"Sis, there are so many people today."
"Sis, do you see that stall? They make their own baskets and you can use them to barter for things, right?"
"Sister, there are eggs over there. What can you exchange an egg for?"
When they were in the Northwest, Tang Sumei mostly bought things and rarely exchanged them, especially things like exchanging eggs for other things. The child had never experienced this firsthand and was not very familiar with it.
I don't fully understand the current price levels, but I do know that...
"An egg costs about five cents for a large one and three cents for a small one. They can't bear to eat it themselves. One egg can be exchanged for about a pound of salt."
Tell me, do you think they could bear to part with it?
After learning to cook, they became more knowledgeable about seasonings. When dividing meat, they heard villagers discussing buying salt and other such items, and they basically understood the importance of these necessities.
This comparison probably makes it clear.
"Oh, no wonder? They must be reluctant to buy candy for their children?"
Although the two children are just over ten years old, they know everything they need to know. Five- or six-year-old children know what delicious food they have at home and how to keep it a secret, so it goes without saying that they know even more.
The child suddenly let out a soft sigh.
"Sister, I suddenly realized that we are actually better off than many people. We can eat our fill, have meat to eat, and have snacks. We can eat this today and that tomorrow."
In winter, we have cotton-padded clothes and cotton-padded shoes to wear.
We just saw the child the woman who sold eggs had with her. He was wearing only a thin shirt, and he was so big, it was obvious he wasn't hers. His toes were sticking out of his shoes. He was watching us when we were eating popcorn, and his stomach was growling.
Cheng An, with his keen observation, added,
"His eyes are like this, bulging outwards, and his face is all fleshy."
And those ankles, they're so thin, thinner than my wrists!
After they finished speaking, the two boys sighed in unison.
"Sis, we're living such a good life, aren't we going to eat you out of house and home?"
Um?
Before Jian Dan could even express her feelings, the two children immediately steered the conversation back to food.
"Eating won't make you poor, but it's not something you earned with your own blood and sweat. The fact that you can think this way shows that you've grown up."
As you should know, what you just saw is actually the current state of rural areas. Families like ours, who are able to eat their fill and stay warm, are a minority, a very small minority.
This includes my work points for the year, though of course, it can only account for a portion, a small part.
Then there's the harvest from the mountain. As you know, my sister is pretty good at hunting, so we've never really lacked meat. These last few deer were an accident, given to us by wolves—an unexpected bonus.
Then there are the money notes given by my older brother and younger uncle, and the money notes given by your parents before. Putting all of these together, plus the family fortune left to me by my parents, my grandparents and maternal grandparents after they passed away, you could say that all of this is the foundation that gives us the confidence to eat and dress warmly.
Tell me, if the three of us rely solely on working and our own labor next year, what can we possibly gain?
Cheng Rui scratched his head.
“We can help you with the work and gardening, so that we'll have enough vegetables to eat.”
“We can also go up the mountain to collect firewood, find wild fruits, dig traps, catch fish, dig wild vegetables, pick mushrooms, and collect mountain products in the autumn.”
"You're right, but have you noticed? The things we can basically do are all related to food, right?"
Now that we've solved part of the food problem, let's look at other aspects.
Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—we've solved the food problem, and for shelter, we have houses.
Okay, we basically only go to the commune or the army when we go out. We can take an oxcart or walk, so we'll ignore that.
The three of us don't have formal jobs, and we don't have any of the commonly used coupons like grain coupons, cloth coupons, salt coupons, sugar coupons, or oil coupons. So what do you suggest we do? We can do without grain coupons; we can buy grain in the village. If all else fails, we can deduct work points in the fall to solve the problem.
Oil coupons? We can find fatty meat or lard. Hunting a wild boar will solve the problem. I have that skill, so we'll ignore it for now.
What about the others?
No sugar? Fine.
What about salt? Is it okay not to eat salt?
Where's the cloth? You're all growing taller, and the clothes you wear today will be too small by the New Year. Without cloth ration coupons, how can we make you new clothes? New shoes?
Look, we've only just begun to think about it. Just the basics of food and clothing already bring us so many worries, and we haven't even put anything into practice yet.
You have to understand, ordinary people don't always go up the mountain thinking about hunting wild boars or pheasants. They only think about how to make the land produce more and how to let their families eat more – these are the practical problems.
Just this point alone means we're no longer on the same page as the villagers.
We had it much easier than them; they had it the hardest.
The two children listened with heavy expressions. As they approached the oxcart, Cheng An suddenly spoke up.
"Sis, are Brother Da Niu and Brother Er Niu the kind of people who have it really, really hard?"
"......"
Jian Dan hadn't expected the child to think of them; after hesitating for a moment, she nodded and then shook her head.
"The path that God arranges for each person is different, and the hardships they experience are also different."
The hardest thing for Da Niu and Er Niu wasn't losing their father, but having a mother who didn't treat them like human beings. Not only did she not treat them like human beings, she didn't value their lives either, and that person was their biological mother.
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