In the book, I was fed by my sister

Li Dongya came to the quiet Qushui Village quietly.

This night is like a quiet painting. The people in the village are immersed in sweet dreams, and the sound of their even breathing floats in the air.

However, there was an oil lamp burning in the shed, and the flickering light illuminated the figures of the two guardians.

The loyal dog beside the night watchman stood up alertly and barked sharply at the dark night sky.

Li Dongya carefully lay on the ground and stopped crawling forward.

Hearing the barking of dogs, the night watchman came out of his simple thatched hut and looked around carefully.

The land is vast and boundless, and the horizon seems even farther away under the night sky.

He walked out of the hut and scanned the dark fields, trying to figure out why the dogs were barking. He looked around warily and consoled himself: Maybe it was just the dogs nearby responding to each other.

The night watchman worked hard during the day and was exhausted at night. He just took a quick look around and found nothing unusual, so he returned to his simple recliner.

"What are you barking about?" The night watchman couldn't help but mutter and kicked the nearby dog ​​twice, trying to quiet it down.

Li Dongya felt somewhat comforted when she heard the dog stop barking. She found nothing unusual, so she began to explore the sweet potato field slowly.

In the sweet potato field, she looked for the end of the vine, followed the direction of the vine, and slowly dug up the soil.

She had no idea how sweet potatoes were grown, so whenever she touched a ripe fruit, she would put it into a cloth bag along with the vines and leaves.

There are at least seven or eight fruits under each vine, and each of these fruits is bigger than her fist.

This filled her heart with joy, and if it weren't for her current predicament, she really wanted to taste the sweet potato immediately.

After some searching, she found about three vines, and the three vines filled the cloth bag.

She tied the bag and then slowly backed out of the field.

The moonlight was like water, sprinkling on the country road, reflecting Li Dongya's running figure.

The night was dark and all around was silent, except for the sound of dogs barking in the distance.

The night watchman was woken up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, looked at the dark ground, and could not help cursing, "Stupid dog!" Then he continued to take a nap.

Li Dongya ran all the way and finally returned home. Without even washing, he wiped his clothes twice and then bit into a sweet potato.

After eating a sweet potato, she felt half full.

"It's really a great stuff." Li Dongya placed the cloth bag full of sweet potatoes at the highest point in the kitchen. She didn't know how to plant it yet, and she didn't see any seeds after eating the fruits.

She had seen the sweet potatoes in the field and had eaten them now. They were indeed high-yielding and filling. Now she just needed to get more sweet potatoes and figure out how to grow them.

Li Dongya looked at himself covered in dirt and sweat and decided not to go into the house to sleep so as not to dirty the bed.

Wait until dawn, and while the pig food is being cooked in the morning, use the hot water from firewood to wash yourself thoroughly.

So she went to the straw pile in the backyard and slept in her clothes.

The next morning, Li Dongya was awakened by his younger sister Li Qiuhua.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw her younger sister Li Qiuhua holding an empty bucket of pig food, looking at her with concern.

"Sister, where did you go last night? Why are you so dirty? I heated up some water for you."

Li Dongya resisted the urge to touch his head. She knew he must look very embarrassed. She asked, "Is breakfast ready?"

"It's done. Sister, do you want to eat first or wash first?"

"Let's eat first."

The two walked into the kitchen together and saw that Li Qiushi had already placed breakfast on the small wooden table, with four pairs of bowls and chopsticks neatly arranged.

Li Dongya frowned and asked, "Where is Li Jinbao?"

Usually Li Dongya would call people to get up, but today Li Qiuhua went to call them, so Li Jinbao stayed in bed.

"I called him, but he didn't get up." Li Qiuhua replied.

"Then forget about him. We'll eat his share, and I'll go wake him up when we go out to work."

Qiushi smiled secretly, "Sister, I brought food to grandma, and she drank all the porridge in one breath, and then she shouted that she wanted to see Li Jinbao."

"Don't worry about her. She still has the energy to call for help. Just change it to two meals a day."

After Li Dongya finished speaking, the three of them began to drink white porridge and eat pickled vegetables.

"Sister, I heard that the Song family sold marinated sauce yesterday. It was delicious. Should we buy half a bowl? One bowl is ten cents."

Li Dongya looked at the expectant eyes of his two sisters and said with a smile: "Okay, let's finish ordering the wheat later, I'll go ask."

Song Ran was busy stewing the old broth at home. The rich aroma filled the air, attracting many neighbors and villagers who came over to smell the aroma.

A villager walked into Song Ran's yard and asked, "Miss Song, do you still have brine for sale today?"

Song Ran smiled and replied, "I don't sell marinated meat today, but I do have braised meat. If you want it, I can sell it to you."

The person who came to inquire hesitated for a while. The price of meat has risen again. I heard that fat meat is now almost 40 cents per pound. Pig head meat is better and not as expensive as fat meat.

One of the villagers couldn't help but ask: "How much is a pound of pig head meat?"

Song Ran replied: "Fifty cents."

Citizens exclaimed: "It's so expensive!"

Song Ran explained: "A pound of braised pork head only weighs seven ounces, and now pork head meat is almost thirty cents a pound. Add in all kinds of aromatic herbs, and if you calculate carefully, this is a small business."

Li Dongya came over with her bowl and happened to hear these words. She felt a little sad because she worked hard on one acre of land but couldn't afford a pound of braised pork head.

After her mother left, she rummaged through the boxes and cabinets at home, but only found a little over one or two taels of silver.

Li Jinbao used to love eating chicken and raised a lot of chickens at home.

Li Dongya planned to sell all the roosters and keep the hens to lay eggs.

I also raise a pig. Pork is so expensive now, and the price of live pigs is expected to rise as well.

After selling these, she would have money, and then she could resell the contraband salt.

Now is not the time for "high consumption", she must be thrifty and spend carefully to get through this difficult period.

Qiuhua and Qiushi saw their sister coming back with an empty bowl. They looked at each other and quickly went forward to hug their sister.

"Sister, how about we each have an egg for lunch."

In the next few days, Li Dongya came to Qushui Village every night. She found that the family seemed to have anticipated her return and waited for her on the road.

Li Dongya stopped picking sweet potatoes. Looking at the half basket of sweet potatoes he had already collected, Li Dongya felt very satisfied.

She carefully stored the sweet potatoes separately at home to prevent one from going bad and ruining all of them.

Now she just had to wait until next spring.