Afterwards, Xiao Jiu explained to them some medicines that sounded harmless from the name, but once they heard what kind of medicine they were made of, they all turned constipated.
For example, earthworms.
The Chinese medicine term "dilong" refers to earthworms from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Zhejiang. They are divided into Guangdilong and Hudilong, with the best ones being those with wide bodies and thick flesh. They can be used raw, decocted, or ground into powder and swallowed.
Another example is a snake's shed skin.
If these aren't bizarre enough, then there's one more.
According to Tao Zongyi of the Yuan Dynasty, there was an elderly man in his seventies or eighties who voluntarily donated his body to benefit his neighbors.
Before the old man passed away, he ate nothing but honey.
After his death, people placed his body in a stone coffin, poured honey over it, sealed the coffin, and buried it, to be opened again a hundred years later.
If someone suffers a broken limb, they should eat a spoonful of honey from the coffin, and they will be healed immediately.
Moreover, Li Shizhen believed that human urine could be used as medicine and had miraculous effects on many diseases.
Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, I believe what he said is not unfounded!
"No wonder people say Western medicine treats the symptoms, while traditional Chinese medicine treats the root cause! I've really learned something new today. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that tartar and earwax could be used as medicine, ugh..."
Seeing Pang Weiwei pretend to vomit, Xiao Jiu couldn't help but laugh.
"Traditional Chinese medicine has a magical power to turn the mundane into the miraculous; it can alleviate the patient's suffering and eradicate the root cause of the disease." Unfortunately...
Sigh, there are some things she simply can't say now. In a few years, the people will be severely brainwashed.
By then, who will remember that their ancestors were all beneficiaries of traditional Chinese medicine?
During difficult times, no one has it easy. Many students eat only one or two meals a day to save money and food, making it quite difficult to eat in the evening. Xiaojiu's ability to share some traditional Chinese medicine knowledge with them at this time is a perfect way to distract them.
"Last night, a girl in Class 3 had a stomachache and acid reflux in the middle of the night. She was vomiting and had diarrhea so badly that she was vomiting blood. The dormitory supervisor had no choice but to find the school doctor and the security guard, who took her to the hospital."
Xiao Jiu frowned upon hearing this, "It seems like everyone's been having a tough time lately; even morning exercises have been canceled."
Many people are suffering from gastrointestinal discomfort and hunger, which makes them feel weak and powerless. They don't have the energy to run exercises. If it weren't for so many people taking leave, it probably wouldn't have been canceled.
In fact, there are quite a few students like Zhu Hongqi in the school. Many students look pale and sickly. Those who can hold on are forcing themselves to stay, while those who can't have gone home. They can't concentrate on their studies here anyway, and no matter what happens when they go home, they won't starve to death.
In 1959 and 1960, there were many similar cases in the village. At the worst time, tree roots and bark were stripped off and scraped clean. It is said that some families even ate the newspapers pasted on the walls.
When the production team planted peanuts, they soaked them in manure to prevent people from stealing them. But people who were so hungry that their eyes were red didn't care about that. Even if it was manure, they didn't care whether it was human or animal manure. As long as they didn't starve to death, what did it matter if they ate it?
During that period, the people in the village suffered terribly. Every winter, someone would die every month, which was common in previous years, but famine had been particularly severe in recent years. In the first half of this year, many children in the village, despite their young age, contracted gastrointestinal diseases. They couldn't afford medical treatment, and often a minor illness would develop into a serious one, leading to death.
Although they never knew what disease they had before they died, they all understood that it was caused by famine.
The Tao family and the Tang sisters, who were temporarily staying at the Zhou family's house, all minded their own business. If they really encountered someone struggling financially, they never gave them anything in front of them; they would just secretly throw it into their house at night.
But this can only provide temporary relief, after all, the Tao family had already suffered a loss during the great famine of 1942.
Back then, even though my family was wealthy, we were still robbed by starving refugees. Now, with us barely making ends meet, there's no way we'd ever repeat that mistake.
If things are like this at school, the situation outside must be even worse, especially with the Mid-Autumn Festival just around the corner.
After thinking it over, she felt she couldn't miss this opportunity, so she asked her teacher for a week's leave from evening self-study sessions.
The reason given was that an elderly relative was sick, and she needed to take care of them for a few days in place of her parents. Given that she was usually honest and reliable, the teacher did not make things difficult for her.
Xiao Jiu said the same thing to her roommate.
So as soon as I left the school gate at 5 p.m., I quickly found a place to go into my space to put on makeup and disguise myself.
This is the safest method available so far.
Last time she wanted to inquire about the black market, but recently she overheard her roommates gossiping that several speculators in their village had been arrested.
Since the black market was too dangerous, she gave up on it and took a bus to the residential compound near the cotton mill, machinery factory, and thermos factory, which were a little further from the school. There were many factories and residential compounds there, which meant more opportunities. Besides, she wanted to catch the earliest bus tomorrow.
She no longer runs laps for morning exercises; she got a temporary day student pass and just needs to get to school before eight o'clock.
That being said, it would be best to attend early morning self-study sessions, since everyone else is studying. If you don't study, what are you going to do if you lose out for a pittance?
After arriving in the western suburbs, Xiao Jiu carried a bamboo basket and wandered into the residential area. After circling around a couple of times, an old lady came over and called her.
"Oh my, my dear niece, why are you only arriving now? Look at you, you didn't even tell us you were coming so we could have picked you up. You don't even know where you are, you've been wandering around for ages. Come on, let's go to your aunt's house."
There are too many scammers these days. Xiao Jiu, influenced by what she's seen and heard, resisted and tried to shake off the old woman, but she held onto her hand tightly.
"Oh, my silly girl, aren't you a seller? Just come with me, would I lie to you?"
Xiao Jiu froze, tilting her head to look at the old lady. She was dressed quite neatly, not very tall, but too thin, with sunken eye sockets.
However, looking back on her journey, she saw that there were no fat people among them. Nowadays, thin people are like paper dolls, and some even look like skeletons from later generations who have been excessively dieting. They are so thin that you can see their bones, and they walk weakly. Their complexions are either yellow or pale, and they look unhealthy.
So, after following the old lady to her house, as soon as the door closed, Xiao Jiu instinctively went to open it.
"Oh, little girl, don't worry, it's just me and my grandson and granddaughter at home. They're still young, look at them."
Following her gaze, I noticed a five or six-year-old boy leading a two or three-year-old girl. The two were playing obediently on the bed in the bedroom, looking quite harmonious. However, they were both very thin. The boy had a buzz cut and his face was sparse, while the girl's arms and legs were just skin and bones.
"Don't worry about that. Quick, let me see what you have here. My family has run out of food. We can't buy any food anywhere. My son risked going to the black market and almost got robbed. We're too scared to go there now. My husband goes out every day to queue up to buy food, but you know the situation right now. You can't just buy it by queuing up."
The old lady's words were pitiful, and the children in the family proved that what she said was true. Xiao Jiu looked at the layout of the house. Although it was a tenement building, it was still fifty or sixty square meters. In the famine years, there was not much food, so they cooked on the outside balcony.
Even though she knew that rice and flour were the scarcest things at the moment, her food was so good that it would attract too much attention if taken out in this era.
So this time she carried a bamboo basket full of potatoes and sweet potatoes, which were very heavy and had already been weighed in the space.
"See if you can finish it. Ten pounds of potatoes and ten pounds of sweet potatoes, twenty pounds in total. It's the same price, one cent per pound. Give me two dollars and I won't ask for your food coupons."
"What? Two yuan? Rice at the grain station is only 19 cents a pound, and even the most expensive high-gluten flour is 15 cents. This isn't even considered grain, yet you dare to ask for 10 cents?"
Xiao Jiu didn't waste any words with her. He squatted down and tried to carry the bamboo basket away, which scared the old woman half to death.
"Look at your little girl, not letting anyone speak up. Can you lower the price a bit more? You see, we're really not well-off. My son and daughter-in-law have to support six people. My husband and I are from the countryside and don't get any food subsidies in the city."
Xiao Jiu tugged at her patched clothes. "Auntie, do we look like a wealthy family? If it weren't for scraping together money for my brother's medical treatment, we'd be saving these sweet potatoes and potatoes from our private plot for winter. You know what our situation is now."
And so, the two of them started tearing at each other. Xiao Jiu wouldn't give in, while the old lady tried to persuade her with all her heart, even saying that Xiao Jiu looked radiant and didn't seem like someone who was short of food at all.
"If that's how you put it, then let's forget about it. Look at the quality of my potatoes and sweet potatoes. They're so heavy. I've carried them this far, and I don't need your food coupons. Can't I even earn a little bit of hard-earned money? Ask the supply and marketing cooperative how much potatoes and sweet potatoes cost. If you keep this up, I'll raise the price to three yuan. I won't sell them for a penny less!"
"Good, good, good, how come you're so clever, little girl? You can't fool me, this has to be accurate!"
"Why don't you just bring your scale and weigh it? I weighed it at home, I didn't bring it with me."
The old lady didn't have a scale at home, but she had farmed before. When Xiao Jiu took out the sweet potatoes and potatoes and put them in her basket, she weighed them in her hands and readily gave her two yuan. She took the money out of her waistband and counted the small bills three times before reluctantly giving them to her. In the end, Xiao Jiu had to hold onto the money herself.
After taking the money, she left without looking back.
After running a few steps and making sure no one was behind him, he moved out another twenty pounds of sweet potatoes and potatoes, and quickly went back into another doorway.
These are weighed in the space, and you can sell them in huge quantities. If you can't eat them all, that's fine; you can resell them yourself. As for the selling price, you can decide for yourselves. Anyway, she sells them for only one cent per pound.
She didn't sell them for much, allowing them to make a small profit and helping them get through some difficult times.
She wasn't a good person, but she wasn't bad either.
And just like that, ten piles of sweet potatoes and potatoes, weighing a total of two hundred pounds, were all sold out in less than an hour.
She got twenty yuan, but no ration coupon. Not satisfied, she left the family compound and went back into the thermos factory's family compound.
Compared to the cotton mill, this place seems poorer.
This time she's selling eggs for one cent each, no coupons required, though of course, it'll be cheaper if you have coupons.
An hour later, after selling three hundred eggs, he only earned thirty yuan and still hadn't received a single ticket.
It seems like we can't count on getting this ticket.
Looking at the time, it was already late. I didn't linger over a few drinks. After making sure no one was following me, I took the last bus back to the city.
After thinking it over, she felt more at ease only when she returned to the vicinity of the school.
By the time we arrived at the school gate, it was almost nine o'clock in the evening.
She hid directly in the green belt by the side gate of the school. It was dark then, and she couldn't see anything. There were no streetlights, so no one could find her.
Inside the space, the collected money is neatly stacked into small bills and large bills, and tied with rubber bands for easy access when needed.
Anyway, I finally have over 100 yuan in cash.
She was up all night and didn't even have time to eat. She just cooked herself a bag of wontons. People said she'd gained weight and should eat less tonight.
There were only twelve wontons in this batch, with hardly any filling, just wrappers. She didn't actually like them, but it was a good time to lose weight.
After eating, I didn't dare to go straight to sleep. I took a walk outside the factory for a while to digest.
When she saw the bicycles, tricycles, and electric bikes parked outside, she wondered if these could also be pushed out.
To test her idea, Xiao Jiu first grabbed a bicycle and went out, only to find that in the end, only she went out; the bicycle did not come out with her.
"It seems that although I can get outside the factory, the things outside the factory do not belong to me yet. I don't know if it is because the warehouse is being upgraded. There was no notification. It's really troublesome."
Since we can't use it, let's just ride it around the factory area as a form of exercise!
The bicycle isn't new; it's a mountain bike, and I don't know whose mode of transportation it is for commuting. This thing is much easier to ride than those shared bikes.
The tricycle wasn't small, and it was electric. There were keys in the ignition, so it was probably meant to be used at any time.
The electric motorcycle didn't have a key, so she'd have to go to the staff break room to look for it later.
She woke up at five o'clock the next day and first lit a stove outside to boil a pot of eggs. After boiling, she turned off the heat and let them simmer for more than ten minutes. She ate two eggs and took five others to rinse with cold water. After sensing that no one was outside, she carefully left the space, showed the gatekeeper her temporary day student pass, and went straight into the classroom.
"I thought you came after your morning self-study session. Aren't you scared coming so early in the morning?"
Xiao Jiu shook her head. "My cousin brought me here. It's nothing. What did you memorize during evening self-study last night? Tell me quickly."
While the eggs were still warm, Xiao Jiu approached the five people and quietly slipped each of them a warm egg.
Zhou Shengnan touched the still-warm egg and opened her mouth to speak, but Xiao Jiu winked at her and said, "While it's hot, let's find a place quickly."
Gao Mingxia grabbed Xiao Jiu's hand to return it, "Alright, sister, stop arguing. Everyone'll see in a minute. Be good, this is your little sister's treat for you, eat!"
Peng Juan and Zhu Hongqi's eyes were red, but Pang Weiwei smiled and winked at Xiao Jiu before leaving the classroom first.
Let's go find a place to eat eggs!
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