In the early hours of the morning, Tie Ze and his son Tie He quietly pushed two large carts of grain back to the backyard.
Aunt Zhao followed closely behind and knocked on the doors of Buling and Aunt Tian.
Bu Ling kept this in mind, and immediately opened her eyes upon hearing the knock. Aunt Tian, on the other hand, hadn't slept at all. The two opened the door simultaneously, nodded to Aunt Zhao outside, and quietly closed the door, following her into the backyard.
In the backyard of the Tie family home, the patriarch Tie Ze and his son Tie He were eating heartily when they saw the two people enter. They both stopped eating and greeted them.
"Aunt Tian, Comrade Xiao Bu!" Tie He
"Sister Tian, Xiao Bu, you're here! Please have a seat!" Uncle Tie said warmly.
He was a veteran and had a natural affinity for military families and families of martyrs, which is why he risked bringing the two of them along this time.
You must understand that secretly buying grain is linked to speculation and profiteering; one wrong move and you could be ruined. How can you so easily trust others?
Buling also had an overwhelming liking for Uncle Tie, simply because Uncle Tie took great care of her after learning that her brother was a soldier.
Aunt Tian was eager to know the outcome of this grain purchase, so after a few pleasantries, she got straight to the point: "Brother Tie, how did it go this time?"
Tiehe buried his head in his food, while Tieze replied, "The situation in the countryside is not good either. Tiehe and I went to several villages before we were able to buy two cartloads of grain."
This time, when they went to the countryside, they didn't buy grain nearby. Instead, they looked for villages deep in the mountains. Although those villages had been affected, they were relatively better off, and there was still some surplus grain they could sell to them.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Tian's face lit up with relief: "It's good that I got it, it's good that I got it!"
As long as there is food, nothing else matters.
Aunt Zhao felt sorry for the man who hadn't eaten all day, so she took over his words and explained to the two of them: "This time, we bought all coarse grains. The price of coarse grains in the village has also gone up, but it's not as outrageous as what Xiao Bu bought on the black market. After some bargaining, Lao Qian finally bought 1,500 jin of grain at 25 cents a jin."
After saying that, she pointed to two carts in the corner of the yard and said, “Xiao Bu’s cart weighs 200 jin and Sister Tian’s cart weighs 400 jin. I’ll have Tie He take them back to you two later. Be quiet and careful so that no one sees you.”
Aunt Tian readily agreed, "Little sister, I won't stand on ceremony with you. Thank you, brother and Xiao He. I'll cook you some stew another day."
Bu Ling added, "Thank you, Uncle Qian and Brother Qian."
Aunt Zhao waved her hand: "We're all neighbors, it's only right that we help each other."
Although Aunt Zhao said that, Buling and Aunt Tian knew perfectly well that it was someone else who had taken care of their two families, and of course they had to be grateful.
But there's no rush; we have plenty of time to get to know each other in the future.
Tie and San finished the last bite of food in their bowls in a few bites, wiped their mouths, and said, "Mom, I'll unload our grain first, and then deliver it to Aunt Tian and Little Bu."
Aunt Zhao nodded
Tiehe stepped out the door and soon carried in a sack of grain, placing it in the corner of the room. He repeated this several times before finally carrying the 900 jin of grain belonging to his family into the house.
He wiped his sweat and said, "Aunt Tian, I'll push the cart to the front yard." That way he could save some effort.
Aunt Tian naturally had no objections. She told Aunt Zhao and took Bu Ling out of the house.
In the dead of night, even the slightest noise would be amplified. The three of them carefully pushed the cart to a stop in front of Buling's house, first carrying the two bags of grain belonging to Buling into her house. During this time, Aunt Tian followed them the whole time.
Even if they are discovered, it won't ruin the reputations of the two young people.
Bling was naturally extremely grateful.
Before leaving, they gave him a small piece of meat and a piece of iron, about half a pound.
Iron was at a loss and wanted to push away.
Aunt Tian spoke first, saying, "Please accept this; it's a token of Xiao Bu's appreciation."
Tie He wasn't good with words, so he could only accept the gift for now, planning to ask his mother about it before giving Xiao Bu a return gift.
Afterwards, Tiehe delivered grain to Aunt Tian and received a salted fish from her before pushing his cart back to the backyard.
Once inside, she took out the things Aunt Tian and Bu Ling had given her and placed them on the table. "Mom. These were given to me by Aunt Tian and Little Bu."
Aunt Zhao picked up the meat and fish, weighed them in her hands, and said with great satisfaction, "Those two are so polite."
Tie Ze said, "Take it, and you'll take good care of them in the future." He figured the two of them wouldn't feel at ease if he didn't accept it.
Aunt Zhao rolled her eyes at her husband: "Do you need to tell me?"
Tie Ze touched his nose, lowered his head, and continued eating.
After closing the door, Bling sorted out the grain.
This time, the grains the Tie family bought consisted of sweet potatoes and corn kernels. They gave Buling half sweet potatoes and half corn kernels.
Buling left about ten pounds of corn kernels outside, putting the rest into her spatial storage. She left the sweet potatoes outside as well. After tidying up, she quickly washed her hands and went to bed; she had to go to work tomorrow.
In the next room, Aunt Tian was doing the same, hiding the grain she had bought everywhere. It wasn't that they were petty, but this matter concerned the Tie family's livelihood and reputation. They trusted them, and they naturally didn't want to cause them trouble.
Furthermore, having abundant food now isn't necessarily a good thing. Aunt Tian experienced the famine ten years ago; people who were starving back then have no sense of morality or ethics. Her family consists of only her and her grandson, who depend on each other for survival. She can't be too careful.
The same applies to the Tie family.
That night, the three families felt at ease because they had food, and slept soundly.
Regardless of what happens in the future, with this food, they won't starve.
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