Bai Xiaoyue ate a multigrain steamed bun and drank vegetable porridge, saying to her mother:
"Mother, we have enough grain at home, so we can eat a little better, okay?"
Bai's mother hesitated, then Bai's father spoke up:
"Daughter, everyone eats like this. Besides, your brother is about to go to college."
Bai Xiaoyue quickly expressed her opinion:
“Wen’an doesn’t have to pay tuition for university, and he even gets a living allowance. I’ll cover the rest of his expenses. I’m supporting him now, and he’ll support me after he graduates, hehe.”
Bai's mother was furious after hearing her daughter's words: "You should just live your own life!"
"Jianhua, you've only left a little money. You should be careful with it. You have a long life ahead of you!"
Then she changed the subject:
"Honey, there are a few guys who want to go on dates with you. What do you think?"
Bai Xiaoyue quickly stopped her: "I don't have any ideas. I'm not getting married. I'll wait for Wen'an and Chang Le to support me in the future."
"Mom, let's talk about food. Could you cook an egg for each of us every day, instead of just for Chang Le?"
Bai's mother laughed and scolded, "One egg per person every day? Why don't you just fly to the moon? Do you know how much an egg costs? It's 15 cents a egg now."
Bai Xiaoyue remained calm: "About the same, how much has the grain price increased?"
The mother made the final decision: "I won't let you have any. You can eat the eggs we have at home. You're not allowed to buy any from outside, so people won't gossip."
Mr. Bai nodded in agreement.
When Chang Le heard that her mother wanted to eat eggs, she quickly handed the egg in her hand to Bai Xiaoyue's mouth: "Mom, here you go."
Bai Xiaoyue took a small bite of the egg and praised, "The egg is so delicious, Chang Le is so good. Eat it yourself, and you'll grow tall."
Chang Le beamed with joy upon receiving her mother's praise.
"Yes, yes, I want to grow up quickly so I can buy eggs for my mom."
Next, they prepared things for Bai Wen'an. Bai Xiaoyue took out the cloth she had stocked up earlier and asked her mother to make two sets of clothes and two pairs of shoes for her younger brother.
At this point, Bai's mother stopped criticizing her daughter for wasting money and happily made clothes and shoes for her son.
She then went to Li Mingyue to get a ticket for a watch, and with the sixty yuan she spent on the watch, she spent a total of one hundred yuan.
Before Bai Wen'an left, Bai Xiaoyue gave him the watch and slipped him 100 yuan, telling him to keep it safe.
Bai Wen'an declined:
"Sister, I don't want it. The school will give me a living allowance. You can keep the money for yourself. Chang Le is still young."
Bai Xiaoyue put the watch on his wrist before slowly speaking:
"Wen'an, don't refuse. You need a watch to tell time so you can plan your study time properly."
Also, focus on learning in university and don't think about making money; don't let small gains lead to big losses.
It's not easy for you to get into a small place like ours. Once you get to a big city, you should see more, learn more, and think more.
People who can go to university are all excellent; you should learn from their strengths and make up for your own weaknesses.
Have your own independent thoughts and don't just follow the crowd.
Keep your money safe. It's good for a poor family to travel with money. You live far from home, so if anything happens, we can't help you much.
When you're traveling alone, don't be too frugal. If you don't have enough money, just send a telegram home.
"I don't need much money at home. When you become successful in the future, it'll be your turn to support me!"
Bai Wen'an finally accepted the money and made a promise:
"Sister, I will definitely work hard to give you and Mom and Dad a good life."
Although it's very hard to part with them, birds must grow up and fly in the blue sky, experiencing wind and rain.
Bai Wen'an first took an oxcart to the county town, then took a bus to the provincial capital, where there was a train station. It would take two days to get to Beijing by train.
When he finally arrived at the school, he walked into the garden-like campus and saw the antique buildings.
Bai Wen'an, a boy from the countryside, could only exclaim in amazement, "Wow, wow, wow!"
The library's books covered everything, making it a treasure trove for him.
The school has a very strong learning atmosphere and many lovely classmates. The students are always enthusiastic and full of energy.
Let's not even talk about Bai Wen'an's happy life.
With the Red Star Brigade on the verge of running out of food, the autumn harvest finally began.
Bai Xiaoyue also began her miserable life of collective labor, and four-year-old Chang Le stopped playing with other children.
She wanted to help her mother hand out corncobs, and stood beside her, constantly urging her on:
"Mom, give me one, quick, quick, quick."
Bai Xiaoyue had no choice but to say, "Fine, fine, here you go."
The mother and daughter just passed things around, taking turns putting them down, completely wasting their time.
Despite being exposed to the wind and sun all day, Bai Xiaoyue felt that she could still get by with Chang Le, her cheerful companion.
However, seeing that even Uncle Bai's crisscrossing facial features could trap mosquitoes, she knew that this year's grain harvest must not be good either.
Everyone is going hungry, it's so worrying!
Before winter arrived, Bai Xiaoyue went to the supply and marketing cooperative as usual to buy daily necessities and also to visit Li Mingyue.
The situation remains bad; it's said the drought in the south is even worse, with some people eating tree leaves and bark.
Bai Xiaoyue felt a chill run down her spine just thinking about the situation.
Luckily I'm in the North; if I were in the South, I probably wouldn't be alive! I'd probably be reunited with my parents by now!
She hurriedly asked Li Mingyue, "Mingyue, how are you all doing? Ping'er is still so young!"
Li Mingyue replied, "We're fine. There are two of us working, so we always have some ration coupons. Besides, we still have food, so we won't go hungry."
Bai Xiaoyue suggested to Li Mingyue:
"Have your brother-in-law get some bones to stew, and scoop out the bone oil from the top to render."
I put a little bit of food in Ping'er's rice at each meal, and that's how I raised Chang Le.
If you have time, soak some soybeans and grind some soy milk for him to drink; you can all drink it too.
You've lost weight; you really need to take better care of yourself.
Li Mingyue nodded repeatedly.
Bai Xiaoyue was in a bad mood and didn't have the energy to wander around, so she hurriedly took the oxcart home.
That night, she lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) still feeling restless.
In the past, when I watched disaster movies, I was just a spectator and always thought they were made-up stories.
When you live in this time and space, so close to these sufferings.
Only then could she understand the words that the older generation often said.
"You kids were all born into a life of luxury, you have everything you could want, unlike us when we were young we had nothing, we couldn't even get enough to eat..."
Time always moves forward steadily and will not stop for any reason.
Winter came quickly, and the kang (a heated brick bed) was heated. Bai Xiaoyue didn't want to go out and spent all her time on the kang making clothes for her daughter.
After learning from Bai's mother for two years, she finally learned how to make clothes for Chang Le.
She even embroidered the character "乐" (le, meaning joy/happiness) on Chang Le's handkerchief, and Chang Le jumped and danced with joy.
That day, as snow was falling heavily, she was coaxing her daughter to write when her eldest cousin came to find her.
It turned out that a group of people who had fled famine had come to the commune. Everyone was having a hard time and no one wanted to lead their own brigade back.
The commune had no choice but to issue a mandatory task: each brigade must be assigned 10 people.
One of the 10 people settled by the Hongxing Brigade said he was a relative of Aunt Yan and had come to stay with her.
Aunt Yan was the original owner of this house, which Bai Xiaoyue lived in. Her uncle asked her to come over and discuss it.
Bai Xiaoyue was very excited when she heard this. She thought to herself, "Someone is trying to take my house. This is unacceptable. I have to go!"
Wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, a hat, and a scarf, Bai Xiaoyue was wrapped up tightly, with only her eyes showing, before she went out with her older cousin and father.
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