packed a bag of soybeans, intending to go to the town's oil mill to press some soybean oil.
Urging her two sons to go to school, she took her daughter and rode in an oxcart to town.
When they arrived in town, Fang Jie found an extra bag of soybeans in her basket, more than the bag she had already brought.
She looked at her daughter, Song Fanxing, who smiled and said, "Mom, squeeze as much as you want."
"good."
She knew her daughter had plenty of soybeans in her online space, so she didn't feel bad about it at all.
Two bags of soybeans yielded four barrels of soybean oil.
Fang Jie put two buckets in a basket on her back and carried them herself, while placing the two buckets in her daughter's space.
With the weather about to change, Fang Jie remembered that the windows in her house were still drafty, so she went and bought a piece of thin film to paste on the windows when she got home.
That night, as expected, it started snowing heavily outside, with a howling wind that lashed against the windows.
Fortunately, the thin film paper was stuck on, so no wind got into the room.
In the morning, Fang Jie lit the fire on the earthen bed.
The family of four sat comfortably on the warm kang (a traditional heated brick bed).
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