Chapter 35

The food supply problem for the eldest family was successfully resolved!

No matter how cunning and slippery Chen Shi was, she was still human. Under Liu Yu’s firm threat, she had no choice but to agree. Naturally, her plans to trouble the eldest family were abandoned.

Not only did she fail to inconvenience the eldest family, but she also ended up compensating them with forty pounds of grain each month. Chen Shi felt like a defeated old hen, her head hung low as she went to see her youngest son. Liu Jianmin hadn’t gotten any meat and had lost forty pounds of grain for nothing. He was so angry that his teeth ground together, and he yelled at Chen Shi for quite a while.

Liu Yu returned to her small room, closed the door and windows, and began to take stock of her possessions.

These past few days, her treasure chest had been working day and night, and the results were remarkable. She had produced nearly a hundred pounds of corn kernels. The small potatoes were fine as snacks, but they weren’t staple food, so Liu Yu didn’t let them occupy the time of the treasure chest.

One hundred pounds of corn kernels was a big deal!

Liu Yu calculated in her mind that if all the corn were ground into flour, accounting for losses, she would get about ninety pounds of cornmeal. In these times, grain was a hard commodity, and with so much of it, she could certainly exchange it for some money. Having money would make everything easier! It would even improve her family’s life.

But where to find the money?

Liu Yu slapped her forehead. She would go to the county town! There were more people there, and she was sure to find a few buyers!

The next morning, Liu Yu got up early and went to ask her father, Liu Jianjia, for permission.

“Dad, I want to go to the county town!”

Liu Yu stopped her father, who was about to go to work.

Liu Jianjia was confused and leaned his hoe on the ground. “What’s the good of you going to the county town?”

Liu Yu couldn’t tell him her real reason, so she thought of a vague excuse: “I want to buy something, Dad, just let me go!”

At this moment, Nie Xiaocui came over to them. She dug around in her pocket, finally pulling out a coin and a couple of pounds of grain. “If my daughter wants to go, let her! Here, take this coin, buy whatever you need. And on your way back, pick up a shoe pattern for me so I can make you a pair of shoes.”

The coin was clearly Nie Xiaocui’s personal savings, and it was quite a generous amount. Just the other day, when Liu Ye wanted eight pennies to buy a pound of pickled radish slices, Nie Xiaocui didn’t give him any. But for Liu Yu, her daughter, she was more than generous.

“Thank you, Mom!”

Liu Yu accepted the money without hesitation. Since it was from her own mother, she felt no pressure at all.

Liu Jianjia hoisted the hoe onto his shoulder. “Since you want to go, go ahead. By the way, Wang Changping is also asking to go to the county town today. You two can go together since it’s on the way. That way, I’ll feel at ease.”

Liu Yu smiled bitterly. What was her father so worried about? With her strong build, the strongest in the village, she could easily punch through a mountain lion if she wanted to. But here she was, like a child, being told to follow someone to the county town?

However, Wang Changping didn’t speak much, but he was honest. So, following him wasn’t such a bad idea. It would be good to learn the way—after all, the original owner had been so lazy she had never even been to the county town and didn’t know the way.

Liu Yu found a bamboo basket at home, covered it with a cloth, and filled it with nearly twenty pounds of corn. She couldn’t carry more, and the extra weight would serve as a way to lose some weight.

Just as Wang Changping was about to leave and was locking the courtyard, Liu Yu happened to run into him.

“Hey! Comrade Wang, I heard from my dad that you’re going to the county town. I’m not familiar with the road, can you take me along?”

Liu Yu flashed a big grin, truly sincere but also very straightforward. There was no hesitation in her voice. It was rare to see a rural girl so natural and at ease.

Wang Changping’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and he was secretly pleased. “If you’re going, let’s go together!”