Travel through famine years and awaken a post-apocalyptic survival system.

After Zhao Qingsong came out, he rode his bicycle back home.

He took out his key and opened the courtyard gate. As soon as he pushed the gate open, a figure emerged from the corner.

Zhao Qingsong raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "You little rascal, you got here pretty fast!"

"How can we not hurry? Come on, let's go inside and talk!"

Chen Ergou chuckled and went straight into the courtyard.

Zhao Qingsong didn't say anything, and pushed the car inside.

Chen Ergou watched him park, took out a cigarette and offered it to him: "You kid, you've only been working for a few days and you've already bought a bicycle?"

"No, this is a friend's car, I just borrowed it!"

As he spoke, he bolted the gate to the yard.

He carried the quilt, opened the door to the main room, and walked in.

Once inside, he finally spoke, "Why did you get here so quickly? When did you arrive?"

"I arrived this afternoon and went to the factory to look for you, but they said you were out. I've been waiting here ever since, and I was about to go back!"

"Are the formalities completed?"

"Okay, it's done!"

Chen Ergou, smoking a cigarette, took a cloth bag out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"Here you go, 8 yuan per jin, 216 yuan. I charged you 66 yuan for the rags you wanted, rounding it up to 150. Since it's hard to carry the stuff this time, leave it with me for now, and I'll bring it over to you when I have time."

Zhao Qingsong threw the quilt onto the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).

He took the money, counted it to make sure it was okay, and then put it in his pocket.

Chen Ergou chuckled as he watched him put the money away.

"Hey, is there any meat left? I'll take some back this time. Oh, right, I went to see Brother Dong. He said you should ask him to keep a bicycle ticket, but I didn't dare to accept it because I wasn't sure what it was. I came back to ask him this time."

"Yes, it's mine. I might go to the city tomorrow to pick it up. If I don't have time, you can bring the ticket to me next time."

You can't buy a car here.

He needs to register his bicycle at the local police station, whether it's the street-level or district-level police station, he knows people there.

We need to go further away.

He then said, "I have meat! How much do you want? It's fine if you only want a little, but if you want too much, how will you get it back?"

It's fine to have Chen Ergou come to the house; we can publicly claim that the two used to be good friends, but the transaction absolutely cannot take place at home.

He wouldn't leave danger at home.

"I'll bring you the bicycle ticket next time, and the money will be deducted from it. Don't bring too much this time. I'm not familiar with the purchasing department yet. Next time, when I'm more familiar with it, I'll bring a cart over."

Zhao Qingsong agreed, "Okay, you go to the station, I'll get the meat and bring it to you in a bit, still using this basket."

"Okay! Get ready, I'll come see you next Monday. I have something to do this Sunday."

"good!"

With the matter settled, Chen Ergou finished his cigarette and left home.

After seeing the person off, Zhao Qingsong didn't leave immediately; instead, he turned around and went back home.

We went to the basement.

In just one day, lettuce and cilantro, which originally had a growth cycle of only about a month, have grown quite a bit and are ready to be eaten.

However, thinning is still necessary.

Let the seedlings continue to grow.

I prepared a lot of each of the following: cilantro, bok choy, amaranth, and lettuce.

Moreover, these dishes can be taken out in small quantities.

Because of Chen Ergou.

These days, having a relative in the railway system can make life much easier. Some train attendants going to the south would bring things back to the north from there.

After putting the things away, we went to the next-door animal enclosure.

There's nothing much to see here; everything's lively and energetic.

They added some grains and some cabbage leaves before leaving.

……

"Oh dear, there aren't enough vegetables. Luckily, we planted some Chinese cabbage."

The growth cycle of Chinese cabbage is not fixed and varies depending on temperature.

Summer cabbage takes about 60 days to store, while autumn cabbage needs 120 days to store for winter. Since it's warm in my room, it shouldn't take as long as autumn cabbage.

Chinese cabbages also need to be thinned out, otherwise they will all huddle together and not grow big.

First, feed them some thinned-out vegetables.

……

After he finished his work, he came up, locked the gate, and rode his bicycle away from the compound.

Upon arriving near the station, I handed the prepared meat to the other party.

"Still 30 jin. Go sell them first, and be careful."

Chen Ergou took the package, opened it, and laughed, "Don't worry, I have a purchasing pass from the railway now, so I'm not afraid even if they see it. As long as it's not someone I know."

"Alright, let's go. I won't keep you for dinner."

"Okay, sure, we'll talk about it next time I come!"

Chen Ergou smiled and agreed, then picked up his things and took the car.

Zhao Qingsong watched the other person get into the car, waved, and rode away on his bicycle.

……

I rode my bike home, changed out of my dirty clothes and washed them, but didn't take a shower at home.

Taking a bath in the dead of winter is so comforting.

After washing the clothes, I locked the door and left, heading straight to my parents' house.

By the time he came out, it was already time to leave work.

As soon as I arrived, I saw children playing in the alley.

"elder brother!"

Upon seeing him approach, a person stood up from the crowd; it was the younger sister.

Zhao Qingsong stopped and laughed, "Playing around?"

"Yeah, they're playing! They're all from the alley, my new friends, Da Mao, and this is my brother!"

A seven or eight-year-old boy in the crowd heard the sound and quickly called out.

"Hello, brother!"

"Hello, brother!"

The others followed suit and shouted.

Zhao Qingsong looked at the group of little ones with snot hanging from their noses and was speechless.

This girl is really something else!

I've only been here for a day!

Pulling herself back to reality, she smiled and said, "Alright, you guys have fun! I'm going home first. Little sister, are Mom and Dad home?"

"Yes, they're all home!"

After the younger sister finished speaking, she said to the group, "My brother is here, I have to go back now, we'll play again tomorrow."

She left her friends behind and grabbed her brother's hand.

Seeing this, Zhao Qingsong took his younger sister back.

"Dad, Mom, my brother is here."

The young woman started calling out as soon as she entered the door.

In the courtyard, the father was chopping firewood, while the mother was cooking in the main room.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw him push the cart in.

The mother wiped her hands on her apron and came over to ask, "Eldest son, what brings you here at this hour? Aren't you at work?"

Zhao Qingsong parked his car and said with a smile, "I had something to do today, so I left work early."

After saying that, he looked at the pile of firewood: "Dad, you brought so much firewood? Is everything all packed? When did Accountant Ma and the others leave?"

The father smiled and nodded, "Almost everything in the house has been moved over. I saw there was room to stack things here, so I brought over all the bulky items. They left a long time ago."

"Okay, that's good! What about work?"

"Make me go to work on Monday, what kind of coal briquette?"

"Okay, that's good!" Zhao Qingsong nodded slightly, since it would only take two days anyway.

His mother looked at him and said, "Eldest son, eat here tonight, corn and vegetable porridge. The food is just ready."

Zhao Qingsong frowned slightly: "Corn and vegetable porridge? You guys are eating this again?"

"It's not the kind we eat in the countryside, it's made from real fine cornmeal. We finished all the cornmeal we ground at home, so your dad went to the grain station to exchange it for cornmeal—one pound of corn for nine ounces!"

The mother explained with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhao Qingsong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He really couldn't stomach that kind of food from the countryside.

"Okay then!"

I'm not lacking in oil and fat now, so it's fine to eat whole grains occasionally to change things up.

There used to be breakfast shops that sold cornmeal porridge, which tasted pretty good with pickled vegetables.

If he were to eat this every day, he wouldn't be able to stand it.