The Lu family's dry food consisted of mixed grain pancakes with pickles, which was not much better than other families. They only drank water from military kettles and enamel pots filled with boiled water. This was the way it had been every day since the busy farming season, and their food was no better than other families', so no one was curious about their meals anymore, even though they knew that the Lu family's meals were not necessarily the same at home.

Who doesn’t hide and eat secretly when they have something delicious?

Everyone is the same, so no one should blame anyone else. Just know it, don't point it out. If you point it out, it would be impolite.

Feng Qingxue sat under the shade of a tree, surrounded by a group of children and Wang Jiao.

Jiang He and others had a good relationship with Guancheng Guanyu. They came to the Lu family with steamed buns made by Zhang Erya and other girls with wild vegetables and grains in their hands, chatting and laughing with bright smiles on their little faces.

Wang Zhengguo said that after the food distribution, they would all have rations, and they would be distributed according to the standards of the Wanglou Brigade.

The food they eat now was obtained by Chen Ming, begged by themselves, and paid to them in advance by Wang Zhengguo on the pretext that they had been tied up and done a lot of farm work in the summer, as well as private funding from Feng Qingxue. Although they were all coarse grains, they were enough to fill their stomachs and give them the energy to work and earn work points.

This spring and summer, they earned a lot of work points just by cutting grass and feeding livestock.

Five pounds of grass equals one work point.

When the thatched houses that Wang Zhengguo promised them would be built in the late autumn and early winter, they would be members of the Wanglou Brigade and truly have their own home, where they would live for a long time.

"Auntie Xue, the pickles you make are so delicious! I never get tired of eating them!" Feng Qingxue canned pickles for the children to eat, because she knew that the children didn't have salt and couldn't make pickles. They usually ate steamed buns and drank water, so she would prepare a jar of pickles for them these days, and Jiang He ate them with great relish.

Feng Qingxue smiled and said, "If it tastes good, eat more. I've planted a lot of mustard greens and green vegetables in my own plot this year. I'll make two more pots of pickled vegetables in the fall and winter and leave two jars for you."

"Thank you, Auntie Xue!" several children said in unison.

Wang Jiao said: "Xiaoxue, I want one too."

It’s just that the pickles cooked by Feng Qingxue are particularly delicious. During this period of time, she would go to Feng Qingxue every day with the dry food she brought with her.

Although they are the same old black pickles, the ones from Feng Qingxue’s house are different and make people want to eat more.

To put it bluntly, Feng Qingxue is willing to add condiments when stewing pickles, including ginger slices, peppercorns, star anise, oil, salt, chili peppers, soy sauce and other seasonings. The stewed pickles are naturally spicy and delicious.

"Okay, cousin, when you get married, I'll give you a jar of pickled vegetables!" Feng Qingxue said with a smile.

Wang Jiao spat at her, lowered her head, picked up a pickled vegetable leaf with her chopsticks and rolled it into her sweet potato pancake.

The two sisters were chatting and laughing when suddenly someone came hurriedly to find Feng Qingxue, "Lu Jiang's wife, come with me quickly!"

"What's the matter, cousin!" Feng Qingxue stood up when she saw that the person who came to see her was Jin Cuihua. She was the woman who showed her the way when she first came to see Wang Zhengguo, and also the niece-in-law of Wang Zhengguo.

Jin Cuihua pulled Feng Qingxue towards the direction they came from. "Xiuying was peeling corn cobs in the field when she suddenly gave birth. When I asked her, I found out that she had been busy earning work points and had been enduring for a long time. It was difficult to find a midwife for a while. The midwife in our brigade is from Team 3. Their production team's land is in the southernmost part, and ours is in the northwest, a distance of several miles. It was too late to find her."