Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

1960 passed in the blink of an eye.

This winter seemed to be longer and colder than in previous years.

The biting north wind howled through the streets and alleys of Beijing, stirring up withered leaves and dust from the ground.

But it couldn't sweep away the gloom that shrouded the city.

The most difficult days of the "Three Years of Natural Disasters" finally revealed its ferocious fangs.

On that day, the bulletin board of the neighborhood office was crowded with people.

But there was no hustle and bustle of the past, only a deathly silence and sighs rising and falling.

A notice written in black and white on a piece of paper weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like a mountain.

[Notice on Further Adjusting the Grain Supply Quota for Urban Residents].

Halve it again!

The already meager allowance for adults has been drastically reduced to the bare minimum required to sustain life.

As for oil coupons and meat coupons, they became legendary items, and you wouldn't see them for months at a time.

at the same time.

The price of grain on the black market was skyrocketing, changing every day, with prices so high that there was no market for it!

The atmosphere in courtyard number 95 in Nanluoguxiang was so oppressive it was suffocating.

The front yard, Yan Bugui's house.

There was no stove in the house, and it was as cold as an icebox.

The family sat around the dilapidated eight-immortal table, each of them hunching their shoulders.

His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and his face was sallow.

In the middle of the table was a bowl of cornmeal porridge so clear you could see your reflection in it.

It's called porridge, but it's really just plain boiled water with a handful of flour sprinkled in.

There was also a dish of pickled vegetable strips cut as thin as hair.

"Don't move! Follow my instructions!"

Yan Bugui was wearing a pair of glasses with one leg missing.

Holding a soup spoon, he looked as solemn as if he were performing some kind of sacred ritual.

"Boss, you're a strong man, so I'll give you half a spoonful plus two grains of rice."

"Second brother, you don't have a job, you won't starve if you drink less, just a third of a spoonful."

"Look, you're still growing, here's half a spoonful of soup for you..."

Yan Bugui's hands trembled violently, and every grain of cornmeal crumb fell onto the table.

He would quickly dip his finger in the mixture and put it in his mouth.

They looked as if they were eating gold dust, not grains.

After distributing the porridge, Yan Bugui took out a key from his pocket and carefully unlocked the iron lock on the earthenware jar containing pickled vegetables in front of him.

That's right, even the pickled vegetables are locked up!

"Only one per person!"

"If you take one more, you won't have any to eat tomorrow!" Yan Bugui shouted sternly.

Yan Jiecheng looked at the pitiful little bit of porridge in the bowl and sighed in despair.

"Why..."

"When will this ever end? I'm starving!"

"Hold on! Everyone's hungry. We're lucky if we can even get something hot to drink!"

"Look outside, so many people have even gnawed off the tree bark!"

Yan Bugui stared wide-eyed, holding the pickled vegetable strip in his mouth, reluctant to chew it.

Intermediate People's Court, Yi Zhonghai's home.

Yi Zhonghai was holding a bowl of mixed flour buns, which contained a lot of food substitutes and even sawdust!

He was swallowing with great difficulty.

His throat was sore from being pulled, but he dared not vomit.

Although he was rich, he also had the skills of an eighth-grade worker.

But in the face of such absolute scarcity, even money can't buy food!

"Why..."

The old woman left, and Yi Zhonghai looked at the empty house.

Looking at the unpalatable food in my hand, I felt an overwhelming sense of desolation.

While everyone in the hospital was immersed in the panic of hunger.

"Squeak!"

The gate of the courtyard house was pushed open.

Li Xuan pushed his gleaming old bicycle in.

Unlike the others who were pale, thin, and listless, Li Xuan had a rosy complexion and was full of energy!

Although his military overcoat wasn't new, it looked thick and warm.

Most striking of all was the bulging sack of large hemp strapped to the back seat!

"What's that?"

Yan Bugui, who was picking up coal cinders at the door, had sharp eyes and his eyes widened instantly.

"It looks...it looks like food?!"

Li Xuan completely ignored Yan Bugui's wolf-like gaze and pushed the car straight to the Central Court.

At this moment, many neighbors came out after hearing the noise.

They huddled around like zombies, staring intently at the sack.

Li Xuan parked the car and untied the rope from the sack.

"Splash!"

He grabbed the bottom of the sack and dumped it out forcefully.

In an instant, a golden substance poured out.

It was laid on the bluestone slab in front of his own house, which had long been swept clean.

It's dried sweet potato!

Premium dried sweet potatoes, sun-dried to a golden brown, translucent, and with a subtle sweet aroma!

This bag must weigh at least fifty or sixty pounds!

"hiss!"

A collective gasp of astonishment rippled through the courtyard.

Immediately following were countless sounds of swallowing saliva.

In this day and age, people are even fighting over wild vegetables.

This field of golden dried sweet potatoes is more dazzling than gold and more precious than diamonds!

That unique sweet aroma instantly filled everyone's nostrils.

It made their stomachs churn with cravings and caused them to have an acid reflux.

"My goodness! So many dried sweet potatoes!"

Jia Zhangshi crawled out of some rat hole, clinging to the door frame, drooling all over the floor.

With eyes as red as a vampire's, he asked, "How long will this take to eat?"

"Those are the many lives that will be saved!"

Qin Huairu leaned against the door frame, looking at the dried sweet potatoes, feeling dizzy. She was hungry, but also craving them.

Yan Bugui walked over shakily, struggling to look away from the dried sweet potatoes.

He looked at Li Xuan, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Um...Xiao Xuan, where did you get this?"

"Isn't that too much?"

"Was it relief food distributed by higher authorities? Did our unit receive any?"

He tried to use moral blackmail to get a share of the pie.

Li Xuan dusted off his hands and smiled faintly, "Third Uncle, you're overthinking it."

"This isn't relief food; I got it from my hometown in the south through a friend."

"I thought the weather's been nice lately, so I took it out to air it out and get rid of the moisture to prevent it from getting moldy."

As he spoke, he deliberately picked up a piece of dried sweet potato and gently broke it in front of everyone.

"Click."

The crisp sound was clearly audible.

He put half a dried sweet potato in his mouth, chewed it with a crunch, and said, "Hmm, it's alright, quite sweet."

"Gulp!"

Then came the sound of swallowing in unison.

This is pure torture!

Watching Li Xuan eat so heartily, and smelling the sweet aroma...

Thinking back to the unpalatable wild vegetable porridge at home, the birds completely lost their composure.

"Li Xuan! This is a waste! This is showing off!"

Liu Haizhong burst out, putting on an air of an old man, "The country is in such a difficult situation right now, everyone is starving."

"You actually brought out so much grain to dry?"

"What if a bird eats it? What if it gets damp?"

"I think the compounds should manage and distribute them uniformly!"

"Unified allocation?"

Li Xuan gave him a cold glance. "Liu Haizhong, if you want to take it, just say so."

"There's a number on my dried sweet potatoes. If one is missing, I'll call the police and say it's been stolen!"

"When the time comes, Captain Xu won't show any mercy."

"Also, this is my family's private property."

"I can post pictures of myself online and feed my dog ​​whenever I want; it's none of anyone's business!"

Just then, the gyrfalcon flew down from the sky and snatched away a piece of...

Seeing the gyrfalcon eating a fist-sized piece of dried sweet potato as a snack, Jia Zhangshi felt so sorry for it that she slapped her thigh.

"What a tragedy! Humans are worse than animals! God, you have no eyes!"

Li Xuan ignored the wails and jealousy of the crowd.

He moved a deck chair out of the house and sat down casually next to the dried sweet potato.

Holding a book in his hand, he actually started reading while basking in the sun.

His leisurely and carefree demeanor contrasted sharply with the pairs of hungry eyes around him.

This is exactly the effect Li Xuan wanted!

In these times of famine, I want you to see and smell, but not be able to eat a single bite!

This kind of mental torture is a million times more satisfying than being slapped in the face!

......