Chapter 60

The science classes for the graduating class of Grade 9 had already been stopped. Su Ye encountered many of her Grade 9 students discussing which factory they would go to work at. After long hours of review, the atmosphere had become so dull that it was easy for people to give up, something Su Ye could understand.

Su Ye wanted to win their hearts with candy, sweetening their mouths to encourage the children to study harder. Unexpectedly, just after handing out the candy and before she could even offer any motivational words, one by one, they rushed up to her, standing in front of her and whispering:

“I remember everything, Teacher Su told me to study well… The candy you gave is really delicious!”

“Don’t worry, Teacher, I’ll definitely pass the graduation exam! My family also agreed that I can wait a few more years before I go to work!”

“I will work hard, I won’t let you down, Teacher.”

Su Ye looked at their determined faces, their eyes, like black grapes were filled with hope.

Her heart also swelled with hope. She believed that the efforts these children put in would surely bear fruit by autumn, and Su Ye herself would reap a bountiful harvest. Her heart was on fire.

There is never too much grain!

After the morning study session, Su Ye stayed behind to answer questions. The students swarmed in, eagerly holding their textbooks and catching her to ask questions.

Yang Xue watched from the window, seeing the teacher surrounded by her classmates, when her stomach suddenly growled… She took out a freshly made sorghum cake that her mother had just baked from her worn-out school bag and began to eat it.

Many students in the class had corn cakes or mixed grain cakes made with white flour to eat. The combination of corn and white flour made the food taste really good, and it was the envy of others. Although sorghum cakes were rough and scratched the throat, they were cheap and filling. Yang Xue had gotten used to eating them every day.

After finishing half a cake, Yang Xue looked up and met Qian Xiaohe’s eager gaze.

Qian Xiaohe seemed to be swallowing… What’s so special about sorghum cakes that she’s salivating? The sorghum cake Yang Xue was eating was made with the husk still intact, and eating it carelessly could scratch the throat. But seeing Qian Xiaohe’s thin frame, it was clear her family situation was even worse than hers.

Yang Xue handed her the remaining half of the cake, “Do you want to eat it too? Here, take it.”

Qian Xiaohe shook her head, raising her textbook nervously, “No, I just wanted to ask the class leader a question! You… don’t misunderstand.”

After school that afternoon.

After finishing her work, Su Ye was preparing to leave for home when a few middle school students came to her office to ask questions. Su Ye lingered for a moment, noticing that after some time, the children had lost a bit of weight, their eyes growing bigger, looking both cute and pitiful.

Yang Xue reported to Su Ye about how many neighbors had asked them to fix radios this month. She gestured, “We’ve been listening to Teacher Su and studying hard, so we haven’t had time to fix things. Most people ask Xiaohe, she’s careful, skillful, and practical. If you hire a repairman, they charge three or four yuan for repairs, but if they ask her, they only need to pay fifty cents to get it done.”

Qian Xiaohe smiled faintly, pursing her lips.

After Su Ye finished answering their questions, she gathered her things to head home.

Yang Xue and Qian Xiaohe followed Su Ye out of the school gate. Yang Xue waved her hand and said, “Teacher Su, I’m going home now!”

Su Ye patted Qian Xiaohe on the shoulder and was about to remind her, “Go home, be careful!”

But with just a light touch, Qian Xiaohe suddenly collapsed in front of Su Ye, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Su Ye was startled and quickly caught her. The 14- or 15-year-old child felt weightless in her arms, as if she had no weight at all, and Su Ye was easily able to lift her.

Qian Xiaohe opened her eyes and quickly struggled to stand up. “Teacher Su, I’m fine. I just got a bit dizzy from standing too long.”

After confirming that she was okay, Su Ye sighed with relief. She noticed the girl’s pale complexion, clearly showing signs of malnutrition. What had just happened was a brief episode of fainting.

Su Ye took her back to her office and took out a cold white steamed bun from her bag. She made a cup of malted milk drink with warm water and handed it to Qian Xiaohe. “Eat this, then you can go home after.”

Qian Xiaohe had never eaten such a delicate meal before and hesitated to accept it. The sweet-smelling malted milk drink, along with the soft and white steamed bun, was something her family couldn’t even afford during the New Year. The malted milk drink was especially a high-end nutritional product she could never even dream of.

She took a bite of the steamed bun, so soft and tender, sweet and delicious, like the most divine gift from heaven.

“Doesn’t your family feed you properly?” Su Ye asked.

Qian Xiaohe lowered her head. “There are too many children in our family, and there’s not enough food…”

Su Ye thought of the chaotic situation in Qian Xiaohe’s home and immediately understood. “You didn’t give the money from fixing the radios to your parents, did you?”

“I’ll lend you some food coupons. Take them and buy some food. Then, send the food to Yang Xue’s house, and have her parents cook three meals a day for you.”

Qian Xiaohe was suddenly handed several food coupons. She knew very well how precious food coupons were.

When Qian Xiaohe was eating the steamed bun, she still didn’t have tears in her eyes, but now she didn’t dare to lift her head. Two tears fell and landed on her shoes.

“No, I don’t want Teacher’s food coupons. I have money, I can buy food myself,” she refused Su Ye’s offer of food coupons.

Su Ye frowned. It seemed this child hadn’t yet experienced the harsh reality of black market food prices.

She coughed lightly, cleared her throat, and then said with firm righteousness, “You’re too naive. Do you know how much food costs on the black market? Sweet potatoes are one yuan per jin, coarse grains are one and a half yuan, and fine grains can’t be bought for five yuan. Even if you repair radios every day, you won’t earn enough for food.”

She lowered her voice, smiling, and said, “But I have a way. Tomorrow afternoon after school, go to this place. Sorghum and sweet potatoes are eight cents per jin, corn and potatoes are five cents per jin, and fine grains are one yuan. No need for food coupons. Did you get the place? Go with Yang Xue’s dad tomorrow, and don’t tell anyone else.”

Su Ye traced a place name on the table with her finger.

In fact, Qian Xiaohe had already inquired about black market food prices and had planned to save up and buy some coarse grains to stretch her meals. Sorghum was one yuan per jin, and ground into flour, ten jin would last her a month… When she heard the new price, her dark eyes suddenly lit up.

The longing in her eyes was so intense that Su Ye couldn’t bear to look.

At the supply and marketing cooperative, sorghum and sweet potatoes also cost eight cents per jin, and corn and potatoes were three cents per jin, but they required food coupons. A single jin of food coupons wouldn’t even buy one yuan’s worth on the black market. The cost of food was so high that ordinary people could never afford it.

Su Ye smiled silently in her heart. Buying food from someone else was no match for buying from her. At a friendship price that had already broken the ice, there was no such thing as the best deal, only a better one!

Qian Xiaohe thanked Su Ye, quickly finished the steamed bun and malted milk, feeling full and energized. She ran to Yang Xue’s house to ask Yang Xue’s father to go with her to that little alley.

“Uncle, I want to buy some food, but I can’t carry it. Can you help me?”

After reaching the alley, Qian Xiaohe took out all the money she had, a small pile of change which she pressed down with a brick.

“I want to use five yuan to buy twenty-five jin of sweet potatoes, twenty-five jin of sorghum, and two jin of corn flour.”

Yang Xue’s father was puzzled, thinking that this child must have been so hungry that she had gone crazy. How could five yuan possibly buy so much?

Without food coupons, forget about buying two jin of corn flour—she couldn’t even buy a single corn kernel. While food could be found on the black market, even sweet potatoes cost one yuan per jin.

Yang Xue’s father, thinking of Qian Xiaohe’s situation, looked at her with a pitying gaze. “Come back with me, and I’ll have your aunt make you a meal.”

Qian Xiaohe had been to the black market to buy things before, and she knew that the government had been cracking down on speculation recently. Now, the black market traders were too scared to come out. She pulled Yang Xue’s father out of the alley.

Half an hour later, she arrived at the alley again. She saw a large sack at the end of the alley, bulging with contents. The shock and joy in her eyes were almost uncontrollable. She couldn’t even lift this sack!

Yang Xue’s father saw that indeed there was an additional sack, and he could smell the fragrance of food from it. In disbelief, he stammered, “Really… really bought food?”

He opened the sack and glanced inside. Seeing it full of sweet potatoes and other grains, his eyes grew deep, and both he and Qian Xiaohe’s hearts skipped a beat.

Yang Xue’s father quickly tied the sack shut and hurriedly carried the food back home.

When Yang Xue’s mother saw her husband and Qian Xiaohe carrying the full sack of food back, her heart warmed as if it were being set on fire. Since the famine, she had never seen so much food!

Qian Xiaohe suggested, “This food is what I bought with my own money. I’ll give it to you, but can you feed me for two months with it?”

Fifty jin of coarse grains and two jin of corn flour would indeed be enough for a growing child to last for two months, not to mention that the sorghum and sweet potatoes would be filling. The corn flour was also quite expensive, and Qian Xiaohe would likely have enough food to last for three months. Yang Xue and his wife were honest people and wouldn’t be greedy for this small amount of food.

Yang Xue’s mother smiled and said, “Of course we can, why not?”

She quickly began taking the food out of the sack, sorting the sweet potatoes and sorghum. Halfway through, she dug out a block of white lard wrapped in pig fat paper from the sorghum, with a small note on it that read, “For you to eat.”

The whole Yang family, plus Qian Xiaohe, looked at the block of white lard, and their eyes grew moist.

What kind of kind-hearted person would put a block of lard in here? The lard was about an inch thick.

The so-called lard block was thick pig fat, which could be used to make oil. Lard was rarer than pork belly! In these times of food scarcity, everyone was lacking oil. Without it, their bodies felt weak and lethargic after a day’s work.

This block of lard was placed by Su Ye. Lard wasn’t worth much to her, one jin of pork belly could be exchanged for five jin of lard, so she just casually swapped one block in. Qian Xiaohe was her student, diligent and hardworking, with unlimited potential for the future. She deserved to eat well.

At this moment, the live stream chat exploded with comments:

“I hope Xiaohe eats well and grows up quickly!”

“Teacher Su is so warm! Sob, my tears aren’t worth much!”

“This person is definitely tricking me for tips, their emotional manipulation is getting better. Sob, but I still want to cry and tip. User tips Su Ye 500g of pork belly.”

“‘Hard work leads to wealth’ tips Su Ye 1kg of vegetables.”

“‘Study hard’ tips Su Ye 200g of salmon.”

The Yang family gathered around, drooling as they watched Yang Xue’s mother render lard. At first, the lard was as clear as water and couldn’t really be considered oil. Yang Xue’s mother couldn’t bear to throw it away, so she scooped it into a bowl. As the heat under the pot grew stronger, the white fatty meat slowly began to release fat, and the lard bubbled out, until more and more lard was produced, and the fat shrank, floating on top of the oil.

During the process of rendering the lard, the irresistible aroma of the oil drifted through the air, making people constantly swallow. Once the lard was almost ready, Yang Xue’s mother scooped out the fried scraps, sprinkled a thin layer of salt on them, and shared them with the children.

The fried scraps were fragrant and crispy, a delicious treat. Qian Xiaohe took a bite, her eyes squinting in happiness.

Yang Xue, burned by the heat, smiled happily and said, “Delicious, delicious, so good! Thank you, Xiaohe!”