The whole village is starving, but I have a full warehouse of meat in the mall

Chapter 12: Locusts Pass Through, No Grass Grows

Jiang Wan put aside his complicated emotions and took Ye Dahe on the ox cart.

Wang Ergou saw her backpack and asked casually, "Why did Sister Ye buy a pot? This pot looks really good. When did Blacksmith Li become so skilled?"

Jiang Wan said: "It wasn't Blacksmith Li who beat him."

She didn't say another word about where she bought it.

Wang Ergou thought to himself, it’s such a critical moment now, it’s good enough to have something to eat, and this spendthrift woman actually spent money to buy an iron pot.

The other people on the ox cart were in a bad mood after their trip to the town and chatted all the way.

"Corn costs four cents a pound. I can't afford it. So I bought some buckwheat flour."

"We only have three days' worth of food left at home, and we all depend on the crops in the fields. If it doesn't rain, we will have to eat tree bark every day."

"Last year, the imperial court issued relief grains during the locust plague. If there is no harvest this year, the imperial court should not ignore it."

"We are experiencing a drought here. I heard that it rains every day in Pingcheng, and all the crops have been drowned. With so many people suffering, is there enough food in the court?"

"..."

As we chatted, the atmosphere became increasingly depressing.

Suddenly, something flew over Jiang Wan's head. She was startled and didn't dare to move: "Dahe, hurry up, help me get it down!"

She lived for thirty-three years and was fearless except for insects and spiders.

Ye Dahe hurried to catch the insect on her head. When he caught it, his face suddenly fell: "Uncle, take a look, is this a locust?"

A green and yellow flying insect with very long front wings, what else could it be but a locust?
The woman on the ox cart screamed.

"Didn't the locusts fly away last year? Why are they still here?"

"Don't scare yourself. There's only one locust. Just crush it to death."

Aunt Liu stepped forward and pinched the locust, which immediately burst into juice. She threw the locust onto the car board and stomped on it twice, only then did she feel better.

As the saying goes, when locusts pass by, no grass will grow.

The locust plague is more terrifying to the villagers here than the drought.

During a drought, we can still hope for rain, but if locusts come, all the crops in the fields will be eaten up in less than a day.

This was the case last year. Lotus Village had no harvest and had to rely on relief from the imperial court and autumn planting and spring harvest to survive until now.

No one dares to go through it again.

When they arrived at the village entrance, Jiang Wan and Ye Dahe jumped out of the car. Only Gu Xiaohui was at home, mending clothes.

Jiang Wan walked in: "Xiao Hui, go close the door."

The incident with the landlord Xu in the town gave her a warning that she must never show her grain, otherwise it would attract other people's covetousness. That's why she bought a pot in the town and put the iron pot upside down on her backpack so that no one could see what was in her basket.

Even Ye Dahe didn't know what his mother bought specifically.

She took out the iron pot first, and then took out the other things one by one.

Fifteen kilograms of rice, ten kilograms of flour, three kilograms of spare ribs that she had taken the opportunity to buy at the mall, a large bag of coarse salt, and various necessary seasonings filled the table.

She now has no money on her, and has to go to the mountains to look for wild vegetables to earn some coins in the afternoon.

Jiang Wan handed the pork belly to Gu Xiaohui: "We're having steamed pork with rice flour for lunch today." Gu Xiaohui paused: "Mom, what is steamed pork with rice flour?"

The people in Lotus Village eat two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They don't cook at noon.

But at this moment, the air was filled with the faint aroma of meat.

Aunt Zhao sat in the yard and sniffed hard. It was the scent of pork, definitely pork.

At this time, there are still people in the village who can afford to eat pork!
Aunt Zhao followed the fragrance out of the yard and saw Ye Sishan and Ye Xiaofang walking towards her from the other side of the field. Their small bodies were carrying a large backpack filled with pig fat and vegetables.

"Sishan Xiaofang, why did you dig up so much pig fat vegetables?"

Ye Xiaofang answered honestly: "My mother said that pig fat dishes are delicious."

Aunt Zhao's mouth twitched. It takes a lot of firewood to cook pork fat vegetables, and they are very bitter. Sister Ye is lying to the children.

What does the little brat know? He just eats whatever his mother gives him. God have pity on him.

"Sishan, Xiaofang, wait a minute!"

Aunt Zhao turned back into the house, took out a steamed bun, stretched it out and then retracted it, then broke it in half and gave it to the two of them: "Eat it quickly and fill your stomach."

Ye Xiaofang quickly pushed it back: "Auntie, I can't have it..."

"You kid, just take it if it's given to you. Why are you being so polite?" Aunt Zhao scolded angrily, "Your mother took all the good things to the Jiang family, making it hard for the five of you. An eleven-year-old child looks like he's only seven or eight years old."

"Your mother deserves it. She was always thinking about her family, but she got beaten up by her own brother. It's so funny!"

"Xiaofang, when you get married, life will be better,"

"As for you, Sishan, you should move out of home as soon as you grow up. Don't be like your brother and your eldest sister-in-law who stay at home and work like a workhorse, unable to even get a bite to eat. I think she is even more vicious than your stepmother..."

Jiang Wan was washing her hands in the yard when she heard someone scolding her outside.

She wiped her hands and walked out, and saw Aunt Zhao holding Ye Sishan and Xiaofang standing at the next door talking. They tried to interrupt several times, but Aunt Zhao forced them back.

"Alright, eat this half of the steamed bread quickly. Don't let your mother see it, or you won't be able to eat a single bite..."

Jiang Wan was also convinced. Sharing food was obviously a good deed, but Aunt Zhao did it in a way that made people angry.

However, when she recalled the bad things her original body had done, she could understand why Aunt Zhao was so angry with her original body. This was because the two families were neighbors, and there was only two meters between the two courtyards. Naturally, there were more conflicts when they were close. The original body was also a person who loved to take advantage, and Aunt Zhao suffered a lot at the hands of the original body.

Many times, the original body scolded Aunt Zhao so harshly that she was so angry that she couldn't even eat.

Even so, Aunt Zhao still secretly gave steamed buns to the original body's child.

As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. If he could make peace with Aunt Zhao, it would be a good thing, but his original personality was sharp and mean, and the sudden change was really abrupt.

"Keep this for yourselves." Jiang Wan picked up the basket on Ye Xiaofang's back. "We have meat to eat today. Who wants to eat steamed bread?"

Her words were four parts mockery and six parts bragging, but she had imitated her original appearance to eight parts.

Aunt Zhao sniffed the meaty aroma in the air and was full of disbelief: "Your family can still afford meat?!"

"The Jiang family smashed a bloody hole in my head. I took the meat I gave them back and ate it myself. Why can't I do that?" Jiang Wan said confidently, "Let's go, Xiaofang, Sishan, go home and eat meat!"

She was not showing off on purpose, but wanted to use Aunt Zhao to tell everyone in the village that she and the Jiang family had broken up.

Jiang Wan had given up on her natal family, so her personality changed drastically and she decided to start living a good life.

(End of this chapter)