Fast-forward to the era of cannon fodder

A few days later, every household in the village began to pick corn. Little Yuanchun found all the bags of corn from last year and gave them to her aunt.

This year, the old man will help her harvest the crops from the fields. Next year, the land will be rented to the old man and his wife for planting, and she can just sit and wait for the harvest.

Yuanchun's family only had three acres of land. The uncle and his family worked hard for a whole morning and delivered all the corn to Yuanchun's yard.

Looking at the corn piled up like a small mountain, Yuanchun smiled and invited them warmly, "Uncle, Auntie, cousin... I have cooked, you can eat here at noon, so that my aunt doesn't have to go home to cook."

"Okay, then I won't be polite to you."

After Liu Tielin entered the yard, he smelled the aroma of meat. Knowing that Xiao Yuanchun had specially prepared food for them, he did not refuse the child's kindness.

When the old lady saw the table full of dishes, including two meat dishes, she couldn't help but mutter, "Yuanchun, why did you buy meat? We have cabbage and potatoes at home, we can just stir-fry them and eat them. Why waste that money?"

Yuanchun grinned, "Auntie, I didn't buy them. I caught them yesterday in the mountains. I was lucky and caught a rabbit and a pheasant. They're just right for us to have two meat dishes."

Pheasant stewed with mushrooms, rabbit with potatoes, she also fried a plate of shredded pickled radish, cabbage stewed with tofu, black fungus and eggs, and a plate of spicy cabbage.

There were six dishes and everyone was full.

During the meal, the eldest cousin told her a story, "The corn of the Red Army was stolen. There was a large empty space in the middle of the field. At least 30% of the six acres of land was stolen. The second cousin was so anxious that he cried and cursed in the field for the whole morning, and his voice was hoarse from cursing."

Yuanchun pretended to be surprised, "Who is so bold as to steal so much corn?"

The eldest cousin said: "I don't know. I don't know when the corn was lost. It's useless to report this kind of thing. Who will admit it if they are not caught in the act?"

The old lady continued, "Your second uncle has been having a lot of bad luck recently. He lost money before, and now he has lost food. It's enough for him and his wife to bear."

The old man said worriedly, "I was the one who borrowed the money for Tiezhu and his wife to be hospitalized for leg treatment. I promised to pay them back after Tiezhu sold his grain, but now... I'm afraid he won't be able to pay it back this year."

The old lady said: "Then wait a minute. Everyone has difficulties. It's not like they won't pay it back. It's not that the grain was stolen."

The old man said, "Well, tonight, I will go door to door and tell everyone about this situation. I borrowed the money, and now something has happened. Tiezhu can't pay it back, so I should also tell everyone."

After dinner, the aunt and uncle and their family rushed to work in their fields. Little Yuanchun carried a small backpack and went to the mountain outside the village.

Three hours later, Yuanchun came down the mountain carrying a basket of wild vegetables, mushrooms and fruits.

Twenty-six more pheasants and rabbits appeared in the jade gourd space.

After returning home, Yuanchun started slaughtering rabbits and chickens, preparing to dry out more cured chickens and rabbits. Some of them would be kept for the three-year drought, and some would be made into cooked food and sent to her father's unit and his comrades.

People have pooled so much money for her and sent her a pension, so she should give something in return. After all, life was not easy for everyone in those days, and the two hundred yuan they were able to pool together was also saved from their mouths.

Xiao Yuanchun handled the pheasants and rabbits skillfully, washing, cutting and marinating them, and was busy until the evening. Then, she estimated the time and made a large pot of pheasant stewed with potatoes, which she also added dried pine mushrooms and dried tofu skin.