Siheyuan: God rewards hard work and makes life better

"Hahaha!"

Pei Xiangdong looked around at the food window. He used to go there to get food at school, but today, standing from the perspective of the kitchen, he felt that everything was so new and novel.

Although the food they ate was from a big pot, he thought it tasted good.

The free meal tasted especially delicious as I ate steamed buns and ate the dishes at the same time.

After the meal, Pei Guang asked him to go home directly, as he had nothing to do in the cafeteria anyway.

"Xiangdong, remember to follow my instructions when you get back to work out. You can't be a chef without a good physique."

Pei Xiangdong nodded. He saw that all the master chefs were big and strong, so he really needed to exercise more.

He felt that the work was not too tiring, so he just worked two hours, cut and washed vegetables, and had a free meal.

Moreover, there is a lot of food left today, and people in the cafeteria can pack it up and take it home. What a great job!

He decided to work harder in the future so that he could live such a life after he finished his studies.

In the afternoon, Pei Guang went straight to the library and found "Outline of Febrile Diseases" and "Chinese Acupuncture". Since he had the system, he didn't have to worry about whether he could understand them or not.

After finding a seat and sitting down, I just started watching quietly.

[Ding! You read the medical book carefully, medical proficiency +1]

As I learned about medicine, a huge amount of knowledge flooded into my mind, including not only traditional Chinese medicine but also Western medicine.

Open the skills panel.

Skills: Master Chef (395/

**

） Fitness Master（346/

**

）维修精通（206/1000）八极拳精通（413/1000）钓鱼熟练（17/100）医术入门（1/10）

(The three abilities of driving, gambling, and knowledge are temporarily hidden and are not used at this stage. They are only for the purpose of getting upgrade rewards. The skill list is simpler and more comfortable to read.)

Since he had nothing to do, he simply continued to see the doctor. By the time he got off work, his medical proficiency had reached 5 points.

Pei Guang walked to the front desk to complete the book borrowing procedures, and then rode leisurely towards the courtyard.

When I entered the backyard, I saw Tian Xiulan feeding chickens. Even though she was wearing a thick cotton coat, her bulging belly could not be concealed.

Counting the time, Xu Damao has been married for five months.

Pei Guang teased, "Sister-in-law, you are not pregnant with twins, why does your belly look so big?"

Tian Xiulan smiled slightly, "I don't know either. It would be great if I could tell you right."

Xu Damao happened to walk in and was delighted when he heard this.

The thought that he might have a double hit would make him so angry that he would die.

"Xiu Lan, both hens laid eggs today. I cooked them to give you some nutrition."

Pei Guang was amazed when he saw it. Xu Damao has become different since his wife became pregnant. He has become more family-oriented.

.........

In the following half month, Pei Guang found that the food provided by the factory was getting worse and worse, not very fresh, and meat was rarely seen.

The workers complained about the food. They were doing physical labor, so how could they work if they didn't eat well?

Pei Guang came to Liang Weimin's office and asked about the situation.

Liang Weimin sighed deeply and replied, "In fact, this situation started at the end of last year. Now we can't buy much when we go to the countryside to purchase. It is said that it was caused by the drought last year. Some grain was allocated to the disaster-stricken areas."

"There are other reasons that ordinary people like us cannot know."

Pei Guang's brows were furrowed into a "川" shape. It seemed that difficult times were really coming.

The storm is about to come, and the dark clouds in the sky seem to have anticipated all this.

As the situation became more and more serious, the factory could only purchase less and less supplies. The factory leaders could no longer sit still. They had received the news in advance, but they did not expect it to be so serious.

Director Yang convened an emergency meeting and those who had connections mobilized their connections to find supplies for the factory. However, the results were not optimistic and the problem was still not effectively solved.

At the request of the factory leaders, almost all purchases were made in the countryside. In the past, they could complete the monthly target in half a month in the countryside, but now they go to the countryside almost every day, and the harvest is still not optimistic.

The situation at the grain station was not good either. People lined up early in the morning and it was crowded. However, the supply was much less, and after it was sold out, many people still couldn't buy grain.

The same is true at the vegetable market. Not only are the ingredients not fresh, but the quantity is also much smaller.

When I got back to the courtyard after get off work, I saw Yan Fugui and his wife talking at the door, looking worried.

When Yan Fugui saw him come back, he guessed that as Pei Guang was the leader of the factory, he might know some inside information.

So he stopped him and whispered, "Xiao Guang, do you think the country is short of food now? Otherwise, why is there less food at the grain station and the price of food on the black market is rising every day?"

The third aunt echoed, "Yes, Xiao Guang, if you have any inside information, you must think about the neighbors."

Pei Guang was about to speak when Director Wang from the Street Office walked in with a similarly worried look on his face.

Director Wang saw that the three had no intention of greeting each other, so he asked them to notify every household and immediately convened a meeting of the entire hospital.

The three of them had different expressions on their faces, and they all took action immediately.

.........

Chapter 70: Quantitative Reduction

When everyone heard that Director Wang had arrived, they did not dare to delay and hurriedly gathered in the Intermediate Court.

After everyone arrived, Director Wang announced to everyone, "I came here today because I have something important to announce. Everyone, please listen carefully. If you don't understand, please wait until I finish speaking before asking."

Seeing her solemn expression, everyone present had a bad feeling in their hearts.

"Everyone knows about the recent food problem. The subdistrict office has received a notice from the higher-ups and learned that the country is facing a food shortage."

"After careful consideration by the leaders, we have decided to reduce everyone's food ration by 30%. We hope that everyone will unite as one and work together to overcome the current difficulties."

As soon as these words came out, the scene was in an uproar.

Although I had guessed it before, I couldn't help but feel worried and scared when it was confirmed.

Since ancient times, every food crisis has resulted in a large number of deaths. I don’t think this time will be the same.

"We can't do this, Director Wang. My children can't even get enough food right now. If the ration is reduced, they will starve to death."

"Yeah! Isn't this asking us to die?"

"The ration must not be reduced!"

Everyone in the compound was extremely anxious, and started crying one after another.

People whose families have many people, such as Yan Fugui, Liang Ladi, Jia Dongxu and others, all had drastic changes in their expressions. Once the quantity is reduced, the more people there are in the family, the bigger the gap will be. How can they not worry?

Director Wang had anticipated this and patiently advised: "There is nothing we can do about it. If it weren't for the last resort, the leaders wouldn't make such a decision."

"It's no use arguing anymore. The matter has already been settled."

Yi Zhonghai asked solemnly: "Director Wang, how long will this situation last? If it lasts for a long time, I'm worried that people will really starve to death.

Director Wang shook his head. "It's hard to say. The situation is not very clear at the moment. I will inform you as soon as I have news."

Now everyone is even more worried. The uncertain time means there is a big food gap. It seems the situation is very serious.

After the meeting, everyone went home worriedly to discuss countermeasures.

There were still a few families in the courtyard who were not panicking at this time, such as the Yi family, the Liu family, the Pei family, and the He family. They were either high-income people who could afford to buy food on the black market, or they were chefs who had their own ways to get food.

Even Xu Damao was having a headache at the moment. His wife originally had a rural household registration, and there would be no quota for the child when it was born.

Originally, he could make some profit from showing movies, but now he probably can't make much. How is he going to make up for the food shortage?

......

Yan Fugui was sliding an abacus up and down. His family of six had a monthly ration of 140 kilograms. After deducting 98%, that was kilograms. No matter how hard he tried, he could not think of a way to fill the hole.

Liang Ladi's family was in a better situation than Yan's. Not only was their salary high, but their children were relatively young, so the gap wouldn't be that big after deducting 30%. She thought about asking Sha Zhu to come up with a solution, and she thought they should be able to get through it if they held on.

Fortunately, I bought two months' worth of food before the New Year, so I don't need to worry for the time being.

......

The Jia family in the middle courtyard.

The three adults of the Jia family were sitting at the table, discussing countermeasures.

Qin Huairu suggested: "Dongxu, I think the only ones who can provide surplus food in this situation are Shazhu and Pei Guang, why don't we go ask them for some support?"

Jia Dongxu smiled bitterly, "You forgot, Sha Zhu and Pei Guang are not on good terms with Mom, how could they possibly support us?"

Qin Huairu's face froze. She had been thinking about how to get food and had actually forgotten about this.

The corners of Jia Zhang's mouth twitched slightly, and her expression became unnatural, as if she really had caused the trouble.

But now that things have come to this, what's the point of saying all this? The most urgent task is to solve the food problem.

The three of them discussed for a long time without any result, so they could only take it one step at a time.

......

Pei Guang saw his sister frowning and knew what she was worried about. He comforted her, "Liyun, don't worry about the food problem. I have already arranged it."

Pei Liyun's face was full of disbelief. How could her brother have arranged such a sudden event?

As if he had guessed his sister's thoughts, Pei Guang chuckled and said, "I often cook for my boss, so it's not surprising that I get the news in advance."

"And I've already informed my uncle, so you don't have to worry."

Pei Liyun then smiled. She didn't expect her brother to have done so many things in private. It must not have been easy.

"Brother, you worked hard!"

Pei Guang patted his head and warned him, "You can't tell anyone about this. You should understand the reason behind it."

"Uh-huh!"

Pei Liyun naturally knew that what was worrying was not the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth. If others knew about it, they would definitely be jealous and report it.

After the brother and sister had dinner, Pei Guang, who had nothing to do, picked up a medical book and started reading.

After learning the basics of medicine, the contents of the book were no longer difficult and obscure, and Pei Guang slowly immersed himself in it.

[Ding! You read the medical book carefully, medical proficiency +3]

......

The next day, Pei Guang came to the kitchen and heard everyone discussing the ration and talking about the difficulties at home.

He didn't have any good ideas for this, so he said directly: "I suggest that everyone let the family members lie down when they have nothing to do. As long as they move less, they will consume less and will not get hungry so quickly."

Everyone's eyes brightened up after hearing this. This was a good idea.

"Deputy Director Pei is really smart. He has thought of this solution."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll tell them when I get back."

"After all, he is a leader, so he is smarter than us."

Everyone praised sincerely. Since they couldn't think of a solution, they could only do this for now.

After work started, Liang Weimin came over to inform that in order to respond to the call of superiors, the canteen's food supply would be reduced by 30% in the future.

Everyone in the cafeteria didn't find it surprising when they heard this. The ration had been reduced by 30%. If the supply hadn't been reduced, no one would have had tickets to buy.

This is a good thing for everyone in the cafeteria. The workload has been reduced, but they still get paid.

While cooking, Sha Zhu originally wanted to keep some for himself, but he didn't dare to do so in front of everyone, for fear that Pei Guang would find out and criticize him.

As the lunch bell rang, workers came to the canteen one after another to get their meals.

The situation was just as expected. For long-term considerations, the workers served much smaller portions than before, and the amount of food they prepared was just enough to cope with the situation.

When everyone in the cafeteria saw that there were no leftovers today, they were all disappointed, including Sha Zhu and Master Wang.

The reduction in quantity means fewer opportunities to go out for meals, or even none at all, and we can only rely on leftovers.

Some people even thought that they were too gentle and did not control the portion sizes well.

.........