Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

Chapter 42 Help
noon.

Fang Wei received the bacon that Pan Lianhua had someone send over. His eldest brother and sister-in-law invited them to have lunch with them, but the two brothers refused to go and just left the bacon and ran away.

The family sat down to eat. Tian Guihua hesitated for a moment and said:

"Boss, my dear brother, my parents sent a message to me saying that we are almost broke and asked if we could help out. It's not free, but we will pay you back next year when we have a harvest."

Tian Guihua is a person of the "marry a chicken, follow the chicken, marry a dog, follow the dog" type of personality, and rarely brings things to her parents' home.

But the situation this year is special. In many places, people can't even eat sweet potatoes and potatoes. They almost have to eat wild vegetables and tree bark for every meal.

Since her family had sent a message, she naturally couldn't pretend that nothing had happened.

"You should help me. Don't say you won't pay me back. We don't have much rice left at home. Take some sweet potatoes and potatoes if you like."

Fang Ping couldn't bear to watch his father-in-law and mother-in-law go hungry, so he agreed immediately.

Tian Guihua looked at Fang Wei again. Fang Wei smiled and pointed at his elder brother and said, "I have no objection. The elder brother has the final say."

Tian Guihua smiled gratefully. She knew very well that her family could live the life they had now thanks to her brother-in-law.

As the family was talking, a woman walked in from outside.

"Sister, brother-in-law, Sanzi, are you eating? Taotao, Tingting, do you miss your aunt?"

The person who came was Tian Guihua’s younger sister Tian Youlan. She had married a live-in son-in-law a few years ago and was currently living with her parents.

The two little guys obviously liked their aunt very much. When they heard what each other said, they stopped eating and stuck to each other.

"Sister Youlan, you haven't eaten yet, right? Come and have something to eat."

Fang Wei was not very familiar with the other person, but when the other person greeted him as soon as he entered the door, he responded with a smile.

Tian Youlan didn't hesitate to go in and get the bowl and chopsticks, then filled a bowl of pumpkin porridge, sat down and started eating.

At noon, I had two kinds of fried vegetables, a bowl of pickles, and a pot of steamed sweet potatoes on the table.

"Sister, you guys are lucky. At least you have enough to eat. Our production team is in a terrible situation. We can't dig a well, and it doesn't rain. We don't even have sweet potatoes to eat."

Tian Youlan has been talking non-stop since she sat down.

Fang Wei knew that what she said was the truth, but the disaster situation across the country was very serious now, and he could only rely on himself to overcome the difficulties.

After dinner, Fang Ping borrowed a cart from the team and loaded two bags of sweet potatoes and two bags of potatoes for his father-in-law and mother-in-law. Together, they weighed nearly 200 kilograms.

Afterwards, Fang Ping left with his sister-in-law.

night.

Fang Wei quietly sent some dried sweet potatoes and potatoes to Guan Chongyang and Wu Maosheng, and told them to keep them safe and think of a solution after they had finished eating.

Recently, the team has been in a state of panic.

There were all kinds of rumors, and everyone was worried about going hungry, so the food standards kept being lowered.

Anyway, it is the slack season for farming now, so we no longer cook dry rice at home. At most, we cook a half-dry rice. Most of the time, we drink porridge to fill our stomachs.

Because of Zheng Xianfa's earlier warning, most members planted high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, and pumpkins in their private plots to replace staple foods.

In a sense, these crops are food, which can save lives.

the next day.

A group of people from the commune came to the team and visited every household, encouraging everyone to get through this period and that things would get better in the future.

Tang Ze wandered around the village for a long time and then came to Fang Ping's house.

It was almost evening, and Fang Wei and his elder brother were sitting in the main room, warming themselves by the fire. There was a hearth in the middle of the room, with a few honeycomb coals burning bright red. Sitting near the hearth, one could still feel the heat.

However, although my chest was warm, my back was cold, but it was not that cold at all.

"Secretary Tang and everyone else, come sit down and warm up."

Fang Wei and Fang Ping quickly stood up. After everyone greeted each other, Fang Wei went to make tea.

There weren't enough teacups at home, so Fang Ping borrowed a few from his neighbors. "Fang Ping, Fang Wei, are there any difficulties at home?"

Tang Ze held the teacup in his hand and took a few sips of tea before he felt warm all over.

His task today is to listen to the voices of the masses. For individual extremely poor families, the commune and brigade will find ways to provide assistance.

It is impossible to feed everyone, but we must never allow food shortages to lead to anything unbearable to happen.

"Everyone has difficulties. It's just that we can still hold on for now."

Fang Ping responded without any emotion. The words were unpleasant to hear, but they were the truth.

Tang Ze nodded. Just hearing this sentence was enough. It seemed that the Fang family still had some assets.

"Fang Wei, you need to prepare early. After spring comes, you need to continue developing the experimental fields. No matter what, only when the grain production increases will everyone avoid starvation."

Tang Ze has high hopes for Wu Maosheng, Fang Wei and others. The last time he went to the provincial capital, the data on the seeds sent for inspection were all good. He hopes that they can finally achieve fruitful results.

He was extremely worried during this period. The consequences of natural disasters, reduced production, and the failure to return grain for sale were becoming apparent. Some production teams distributed the remaining seeds to their members.

So, when he saw Fang Wei, he patiently reminded him to do his best in breeding.

"Secretary Tang, please rest assured, I will do my best."

Fang Wei could understand Tang Ze's feelings, but he didn't dare to guarantee it.

Tang Ze smiled and nodded, then drank the tea in the teacup and got up to leave.

Fang Wei and his elder brother sent the group to the village entrance. Tang Ze did not stay any longer and returned directly to the commune.

When the two brothers returned home, Tian Guihua brought out the prepared meal.

In the evening, there was sweet potato porridge, a pot of steamed potatoes, two kinds of vegetables and a small bowl of pickles.

A small amount of diced bacon is mixed into the pickles, and after frying, it tastes very fragrant. It is considered a good meal nowadays.

"Third brother, your second sister hasn't been home for a long time. I wonder how she's doing. Please take some time to visit her and bring her some sweet potatoes and potatoes."

Fang Ping eats very quickly, unlike Fang Wei who chews slowly.

He put down his bowl and chopsticks, then gave his third brother an assignment and asked him to go to Fang Mei's house.

Fang Mei is Fang Wei's second sister. She rarely comes home after getting married. Every time Fang Ping asks her, she says she is living a good life.

But Fang Ping was still worried, so he asked his third brother to take a look.

"Okay! I'll go tomorrow."

In the past, Fang Wei had the best relationship with his second sister.

When he was studying, his second sister went to the school to visit him several times, and every time she went, she would bring some delicious food.

So the eldest brother's idea coincided with his own, and he agreed readily.

The next day.

Fang Weiyi called Zheng Hu early in the morning and set off with the load on his shoulders.

The two baskets were filled with sweet potatoes and potatoes, as well as some home-grown pumpkins, and at the bottom were two pounds of cured wild boar meat.

It is not easy for a person to carry a load of over 100 pounds for dozens of miles.

That's why he called Zheng Hu for help. The two of them took turns carrying the load, and they would be able to travel much faster.

"Third brother, why are you bringing a hatchet and a hunting rifle with you when you go visit relatives?"

Fang Wei deliberately brought self-defense weapons with him when he went out. This is called "being prepared for any eventuality."

Zheng Hu couldn't understand why carrying even a little extra stuff would be a burden when walking such a long distance, so he couldn't help but mutter.

(End of this chapter)