Chapter 245

Shuiqing didn’t feel that it was unfair at all; she didn’t think they didn’t deserve to eat the rice and flour.

Food is meant to be eaten; it’s only shameful when it’s wasted or misused.

These people in front of her were actually eating everything up without wasting or misusing any grain. This was the best way to treat food.

She looked at the four men in front of her and reminded them as usual, “This grain was stored before the flood. Even after the flood, when grain prices rise, it will still be conspicuous to bring it back. You guys should be able to eat it for a year.”

Hong Mancang excitedly replied, “Madam, rest assured, we understand!”

“How can rice and flour be eaten together? We have to save and save again.”

“But we can’t just devour it all at once.”

The other three men nodded vigorously, not knowing where to put their hands, feeling nervous and unsure of what to do.

They went off separately to cook their meals. Madam had given them so much rice and flour; this was truly considerate of her!

Although there weren’t many vegetables in the garden right now, everyone in the family and village was getting along well, and they would send over some vegetables from their own garden from time to time. Before long, the vegetables in their garden would be grown and ready to eat.

By eating more of the grain at the start and more vegetables later, they would save a lot of grain.

Madam said it wouldn’t be a problem to eat for a year, and they thought they could easily stretch it to a year and a half. Potatoes were said to have a particularly high yield; if they planted them, they might be able to eat them for two years!

The four men had initially thought that the Dong family would only give them enough grain for a month or two and then come monthly to collect. They hadn’t expected that the Dong family would give them a full year’s worth in one go. One cart couldn’t handle it all, so they had to move some first and bring it back home.

Waiting at home, Li Dani and Li Erni saw the returning cart and hurried forward to help unload the grain.

There was much more grain on the cart than they had expected!

It was enough for the family to eat for three to five months.

After emptying the cart, Feng Da told his younger brother, Feng Er, “Let’s go!”

Li Dani was surprised and asked quickly, “Didn’t you just bring the grain back? Where are you going now?”

“Yeah, today is the first day of moving. We need to warm the bottom of the pot. With the grain, we can start preparing for lunch.” Li Erni followed up.

Where else are they going?

Feng Da smiled, “This is just the beginning. You don’t know how much grain the Dong family has prepared! It will take two or three more trips to bring it all back. When it’s all back, you’ll be happy. However, be careful with the barrels of oil on the cart. It would be more reassuring if Feng Er carried them back.”

All three were stunned.

Li Dani took a deep breath and asked, “There are several more carts? That’s strange. How much grain is that?”

“And vegetable oil, too?”

“More than that, there’s also lard! Oh my, too much. Just wait until you bring it back and see for yourselves.” Feng Da’s simple face couldn’t contain his smile.

On their next trip, several people from each of the four households joined them.

After four round trips, all the food that had been distributed was brought back.

Li Dani and Li Erni checked the grain and were delighted beyond measure.

There were only the two of them managing the food distribution for the family, and they decided everything about how it was to be eaten. They felt like they had fallen into a rice jar; the food was plentiful enough that all their anxieties had vanished.

It turned out that once food was plentiful, all the anxieties, tension, and sense of loss of being in a strange place disappeared without a trace!

“I feel that the days ahead are filled with hope, all good days.

The two of them first cut off a small piece of smoked meat, and hung the rest together with the sausage above the kitchen stove;

All the grains were moved to the innermost room of the house—compared to the eastern neighbors, their house couldn’t compete, but they had their own separate storeroom.

The most valuable thing at home is grain, so naturally it’s kept deepest inside.

Then they scooped half a ladle of millet, followed by a ladle of white flour mixed with three ladles of sorghum flour.

The millet was washed and put into the pot to make millet porridge, golden and glossy with a layer of rice oil on top; this rice oil was a good nutritious thing to have.

Next to the pot were flatbreads made from sorghum and white flour dough.

In another iron pot, they first fried a pan of chili with the cut smoked meat.

Then they stir-fried a pan of shredded beans and loofah.

A plate of eggplant.

A cold dish of smashed cucumbers.

The first meal in their new home began with plenty to eat and wear.

Hong Daniu’s family didn’t have a woman to manage, so they chose to stew.

A small piece of smoked meat cut into cubes, mixed with various vegetables, and then added a bowl of rice to stew—a pot of vegetables and rice.

Although not delicious, it wasn’t bad either, and with meat and rice, the three of them were satisfied.

Hong Daniu looked at his two sons eating hungrily, thinking that when life settled down, he would ask the eastern neighbors to help arrange marriages for them.

Otherwise, the two would only eat the poorly cooked meals he made. In the past, even his poorly cooked meals weren’t considered bad, but now he felt he was wasting grain!

Meat and rice—how could he make such unpalatable food?

He sighed, reflecting on how Master Bai insisted he had saved him and insisted on thanking him with one hundred taels of silver. Now that money was well spent on filling up the grain stores. If he arranged marriages for the two of them, there would likely be some left over, and the remainder could serve as emergency funds.

Four households had different thoughts, but they all converged on the same path.

They were all considering how to live in the future and planning ahead.

Over here, the men finished building the house and moved out, while over there, the walls of Shanshui Village were also completely repaired.

Unlike the low walls around their own homes, the walls surrounding the entire village were extended an additional meter beyond the originally specified two meters, making them three meters high in total.

Built solidly with adobe, they had extra wooden and bamboo spikes on the outside and top. Not to mention climbing, even approaching was easy to get pricked.

At a height of more than one meter from the wall, half-tile-sized windows were opened every meter or two, making it convenient to monitor outside movements at any time.

The scope of the walled area was large, and the village inside was spacious. When the front and back gates were closed, the whole village felt like an impenetrable fortress, and the people living inside now felt particularly secure.

When building the walls, all the trees and weeds along the road sections were completely cleared, so now the patrol team in the village only needed to patrol along the perimeter, making it clean, tidy, and convenient. Originally, it took one patrol to make a round, but now they could do two.

Yes, the patrol team in the village has been busy all along, not only without stopping but becoming more organized.

After sending fifty big knives to Shuiqing, the old village head distributed them. Apart from a few families, almost every household had one or two knives.

When it was time for patrol, people brought out their big knives from home and patrolled around the wall in circles.

Nowadays, not only the younger ones but even the men were quite enthusiastic about this patrol.

The Fang family and Zhang’s family always felt inferior carrying wooden sticks each time.

Zhang Xiaogou had a lot of complaints against his sister, Zhang Chunhua. Originally, he was very happy to be chosen for the patrol, feeling deeply integrated into the village and able to contribute to it.

This time, the section of the wall his family was assigned wasn’t long, and he was working hard. As a result, instead of arguing with his father, his sister went to argue with the old village head. Now, both their family’s reputation and face were lost.

As for Fan Sanzhu and others, they felt uncertain without knives in their hands.

If real refugees came in, wouldn’t they be the most dangerous without any weapons?”