The booming era begins with the director of the Propaganda Department!

Chapter 324 Is Xu Huizhen a widow? ?

"Come to think of it, it was Dafei's idea to set up a collectively owned processing plant in the street," Zhang Shenliang also said.

He is a dull person who can't do anything, but that doesn't mean he really doesn't care about what's happening outside.

Since the establishment of this collectively owned processing plant, the aunties, young wives in their neighborhood committee can earn three to five yuan every month.

What's more, his own wife works as a quality inspector there, earning 20 yuan a month, all thanks to his younger brother.

Hearing that his elder brother and sister-in-law had high hopes for his promotion, Tian Xiaozao looked at his grandmother and Zhang Shenfei with a little nervousness.

Ever since she was a child, she loved to hang out in the alleys. After liberation, she started as a street activist and worked her way up to become the director of the neighborhood committee. She never cared about her position.

She just wanted to do something to help the street and neighbors.

But now,

The whole family had high hopes for her to join the neighborhood office, but this made her feel pressured instead. She was afraid that something might go wrong and she would not be able to explain to them.

Zhang Shenfei noticed this keenly, took his daughter-in-law's hand, placed it on his knees, and smiled brightly at his elder brother and sister-in-law:
"Well, what's the big deal about being a street cadre or not??? Does our family still need the three walnuts and two dates that Zao'er earned???"

"That's true." Tang Danniu's attention immediately shifted, "Speaking of which, you guys are the only ones in the entire Siheyuan who have a good life.

Even Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong can't compare to you, and we have benefited a lot from you over the years. I want to thank you on behalf of Ping An and the others."

In this situation this year, who can have enough food every day? ? ? For those little boys in the yard, who doesn’t need to have something in their stomach? ? ?
But what about his family? With the food Dafei helped buy, although they couldn't eat delicious food or drink spicy drinks in public because they didn't want to cause trouble, they could still fill their stomachs every day.

Those nine boys have grown a lot taller and a little fatter.

When this was mentioned, Zhang Shenfei said seriously: "Grandma, big brother, big sister-in-law. I was just about to tell you this..."

What? Seeing Zhang Shenfei's expression change, the others immediately looked at each other.

Zhang Shenfei took out fifty cents from his pocket and said, "Fendou, take your brothers to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some candy."

Zhang Fendou didn't take the money: "Uncle, the supply and marketing cooperative is closed now."

"Get out of here after get off work!" Tang Danniu yelled, slapping the table with her hand, "Get out of here right now!!!"

You are such a fool, can't you see that the adults have something serious to discuss? ? ?
Zhang Fendou shuddered, and the second oldest Zhang Shunsui stood up and said, "Uncle, I'll take them there."

"Let the third brother go, you stay." Zhang Shenfei motioned him to sit back.

When Zhang Fendou led his six brothers out, Zhang Shenfei looked at Zhang Shunsui and said, "Do you know why I asked you to stay? Second brother."

Zhang Shunsui shook his head.

Zhang Shenfei told him: "Your elder brother has joined the army. You will be seventeen after the Chinese New Year. You are already a man, not a child anymore. Therefore, we cannot hide the important things at home from you."

My second uncle said I was a man!!! Zhang Shunsui was immediately excited.

Zhang Shenfei ignored him and looked at the old lady and his elder brother:

"In the past six months, the food supply has been decreasing due to drought. I heard from Uncle Yan that the food supply at our Nanluoguxiang Supply and Marketing Office has not been available on time and in sufficient quantity for three consecutive months. This is because when people were lining up to buy food, some gangsters in several nearby alleys had several fights."

Tian Danniu interrupted loudly: "Not bad? My goodness, before that, Fan Erhu from Qinlao Hutong and Baldy from Jinger Hutong had a fierce fight..."

Dong, dong, dong! Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by the sound of the old lady knocking on the table with her brass pipe.

"Can you be a little more considerate? Dafei is talking about serious matters, why are you interrupting him?" The old lady glared at Tang Danv.

Tang Danniu dared to beat Zhang Shenliang and even rode on him, but when she met the old lady, she was like a mouse meeting a cat. She immediately shrugged her shoulders and dared not say a word.

But he was muttering in his heart that no matter which family was starving, they had Dafei to help buy food, so they would not starve.

Seeing that his sister-in-law didn't interrupt, Zhang Shenfei continued, "It's getting harder and harder to get food nowadays. I estimate that the situation will only get worse in the next few years...

Since we were little, my grandmother taught us that "the first rafters to stick out will rot first." We all live in the front and back yards, and other children don't have enough to eat, but our children are all tall and strong... This is not acceptable."

There is now sufficient food supply, but people still cannot get enough to eat. If the supply is discounted, many people will be so hungry that their eyes will turn green.

On weekdays,
The Zhang family eats better, and they can even use the expensive grain they bought at the pigeon market, or some other reason to get away with it.

But if that time really comes and even the Pigeon Market has no food, and their family can still have enough to eat every meal, it would be strange if they are not reported.

The old lady nodded and said, "That's true. Normally, everyone can eat steamed buns made of two kinds of flour to fill their stomachs, so it's fine for us to eat steamed buns.

But if others don’t even have steamed bread to eat, but we can still eat braised pork every day, then someone will stab us in the back…”

There are so many ways to discipline a person these days, not to mention that their Dafei is still the director of the canteen at the steel mill!!!
A letter of denunciation accusing him of embezzling money could arouse the indignation of the hungry people, regardless of whether it was true or not.

After arousing public anger, can life still be good???
Moreover, in recent months, several people in the Siheyuan have said openly or secretly that their great-grandchildren have ruddy complexions and look much stronger than Banggeng and his friends.

Every time, she scared me by using Tang Danniu.

But if it really comes to the point of eating tree bark as my grandson said, even Tang Da Niu and Tang Er Niu will be useless!!!

Zhang Shunsui, the second child who was eavesdropping on the adults, scratched his head, thinking that the old lady's words were a bit alarmist: "Does our family's fullness have anything to do with others? We don't eat their food. Besides, our family gets along well with the neighbors in the Siheyuan.

There is no grudge between us, they can't frame us for such a small matter, right? ? ? "

“People in this world originally have no grudges against each other, but aren’t there enough troubles?
If we have food, will you lend it to others if they come to lend it to you? ? If you lend it to them once, will you lend it to them again? ? If you lend it to the Zhang family, will you lend it to the Li family? ? ? After all these, aren’t these all grudges? ? ” Grandma Zhang touched her great-grandson’s head, “You are still young.”

Zhang Shunsui was unhappy: "I'm not small! Why do you always say I'm small?"

He already has a girlfriend, how can he be young??? Besides, my second uncle just said that he is a man, and he should be involved in all the important family affairs in the future!!!
"When others can't get any food, you eat meat and smack your lips. How can this not be considered a grudge?" Zhang Shenfei tapped Zhang Shunsui on the forehead. "Don't talk back to your grandmother."

The young man covered his forehead and said aggrievedly: "So just because we are afraid of others' jealousy, we have to not eat white flour and starve with them?"

"Who is jealous of our family? Grandma!!!" Tang Danniu rolled up her sleeves and was about to go out, but was stopped by Zhang Shenliang. She kept shouting towards the door, "I gave birth to nine sons, why should I be afraid of them??? If anyone dares to do something bad behind their back, I will destroy their family!!!
Damn it, which bastard is talking so dirty? Come out and let me see! I will tear her mouth apart! "

Why? In the early years, his family didn't have enough food to eat, and others lived well, so he didn't report them.

Why should we be so cowardly and be on guard against being reported just because our lives are getting a little better? ? ?

Zhang Shenfei sighed and signaled his elder brother to cover his elder sister-in-law's mouth.

"We have several grown boys in our family, grandma is already 70 years old, and my sister-in-law is about to give birth again.

Zao'er... Zao'er and I have been married for so long, maybe it will bear fruit someday... It's okay for my elder brother, Shunsui and others to starve, but we can't let these little ones starve too. So, we have to plan ahead."

The whole family, including Tian Xiaozao who worked at the neighborhood committee, fell silent. Especially Tian Xiaozao.

Although she is keen to help the neighbors, she is not stupid. In the past, she became a street-level activist based on her passion.

But in these years in the neighborhood committee, I have to deal with all kinds of shitty things, and my worldview has been refreshed. I have seen so many things like repaying kindness with enmity, cheating on someone else, and giving birth to a son without an anus. How can I still be as innocent as before and have such a firm belief in the goodness of human nature? ? ?
What's more, as the director of the neighborhood committee, she knows best how much the people's living standards have declined in the past six months.

In the final analysis, people are selfish. The so-called morality and bottom line are things that people think about after they have had a full meal. If they are really hungry, they may even eat their own children.

What's more, how about reporting a neighbor who is unwilling to lend food to you? ? ?

So at this time, she also agreed with what Zhang Shenfei said about leaving a way out for the whole family.

just,

Plan? ? How to plan! ? ?

The courtyard is only this big, with four households living in the front yard and five households living in the back yard. As long as there is smoke coming out of the chimney of a house, there will always be someone watching.

If you want to eat your fill without telling your neighbors, it’s ok for one or two meals, but it would be strange if you could do it for months and years without being discovered!!!
Tian Xiaozao hesitated for a while and said, "Otherwise, let's go back and leave the food with my dad."

Although Courtyard No. 93 is also a large compound, there are only three households living in it, and the relationship between neighbors is much closer. In addition, the fourth brother Tong Xiaoting lives a comfortable life, and the third brother Suo Qianer's family also lives a good life.

I don't think these two families would resort to any crooked tricks just because they are jealous of them being able to eat their fill.

"No," Zhang Shenfei denied it directly. "I talked to a professor of agronomy in our school before. This drought is unusual. I'm afraid it won't last for one or two years. According to his estimate, it will take at least three years."

Three years? ? ? ? ! ! Grandma Zhang, Zhang Shenliang, Tang Danniu and Tian Xiaozao's faces suddenly changed.

Those who have experienced famine before liberation know what this represents.

Zhang Shenfei continued:
"No. 93 and No. 95 are next door to each other, and this area is full of large courtyards with many people and eyes. We have to find a quiet place to eat."

No, he looked at his neighbors in the courtyard with tinted glasses, but he didn't want to test human nature and put himself and his entire family in danger.

When life was better in the past few years, the neighbors in the Siheyuan still had some bottom line in doing things.

But when people are hungry or have interests involved, what can't they do? ?
Let’s not talk about others, let’s just talk about Yan Bugui. This guy still acts like a scholar. Although he is stingy and likes to take advantage of others in normal times, he is still not like the one in the TV series.

There are also Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, the deaf old lady, He Yushui...

Zhang Shenfei thought that these people’s transformation should have been completed during these three years of hunger.

Tian Xiaozao obviously understood this truth. She looked at Zhang Shenfei solemnly and said, "Da Fei, I will listen to you. What do you think we should do?"

Grandma Zhang narrowed her eyes and looked at her grandson for a while: "Da Fei, do you have a solution?"

Zhang Shenfei grinned and said, "You are too smart, old lady. Nothing can be hidden from you.

I have a very good friend in Yunju Hutong. She has a private courtyard where she and her daughter live alone...

So I thought that we could rent the house on Qianmen Street from my sister-in-law's family, on the grounds that they are doing well and have worked hard, and that the house can no longer accommodate them as they have grown up.

After renting the place, I would just cook there, eat half full there, and then go back to the courtyard to have another meal, and stay in the courtyard at night..."

Qianmen Street is quite a distance from the Siheyuan, so if you eat there and live here, you won't be discovered. And you eat six meals a day, although you eat less at each meal, the overall calorie intake remains the same.

Grandma Zhang frowned: "Near Qianmen Street? That place is quite prosperous..."

"Don't worry about that. Although the house is in Yunju Hutong, it's at the very back and quite remote.

Moreover, the front back house was used by my friend to open a pub, and later she bought the storefront next door and opened a small restaurant.

We cook in the house behind the pub and restaurant, where we are quite safe.”

The most important thing is that there is only our family and my friend's mother and daughter living in that courtyard, unlike this courtyard where there are many people and eyes...

Mother and daughter? ? Hearing this, Tang Danniu, Zhang Shenliang and Grandma Zhang were immediately distracted. They did not reply to Zhang Shenfei, but stared at Tian Xiaozao eagerly.

After pondering for a moment,

Grandma Zhang asked directly: "Da Fei, your friend is a woman? Where is her husband? Is she a widow?"

There are many people in this courtyard who ran away with widows, but the Zhang family doesn't have this gene? ?
Zhang Shenfei was speechless when he saw that everyone's attention had been diverted.

"What are you all thinking? I have nothing to do with Xu Huizhen. I swear her child has nothing to do with me. We are just a pure relationship between a man and a woman."

Tang Daniu sneered: "They are already in a relationship, and you are still pure!!"

You are fooling these idiots here!!!

Damn it, Zhang Shenfei collapsed instantly!!!
Didn’t you see that Tian Xiaozao’s face turned black? ? ?
It’s no wonder that his sister-in-law had to give birth to nine sons because of her mouth. Otherwise, she would have been beaten to death sooner or later because of this mouth.

Because of his sister-in-law's words, Zhang Shenfei coaxed Tian Xiaozao for a long time, and finally made her believe that he and Xu Huizhen really had no personal relationship at all.

Seeing that the discussion was almost over, Grandma Zhang began to wrap up: "Then let's do it as Dafei said. After the New Year, we will start cooking in Yunju Hutong. To be on the safe side, we will leave two more people there to spend the night every day...

Now that the Chinese New Year is only a few days away, everyone in the courtyard has to behave themselves.

Before we went there to cook, the family's food standards were all based on the old Yan family's, and the New Year's goods were also purchased according to their family's. "

According to the old Yan family? ? The Zhang family suddenly wailed.

"Grandma, can't we follow Liu Haizhong's example???"

"If we follow the old Yan family, how can we live like this???"

"No, there's no need to go too far."

"Grandma, can't we talk about it after the Chinese New Year?"

"No!" the old lady made the final decision.

(End of this chapter)