One of the people who came to borrow grain was someone who had gone to collect salt with Xiaoxiao and the others.
He's a nice person too.
But no matter how good the grain was, Yuan's mother couldn't just lend it out.
They've already started borrowing grain before anything has even happened yet.
It's all because the family members are lazy or don't know how to manage their finances.
She would never set a precedent by lending out grain.
If you lend money to one family and another family asks to borrow from you, would you say no? Wouldn't that offend them?
If they borrow everything, will their family still have anything to eat?
When will the lent grain be returned?
His family isn't particularly wealthy.
The best approach is not to lend any of them.
Fortunately, she and Xiaoxiao were prepared.
Most of the grain was stored in small warehouses.
Only a small portion was stored in this large cellar.
There are three bags of corn and one bag of rice.
There were also some scattered peanuts, soybeans, and the like.
The rest were sweet potatoes and potatoes.
There are quite a few of these two.
Yuan's mother suggested that they go with them to the cellar to take a look.
Everyone felt awkward.
They didn't say whether they would go or not.
Deep down, they didn't believe what Yuan's mother said.
They bought so much grain last year, it's impossible that it's all gone.
Since they dared to let them into the warehouse, it proves that there really wasn't much grain.
They came to borrow grain on a whim.
It's impossible for Yuan's mother to have made preparations in advance and moved all the grain away.
Besides, we'll know once we go in and take a look.
Immediately, some people followed Yuan's mother to the cellar.
I wanted to find out more.
What if Yuan's mother was deceiving them?
Yuan's mother took them to his family's cellar.
The cellar was dug quite large, and there were stone steps inside.
A few wealthy people went down, but the rest stayed upstairs, too embarrassed to follow.
Those who went down were somewhat disappointed when they saw what was inside.
But when I saw three bags of corn, my eyes lit up.
Even if there's no other food available, borrowing some corn would be helpful.
Mother Yuan pretended not to know their plans, and also looked worried.
"I know what they're thinking."
As you all know, my son, Shitou, is a big eater.
And then there's my family, Ping An. As the saying goes, a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home.
Don't let his age fool you; he's only seven or eight years old, he can really eat.
Our whole family depends on these three bags of corn.
It's still uncertain whether I can take over from Da Chun.
What if we can't connect?
They were all a little embarrassed; what Yuan's mother said was right.
Yuan Shitou is a big eater; he can eat the equivalent of three people's food rations by himself.
This is something everyone in the village knows.
As for Yuan Ping'an, he's also a big eater.
They also have a son that big, and he's a bottomless pit that can never be filled.
A woman pointed to the bag of rice and said:
"This must contain millet."
"Your family even has millet; you're doing quite well."
A flicker of displeasure crossed Yuan's mother's eyes, but her words revealed no anger whatsoever:
"As you all know, my little one just finished her postpartum confinement not long ago, and she still has a baby to take care of."
They definitely need to eat some refined grains, otherwise where will the milk come from to feed the baby?
This bag of millet was specially saved for her.
Several women looked left and right.
Apart from some dried mushrooms and dried wood ear fungus on the side, there was nothing else.
There wasn't even any meat, so they left somewhat disappointed.
They didn't mention borrowing sweet potatoes or potatoes, as they already had both at home.
Why borrow it back? You'll just end up owing someone a favor for nothing.
The women outside immediately understood what was going on when they saw the expressions on those men's faces.
There was a family that hadn't seen a single grain of food for many days.
I also wanted to persuade Yuan's mother to lend her some corn.
Mrs. Yuan was really in a dilemma: "Auntie, it's not that I don't want to lend it to you."
You can't expect me to lend you the grain, and then I have to go around borrowing more from elsewhere.
Those three bags of corn, who knows how long they'll last?
"You're not the only ones who are worried, I'm worried too."
Disappointed, everyone left after failing to borrow any food.
Mother Yuan shook her head: "Sigh, it seems that the wheat yield has increased a little this year."
That's only a little bit.
Besides public grain, there were also grain seeds.
Those who have work points should be given priority.
In the end, there will definitely be nothing left.
In the evening, Yuan Shitou returned carrying a cloth bag.
There were about 50 kilograms of wheat inside.
The mother-in-law frowned as soon as she saw it: "Stone! Why is there only such a small piece?"
Your work points, plus even the small ones, add up to quite a lot.
Yuan Shitou scratched his head: "Mother, I only need this much."
If everyone were to be assigned based on work points, those with fewer work points would not receive any grain.
So the village chief talked to us and suggested that each of our families receive a smaller share.
Try to distribute work points to everyone who has them.
Xiao Xiao asked, puzzled, "Didn't they say this year's wheat harvest was better? Why isn't there enough to go around?"
Yuan Shitou nodded: "Yes, production has increased; overall, it has increased by several tens of kilograms."
Aside from the grain tax and wheat seeds, there wasn't much left.
Mother Yuan sighed, "Alas, in the end, there is still too little land."
If more land were used to grow wheat, things wouldn't be like this.
Then he recounted the story of the group of old women who came to borrow grain that morning.
Xiao Xiao suddenly realized something and her heart skipped a beat: "Mother, did you lend them the grain?"
Mother Yuan shook her head: "How dare I lend it? There are more than a dozen families involved, that would require so much grain."
Xiao Xiao breathed a sigh of relief: "We don't have much food left, so we absolutely must not lend it out."
Our family will go hungry then.
As she spoke, she gave Yuan's mother a wink.
It wasn't that she was heartless and didn't want to lend food to others; as Yuan's mother said, there were more than a dozen families involved.
If we borrow them all, what will happen when everyone in the team comes to borrow them?
Besides, she suddenly remembered what her grandfather often talked about: the famine in 1958 and 1959.
This is a real thing.
Although they live in a remote mountainous area.
Located deep in the mountains and forests, some reforms have not been fully implemented.
This famine is nationwide, and it certainly won't leave out their Laolin Village.
Therefore, this grain must not be lent out under any circumstances.
Not only can we not borrow, we also have to find a way to stockpile some grain.
How long will their meager food supply last?
No, he had to go down the mountain to find Uncle Lin and buy her some food.
Seeing that Xiao Xiao's complexion was not good, Yuan Shitou quickly came over to support her.
"Xiaoxiao, are you feeling unwell?"
Why do you look so pale?
Xiao Xiao shook her head, then said, "Tell Fan Tiesheng about the fact that someone came to borrow grain today."
Go now.
He knew what to do.
Although Yuan Shitou didn't know what had happened, Xiao Xiao must have her reasons for saying that.
He put down the wheat, turned around, and left.
He carried a basket on his back when he left.
If anyone sees him, he says he's going to cut the lawn.
Xiao Xiao added a reminder to him from behind: "No matter what anyone asks, just say you don't know."
I'll tell you when I get back.
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