Bai Xiaoyue looked at it carefully and smelled it. The grain was moldy and couldn't be eaten.
“Sister, this family hasn’t been around for years, so this grain must have been stored for years too. No wonder it’s moldy,” Bai Wen’an said when he saw his sister remain silent for a while.
"I know, you figure out what to do with this grain." She passed the problem to her younger brother.
Bai Xiaoyue thought to herself that it was normal for grain to get moldy after being stored for a few years.
However, the fact that people dared to store grain in the past indicates that the waterproofing and moisture-proofing of this small space were excellent.
You can make good use of it; it should be fine to use it during difficult times.
Bai Wen'an asked, "Sister, should we tell Father and Mother and let them handle it?"
"Don't tell Mom and Dad yet, Xiao An. I need to tell you something. Can you promise me that you will never tell anyone, no matter what?"
"Is it that serious? Okay, I promise you, I will never say no unless you agree."
"Xiao An, because I don't have my previous memories now, I often look through the letters your brother-in-law sent me."
I discovered something in the last letter.
He said there were rumors that the land would soon be collectively owned, and that people might even be eating together from then on.
"Really? Is that even possible? Let me see my brother-in-law's letter."
"Why would I lie to you? I've already burned the letter. I didn't dare keep it. If someone sees it, they'll say your brother-in-law leaked the information, which will damage his reputation."
"Sister, don't worry, I would never tell anyone, even if you killed me."
Bai Xiaoyue thought that her deadbeat husband was really useful.
Bai Wen'an had no idea that Ye Jianhua could possibly know this information.
Even if they knew such information, soldiers would not leak it.
Kids these days are so easy to fool.
"Sister, what does this news have to do with telling Mom and Dad?" Wen'an asked, puzzled.
"Xiao An, you've experienced how chaotic the past few years were. Nobody can say for sure what the future holds."
We have a little Chang Le at home, and she's still young. Having this little space gives us an extra layer of security.
Only the two of us know this now; our parents don't.
If I hide something, even if someone finds it, it won't implicate my parents.
"So you're going to have to take the risk for me, I'm so sorry!" Bai Xiaoyue said, rubbing her eyes.
"Sister, sister, I'm not afraid, I'll do whatever you say." Seeing his sister's eyes redden, Bai Wen'an quickly agreed.
After the two siblings discussed it for a long time, Bai Wen'an asked again:
"Sister, can't we feed this grain to the chickens?"
"It's all moldy. You're going to feed it to the chickens. You just want to eat chicken, don't you!" Bai Xiaoyue rolled her eyes at her younger brother.
"So they dug a hole and buried him?"
“Dig there. The vegetables in the garden have all grown up now. If you pull up even one, Dad will find out tomorrow, you believe me?”
Finally, Bai Wen'an said that there were caves in the mountains, so they could just put it anywhere.
Bai Xiaoyue wanted to familiarize herself with the back mountain anyway, so she agreed, since her silly younger brother would take care of it.
After lunch, Bai Wen'an told his mother that he wanted to take his sister up the mountain for a walk.
The siblings left Chang Le at home with their mother looking after her, and then went out together to climb the mountain.
The Bai family lived close to the foot of the mountain, and the two of them reached the foot of the mountain in no time. Looking at the height of the mountain, Bai Xiaoyue trembled and wanted to turn back.
However, knowing that she would have to live here for at least 20 years, she had no choice but to muster her courage and climb up.
The mountain is lush and green, with tall trees and dense grass. A gentle mountain breeze makes one feel very comfortable.
The two walked and stopped frequently. Bai Wen'an stopped halfway up the mountain and the two entered the cave.
The cave is very spacious, with sunlight shining into it from the ceiling, and the ground is damp and covered with weeds.
Bai Xiaoyue was timid and didn't want to go inside, so she told Bai Wen'an to put down his things and leave quickly.
Bai Wen'an scattered the grain in a corner and put away the bag; in this era, even bags were precious.
Then, he led Bai Xiaoyue into the mountains for a while, talking about the fruits there as they went.
He pointed out the locations to his sister one by one, explaining what the trees looked like, when the fruit would ripen, and so on.
Bai Xiaoyue didn't go down the mountain and go home until she was too tired to walk anymore.
The two of them didn't find any mushrooms, but Bai Wenan did manage to collect a dozen or so bird eggs.
It was already dark when they got home, and Chang Le started looking for her mother.
Bai's mother cooked sorghum porridge with a little rice added. Bai Xiaoyue was both tired and hungry, and regardless of how good it tasted, she drank two bowls, making her belly bulge.
After finishing their meal, the group sat in the courtyard chatting.
Bai Xiaoyue told her parents that she wanted to go to the county town with her younger brother to collect Chang Le's grain and ask her mother to help take care of Chang Le.
The next day, Bai Xiaoyue cooked eggs and corn porridge for Chang Le, and after she finished eating, she coaxed her to go to the Bai family home.
They set off for the county town with Bai Wen'an.
Huai Shu Village is more than 10 kilometers from the county seat, which takes more than three hours to walk. Taking an oxcart also takes more than an hour and costs 5 cents per person.
Without hesitation, Bai Xiaoyue took out a dime and gave it to Grandpa Wang, who was driving the oxcart.
Sitting on an oxcart, though it swayed and rocked, was still better than walking.
When she finally arrived in the city, her hands and feet were numb.
Bai Xiaoyue jumped off the oxcart. Luckily, Bai Wen'an supported her, otherwise she would have definitely fallen flat on her face. It took her a long time to move around before she dared to walk.
The county town is indeed more lively, with four streets running east, west, south, and north, all lined with houses made of blue bricks and tiles.
The bustling crowds gave Bai Xiaoyue a feeling reminiscent of strolling through a rural market town in her past life.
Bai Xiaoyue looked around like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.
I just went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to collect the subsidy and grain from Chang Le.
There was an unexpected surprise: two feet of cloth coupons, two ounces of sugar coupons, and two ounces of oil coupons.
Then she went to the supply and marketing cooperative, bought six ounces of brown sugar for 42 cents, and bought fifteen feet of cloth.
I used all the tickets that the original owner had saved, spending six yuan.
Oh, there's toilet paper for sale. Oh, we call it hand paper here. It's rectangular, slightly yellow, and very rough, but better than corn husks.
Bai Xiaoyue desperately wanted it, so she asked the sales clerk. She wanted to curse, but this also required a receipt. Where was she supposed to get a receipt?
Bai Xiaoyue swallowed her pride and pleaded with the sales clerk, even secretly slipping her a dollar so she could buy a small stack of items for double the price.
Although she only bought a small amount after spending three yuan, she was still very happy.
Passing by the butcher shop, she really wanted to buy some meat, but even with money, she couldn't buy it without a ration coupon. So she spent two cents to buy a large pile of miscellaneous bones, which didn't require a coupon.
Including the two cents for the round-trip oxcart fare, the total cost was nine dollars and eighty-two cents.
When Bai Xiaoyue arrived home, her mother had already prepared dumpling soup. After finishing her lunch, Bai Xiaoyue went home to tidy up, putting everything away neatly.
He took the 15-foot-long cloth to find Mother Bai, with Chang Le following behind him.
She saw her mother hand over the cloth: "Mother, take this cloth and make a set of clothes for Xiao An."
"Daughter! Why are you spending money recklessly? Chang Le is still young, we need to be careful with our money."
You've spent all your money in no time, what are you and Chang Le going to do in the future?
Look around, who buys things like you?
The mother held the cloth with great joy, but still kept nagging, worried that her daughter wouldn't know how to manage a household and would suffer in the future.
"I know, I know, I won't buy it next time. Even if I wanted to, there wouldn't be any tickets."
"Mother, quickly measure it and see if it's enough." Bai Xiaoyue hurriedly handed the winnowing basket containing the needles and thread to her mother.
Then, she held Xiao Chang Le horizontally in her arms, gently patted her, and coaxed her daughter to take a nap.
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