The imperial court provided relief in a timely manner. Although the lives of the people in the disaster-stricken areas were more difficult, they were able to maintain their daily lives, and there was no phenomenon of fleeing from their homes. The common people are grateful to the imperial court, and many families have set up longevity cards for the emperor.
Yu Xiaocao's grandfather lived in the west of Xishan, separated from Dongshan Village by a Xishan. There is a rugged path on the mountain, which can lead directly to Xishan Village. Although the path is half as close as the official road, the mountain path is difficult to walk, and there are occasional wild animals that hurt people.
The Yu's family had enough food until the beginning of spring, so there was no need to worry about not being able to eat enough. After Liu's heart was relieved, she thought about whether there was enough food for the fifteen members of her mother's family, whether she would be hungry.
When Mrs. Liu talked about her mother's family in front of Yu Hai and the children for the nth time, Yu Hai made a decision: "Since we are worried, let's send some food over there! Those who don't have to be children and grandchildren eat big fish and meat, let dad The reason why mother and brother are starving!"
Because of the locust plague, they couldn't grow food. Except for Liu Hu who went to the dock to find a loading and unloading job, most of the rest of the Yu family stayed at home. Lao Yu headed for the sea with a few children. Yu Xiaolian was selling jelly at the pier. The material for making jelly is the dried seaweed that was hoarded last year. Due to the high food price, cold noodles cannot be sold anymore!
The reason is very simple. A bowl of cold noodles usually sells for five cents, but now the food price has soared to 30 or 50 times the sky-high price. rise? Fortunately, there are still a lot of dried seaweed harvested last year, so it should be no problem to sell them for two or three months. However, the price of jelly has also increased a bit, and it costs five yuan a bowl. Although the business at the wharf is not as good as in previous years, it can still earn some money every day. Yu Xiaolian naturally would not give up.
Now the busiest people in the family are Yu Xiaolian and Yu Hang. They all have their own business to do. The others are all unemployed at home, cleaning up the few acres of vegetable fields in the yard.
Mrs. Liu handed over the job of spraying the vegetable fields to her elder sister, Yu Caifeng. Yu Hai loaded ten bags of grain on the carriage, each bag was about fifty catties. Liu Shi was very moved when she saw her. Five hundred catties of grain is enough for my mother's family to eat for two or three months. The nephews and nieces of my mother's family are all grown up, so I can eat like an adult, and it's not bad to eat half full just by relying on the disaster relief food! I don't know when the cheap food mentioned by the official uniform will be delivered. She can't just watch her mother's family starve!
No matter how much food the family had, it was the Yu family's ability to earn it back. If you don't give the Liu family a catty or two, others can't say anything. After all, food is the most important thing in a disaster year. She just mentioned it, and her man got a wagon full of grain and asked her to send it to her natal family. How could Liu's heart not be moved
"Mom, I've never been to grandpa's house, can you take me to identify the door?" When Yu Xiaocao didn't wear it, she was sick in bed all day and couldn't go anywhere. After the separation, for one reason or another, I have never been to Xishan Village. She has been idle and bored at home for the past two days, and when she heard that she had the opportunity to go out, she hurriedly asked to go together.
Little Shitou also came out of his room, shouting, "I'm going too, I'm going too!"
Yu Hai smiled and said: "Okay! Let's all go, let's go together!"
Liu Shi rolled his eyes at him and said, "You, you will spoil them!"
Yu Xiaocao took out the prepared grasshopper sauce from the cellar, and brought a pack of biscuits made yesterday, as well as homemade bacon and duck. Such a gift is definitely worth it!
The grain on the carriage was covered with grass thatch and corn stalks, Yu Xiaocao and a small stone climbed to sit on top of the grain, Mrs. Liu sat on the shaft, Yu Hai drove the carriage, and a family of four came from the foot of the west mountain The repaired road went in the direction of the official road.
Originally, if the Yu family's old house wanted to go out, it had to go through the whole village. Later, Prince Jing's Mansion built a separate courtyard in Xishan, so they opened another road, which happened to pass by the gate of the Yu family's old house. It was able to avoid the village and go straight to the official road, saving a lot of distance.
The chattering women in the village saw a carriage coming out from the Yu family from a distance, which was full of unknown goods. Xiong Shi, who was the most open-mouthed, said to Li Shi: "Your brother-in-law's brother pulled a cart and went west. Liu Shi also went with her. Could it be to deliver food to her mother's family?"
Li rolled his triangular eyes and said, "Who is my brother-in-law's brother? Yu Bo is the only brother of my husband's family. He is studying in Fucheng and is waiting for the next year's examination to be a scholar!"
Another daughter-in-law, who couldn't understand her, curled her lips and said, "That's right, you have completely cut ties with Uncle Yu, and you are not a family anymore. Brother Da Hai, you would rather subsidize your natal family than you!"
Li's eyes widened, but she could see the daughter-in-law who was the most skilled fighter in front of her, and she faltered again: "'Brother Hai', that's a strange name. It's a pity that no matter how hard you flatter others, they won't give you a piece food."
The daughter-in-law curled her lips again, and said, "I'm not like some people, who are too lazy to cook and have their mother-in-law on top of them. Our family took back all the sweet potatoes before the disaster, plus the food for disaster relief, and we ate them for three to five months. It’s no problem. It’s a pity that some people can’t eat their own food after receiving the food!”
When Li Shi heard this, the fire in her heart started to rise, but she couldn't find a way to vent it. The reason why she ran out today to have a short chat with the parents and the west was because her mother-in-law was not at home and went to Fucheng to deliver rations and money to her precious son.
The food brought by the family was locked in the cabinet by the mother-in-law. During the three days she went out, she only left three catties of food. There are two adults and one and a half children in the family, and three catties of grain are not enough for a day!
Mrs. Li always whispered in her man's ear that her mother-in-law withheld all the food they received for her uncle. Because of this, Mrs. Li had a big fight with Mrs. Zhang. But her level is no match for Zhang's. After being hungry as a punishment, she became honest.
What this daughter-in-law said was like uncovering her unhealed scars. Mrs. Li stood up abruptly, her eyes widened, and she was about to curse, when she saw the daughter-in-law roll up her sleeves, with a posture of "you dare to scold me with a big mouth and melon seeds", and immediately deflated like a leaking balloon down. She gave the daughter-in-law a hard look. If the eye knife could kill, the daughter-in-law would have died many times. Mrs. Li snorted, patted her ass and went home!
But Xiong said sourly: "Yu Hai's family has made a lot of money in the past two years. Before the disaster, I saw them buying food from the town. Their family must not be short of food! That carriage is definitely full of food. See It’s going in the direction of Xishan Village! Alas! This Yuhai is really generous, and every time the grain is delivered, it’s a cart. The Liu family in Xishan Village is blessed, sitting at home and doing nothing, dropping hundreds of catties from the sky for nothing Food. Why doesn’t our family have such wealthy relatives?”
The daughter-in-law who confronted Mrs. Li also couldn't understand Mrs. Xiong's style of work, so she stood up and was about to leave: "Why are you talking so much? It's their business who they give away. No matter how much you say, it's not our turn." .I’ll dig sea sausages for our master, and I can earn some money to buy salt at the end of the day! It’s better than sitting here and waiting for the pie to fall from the sky!”
Yu Hai's family didn't know that they were being nagged about, so they drove the carriage all the way to Xishan Village excitedly. There is hardly a pedestrian on the road. Those who can find a way to work have already gone to work, and those who can't find a way are all at home. Do as little activity as possible to consume less food.
The family set off relatively late, and the carriage pulled hundreds of catties of grain and walked slowly. The difference between Xishan Village and Dongshan Village is huge! First of all, there is no royal palace in Xishan Village to build other courtyards here to build roads for them. Therefore, after getting off the official road, there is a section of the road that is full of bumps and holes, which can be troublesome.
In addition, Xishan Village is not facing the sea, unlike the villagers of Dongshan Village, who can buy some seafood in exchange for money in their spare time. However, Xishan Village has a lot of fertile land, and except for the sweet potatoes on the land opened up on the mountain, the others are all planted with wheat.
This locust plague has caused great losses to Xishan Village. The wheat, which will soon be harvested, has been devastated by the plague locusts. The sweet potatoes are buried in the ground, and some can be collected back.
Liu's family has ten acres of fertile land, but the wheat they planted failed. Sweet potatoes were planted on five acres of mountain land. After hearing the news from the Yu family before the disaster, the three brothers of the Liu family, under the leadership of their father, snatched all the sweet potatoes home and harvested several acres of wheat day and night. Although the wheat has not yet matured, it is still in the late stage of grouting after all. The green wheat is roasted with fire, and then the wheat grains are rubbed out, which can also be used as food.
When Yu Hai's family of four drove the carriage to the gate of Liu's house, the whole family was sitting in the yard rubbing wheat!
"Father—" Seeing that the white hair on the old man's head had grown a lot, Liu's nose was sore, and he couldn't help shouting.
Thirteen-year-old Liu Zhimin, son of Xiaocao's third uncle Liu Hao, raised his head and shouted in surprise, "Sister-in-law! Grandpa, sister-in-law is here!!"
Liu Cunjin raised his head and saw his daughter standing at the door with red eye circles, she quickly stood up and greeted her, "Yun girl, why are you here? Is there not enough food? Our family harvested a lot of green wheat. You take some back home for emergency treatment!"
After hearing this, Liu Shi burst into tears. She is the youngest and only daughter in the family. She has been favored by her parents since she was a child, and there are three older brothers who dote on her. She has lived a carefree life before she got married.
When she got married, the family gave a lot of things, all of which were confiscated by Mrs. Zhang, saying that she kept them without dividing the family. After that, she never saw her dowry again.
After she got married, her life was difficult, and she occasionally complained to her natal family. Her mother's family has a lot of land and little life and is not well-off, but every year, some money and food are saved from the teeth and sent to her. It's a pity that she didn't live up to it, and the money and food were coaxed away by Zhang.
When the family was just separated, it was the most difficult time for her family. The elderly parents also brought their natal brothers and sisters-in-law to help repair the house, deliver food, and buy her daily necessities with money, so that their family could survive the most difficult time. when.