“Grandma, I have something to tell you.”

Even though Chen Juhua was worried, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her little granddaughter with such a serious expression. 

This little girl—where did she learn to look so grave and worried at such a young age?

Chen Juhua smiled warmly and pulled her granddaughter close, “Wanyue, what is it that you want to tell me?”

Song Wanyue hesitated for a moment before speaking cautiously, “Grandma, I dreamed about Great-Grandmother last night. She said there will be a once-in-decades famine this year. Our Dahe Village region… might see people starve to death.”

Hearing these words, Chen Juhua broke out in a cold sweat, and her smile vanished instantly. “When did you have this dream, my dear?”

Song Wanyue obediently replied, “Last night, Great-Grandmother told me.”

Chen Juhua spoke in a gentle tone, “Wanyue, Grandma knows about this now. Good girl, go back to your room, and don’t tell anyone else about this. Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, our family won’t go hungry.”

Song Wanyue breathed a small sigh of relief and obediently returned to her room. She had told Grandmother, so the family would naturally prepare, and she could finally relax a little.

After her granddaughter left, Chen Juhua’s expression grew solemn. 

Earlier, although she had been worried, she thought the worst outcome from this heavy rain would be a reduced harvest this year. It wasn’t a big deal; in recent years, the Dahe Village production team had seen bumper crops every year. Combined with the wages from the coal mine, the villagers had been living quite well. Even in a poor harvest year, they could rely on stored grain from previous distributions or buy some grain from the county with their savings. By living frugally, the family would get by.

But Chen Juhua never imagined that this strange, heavy rain was just the beginning—that a once-in-a-century famine was looming.

Her heart sank. Having lived a long life, Chen Juhua had experienced hunger and hardship. Back in the old days, natural disasters and the oppression of cruel landlords meant that going hungry was a common occurrence.

Now, in her fifties, Chen Juhua often reminisced about those hard times, sharing stories with the younger generation. She absolutely did not want the children in her family to endure such suffering again.

Chen Juhua had no doubts about the impending famine. After all, she had married into the Song family and, on her wedding night, experienced the surreal when the Song family’s ancestors sent a roast chicken floating in mid-air. From that moment, she knew that supernatural forces were real.

Moreover, this warning came directly from her deceased mother-in-law, who appeared in a dream to their granddaughter. Her mother-in-law was now the deity of the local land temple, so how could her words be false?

No, she had to discuss this with the old man immediately. The Song family needed to start preparing right away!

Chen Juhua slapped her thigh, stood up, and stormed out of the house to find Old Man Song.

At that moment, Old Man Song was sitting on a small stool, engrossed in weaving a bamboo basket. In farming families, baskets were used frequently, and every household made their own. The Song family was no exception. Old Man Song was naturally skilled and made sturdy, practical baskets. Whenever he had no other work, he would sit in the yard weaving.

Like a whirlwind, Chen Juhua swept him back into the house.

“Honey, come quick! I have something to discuss with you.”

The old woman pulled her husband aside and whispered to him for a while. Soon after, Old Man Song’s face turned grim as well.

—

That day, Liu Hongmei’s right eyelid twitched constantly. Even by lunchtime, it hadn’t stopped. Not knowing what was wrong, she complained to her husband, “Xiangdang, what’s going on with me? My right eyelid has been twitching since early morning. Could it mean something bad is about to happen to our family?”

Song Xiangdang was dismissive, “Shut that crow’s mouth of yours. Eyelids twitching is nothing—it’ll stop soon.”

Despite his words, Liu Hongmei couldn’t shake the feeling. The old saying goes, ‘Left eye twitching brings wealth, right eye twitching brings disaster.’ Her eyelid had been twitching all morning—could something really be wrong?

Sure enough, shortly after lunch, Liu Hongmei’s mother arrived at the Song household, crying her heart out. When the Song family asked what was wrong, Liu Hongmei’s mother wailed, “The heavy rain and wind blew off our roof, so your father went up to fix it. But he slipped and fell off the roof. He’s lying on the kang bed right now.”

Hearing this, Liu Hongmei panicked and started pulling her mother to rush back home. But the old woman sighed and said, “Our family is poor, and we don’t have money to hire a doctor for him.”

Chen Juhua understood immediately—they had come to the Song family for help. In the past, whenever the Song family had lent money to the Liu family, they had never gotten it back. If this had been in the past, Chen Juhua would have grabbed a stick and chased Liu Hongmei’s mother out. But now, seeing Old Man Liu bedridden, and knowing that he was a simple, honest man who even had to fix the roof himself because his sons were useless, Chen Juhua felt a wave of pity.

She sighed and handed five yuan to Liu Hongmei’s mother, “Dear in-law, our family is struggling too. This is all I can give—use it to get a doctor for Old Liu.”

Liu Hongmei’s mother muttered complaints about the small amount, but when Chen Juhua stood sternly in the courtyard with a stick, she quickly grabbed Liu Hongmei and left.

With those two troublemakers gone, the Song household finally had some peace.

That evening, after the family finished dinner, they had just put down their chopsticks when Chen Juhua spoke up.

“Alright, everyone quiet down. I have something important to tell you.”

“What is it?” The entire Song family turned to look at her.

Chen Juhua sighed and calmly explained the situation. 

Upon hearing her words, the Song family members’ faces turned pale.

“What? Mom just said that our Dahes Village is going to experience a famine? How is that possible? Everything was fine, how can there be a famine? Going hungry is the worst!”

Song Xiangdong and his two brothers, along with Zhao Xiuying and Lin Yuehong, had all lived through hard times. As children, they often gone hungry, sometimes so desperate that they had to fill their bellies with wild vegetable soup just to feel full.

Those hard days were something the adults never wanted their children to experience.

The Song family was deeply anxious, unsure of what to do. It was Song Weidong, who had been the production director for many years, who finally spoke up, sensing that his mother must have a plan, “Mom, do you and Dad have any ideas?”

Chen Juhua glanced around at her family, then pulled out a small cloth pouch from her bosom. She carefully opened it to reveal a thick stack of banknotes.

“This three hundred yuan is what we’ve saved through frugality, combined with the wages from Xiangdong and Xiangguo. It’s all here. We can’t come up with more. Xiangdong, you know a lot of people and have connections. Tomorrow, you take Xiangguo and Xiangdang to buy some coarse grain from the dairies. If a famine really comes, this grain could be our family’s lifeline.”

Song Xiangdong nodded, “Don’t worry, Mom. Tomorrow, I’ll take Xiangguo and Xiangdang to buy the grain.”

Xiangguo and Xiangdang also nodded quickly.

“One more thing—let’s keep this quiet for now. If someone with bad intentions hears about it, our family could be in big trouble. People can be unpredictable,” Old Man Song added while puffing on his pipe.

“Yes, Dad, we understand,” the family members agreed, even the youngest, Song Wenhao, nodding earnestly.

“Alright then, it’s getting late. Everyone go to bed. Xiangdong and the others need to get up early to buy the grain.”

The Song family members all agreed and went back to their rooms to sleep.

The next morning, around four o’clock, while it was still dark and the moon hung in the sky, Song Xiangdong and his brothers quietly left the village with three hundred yuan in their pockets.

Chen Juhua discreetly warned her relatives and subtly mentioned it to the brigade leader, Song Jiandang. He took the words to heart.

The three brothers were gone for three days, and during that time, the entire Song family was on edge, unable to concentrate on their work.

While Lin Yuehong and Zhao Xiuying were chopping food for the pigs, Lin Yuehong sighed heavily as she chopped some rotten vegetable stalks, “Sister-in-law, it’s been three days. Why haven’t we heard anything from Big Brother and Xiangguo?”

Zhao Xiuying tried to reassure her, “Don’t worry. They might come back any time now.”

Lin Yuehong nodded, “I hope so.”

—

While the family was worried, little Song Wanyue, diligent as a bee, put on her raincoat and carried a small package entrusted to her by Grandma Ye.

 She headed towards the Ye family’s thatched house.

The Ye family lived in an old, abandoned house that had fallen into disrepair. When Ye Chenchuan and his grandfather moved in, the thatched roof leaked, and the walls let in drafts, making it uninhabitable.

The brigade leader, Song Jiandang, had led the villagers in fixing it up a bit and helped the grandfather and grandson move in.

Outside, the rain was pouring. Inside, a broken clay pot sat on the ground, catching the drips from the leaky roof.

Grandpa Ye coughed a few times, and Ye Chenchuan poured a bowl of hot water from the rusty kettle on the stove and handed it to him.

“Grandpa, have some hot water.”

Grandpa Ye took a few sips and leaned weakly against the headboard, his voice barely audible, “Xiao Chen, is there no food left at home?”

The boy, who hadn’t eaten anything all day, clenched his fists, his voice hoarse as he was about to reply. Suddenly, the small door of the thatched house, blown open by the wind, let in a little girl in a raincoat, bringing with her a sweet fragrance that filled the room.

“Grandpa Ye, I brought you something to eat!”

—