Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

The old lady came to the door on a crutch and greeted her old sisters warmly.

"Why are you here? Where's your grandson? Why didn't you bring him to play?"

Grandma Wang went to the neighborhood committee to volunteer to weave baskets and also took care of the children.

"The child's mother is watching! Sister Zhao, I came to your house this time to ask you for something.

My wife and son waited in line for half the night this morning, but they didn't get a number, so the grain store was out of food. They told them to go back early tomorrow to buy some.

But there is nothing to eat at home. I didn’t eat in the morning, and I don’t know what to cook for lunch or dinner!”

The old lady understood as soon as she heard it, this person came to borrow food!

"We don't have much food left at home. We only have five or six kilograms of cornmeal left from what we bought last month. Zhao Zhao also went to queue up in the middle of the night this morning and just came back empty-handed.

Judging from the current situation, the grain store will definitely not release much grain tomorrow, and it may even have to be rationed again.

How about this, I will give you a pound of cornmeal first, you can use it to get by today, and then return it to me when you buy some food?"

Old Mrs. Wang was very happy, but she was also a thin-skinned person. If she had not had no other choice, she really would not have been able to open her mouth to ask for help.

"Thank you so much! Don't worry, I will pay you back as soon as I buy some food tomorrow!"

"Hey, don't worry. Zhaozhao, go get some corn flour for Grandma Wang."

Han Zhaozhao took the ladle from Grandma Wang's hand, agreed and went to the kitchen.

After a while, he weighed a pound of cornmeal and brought it into the main room. "Grandma Wang, if it really doesn't work, you can ask your family to go to the grocery store and buy some ready-made food for two meals.

You can’t let the whole family go hungry, right? I went to the grocery store this morning and bought a pound of vermicelli!"

When talking about this, Grandma Wang looked helpless, "Zhao Zhao, you are lucky. My son went there too, but he might have gone a little late. Not only the grocery stores, but even the shops and department stores have been sold out.

My goodness, even the counter was crushed by people, and I didn’t take any food home.”

The old lady was shocked when she heard this, then she quickly told Grandma Wang, "Sister Wang, please hide the cornmeal before you go out.

If someone sees you, don’t say you borrowed from me. I only have 4-5 kg ​​of food left, so when the neighbors come to my house, I really have nothing to borrow.

Zhao Zhao, let's give your grandmother Wang our black cloth bag. Put some things in it to cover yourself up. It'll be one less thing to worry about when you go out!"

The three people acted like an underground organization, carefully disguising the pound of cornmeal before sending Grandma Wang out.

"Zhao Zhao, close the door quickly, someone might come to borrow food soon.

Remember, we only have four or five pounds of cornmeal left at home, and no one can borrow it from us."

The old lady was very cautious. She took her granddaughter back to the kitchen and started to hide the food. "All the rice, red beans, millet, and oil cans should be hidden in the cellar."

Han Zhaozhao was directed by the old lady to move pots and pans into the cellar one by one. Not only the grain was hidden, but also the dried goods. Vermicelli, rice noodles, dried sweet potatoes, shredded beans, dried eggplant, and day lily were all stuffed into a sack and carried into the cellar.

The old lady was still mumbling: "It's not that you are stingy and don't want to lend it out, we have too many things at home. If others don't have them but we do, it will easily make people jealous!"

Han Zhaozhao suppressed her laughter and said, "Grandma, don't explain. I understand everything. The book says that what is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth."

"Yes, that's a good word. People with good manners know how to speak."

Not long after I closed the cellar door, someone knocked on the door again.

The grandparents and grandchildren looked at each other, stumped for a moment. Should the door be opened or not? That was the question.

Han Zhaozhao saw through the crack in the door that the person knocking on the door was Uncle Liu from next door, but he was followed by a group of aunties and grandmas.

Hi, I had no choice but to open the door now. All the neighbors on both sides came, so I opened the door.

Uncle Liu looked embarrassed and hesitated, not explaining his purpose for a long time.

He was embarrassed, but also had the nerve to do so. The aunties and grannies came to him like a group of ducks, all talking at once, asking to borrow food.

Everyone has no extra food and wants to borrow some.

The old lady hesitated and said in embarrassment: "You all know the situation in our family. In order to heal my legs, the children have cooked all the meals for us in the past few months.

She has no sense of measure, there is not much food left. Just now, the eldest sister of the Wang family borrowed a pound of cornmeal, and my family only has four or five pounds of food left.

Forget it, you don't ask for help easily, so, since there isn't much food in the family, just share half a pound and make do with it, and get through today, and we adults can talk about it, but we can't let the children go hungry. "

The old lady, leaning on a cane, led everyone directly into the kitchen. She directed everyone to search for food. When they saw the small half can of cornmeal on the stove, the neighbors fell silent. After all, the Han family really had very little food left.

Lend it or not, this time they are in a dilemma! Han Zhaozhao watched her grandma's coquettish operation and couldn't help but give her a thumbs up in his heart!

But seeing the neighbors' anxious and embarrassed looks, the grandparents and grandchildren softened their hearts. In the end, the old lady decided to lend them half a pound of cornmeal each, and told them to return it as soon as possible.

The neighbors thanked him repeatedly and were about to leave with the cornmeal when Han Zhaozhao went to the corner, opened the sack, and took out a large pumpkin weighing more than ten pounds.

He picked up the newly bought kitchen knife and chopped it into more than a dozen pieces with a few strokes.

"Aunties, there is still a pumpkin seed left at home. Keep the pumpkin seeds and share a piece of pumpkin among everyone.

Going back and cooking some porridge will also help me out!"

The neighbors laughed immediately, this was a pleasant surprise. This piece weighed more than one pound, enough for a family of five or six to have a meal.

The key point is that the grain must be returned, but pumpkins belong to the category of fruits like melons, pears, and peaches that neighbors give to each other, and they do not need to be returned.

Whenever there is something rare and delicious at home, we can just give some to the Han family’s children in return.

After the neighbors had all left, the grandparents and grandchildren looked at the empty kitchen and smiled meaningfully.

Han Zhaozhao asked worriedly in a low voice: "Grandma, Grandpa Guan must not have bought any food, and I don't know what he will eat for lunch?" The old lady sighed: "Don't worry, there will always be a way. The old man is smart, he must have a backup plan!

Even when the world was in such chaos in the past, he managed to pull his whole family through it.

We have to keep a low profile these two days and not cook out of line. Also, we can't just wait for others to come to us while they're running around looking for food.

If you have nothing to do, go out for a run. You have to show some appearance anyway."

Han Zhaozhao nodded, praying in her heart that everyone would be able to buy food smoothly tomorrow so that their family would not attract attention.

The neighborhood committee posted another notice in the afternoon, saying that the higher authorities had urgently transferred grain and the grain store would sell grain as usual tomorrow.

However, because the purchases were too concentrated, the transportation department was under too much pressure and the supply was limited. Each person could buy two kilograms of grain first. Later, grain would be transported to Beijing one after another, and everyone could replenish it.

In the evening, Uncle Niu and Uncle Qian both came. The heads of the three families discussed and decided to transport the castor beans and soybeans stored in the mountains out first while Uncle Qian was out of Beijing to transport grain. Those that needed to be sold would be sold, and those that needed to be made into oil would be made into oil.

There were too many things to sell in the capital. Fortunately, Uncle Qian traveled outside all year round and had a way to solve the problem.

Finally, the parents also discussed how to deal with the land in the mountains.