Tiger hesitated. He could see it; it was a basin, and he could smell the delicious aroma. It must be tasty, and there might even be meat in it.
Although his mouth was watering, he hesitated more and more. Would he get a beating from his grandmother if he took this back?
It's simple, but it's funny.
"You little brat, why do you have so many thoughts? Didn't your grandma tell you to listen to me?"
Tiger started scratching his head again.
"……yes."
"That's settled then. This is still my home, so you have to listen to me, right? If your grandma scolds you, just say this."
Tiger's little brain worked for a long time, and he felt that something was wrong with what was said, but he still couldn't figure it out. He was simply fooled into carrying the basket back. Even if he knew what was inside, he would have to protect it carefully. If it fell and spilled, he would be heartbroken.
Jian Dan had no guilty conscience at all. After seeing the person off, he clapped his hands and went back into the house. Looking at the row of large and small jars along the wall, he felt very satisfied. These were all his family's treasures.
Although she wasn't the one doing the work, she was exhausted from climbing up and down, so she simply ate the leftover dish and two steamed buns to finish her dinner.
The next day was another sunny day.
After harvesting the crops and distributing the grain, this area, which is only a one-season crop per year, is now mostly finishing up. At this time, it is mostly the villagers who work, as they are reluctant to waste work points and will not let go of any opportunity to earn them.
The educated youth had worked hard all autumn, and when they finally had some free time, none of them wanted to go through that kind of hardship again.
Even the newly arrived educated youth who had just survived the food shortage crisis a few days ago were no exception. They had just received their share of food and were no longer in the pitiful state of begging for help.
Li Yan looked down on them and grumbled angrily to Lin Zhaodi.
“Look at this, isn’t this what the villagers mean when they say he’s good for nothing but can’t finish anything he eats?”
"If we eat like this right after the grain rations are distributed, how can we survive until next spring? Won't we run out of food again by the New Year?"
"But didn't the village chief say it when the grain was distributed? He even emphasized it twice. If they don't care, what can we do?"
"Yes, they're all adults, what don't they understand? Don't worry about it. Maybe they just wanted to improve their diet after the grain rations were distributed?"
Li Yan sighed.
"I'd like to pretend I didn't see it, but don't come looking for us when we run out of food, okay?"
A few days ago, when food ran out, although it was the older educated youth who lent a helping hand, the new educated youth didn't seem grateful at all; they were still treating them with disdain.
Just before entering the room, Du Xiuling gave Lin Zhaodi a fierce snort, then swung her braid as she went in, leaving Lin Zhaodi completely bewildered.
Thinking about this makes me a little worried.
"That seems to make sense. That Du educated youth was giving me a really fierce look just now. I don't know what I did to offend her."
Tanya Jun continued to gather up the clothes that had been drying without stopping, while pouting.
"You have to tell me, when have they ever looked at us with any approval?"
Lin Zhaodi was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.
"It seems...to be true!"
Fortunately, there was a reliable person in charge, Wang Jiancheng, on the side of the new educated youth. After eating to his heart's content for two days, he firmly stopped this unplanned behavior and returned to the three meals a day of thin porridge mixed with coarse grains.
Oh no, it got cold, so it didn't take long before I was eating only two meals a day.
Li Yan and the others had stocked up on winter vegetables, and the grain was naturally what they had been allocated. However, they had also secretly collected a lot of mountain products. The group sorted and dried them, separating out items that could be mixed with the grain, such as chestnuts and sweet potatoes.
Like those walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, etc., set aside some as snacks for the New Year.
I'll save a little bit to mail home for them to try before the New Year.
The group discussed that they would go to the commune when they had time to see if they could exchange the remaining items for some money, or at the very least, for some usable goods.
They'd be heartbroken if they had to treat all these good things as snacks.
In winter, all you need to prepare is food, clothing, and warmth.
For now, we can manage on food. It would be even better if we could get some meat in the winter, but we'll have to take it slowly. It's best if we have some, but we can survive if we don't.
As for clothing, they are simple and have no worries about food and clothing.
Li Yan and the others all came last year, and they are all from ordinary families. Li Yan and Chen Jianguo are doing well; their cotton-padded coats from last year are still usable, and they don't plan to get new ones.
When Li Yan and Lin Zhaodi arrived, they brought their old cotton quilts. They had made do with them for a year. Li Yan's was alright, but Lin Zhaodi's was thin and leaked air everywhere. They had been making do with it for a year. This year, the two of them had planned early on to find a way to add some cotton.
Neither of them was short of money, but Lin Zhaodi was different from Li Yan. Li Yan's family could occasionally provide some support, while Lin Zhaodi was the most neglected one at home. She was always short of things and money, and her family would rather she send things back home than provide any support.
So when she worked with them, everyone else always carried more things. Lin Zhaodi was quiet, but she always volunteered to do the work, afraid of taking advantage of others.
Furthermore, cotton is a scarce commodity, and even if you want to make it, it's not something you can do immediately; it's hard to even gather enough of it.
As for Lin Dongfang and Mingzhu, although Mingzhu's family was in trouble, they really didn't lack anything. Lin Dongfang even had someone make them thick cotton-padded clothes.
Ling Weidong's small group were not short of money, and they had prepared military overcoats well in advance.
With that settled, the next target was naturally the biggest winter consumable – firewood.
Chen Jianguo and the other boys looked at the firewood in their hands. It would be barely enough for cooking, but in winter, especially after it snows, the fire in the house would be almost impossible to go out. With so little firewood, it wouldn't be good for anything.
Li Yan, Lin Zhaodi, and Tan Yajun shared a room, while the male educated youth shared a room with Chen Jianguo and Ling Weidong. The amount of firewood needed for the three rooms was not small.
Lin Dongfang and his wife also prepared some materials, but let alone whether they would be enough to get through the winter, it would be difficult to even last until the snow fell.
Hearing everyone's plans, I decisively shouldered my basket and set off with the group.
Given the shadow cast by the food shortage crisis, Chen Jianguo immediately sought out Wang Jiancheng. After explaining the seriousness of the situation, he disregarded their reactions and the group filed out of the educated youth compound, heading towards the foot of the mountain.
After they left, the other educated youth gathered around.
"What are they doing?"
"Yeah, why do they always act alone? It's so disjointed!"
Wang Jiancheng stared blankly, his unease growing stronger.
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