60s: I have a store

Chapter 217 The Chicks Have Hatched
The sharp-eyed old secretary saw some obvious lines on an egg and asked, "Yimin, do you think this egg has become a live pearl?"

Live pearls originated in Jinling at the earliest, and were already very popular in Nanjing during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty.

Live pearls are a traditional nourishing food in Jinling. They are a famous specialty of Liuhe District, Jinling City and a kind of Jinling snack.

In fact, the so-called live egg is the product of an egg that is about to hatch into a life but has not yet fully formed. At this time, there are already traces of a head, wings, and feet inside the egg. This kind of egg hatch that is both a chicken and an egg is called a "live egg".

"Live pearls" are chicken embryos developed through traditional incubation. They are called "live pearls" because their developing blastocysts look like moving pearls under perspective.

Zhou Yimin took a look and said, "These are not live pearls, but hairy eggs?"

Hairy eggs are also called chicken feather eggs, hairy eggs, and chicken eggs.

This kind of food can be found in many regions of China, especially in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, where it is called prosperous eggs or happy eggs, and in southern Fujian, where it is called chicken embryos.

Hairy eggs are not only widely distributed in China, but are also regarded as a traditional snack in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam.

It is said that there is a connection between hairy eggs and Emperor Qianlong. It is said that when Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he happened to encounter hairy eggs made by an old woman. Therefore, this dish was named "Young Phoenix and Famous Pearl".

The people next to him were a little confused. Aren't these two the same thing? So they asked, "Aren't the hairy eggs and live pearls the same thing?"

I have only heard of these two things, but have never seen them with my own eyes. You know, most people, when they see this scene, will think that the eggs are rotten and will probably throw them away.

Zhou Yimin explained: "Hairy eggs are chicken eggs that are affected by improper temperature, humidity or bacteria during the incubation process, causing the embryo to stop developing and die in the eggshell before breaking out of the shell. Live eggs are the product of an egg that is about to hatch into a life but has not yet fully formed.

Usually, the incubation is terminated artificially at around 12 days, and at this time, the eggs already have traces of a head, wings, and feet.

These two things are not acceptable to most people, just like durian. People who like them will like them very much, but people who don’t like them will feel a little nauseous when they see them.

"So that's how it is. I always thought these two things were the same." The villager sighed.

It seems that scholars know more, unlike myself in front of Zhou Yimin, where I don’t understand many things.

The old Party secretary glared at him and said: "I told you to study more, but you played with mud and sand."

Zhou Yimin continued, "Old Party Secretary, please bring the hens from the village here and let them help take care of these chicks. This way we can worry less."

The old branch secretary nodded. This thing still knew: "Okay, I'll go and catch it myself later."

It seems that we need to send someone to look after these chickens. They are an important asset of the village. Whether the village can live a better life depends on these vegetables.

After driving for three consecutive days, Daniu finally returned to his village, Rongyi Village.

However, in order to prevent the food from being discovered, he did not take the main road back. You know, if he took the main road, he would pass by many people's homes. If he was seen by these people, the 50 kilograms of food would probably not be able to be kept.

So to be safe, I decided to take the smaller road. Even though it’s a little farther, there’s no other way.

Daniu took a short path back carefully, looking around from time to time to see if anyone saw him. It would normally take two or three minutes to get home, but this time it took almost fifteen minutes, but it was all worth it. After all, no one would find him, so the food would be preserved. When the time comes, he can exchange the heirloom for food, and he should be able to survive for a year or so.

Without knocking, he pushed the door open and walked in. He saw four people lying on the bed at home. They didn't move. They just turned their heads and saw Da Niu coming back.

A pale and skinny little girl asked hurriedly, "Did Third Brother get any food from Second Sister's house?"

She felt that if she had nothing to eat, she would starve to death.

The little girl was already eleven years old. Due to long-term malnutrition, she looked like those seven or eight-year-old children. She had no flesh on her body and it seemed that she could be blown away by a strong wind.

"Si Niu, don't worry, I borrowed food from my second sister's house, and we finally have something to eat." Da Niu said excitedly.

A middle-aged woman who was also pale and thin asked uncertainly: "Daniu, are you telling the truth?"

Daniu replied, "Mom, of course it's true. Look, I brought back all the food."

After saying this, he pointed to the bag of food on his body.

Si Niu did not care about the physical discomfort caused by long-term hunger. She got up from the bed in a hurry, went to the sack, and opened the sack impatiently. As soon as she opened it, she was surprised to see the golden corn.

"Third brother, did Second Sister borrow all these?"

This bag weighs at least 40 to 50 kilograms of corn. In the past, when there was no shortage of food, it would not have been so shocking. But now, when most people across the country are not getting enough to eat, this is definitely a big deal.

The middle-aged woman couldn't help but stand up and take a closer look. She was shocked and asked hurriedly, "Daniu, you're not going to take all the food from your second sister's house?"

Food is so precious nowadays that I thought even if I could borrow it, it would only be a few kilograms.

There are at least dozens of kilograms of food here. It is impossible for a family to be willing to borrow so much food? If the son-in-law had not died, these grains could be explained. After all, the son-in-law was an enviable driver!

But after the son-in-law left, my daughter's family probably didn't have a good life either.

"Don't worry, Mom. These are all lent to us by my second sister. Her father-in-law sold the family heirloom to someone in exchange for the food. Then my second sister asked me to take these 50 kilograms of food back." Da Niu explained.

After hearing Daniu's explanation, Daniu's mother felt relieved.

With 50 kilograms of food, they can at least last for a while longer. In recent days, people in the village have starved to death one after another. If there is no food, I estimate that my family will not be able to last long.

Today, the head of the household cooked up all the remaining food in the house to replenish his energy, and then went out to find some wild vegetables or tree bark to eat.

If they can’t find it, their family won’t be able to hold on for a few days.

But he didn't expect that Da Niu could borrow so much food from his second daughter's family. It seems that his family is not destined to die!
Since the end of last year, many people in the village have gone to the fields to look for something to fill their stomachs. They picked up all the sweet potatoes, radish tops, rotten cabbage stalks, and dry radish leaves. They even washed and crushed the dried sweet potato vines that were usually used to feed livestock into powder, and then mixed them with a small amount of sweet potato flour to make steamed cornbread to fill their stomachs.

(End of this chapter)