Chapter 77 Kudzu

"That's all! How are we going to face the members..."

Captain Tang pinched the rice ears in his palm and said with hatred: "The black-hearted rotten businessmen from Country X, they sell good seeds, which look good, but are actually empty goods!" His eyes were red and he reached out to slap himself.

The village party secretary hurried over to stop him: "What are you doing?"

"It was me who suggested buying this seed..." Captain Tang looked regretful. Deputy Captain Qi shrank aside and did not dare to speak. He was the one who opposed planting only half of the seeds.

"It's not your fault. We unanimously agreed to buy these seeds. The question is what to do next? Not only our team, but people from the entire commune have purchased this batch of so-called good seeds!" The village party secretary calmed down. It seemed that everyone would have to tighten their belts in the second half of the year.

"This matter must be reported to the commune. In order to stabilize the emotions of the members, we must not make it public for now." Captain Tang looked at Shen Xiangdong, who nodded, "Captain, I won't say anything about this matter. But this matter cannot be concealed after all."

Shen Xiangdong left.

Everyone was looking forward to the summer harvest. The educated youth were no exception. They still owed grain to the brigade, but looking at the heavy rice ears in the rice fields, they all thought that this year should be a good year. But what they didn't know was that this year would be the most difficult year to get through.

The matter was not publicized, but the price of grain on the black market was rising rapidly. Some people who got the news early immediately began to stockpile large quantities of grain.

When Shen Ruoqing came back and heard what his elder brother said, he fell into deep thought.

"Little sister, fortunately our mother had foresight and we exchanged enough food, otherwise we would have to tighten our belts and live a frugal life." Shen Xiangnan said.

Shen Xiangdong was worried: "I'm afraid that famine will cause chaos."

"No way? The higher-ups won't just ignore it." Shen Xiangnan said.

At this time, Wang came over and asked, "What are you talking about? What do you mean by whether you care or not?"

"Nothing. Isn't it your turn to cook today? What are you doing in the yard?" Shen Xiangnan said to Wang. He must not let his wife know about this.

"I'll go to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables." Wang pouted. What on earth could she not listen to? Ever since her mother borrowed grain last year, Shen Xiangnan had become cold towards her.

Shen Xiangxi drove a tractor and took Captain Tang to the commune. Captain Tang also took a rice ear with him.

When Shen Xiangxi came back, he looked unhappy, but when he saw that everyone was eating, he said nothing.

After waiting for a long time until the meal was over, Shen Xiangxi looked at Old Mrs. Ji. Old Mrs. Ji asked Wang and Du to wash the dishes together, and asked Shen Xiangxi to follow her into the main room.

"Tell me, what is the attitude of the Commune?"

"Mom, the commune knows about this now, and has reported it to apply for relief grain. But the commune asked us not to make it public to avoid causing panic, but they can't come up with a plan for how to solve it, because everyone has planted this country X rice, and it's not certain whether relief grain will come." Shen Xiangxi told everything he heard, "However, the commune praised our team, but it's not a good idea to keep it a secret. Sooner or later, everyone will know about it, and the double harvest day is getting closer and closer."

"We'll keep it a secret for as long as we can. The commune will have their own considerations. We've done what we need to do, and we'll leave the rest to fate. I hope no one will starve to death this year."

But the news eventually leaked out.

I don't know where it started, but the news that the black-hearted rice seeds from Country X were empty shells spread, and this news was soon verified - the rice ears were in the fields and could be verified with just a touch of the hand.

Soon, panic set in. All the food in the county was sold out, and the price of rice on the black market rose to five yuan per catty, and the price of coarse grains rose to two yuan per catty.

Members of each brigade blocked their brigade leaders to demand explanations, and even the Zhongxing Brigade was not spared.

"Captain, why are these all empty shells? Is this the so-called 'good seed'? Is there any food in this? Captain, we listen to you. If you say to plant this, we will plant this. Now there is a problem with the rice in Country X. We work hard all year round to plant food, but in the end, we can't even have enough food and clothing."

"Yes, the rice ears in the fields are all empty shells. Our work in the first half of this year was in vain."

"Everyone, be quiet. I am responsible for this matter. I apologize to all the members, but don't be discouraged. We still have half of the normal millet. This is all a conspiracy of Country X. Now we must work together to overcome the difficulties. The Red Flag Brigade has not even harvested 30% of the usual harvest. It is difficult to deliver the grain. We still have at least half of the harvest." Captain Tang comforted the villagers, "and our commune has already applied for relief grain from the higher authorities. As long as we can survive this year, it will be fine."

In fact, everyone was just complaining. Compared with the Red Flag Brigade next door, they still had at least half more food.

"Fortunately, our team had foresight."

"This is all thanks to Xinyi. If she hadn't raised the question, our team wouldn't have selected half of the seeds."

"Yes, people who have studied are different and have foresight."

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Everyone praised Liu Xinyi.

Liu Xinyi said: "I just maintained a cautious attitude. In fact, if I had done the experiment on one acre of land as I said before, I wouldn't have lost so much food."

After hearing what Liu Xinyi said, everyone started complaining about the captain.

"Yes, since you had doubts before, why didn't you experiment on a small piece of land first? Now we are left with only this much food and can't even get enough to eat." The villagers completely forgot how much they believed in this so-called "good seed" in the beginning, and they blamed Liu Xinyi for being nosy and put all the blame on Captain Tang.

"That's right. Last year, the grain production dropped drastically. The captain said that he applied for relief grain, but there is no relief grain at all. I don't think we will get any relief grain this year."

Seeing the growing resentment in the crowd, Shen Ruoqing said, "Now is not the time to complain. If there are difficulties, we will solve them. Several nearby brigades are short of food, and we are not rich in food either. Instead of complaining here, we might as well go to the mountains to find more food. Our brigade is already very good. At the beginning, more than half of the people were dissatisfied with the decision to plant half of the rice, and they all demanded to plant all 'improved' rice seeds. Now that something has gone wrong, everyone is venting their anger on the brigade leader. The great man said that unity is strength. The more difficult the time, the more we must unite to overcome difficulties."

"Everyone, please be patient. I know there is a large area of ​​kudzu root in the mountains. I can lead you to dig it up so that no one will go hungry." Liu Xinyi suddenly said.

"Kuzoum root? How much?" Captain Tang's eyes lit up. Kuzoum can indeed be eaten as food, because its large rhizomes contain a lot of starch, which is processed into kuzoum powder. And compared to the starch of sweet potatoes and potatoes, its nutritional value is even higher.

(End of this chapter)