Chapter 164 Hungry

It seems to contain food...

Gu Cheng came back so late today, I guess he has already dealt with the two little wild boars.

Liu Yinyin asked him, "Have you found the food?"

Gu Cheng nodded: "Yes, two wild boars were exchanged for 400 kilograms of coarse grain. The grain was placed in the house in the county town and was not brought back."

There was also food on the bicycle, but it was the commercial food he received this month.

There was too much food, and it would be bad if someone saw it, so he didn't bring it all back.

After arriving home, Gu Cheng washed his hands and ate.

Seeing the pickled bamboo shoots on the table, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Did you go to the mountains to dig bamboo shoots today?"

"No." Liu Yinyin was not capable of finding bamboo shoots in the mountains. She explained, "Sister Guizhi gave them to me. I gave her ten eggs in return."

Liu Yinyin said this as she packed up the food.

Two bags of food, containing ten pounds of rice, ten pounds of flour, ten pounds of millet, and twelve pounds of cornmeal.

Liu Yinyin exclaimed, "Huh?" and asked in confusion, "Did the county supply more food this month?"

All this food weighed a total of 42 kilograms.

But it seems unlikely. There is famine everywhere and the county town has also been affected. How can we increase the food supply at this time?

Besides, there are so many fine grains.

"No." Gu Cheng was silent for a moment, then said truthfully, "This month's food supply is only 32 kilograms, 10 kilograms of fine grains and 22 kilograms of coarse grains. The extra food... was bought by me."

Anyway, I went to exchange food today, so I bought some fine food for the mother and son.

However, food is really expensive nowadays. It takes nearly half a month's salary to buy ten kilograms of fine grains.

"Thirty-two kilograms?" Liu Yinyin muttered, "The food supply is two kilograms less again."

Initially, Gu Cheng had a monthly ration of 36 kilograms of food. Last year, due to a natural disaster, the food ration was reduced by 2 kilograms, and he could only receive 34 kilograms of food per month.

Now... we are two kilograms short of food.

The food supply in the county is indeed insufficient.

Gu Cheng sighed inwardly and said, "From now on, I can only receive 32 kilograms of food every month."

In fact, it was not a small amount, as Gu Cheng had a high position. Even though the ration was reduced, he still had 32 kilograms of food.

Other ordinary workers in the county originally only had about 30 kilograms of food per month.

The ration is now less, only about twenty kilograms of food a month, and there are fewer fine grains and more coarse grains, which is not enough to eat.

Liu Yinyin understood and said, "Is that so... But don't buy food for me in the future. Just leave this matter to me."

The price of food outside is so high, it would be better for her to smuggle food out of the system directly.

Gu Cheng heard this and gave her a meaningful look, then said, "It doesn't matter who buys it."

Liu Yinyin smiled awkwardly and changed the subject, "Can we also use the salted meat and marinated meat made at home to exchange for food?"

We definitely can’t finish it if we keep it. The bacon and sausages we made at the end of last year were enough for our family of three, and this year we got some piglets.

If I can keep them alive, I can make another batch of bacon by the end of the year.

So, there is no need to keep so much wild boar meat.

"Let's change it and stockpile it into food." Gu Cheng felt mixed emotions. Pork was also a scarce commodity, but it was not as good as food.

I don’t know what the situation will be like this year, but it is still necessary to stock up more food.

Liu Yinyin and Gu Yanyan have already finished dinner.

She left four and a half corn cobs for Gu Cheng, each of which was quite large.

One was enough for Liu Yinyin, Gu Yanyan ate half of it, and the remaining half was given to Gu Cheng.

There was also a big bowl of pig's trotters stewed with soybeans and a plate of sauerkraut and bamboo shoots.

Gu Cheng finally ate everything.

Liu Yinyin always felt that Gu Cheng's appetite had increased recently.

He could eat it before, but he would restrain himself and eat less.

But now, he ate so much, he must be really hungry.

The key point is...Gu Cheng eats a lot but doesn't gain any weight. Instead, he looks thinner.

Liu Yinyin was a little worried and asked tentatively, "Are you full? How about I get you something else to eat?"

"No, that's enough." said Gu Cheng.

Liu Yinyin glanced at him and muttered, "Tell me, has something happened, or has the food in the cafeteria gotten worse? Otherwise, how come you're losing weight when you eat so much?"

People who don't know would think that she, as a wife, is not good to him.

In fact, the reason why Liu Yinyin's family doesn't seem so unique in the village is because there is no fat person in her family.

Gu Yanyan is a little fat, but it’s normal for children to be a little fat.

In the eyes of the villagers, both Gu Cheng and his wife were thin, and the food at home must not be very good.

They didn't know that one of the couple was afraid of getting fat and didn't dare to eat too much, while the other didn't gain weight even if he ate.

Gu Cheng saw Liu Yinyin staring at him without blinking, as if she wanted to get to the bottom of things, and he knew that something could not be hidden anymore.

He thought for a moment and said, "Nothing happened, except that... I gave most of the food to others."

Liu Yinyin was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Who did you feed it to? A man or a woman?"

That shouldn't be the case. Gu Cheng eats breakfast and dinner at home and only has lunch in the factory cafeteria. Could it be that he gave the food to the people in the factory at noon?

But...the people in the factory are all workers, it is impossible for them to go without food.

Even if someone couldn't get enough food, why did Gu Cheng have to give up the food?

Gu Cheng explained truthfully: "It was an old lady... She was quite pitiful. Her son and daughter-in-law were all gone, and she, an old lady, had to take care of several grandchildren at home."

The economy has been bad in the past two years, and the workers' food rations have become increasingly smaller.

That lady was just a temporary worker in the factory canteen. The food she earned was not enough for herself, let alone supporting her grandchildren.

So, one time when Gu Cheng was getting his meal in the cafeteria, he happened to see the old lady fainted in front of him.

How could Gu Cheng pretend that he didn't see it, so he sent the man to the hospital. The man was fine, he just fainted from hunger.

The old lady had no family members who could take care of her, so out of kindness, Gu Cheng gave her the lunch he had prepared.

From then on, the lady often came to see him.

Gu Cheng knew her purpose, but the old lady was indeed a pitiful person.

If I don't help her, she will starve to death.

He is a soldier and there are some things he cannot refuse.

Liu Yinyin suddenly realized, "So...did you not have lunch during this period?"

No wonder I eat so much at night.

The man nodded in acknowledgement.

Liu Yinyin glared at him: "Silly, if you do this, what will you do if others go to you for help when they have no food to eat?"

Gu Cheng said indifferently: "I just want a meal. If you come to me again, I can't do anything."

He is sometimes soft-hearted, but not stupid. Gu Cheng will not show off if he cannot help.

Liu Yinyin was silent for a moment and finally said nothing more.