“It’s nothing,” Lin Chaosheng waved his hand. “Since we’ve become friends, we should help each other out during this famine year.”
Li Daniu was deeply moved, and tears were almost falling from his eyes.
"Alright! From now on, we're sworn brothers. Don't hesitate to tell me anything you need!" Li Dani patted Lin Chaosheng on the shoulder.
Lin Chaosheng nodded gratefully, "We have something to do, so we'll be leaving now."
"Alright, you two go ahead with your work. Come visit me sometime." Li Dani waved goodbye to the two brothers.
In the village, the villagers who were not selected for work were gathered together, feeling indignant.
"Why not choose me? I have hands and feet, and I'm no worse off than those people once I've eaten my fill!"
"I don't care to go even if you don't choose me. I see that the Lin family has selected more than forty laborers. How could they possibly afford to support them!"
"That's right, it's really going to blow the sky apart. We'll just have to wait and see how we deal with those laborers who don't have enough to eat!"
These villagers, unable to obtain what they wanted, resorted to sour grapes, gathering together to slander and ridicule Lin Chaosheng.
Some people who overheard this couldn't stand it and retorted.
"You're just jealous. Lin Chaosheng has been hunting a lot of prey every day for so long, and he even sells it. His ability is obvious to everyone!"
"Yeah, oh dear, I hope I don't smell that delicious food from someone else's house and start drooling!"
"Who can argue with that!"
"Go to hell! We just picked someone for his family to be a laborer, and now he wants to be his lackey?"
"You snob, dare you say you've never insulted Lin Chaosheng before?"
"So what? Anyway, I can eat my fill now, and they don't care what I said before."
The villagers started arguing loudly, and almost came to blows.
The two brothers, Lin Chaosheng and Lin Shansheng, pushed the cart back to the village.
"Gurgle gurgle—"
The sound of the cart wheel hitting the stones on the ground drew the attention of the villagers who were about to start a fight.
They didn't see anyone, but a cart loaded with flour and rice piled up like a small mountain, and sweet potatoes, corn, and cornmeal that almost burst the cart.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, their eyes fixed on the cart of coarse and fine grains, like hungry wolves, almost ready to pounce on the cart and devour them.
As the car drew closer, everyone could see that it was the Lin brothers, Lin Chaosheng and Lin Shansheng.
“My goodness, Chaosheng, what’s wrong with you…” a villager asked.
“Oh, these are the meals that will be served starting tomorrow,” Lin Chaosheng replied as he pushed the cart.
"This...this is for tomorrow's meal?!" a villager asked in disbelief.
Lin Chaosheng nodded, "Of course, there are more than forty laborers, I don't even know if that will be enough."
Those selected laborers were so happy they almost jumped for joy.
Those who weren't selected are now practically grinding their teeth in frustration and resentment.
"Oh dear, didn't someone just say that Lin Chaosheng's family can't afford to feed them?"
"Yeah, I heard that too. Who said it again?"
"It seems like they were saying it right next to us."
Those who were chosen were unwilling to continue arguing with those who weren't chosen, and they mocked each other as they walked home.
Lin Chaosheng and Lin Shansheng worked together to push the goods back home, and everyone rushed out to help unload them.
"Oh my god, we have to start preparing the food soon!" Zhao Shufang wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"It's okay, we'll only have to work hard for a few months, and then we'll be able to move into our new house!" Liang Mei comforted her as she threw sweet potatoes into the sink to wash them.
Zhao Shufang nodded and said, "That's true."
Lin Chaosheng took a notebook from the room and handed it to Zhao Shufang, "Mother, this is the amount of coarse grains and refined grains for today. Remember to keep track of it every day."
Zhao Shufang brushed the dust off her hands and then began to study the notebook carefully.
“This is flour,” Zhao Shufang said, not knowing any words, so she asked while recording it in her own way.
Lin Shansheng curiously leaned closer to Zhao Shufang to look at what she had written in her notebook, and asked doubtfully, "Mom, what is all this stuff? Can you even understand it?"
"Get lost, don't doubt your old mother!" Zhao Shufang pointed to a graphic, "This is a sweet potato," then pointed to the number next to it, "This is the weight."
Lin Shansheng looked at Zhao Shufang with admiration, "Mother, you really are the female version of Jiang Ziya!"
"Your mother was smart when she was young, otherwise I wouldn't have liked her." Lin Shanhai started being sarcastic again.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Shufang grabbed Lin Shanhai's ear and said, "Who do you think you're not interested in? Do you want me to tell the kids which shameless guy is pursuing me?"
Lin Shan Hai let out a painful scream, "I was wrong, I was wrong, old woman! I was the one who pursued you! I'm the shameless one!"
Lin Chaosheng and the others burst into laughter, and the whole courtyard was filled with joy.
"Mother, could you please figure out how to arrange the amount of food to cook, and then teach Liang Mei?" Lin Chaosheng asked Zhao Shufang for help.
Zhao Shufang quickly picked up her pen and started calculating. "Okay, wait for me, I'll calculate first."
"You keep calculating, we'll go prepare some dishes first." Lin Chaosheng quickly called to Lin Shansheng and the others to do the preparations.
Soon, Liang Mei and Liang Fu washed the sweet potatoes and put them in a basket to dry.
Lin Chaosheng and Lin Shansheng were kneading dough, while Lin Shansheng and Wei He had already gathered a lot of minced meat, preparing to mix it into the filling for steamed buns.
Zhao Shufang had finished her calculations and announced in the courtyard: "Starting tomorrow morning, prepare two sweet potatoes and a steamed bun for each person, along with a bowl of porridge, and the side dishes will be minced meat and pickled green beans."
Zhao Shufang turned a page and continued, "At noon, each person had a bowl of rice and a meat bun, and the dishes were sauerkraut stewed with pork belly and water chestnut meat patties."
Lin Shansheng swallowed hard. "Wow, I want to eat this dish too."
"You're so greedy," Zhao Shufang smiled, "Don't worry, there'll be some for you!"
After hearing this, Lin Shansheng worked even harder, almost kneading the dough in his hands until sparks flew.
Everyone couldn't help but laugh at this glutton.
Liang Mei was smiling when she suddenly felt nauseous and almost vomited.
Upon hearing this, Liang Fu immediately became anxious and hurriedly asked Liang Mei where she felt unwell.
Liang Mei shook her head, thinking that she had just eaten something oily at noon, and comforted Liang Fu, saying, "It's okay, I just felt unwell because of the oil. Let's go help them."
Seeing that Liang Mei's complexion wasn't particularly bad, Liang Fu got up to help Wei He and the others mix the minced meat.
Liang Mei got up, her mind suddenly went blank, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
Hearing the noise, Lin Chaosheng and the others all ran out.
All that could be seen was Liang Fu squatting on the ground, supporting Liang Mei, and anxiously calling out to Liang Mei.
Lin Chaosheng felt a sudden chill in his heart and rushed over to carry Liang Mei to the bed.
"What's wrong with your sister?" Lin Chaosheng asked Liang Fu anxiously.
Liang Fu's eyes were slightly red, and she shook her head, saying, "I...I don't know either. She suddenly felt like vomiting just now, saying that she ate oily food at noon. As a result, she stood up and fell to the ground."
Lin Chaosheng was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, not knowing what to do.
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