Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

Chapter 42: 42 Closed Cultivation

”You can’t keep any less. The tasks from above haven’t reduced one bit.” Kong Zhongyou sighed.

”But everyone is unwilling.”

”This isn’t about whether they want to or not. An arm can’t twist a thigh.”

”Village Chief, I heard from the people in L Village that they aren’t submitting their task pigs. They’re preparing to slaughter them these days.”

Kong Zhongyou furrowed his brows; he knew the law doesn’t punish the masses, but if he really gets too forceful in the village, he will definitely offend many. Whatever he does now, it’s like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

”What are the other villages saying?”

”I don’t know, I think they’re all waiting for L Village to take the lead and see what happens.”

”Hmm, let’s wait and see too. I feel the feasibility isn’t high; the town folks are still waiting for this pork for the New Year. If we eat it all, it certainly won’t work.”

Kong Zhongyou was also worried, without food, it’s not something he can solve by finding grains or coming up with solutions.

Back then, they reported false yields, but it was decided in meetings and everyone agreed, so he certainly won’t take the blame for this.

With his hands behind his back, he went to the warehouse and looked at the tightly locked door. He breathed a sigh of relief. These seeds cannot be touched no matter what.

Today, the Zhou Brothers came by. Their idea is probably shared by most people; it won’t do, tonight a meeting has to be called to make them understand the importance of these seeds.

Regardless of Kong Zhongyou’s worries, Jiang Xinyu kept cooking, not daring to use oil. So she steamed rice, one big pot after another. Buns, sugar buns, flower rolls, making them while thinking about the taste of bean paste buns, but there wasn’t any bean filling.

By afternoon, she sat on the kang. Feeling hot, she finally finished. There’s still plenty of time.

Due to the tension and busyness of the past month, Jiang Xinyu finally had some free time, always feeling hungry and unable to fully wake up.

After eating a homemade meat bun and drinking a bowl of powdered milk, she fell asleep in bed before eight o’clock.

Life was cozy here, while Wei Kaiyun was so busy that he couldn’t even touch the ground.

After sending Jiang Xinyu back that day, it was too late, and he didn’t get the rice to Old Yang. He directly placed it at his own house, which was seldom lived in, lacking any human presence.

Yesterday was once again busy with shipments, extremely hectic until tonight when he finally had some time.

Old Yang was the type who eats alone and doesn’t worry about hunger for the whole family, so he directly lived in this compound.

”Xiao Wei, why are you here so late? Did you eat? I have some good food today.”

”I could smell the meat from afar, where’s it from?”

”Dog meat, a big pot. You’re lucky to have food. Hurry, what’s in that cart? Two hundred catties of rice?”

”Yes, I carried it over the night before last, but hadn’t had the time. Where should I put it?”

”Let’s carry it into the house together; I need to take a look.”

They were both young and strong, so each grabbed a bag and directly moved it inside.

Old Yang impatiently opened it, grabbed a handful and looked at it. ”Haha, this rice is good. Where did that girl source this?”

”Old Yang, just take it. Don’t you know the rules?”

”Aren’t we just the two of us? I still know to avoid taboos with others. Let’s chat while eating. Had you come sooner, we could have made some rice; I haven’t tasted rice for almost half a year.”

”What are we eating tonight, just dog meat?”

”And two cornbread rolls, one for each of us. Break them up and scoop them with the meat broth, really delicious.”

Wei Kaiyun wasn’t modest; honestly, he had a stake in Old Yang’s place, but couldn’t show himself.

”Xiao Wei, that little girl looks unremarkable; she must have a lot on her mind, right?”

”She reads faces.”

”What? Fortune telling? Weren’t you a non-believer in that?”

”I kind of believe it now.”

”Is that why you made her your secretary?”

”Yes, my intuition says she should stay by my side.”

”Haha, luckily the girl is young and looks average, or I’d be thinking the wrong way.”

”That’s a last resort. If she turns out valuable and thinks of leaving me, I’ll make her willingly stay.”

”You haven’t changed, still cunning as ever. But that girl gives me the impression she isn’t easy to manipulate.”

”Women—they’ll be obedient once they settle down.”

Old Yang smiled; Wei Kaiyun was a tough and capable guy, but he was too smart. Being too smart isn’t good, as the old saying goes, ’extreme wisdom will cause harm,’ holds some truth.

”Alright, I’m full, gotta go. Too tired these days.”

”Haha, you know what tiredness is too?”

”I’m human too; how could I not know tiredness? By the way, if you and Jiang Xinyu need grain, I think she still has quite a bit.”

”Okay, got it. I’ll swap two bags of rice for cornmeal or coarse grains at night; with a run around the black market, it might even flip. When the girl comes over, I’ll give her some nice stuff, really a lucky star.”

”Suit yourself. I’m leaving.” At the end of the year, the supply pressure was really high. With only six workshops, the output was just like that, and although the units didn’t idle, that’s all there was to produce.

But local leaders were unsympathetic and continued to demand goods.

Wei Kaiyun felt very stressful, but there was no choice but to endure. He returned to his dormitory, washed his feet, and went to sleep.

Saturday came; he got up early fearing Wang Ailing might come, so after breakfast, he prepared yam, mixed with cornmeal and yeast, which should be good.

Jiang Xinyu was indeed right; Wang Ailing came over at eight o’clock.

”Sis, what’s wrong with you? Why so down?”

”It’s nothing, just feeling upset about my maternal family’s lack of food, seeing my cousins like that.”

”It’s the same everywhere; we were just lucky to find yams, otherwise we’d be the same.”

”Last night, my brother secretly sent over a basket of yams to my grandmother’s place.”

But that won’t last long. Today, my brother is taking my uncle and them to the mountains to see if there are yams over there.”

If it snows and the mountain is blocked by heavy snow, there’s nothing left but starvation.”

”Sis, I still have quite a lot of yams here; since I’m eating alone, tell Aunt, if there’s nothing at home, come here to get some.”

”You better keep them; my family has more than yours. I won’t be eating at home from now on, somehow I’ll get through to next year.”

Besides, we still have some squash at home; I checked the cellar yesterday, and there were over ten big squashes.”

Now in the village, regardless of adults or kids, everyone is going to the mountains to find food during the day. I saw the village kids eating yam beans the day before yesterday; luckily we discovered them early, otherwise I can’t imagine.”

”Isn’t anyone curious about who dug up the yams?”

Wang Ailing shook her head, ”I haven’t heard of it; my parents haven’t mentioned it either. Probably they don’t know the tubers are still buried in the ground.”

”Did Aunt’s family go to the mountains too?”

”Yes, my dad says there’s never too much food, and besides, he’s afraid others might suspect.”