"Grandma, I really can't be sure. I'll go look for it tomorrow night when I get back, but I don't know if it's still there?"
"If we don't have it, it's everyone's fate. We can hardly draw water from the old well anymore. I'm afraid that even if we have food, we won't have water to drink. People can live without food, but without water, they can't survive."
Zhang Hongmei felt extremely sad. "Grandma, I'm going back now. Tell my uncle to come to the city to find me tomorrow."
"Okay. Go ahead."
Zhang Hongmei had no desire to go home and visit her family. She put down the brown sugar, put the tightly wrapped 10,000 yuan into a cloth bag, picked it up, and left.
My heart was heavy the whole way, and I unconsciously quickened my pace.
Fortunately, we arrived in the city before dark.
After returning home, I went straight into my spatial storage and started storing corn.
This time I'm thinking of filling 150 bags and saying that they were extra, otherwise even if it rains right now, I won't have much of a harvest.
It only stopped when my stomach started growling with hunger; there was still more than half left to pack.
After finishing two steamed buns, I continued working, taking breaks when I got tired, until everything was packed. Only then did I take a shower and go to sleep.
Now that half the corn in the space is gone, and thinking about the medicinal herbs in the field, I finally decided not to plant any more grains. If necessary, I'll just use my old stock.
The 40-ton inventory should be enough for the villagers to get through this difficult time.
The next day was Sunday. I got up and first filled the water vat, then started making dough and soaking shredded radishes.
Liu Aimin will definitely come today, and we'll make vegetable buns with shredded radish and chives.
I cooked a pot of mung bean porridge and waited for it to cool. Then I picked the cucumbers from the yard, washed them, removed the seeds, and pressed them into the pickling jar. I picked the green beans, blanched them in boiling water, drained them, and laid them out on a drying rack to dry in the sun.
It took a whole morning to finally get the vegetables in the yard sorted out.
It's already noon. I estimate Liu Aimin will arrive in the afternoon, so I'll start preparing the meal.
Once the vegetable dumplings are stuck to the pan, prepare the vegetables: minced garlic and shredded cucumber, and tomatoes mixed with sugar.
The food is all ready, but Liu Aimin hasn't arrived yet? Did he not come today?
Looking at the table full of food, I felt hungry and was about to eat first when I heard a knock on the door.
It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early.
"Third Uncle, eldest Uncle, you're all here? Come in quickly and have some food." Zhang Hongmei opened the door and saw Liu Maocai and Da Shan's father coming over with Liu Aimin.
“Your uncle couldn’t handle it by himself, so the two of us came to help him.”
The three of them followed Zhang Hongmei into the courtyard and washed their hands and faces.
Seeing the food on the table, she said, "Hongmei, we're not strangers. Why did you prepare so much?"
Liu Maocai was afraid that Zhang Hongmei would cook all the good food for them, leaving her with no food to eat in the future.
"It's alright, I have food to eat. Brother Zhang will send someone to deliver food to me every month or two, so don't worry, Uncle. Hurry up and eat. You can rest this afternoon; the food will be delivered tonight."
Uncle? What about the car? And this time they gave us an extra 150 bags, are the three of you going to pack them yourselves?
“I can drive. I’ll go to the Armed Forces Department to borrow a car in a bit, and I’ll drive it tonight. The three of us can easily handle 500 bags.”
Fortunately, Zhang Hongmei posted a lot of food, otherwise there really might not have been enough.
Da Shan's father kept praising Hongmei, saying, "Hongmei's cooking is still the best; she's much better than the people in the cafeteria."
"Hehe, if the aunties who cook in the cafeteria could cook this kind of food, Uncle, it would taste delicious too."
After finishing their meal, Liu Aimin went out. Da Shan's father and Liu Maocai, having nothing else to do, sat and chatted with Zhang Hongmei.
Both of them know their limits; they know what they should know and when to play dumb.
Seeing this, Zhang Hongmei wondered if the old lady was planning to let Dashan take over the business.
That's good too; early training is good for Liujiatun.
"Hongmei, is there any chores at home? It's so uncomfortable sitting here." Liu Maocai really wasn't used to sitting at home.
"No work? There's no need to farm here. I've already taken care of the vegetable garden in the yard. If there's nothing else, just lie down and sleep. We've set the time for 1 a.m.
"Okay, I'll go lie down for a while. When Aimin comes back, you can take us to see how to get there."
"Okay, I'll read for a while and wait for my uncle to come back."
Zhang Hongmei leaned against the pillow with a book in her hand, her mind preoccupied with Liu Changhai's matter. She wondered what had happened and why it was Liu Aimin who came this time.
He shook his head; this wasn't something he should be thinking about. As long as the grain was delivered this time, he should be free of any more problems.
But this old lady is really rich. She must have given the village more than 20,000 yuan in advance.
This old woman is truly kind. Almost everyone else just focuses on living their own lives and doesn't care about others. But this old woman worries about the entire village. I really admire her.
Zhang Hongmei felt that 150 bags of corn alone wouldn't be enough. She also had ten bags of broken rice and fifty bags of soybeans in her storage space. Of course, she couldn't take them all out; five bags of broken rice and ten bags of soybeans would still be too much.
At that point, she could only say that others were taking care of her. She had already paid for the grain purchase last time with the money she had on hand, so she couldn't use that excuse this time. However, she could say that she would pay for the remaining thousand as well.
Actually, based on the grain price last time, she could only buy half of what she had prepared this time, but Zhang Hongmei really couldn't bear to do that, so she had no choice but to do it this way.
Lost in thought, I couldn't concentrate on a single word. I figured the grain and the harvest from the fields should last a year, right?
It's already the second half of the year, why hasn't it rained yet? Is it because things are so different from my previous life?
I hope it rains soon, otherwise we won't be able to hold on any longer.
Although it wasn't reported in the newspapers, judging from the amount of relief food, many places must have been severely affected by the disaster.
I don't even dare to go to the grain station myself. I heard from my classmates that the monthly supply is now less than half of what it used to be.
I also heard that the school cafeteria is closing down, and everyone will have to find their own meals. But what about those living in the dorms?
Zhang Hongmei thought the cafeteria probably wouldn't be disbanded. There were too many boarding students; it was impossible for everyone to cook for themselves.
Besides, the government will definitely guarantee the school's food supply, even if it's only half, it will be supplied on time.
Everything is difficult. When will this drought end?
I'm not bringing my own lunch anymore. I'll just have two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, even if it means going hungry.
Zhang Hongmei heard a knock on the door. Could it be that Liu Aimin has returned?
"Song Zigan, what brings you here? Is something the matter?"
"It's nothing. I thought you should be back from your hometown, so I came to see you now."
"Yes, I came back yesterday. The elders in the village are home today, so I won't keep you any longer. Come visit me again next week."
"Okay, then I'll head back now."
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