Small supermarket welcomes visitors from all directions

Chapter 21: Relief Food is to be Distributed
Because Delis had a lot to ask Wang Zhe, they had lunch in the supermarket.

This was a difficult problem for Chef Zhang, as Princess Xixi's taste would not eat anything with additives. Most chefs would not dare to do it, but it was not difficult for Chef Zhang.

Chef Zhang asked Wenhao to drive to an acquaintance's house to buy two chickens and a basket of local eggs. He also asked Wenhao to pick cucumbers, bitter melons, loofahs, water spinach and red amaranth from the person's vegetable garden.

Fortunately, Delis and her daughter don’t like to eat meat, otherwise where would they find pigs that don’t need feed?

Thanks to Chef Zhang's efforts, everyone at the table was basically satisfied with the meal. Why do we say that they were basically satisfied? Doris and her daughter usually eat raw vegetables and fruits, but today they had hot food. Although they were not used to it, it tasted really good. Others felt that today's dishes were too light, but fortunately it was summer, so it was better to eat light food.

After lunch, Delis continued to ask Wang Zhe questions. Hybridization is such a big topic that it is not something that Wang Zhe can explain in a few words. Fortunately, Delis is smart and has been dealing with plants since she was a child, so Delis learned it well.

Delis had something important to do so she didn't leave, and Princess Xixi also stayed. Of course, playing with others was Wang Yue's job, and no one could take it away from her.

What to play? Talking. We talked for a long time in the morning, but we didn't want to talk anymore. So we watched TV! After watching all the movies, we chose cartoons, and we watched them together with great interest.

Song Jiyang felt very excited when he saw the two of them watching cartoons. Wang Yue had worked in the company for a few years before, and could be considered an urban beauty. When Song Jiyang first saw her, her image was still very intimidating, of course, when she was not talking. And Princess Xixi was even more so. Although she had a loli body, she was fifty years old after all, which was the age that humans could be grandmothers. Now the two of them were concentrating on watching a very childish cartoon, and they seemed very involved.

The city of Chang'an has been particularly lively these days. Although the heavy snow has not stopped and snowflakes are still falling from time to time, the imperial court has begun to open the granaries to store grain. With food, there is hope of survival.

Zhang Xiaoshun lives in the south of the city, in a small courtyard with four rooms. The family makes a living by selling tofu. Zhang Xiaoshun and his wife are both 31 or 32 years old. There is an old mother and three children at home. The eldest is a boy of ten years old, and the second and third are girls, aged eight and five respectively.

This is a typical ancient urban family. The couple are hardworking and down-to-earth. They live a decent life and can save some money every year. Two years ago, they sent their son to a private school.

Everything changed two months ago. There was a lot of dust floating in the sky, and it was gray and dark. The sun, the moon, and the stars were all gone.

It was originally the weather for wearing light clothes in early summer, and it was normal that the weather should be getting hotter and hotter, but instead we had to wear padded jackets in this midsummer weather, and it started to snow lightly, and in the last month there was even heavy snowfall.

Seeing the weather getting abnormal day by day, Zhang Xiaoshun's mother, who had escaped the disaster in her early years, felt very bad and asked Zhang Xiaoshun to buy food with all the silver in the family. At this time, the price of food in Chang'an City had already started to rise, almost more than doubled. Zhang Xiaoshun was reluctant to spend it, so he took out half of the silver in the family, five taels, to buy food, and only bought more than 200 kilograms. Zhang Xiaoshun was very distressed.

More than 200 kilograms of food, my mother treated it like her lifeblood. A family of six could only eat one kilogram of food a day. If it was not enough, she would mix in some bean dregs from making tofu. There was not much bean dregs, and the amount was fixed. There were also several hundred kilograms of soybeans left over from making tofu. When the natural disaster started, my mother collected the soybeans. Anyway, Zhang Xiaoshun never saw them again.

So his mother asked him to buy food again. What is the price of food now? How many kilograms of food can be bought with these few taels of silver? Zhang Xiaoshun was unwilling to do so. He didn't want to spend all the money he had worked hard for several years. His mother asked him if the weather would be good next year. Even if it was good, could the hundreds of kilograms of food at home last until the autumn harvest next year? Zhang Xiaoshun had no choice but to buy it. He would live one more day! Otherwise, one tael of silver would not be able to buy one kilogram of food.

Zhang Xiaoshun went to buy food with his neighbor Li Sigui. Li Sigui's family was not as well off as Zhang Xiaoshun's, and they had no more food. Today, he planned to pawn his wife's last silver bracelet to buy food. As for how much food he could buy, only God knew.

In previous years, when people couldn't make ends meet, they would sell their children. But this year, the wealthy families are not active in buying people because they have no confidence. No one has the confidence that they can escape from this disaster unscathed.

The two men traveled together. The worse the public security was during such a disaster, and what couldn't people do when they were starving?

As a result, when the two of them arrived at the street, they felt that the atmosphere was not right. A few days ago, they also went out to check out the streets. That day, the streets were white and dead silent, so quiet that it was scary. Although there were not many people today, there were one or two people walking in the streets and alleys, and there was even noise on the Yamen Street.

The two men quickened their pace and turned into the street where the sound came from. There were two large pieces of paper posted outside the yamen, which must have written something. The two men, who could not read a few words, walked into the crowd. An old yamen runner was explaining something inside.

Some people were crying while others were laughing. An old man was sitting on the ground crying, "If the food had come down a few days earlier, our kids wouldn't have starved to death, and I wouldn't have been dying of hunger." A man next to him advised, "You still have several grandchildren. This time, your grandchildren can be saved."

The general idea was that the common people would take their household registration papers to the village head to confirm the population. For example, the number of deaths and people who had been sold would be crossed out on the household registration papers. Then they could go to the government office to collect grain. The standard for collection was half a pound per adult per day. Fifteen years old were considered an adult, and those under fifteen would be reduced by half. Grain was collected once a month.

This grain is not for free, it is considered a loan, and you have to pay 20% interest, that is, you have to pay back % of the original amount within five years. If you don't pay back the remaining amount, you have to pay back % of the original amount. In fact, this interest rate was quite low in ancient times. When Tang Qiao and others made it, they were afraid that someone would take the grain and sell it later, so they asked for interest. If a person dies, his children will pay it back. If a person is bought and sold, the seller will pay it back. Only after the payment is made can the property be transferred.

The two men understood what was said, and they both cried and laughed, especially Zhang Sigui. His family had run out of food. Even if he bought food today, how many days could he live longer? I heard from the government that they could receive food every month in the future. Even if those remote mountainous areas couldn't do it, it shouldn't be a problem in Chang'an, under the emperor's feet, right?