Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

According to the neighbors, there used to be a row of houses in the backyard, but they collapsed during the war and became a ruin.

After Han Zhaozhao's grandfather bought the house, he didn't renovate it but leveled it directly, put up the wall to make a small garden, dug a well, planted some flowers and plants, and gave it to Liu Fenghua as a dowry.

After Han Zhao came to Beijing, her son and his wife were busy with work and rarely returned home, so the small garden had long been abandoned.

The old lady was so upset that she couldn't bear to see the land lying idle, so she reclaimed the abandoned small garden and turned it into a vegetable garden.

It is convenient and economical to grow seasonal vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplants, beans, etc.

In order to save manure, the old lady asked Han Rongsheng to dig a dry toilet in the corner of the wall while her son was on vacation.

Han Rongsheng knew that his wife was particular about things, so he simply hired two bricklayers to upgrade the house, building a toilet with a bathroom. He also sealed the wellhead and installed a pressurized well.

There are many rooms in the house and my granddaughter is grown up now, so it’s fine if she wants to live in a room of her own.

"Okay, you're a grown-up girl now, you can sleep by yourself. But are you afraid of living in your parents' room?

How about I clean up the east wing and you live there?"

Han Zhao asked her granddaughter.

"Don't be afraid. They are my parents. What's there to be afraid of? Besides, if you live in my parents' house, you don't have to heat the kang in winter. Just light a fire in the kitchen and the kang and the fire wall here will be heated up. It's warm and saves firewood!"

"That's right. No one has lived in the east wing for many years. I don't know if the kang is blocked or not. Can it still be used? Even if it can be used, we have to heat the kang separately in winter, which wastes firewood.

Since we are the only ones at home, we have to save firewood. We have to go to the suburbs to collect firewood, and the road is not short. It is useless to just rely on the coal supply.

It's time to chop firewood. Clean up your parents' room tomorrow, clear the chimney first, and move your bedding over there.

By the way, tidy up your parents' wardrobe and put away their things that should be put away and take away their things that should be taken away.

Empty the closet and use it to store your clothes. Also look through the money and bills they left behind. Pick out those that are about to expire and spend them quickly. If you don't spend them and let them expire, they will all be wasted.

Alas! From now on, there will be no one working in our family, and we will have less money, so we have to live a tight life.

Let's fix the cart together tomorrow. We have to go to the suburbs to chop firewood the day after tomorrow. If we are late, others will have already collected all the firewood nearby, and we will have to walk a long way to collect firewood, which is very tiring. "

The old lady was talking to her granddaughter about tomorrow's arrangements. Now that her granddaughter has grown up, she needs to be taught about how to live her daily life.

There are only the mother and the daughter at home, and the old lady is used to talking to her granddaughter about everything. At least there is some movement in the house, making it less dull and quiet. The silence makes people feel uneasy.

"Grandma, I'll go with you."

“No, it’s six or seven miles round trip, and you have short legs and can’t run slowly, so stay home and help grandma pick the cabbages and radishes in the backyard.

When you are done, just gather them into piles. When I come back, I will tidy them up and dry them for storage in the cellar. This year, there is a lot of fertilizer under the vegetable fields, and the harvest is good. Our cabbages and radishes are growing big.

In a few days, you can help grandma to store up some jars of sauerkraut, pickle some radishes, etc., and add them to the pickled cucumbers, beans, and peppers in autumn. It will be enough for us, the two of us, to eat for a whole year.

We will be able to get the vegetables next summer, so if we can avoid buying vegetables, we should try not to spend money on them. The more we can save, the better.”

"Grandma, I get it. I can do it. Who are you going to chop firewood with? Do other families have carts?"

Han Zhaoshi: "I will go with your Aunt Chuanzhong and Aunt Dacheng from the next alley. We have already made an appointment.

The two families didn't have carts, so they chopped firewood and carried it on their shoulders. The three of us were traveling together. If there were any ditches or steep slopes on the road, they would help me, so you don't have to worry about it.

Zhaozhao, when grandma is not at home in the future, you should lock the door and don't open it no matter who knocks.

Your grandmother Suozhu came to visit us yesterday and said that two children were lost in the alley next door a few days ago. It seems that there are some bad guys who like to take advantage of beggars in our area.

Remember, when you are home alone in the future, do not open the door even if someone you know knocks on your door. Tell them to wait until your grandma comes back if they need anything."

"What if they have an emergency?"

"Even if there is an emergency, it's not our family's emergency, so you don't have to worry about it. Remember, you can't tell a person's heart from his face. Some people look nice at ordinary times, but no one can tell whether they are a good person or a bad guy behind their back.

You are the only child in our family. Even if the sky falls, you are not as important as me. Sometimes it is not good to be kind. Protecting yourself is the most important thing."

My grandmother is really a wise woman. People who have experienced the old society are not easy to deal with.

"Grandma, I'll remember this. I'll lock the door as soon as you leave and won't let anyone in."

The old lady twisted the hemp thread for a while, then saw that it was getting late and it would be a waste of electricity to turn on the light. She asked her granddaughter to sort out the chopped hemp skin, wrap it around her hands a few times, make it into balls of hemp thread, and put them into the sewing basket.

He brushed off the debris on his body, rolled up the twine into a coil, and sent Han Zhaozhao to bed.

"Okay, it's getting late, go to the kitchen and get some water to wash your feet, then go to bed."

Han Zhaozhao carried the basin, took the toothbrush and toothpaste cup and walked to the kitchen, "Grandma, you still need to brush your teeth!"

"Brush it! Brush it! Your parents are the only ones who are fussy and waste money. Aren't toothbrushes and toothpaste money?

We didn’t brush our teeth before, but they are still strong. Tree branches and willow twigs can be used. It’s just a waste of money!”

Han Zhaozhao felt a chill. No way, her grandma wanted her to brush her teeth with tree branches or willow twigs in the future? Wouldn't her teeth be broken?

"Grandma, it was the old society, weren't we all poor? Using tree branches or willow twigs to brush your teeth was a result of poverty.

It’s a new society now, everyone uses toothpaste and toothbrushes, but we don’t. Our teeth are yellowed, and when we go out and talk to people, our mouths stink. People will dislike us, how embarrassing! ”

"It's better to lose face than to starve to death! In the future, no one in our family will make money, and I'm afraid we won't be able to eat salt."

"Grandma, don't worry. Tomorrow I'll go up to the mountain with some people and catch a few rabbits to raise. When they grow up, we can sell their skins and meat and make money.

Grandma, let's buy some chicks in the spring. I'll dig wild vegetables and catch insects to feed the chickens. When the chickens grow up and lay eggs, we can sell the eggs in the market to make money."

Han Zhaoshi smiled for the first time in recent days, "Zhao Zhao has really grown up and can help the family find ways to make money.

However, the rabbits in the mountains run very fast, and it is useless to shoot them with a gun. It would be strange if a kid like you could catch one.

Don't even think about raising rabbits. I'll definitely raise some chickens in the spring. Grandma will use the fire to hatch chicks. When she gets enough eggs, we can hatch them at home in the spring and save money on buying chicks.

Good boy, you don't need to worry about these things. Your parents left a lot of money for grandma, enough for us to spend for several years.

Don't worry, the money you need for food, clothing and daily expenses will not be cut off. You will go to school next year, and I will take care of the things at home.

Hey! The key is that having money is not enough, we also have to find a way to get tickets. Now many things need tickets, and you can't buy them without tickets even if you have money.

Zhaozhao, grandma wants to go out and find a job. Regardless of how much money it pays, at least with a job you can get various coupons every month."

Han Zhaozhao agreed with her grandmother's idea very much. Other basic living coupons were easy to deal with, as the neighborhood committee would distribute some per person. However, industrial coupons, it was said, would be issued together with wages. If no one in the family worked, it would be difficult to buy industrial products in the future.

"Grandma, my family is a family of martyrs. If we have any problems, we can ask the government. If you want a job, you can go to the neighborhood committee and ask if Director Zhang and the others can take care of our family and arrange a job for you that's close to home and has less work."

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