Chapter 4: The Era of Scarce Supplies

Zhao Xiulan noticed her younger sister.

Zhao Xiu Zhu, six years old this year, was from a poor family and had matured early. She was very sensible and could handle all sorts of chores at her young age.

Like the previous owner, she was skinny from long-term malnutrition, with dry and yellow hair, thin and dark, protruding eyes, resembling a monkey.

She wore an oversized coat with several patches and a few holes, and it had turned somewhat white from washing.

Poor, they were extremely poor.

In this era of scarce resources, the Zhao family was also extremely impoverished.

Seeing the concerned gaze of Zhao Xiu Zhu, Zhao Xiulan smiled and said, “It’s okay, Xiu Zhu, I’m much better now.”

Upon hearing Zhao Xiulan’s words, Zhao Xiu Zhu breathed a sigh of relief. Then, making sure no one was around, she secretly took out a steamed bun from her pocket and handed it to Zhao Xiulan.

“Sister, you haven’t eaten anything for a long time. Take this steamed bun. I hid it when the production team leader distributed them today.” Zhao Xiu Zhu whispered.

In the production team, they would distribute some food for the day’s work. Some people would eat it directly, while some adults who didn’t want to eat would leave it for their children.

The steamed bun was made of coarse grains, wild vegetable leaves, and straw stems, making it a bit rough to eat.

Even so, in this era of food shortages, anything that could fill the stomach was considered good.

Some families didn’t have enough food, so they would eat tree bark from the mountains, grass, or even boil their leather belts just to survive.

Zhao Xiulan had learned about some history from the 1960s and knew about the difficulties of this era. Experiencing it firsthand made her truly understand the hardships of this era.

The fact that Zhao Xiu Zhu could save the steamed bun and think of giving it to her made Zhao Xiulan feel warm inside.

“Xiu Zhu, you should eat it yourself. You’re hungry too. There’s not enough for both of us with just one steamed bun.” Even one steamed bun wouldn’t be enough for Zhao Xiu Zhu alone.

Looking at her skinny little sister, Zhao Xiulan thought about how to fatten her up.

With the resources in the space, there was no need to worry about not having enough food. The only problem was how to take it out and explain its source, which was troublesome.

“Sister, you’re hungrier than I am, and you’re sick again. You should eat it.” Zhao Xiu Zhu pushed the steamed bun back to Zhao Xiulan.

“I actually have something to eat!”

Zhao Xiu Zhu stared at Zhao Xiulan with her black eyes, obviously curious.

Pretending to put her hand in her pocket, Zhao Xiulan moved her hand and suddenly had two cooked eggs in her hand, still warm. She then took them out of her pocket.

“Sister has two eggs. Come, Xiu Zhu, you have one, and I’ll have one.”

Zhao Xiu Zhu was suddenly startled, then lowered her voice and asked Zhao Xiulan, “Sister, where did you get the eggs?”

In this era where even meals were hard to come by, eggs were undoubtedly a great thing. When Zhao Xiu Zhu saw them, her eyes lit up.

Zhao Xiulan smiled slightly and casually made up an excuse, “I found them in the haystack. I didn’t tell Aunt Mei and secretly cooked them. Xiu Zhu, let’s each have one. You mustn’t tell Aunt Mei!”

Although Zhao Xiu Zhu was young, she was very clever. She knew that if Ma Yumei found out about this good thing, it definitely wouldn’t end up in their hands.

So, she nodded heavily. “Sister, I know. I won’t tell Aunt Mei for sure. This is great! I’ve never had eggs before. At home, eggs are either used to exchange for food or eaten by Aunt Mei and Sister Lijuan. I heard that eggs are really delicious…”

(End of Chapter 4)