Songhu: Never Give Up

Early November, Xuanwu Town, Zhaojiabao
It was another big market day, and Zhao Xingping's wife Li Yanni started making a fuss early in the morning, causing chaos and great joy.

Zhao Xingping filled two bags with grain and went to the market to sell it. There was a government grain station there, and the price of grain was a few points higher than that of private grain dealers.

The guerrilla detachment set up grain stores in every town to buy surplus grain from the farmers.

Zhao Xingping rented 12 acres of land from the government, planting corn and sweet potatoes. 8 acres of land were planted with corn and 4 acres were planted with sweet potatoes, which have a much higher yield.

Because the corn was well taken care of, the yield per mu was close to 200 catties, and the average yield per mu of sweet potatoes was close to 1500 catties. After paying 3% of the rent to the government, there were still more than 1 catties of corn and 40 dan of sweet potatoes left;
Zhao Xingping's family had never seen so much food, especially sweet potatoes, which almost filled the room.

Anyone who has been hungry knows how precious food is. If you have food at home, you won't have to worry. Zhao Xingping's father's idea is to store all the food and eat it sparingly so that they won't be short of food for two years.
Li Yanni insisted on selling the surplus grain to the government, as it would easily rot if not stored properly, and it would be more practical to get the money in hand.

At her and Zhao Xingping's insistence, they had already sold half of the grain, and the money was managed by Zhao Xingping's mother;

At this market, Li Yanni shouted that she wanted to sell grain again, because she wanted to go to the market to buy some presentable clothes for her family. She had already set her eyes on a piece of fabric.

When Zhao Xingping's mother saw that her daughter-in-law wanted to sell grain again, she started to grumble:

"It's only been a few days since we were hungry, and you're thinking about selling food all day. But why bother with clothes during the New Year holidays? You're all more wasteful than the other!"

"Mom, do you want to come with us? The market is very lively."

Seeing that Zhao Xingping had already packed the food, Li Yanni wanted to ask her mother to go out for a walk as well, but the old lady refused because she was worried about spending money.

The old lady did not have her own name. She was a child bride of the Zhao family, and was bought in exchange for a bushel of grain during a famine.

Others called her Xingping's mother or Tiechui's family. Zhao Xingping had an older brother who used to be a salt collector for Zhao Jinsheng's family. While he was escorting salt, he encountered bandits and was beaten to death by them. The Zhao family compensated them with a load of wheat.

He also had a younger sister who was raised as a child bride, but all she got in return was two buckets of grain.

Zhao Xingping immediately picked out the load of corn he had sold, hoping that if there was a famine he could bring back his daughter Sanni. So the old lady kept nagging that they were having a hard time making ends meet.

Zhao Xingping's grandmother was unhappy when she heard this and said to the old lady:
"I've heard you nagging since early morning, the food supply at home is enough to feed the next crop, so it would be good to sell some.
Everyone in the family should wear clothes that are suitable for people. You don’t dare to go to the market because you are afraid of exposing your buttocks, right? The kids still have to meet people.”

As a child bride of the Zhao family, her mother-in-law was her heaven. Since her mother-in-law had spoken, she would not dare to say anything even if Zhao Xingping and his wife sold all the food in the house. She just felt the pain.

Li Yanni was an active member of the Women's Rescue Association and was always quick to act. Seeing that her mother-in-law was not going, she took her daughter Huniu out of the house.

Huniu has been asking to buy new clothes. She couldn't even imagine her life in the past, but after the implementation of the rent and interest reduction policy, her life is getting better and better.

The government called on the people to sell their surplus food and keep enough for their own food. As an active member of the Women's Rescue Association, Li Yanni naturally responded.

By the time Li Yanni took Huniu out, Zhao Xingping's flatbed cart had been harnessed and the food was placed on the flatbed;

After Li Yanni carried Huniu onto the cart, Zhao Xingping pulled the cart towards the market. Seeing her husband struggling to pull the cart, Li Yanni said loudly:
"Dad, after we sell the summer grain next year, we will buy a donkey so you don't have to suffer."

Zhao Xingping grinned and said:

"Why buy that thing? It's a waste of food. I have plenty of strength and I'm happy to pull you two along."

Li Yanni felt sweet in her heart after hearing this, but she still couldn't help but scold him:
"You are really a tough guy. Now that we have enough food, we can use the donkey to plow the fields during the busy farming season. When we are not busy, we can put it on the cart. It is so convenient to use the donkey cart to pull things."

Zhao Xingping was a man of few words. If his wife wanted to buy something, then she could buy it. So he nodded heavily and continued to pull his cart.

Li Yanni also knew Zhao Xingping's character. As long as he didn't object, it was considered an agreement. In other words, Zhao Xingping didn't dare to object to what she decided.

Then Li Yanni started to think again in the car:
"Once we have a donkey and can handle the work, we will rent two mu of land. After the autumn harvest, we will have money to build a bright house. It is too inconvenient for the whole family to live together."

After listening to this, Zhao Xingping said in a buzzing voice:
"Why is it inconvenient? I think it's good for the whole family to live here."

Li Yanni glared and said:

"What's good about that? If you're huddled together, you can hear any noise. Don't you want to have another calf?"

Zhao Xingping seemed to come to his senses in an instant. Having a son was a big deal for the Zhao family. When he thought of this, he was filled with endless energy and shouted:
"Give birth to him, give birth to another litter!"

"Zhao Xingping, please keep your voice down. It's not good for the children to hear you. Do you think I'm a sow?" Before Zhao Xingping could say anything, Huniu clapped her hands and yelled:
"I'm going to have a younger brother soon!"

Li Yanni blushed and immediately hit Huniu. Huniu didn't cry, but just giggled, and while laughing she shouted that she had a younger brother. It was true that children speak without restraint.

Listening to his wife and daughter playing behind him, Zhao Xingping started singing Shandong Bangzi opera in a jolly mood. Li Yanni's face turned red and her heart beat fast. She wished she could rush to the market and buy a piece of flowered cloth to dress herself up more prettily.

At noon, the family happily rushed to the market. They first went to the government grain station to sell two bags of corn for 1.1 cents per pound.

The market price was only 150 cents, and he sold more than 1 kilograms of grain for nearly dollar more. Zhao Xingping gave all the more than ten dollars he earned from selling the grain to Li Yanni, leaving himself with not a penny left.

The national government had already issued legal tender, but it was unreliable, so the guerrilla detachment still used dollars and copper coins to purchase food from the villagers, as the common people only recognized these.

Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the National Government carried out two currency reforms. The first was the "abolishing the tael and replacing it with the yuan" in 22, when the silver tael was abolished and replaced with the silver dollar.

After the abolition of the two-yuan system and the establishment of the yuan system, although the currency was unified, the financial and economic difficulties of the national government were not resolved.

Britain and the United States started a fierce competition for the control of China's currency.

Two years later, the national government issued legal tender, stipulating that one legal tender was equal to one silver dollar and requiring compulsory exchange.

However, most of China's land was controlled by warlords, and the territory that the National Government actually controlled was in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, where the currency reform was very thorough;
The areas controlled by warlords in the north did not recognize the legal currency at all. The Nationalist government’s military force was out of reach and it could only turn a blind eye.

Even the silver dollars were in a mess. The quality of the coins minted by different warlords was different, and many of them were only 70% silver, allowing them to plunder the people's wealth at will.

The guerrilla detachment has not yet involved in the financial field, so they are still using silver dollars and copper coins. China's financial system is very chaotic, and this problem can only be solved after Yue Qianli returns.

Holding a heavy bag of silver dollars, Li Yanni felt much more confident. There was a garrison brigade in Xuanwu Town to maintain law and order, so Zhao Xingping and his family felt very safe walking in the market.

Because it was a big market, there were a lot of people on the street, most of them were country folk like them, who sold their food and later bought some daily necessities;
The guerrilla detachment has controlled southwestern Shandong for more than three months. After wiping out bandits and robbers in various places, the people of Xuanwu Town have lived a peaceful life.

The implementation of the rent and interest reduction policy meant that the common people only had to pay 5% of the rent after the autumn harvest. For example, Zhaojiabao only had to pay 3% of the rent because the land they rented was confiscated by the government, so they had some surplus grain after paying the rent.

"When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace." As long as the Chinese people can barely fill their stomachs, they will consider the issue of clothing. They will feel ashamed to go out with their bodies exposed.
So after the common people had a little extra money, the cloth shop's business began to flourish. When Zhao Xingping and his family walked into the cloth shop, it was already very lively inside.

The cloth shop owner seemed to have sensed the business opportunity long ago, and brought in a large amount of high-quality and low-priced foreign cloth from other places, all of which were imported goods;
China's handmade cloth had long been squeezed out of the market by Western foreign cloth, and the national industry, affected by the war, lagged far behind the West in competitiveness.

The cloth shop assistant was working hard to sell colorful foreign cloth, hoping to squeeze every customer's money;
Li Yanni fell in love with a floral fabric at first sight, which was superior to other fabrics in terms of both visual effect and feel.

The cloth seller was also very perceptive and said with great eloquence:
"Sister-in-law, this is top-quality foreign cloth from Meliá. All the ladies in town come here to patronize it. It looks very handsome on them.

Today we have a promotion, buy one get one free, buy a piece of high-quality cloth, and get a piece of low-quality cloth for free, which is equivalent to earning a piece of cloth for free."

Li Yanni was immediately attracted and asked about the price. When she heard the price, she immediately withdrew her hand - it was too expensive;

Then I asked about the inferior cloth, which was much cheaper. No wonder it was buy one get one free, it was exactly a fraction of the price.

It’s not that she couldn’t afford the high-quality fabric, but the low-quality fabric was more cost-effective. However, she liked that fabric from the bottom of her heart, so she had to force herself to turn her attention to the low-quality fabric.
Zhao Xingping saw through Li Yanni's thoughts, and after thinking about it in his mind, he said:

"Boss, just buy this!"

Before the waiter could smile, Li Yanni opened Zhao Xingping's hand and said in a scolding tone:
"I'll buy it next year! I've figured it out. The money I get from buying one coat of high-quality cloth is enough to buy a set of clothes for my whole family.

Boss, just buy the cloth, 5 adults and 1 child, 2 sets for each person, please calculate how many pieces of cloth we need and how much it will cost. "

Although the clerk was a little disappointed, he thought it was a good deal, so he smiled and took out his abacus, started to count, and finally reported a number.
9 yuan - this price was completely affordable for Zhao Xingping's family, so Li Yanni immediately decided to buy it.

As for making clothes, they naturally do it themselves. No one else can make a penny from them. In fact, they used to spin yarn and weave cloth by themselves, but nowadays local cloth is not as cheap as foreign cloth.

When Huniu saw that Li Yanni had bought the cloth, she couldn't help but cheered excitedly:

"I have new clothes to wear!"

(End of this chapter)