Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 784 Three Days Without Nine Meals

In fact, Xia Lin didn't have much experience in educating children, but he knew how to cultivate a staunch proletarian fighter.

This world is not a pure land; poverty and hunger are still commonplace. Even though some small areas have been able to escape the hunger that plagued them for thousands of years, most places still suffer from unimaginable horrors.

The reason he advocated for a persistent and unwavering fight against disease, poverty, and hunger lies here. These ideas cannot be conveyed through mere words; they must be experienced and felt deeply to truly understand how arduous and long the journey is.

As winter approaches, even in the Jiangnan region, the cold is biting. As a researcher at the Fuliang Meteorological Institute put it, winters have become increasingly colder and summers increasingly hot in recent years, with distinct seasons and abundant rainfall, which has led to consecutive years of bumper harvests.

But everything has two sides. Nothing in the world is only good or only bad. The extremely distinct four seasons bring not only a bountiful harvest of grain, but also extremely difficult days for countless poor people in China.

This leads some to ask: if coal has been mined and utilized on a large scale for a long time, why is this problem still occurring?
What can be done? If China were a small place, it would have been peaceful for eternity. But as its glory was forged on its vast land, these interconnected mountains and rivers also constantly tore at the flesh and blood of those who lived on it.

It's too big, it's too big. The distance from the Ningbo General's Mansion to Kashgar Pass is so vast that many people cannot reach it in their entire lives.

The coal that was mined was used, and it provided more people with a means of heating in the winter. However, on this vast map, some areas still do not have a road that can be driven through, and the people in those mountain valleys do not even know about the Wei and Jin dynasties.

Similarly, even in prosperous places, there are still impoverished areas. Xia Lin is not a god, nor does he have the ability to turn stones into gold. He cannot close his eyes and turn a place into a sacred land flowing with honey and bread with a single touch.

That's why he needs to take the children to see, experience, and feel. This process will definitely be painful, but he knows that these children in their fine clothes will not understand if they don't truly experience it, because people cannot imagine things beyond their own understanding.

Knowledge isn't necessarily about how much good food you've eaten or how tall buildings you've seen; it's about having a broad perspective and seeing all the nuances.

"You're not allowed to bring it!"

Before setting off, Li Chengqian's mother, who was also Li Shimin's wife, was secretly stuffing dried meat and fruit into Li Chengqian's backpack, but Xia Lin just stood by with her sleeves tucked in, and said for the third time with a cold expression: "You are not allowed to bring any."

Even though Li Chengqian kept refusing, his mother insisted on giving it to him. When she heard Xia Lin say for the third time that he was not allowed to bring it, Guanyinbi became a little annoyed: "What's wrong with me giving the child some things to eat on the road?"

Xia Lin lowered her eyelids and spoke for the fourth time: "You're not allowed to bring it."

Li Chengqian quickly hid behind Xia Lin and said somewhat aggrievedly, "Mother, no one else brought any, I can't break the rules."

"It's freezing cold. What if you get frostbite? Take some food with you on the way to fill your stomach."

Xia Lin remained silent for a moment, then turned around, got into the carriage, and lifted the curtain: "Let's go."

Several carriages moved slowly, showing no intention of waiting for Li Chengqian. This made him anxious, and he forgot about etiquette, saying with some shame and indignation, "Mother, I'm not going there for fun!"

After saying that, he put down the bundle his mother had given him, hurriedly caught up with the carriage, and jumped on.

After getting on the bus, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Turning around, he saw Zhang Jianzhi sniffling and looking at him, while even Tuoba Shang was sitting there obediently. This made him give an embarrassed smile: "Sorry... please excuse my rudeness."

"You still have a mother, that's wonderful. My mother passed away a long time ago." Tuoba Shang lay sprawled on the carriage. "I'm so envious."

“My elder sister also tried to give me some food, but I didn’t accept it.” Zhang Jianzhi laughed at this moment: “I am a man of integrity, I can’t lose face like this.”

This time, Xia Lin explicitly told them that he was taking them out to experience the lives of ordinary people. They didn't really understand why, since there were ordinary people everywhere, and their lives didn't seem too difficult; they seemed quite happy.

Therefore, they were not too worried about this journey, and even looked forward to it, especially Tuoba Shang.

"Don't worry, how hard can it be for me? I've survived on just a bowl of brown rice a day, the rest is nothing."

The carriage traveled for four hours in the cold mist, from morning till night, when the guards said there was no road ahead and they had to stop there.

They camped in the mountains and rested for a night. The children were still full of anticipation. Even the most reliable Li Chengqian was a little excited. He sat in front of the fire in the middle of the night writing in his diary, recording his thoughts and feelings of the day.

The next day, snow fell in the mountains. The snow that was described as "the white snow, disliking the lateness of spring, so flies through the trees like blossoms" in both Chang'an and Jinling became a nightmare for them, making them stumble and fall.

Their boots were already soaked through with snow, and the icy water made their feet numb. Several times, Tuoba Shang almost couldn't keep going, but he was afraid of being abandoned in these towering mountains, so he could only complain and keep chasing.

So, as evening fell, they finally arrived at a village. The village was covered in snow and looked somewhat dilapidated, but it seemed that people still lived there and it was not an abandoned village.

There are traces of reclamation around the village, and the shape of the terraced fields is very clear under the white snow, making the scenery quite Zen-like.

There were seven or eight people waiting at the village entrance, led by two young men who had clearly been standing there for a long time, their shoulders covered in snow. When they saw Xia Lin and his group, they immediately went to greet them.

"Chief of the mountain."

The two men exclaimed excitedly, "You've really come!"

"Didn't you write to ask me to come?" Xia Lin patted the snowflakes off his clothes and looked back at the people behind him: "Alright, enough talk, let's find a place to shelter from the wind and snow."

Since there was no place in the village to accommodate Xia Lin, they could only find a way to vacate the original ancestral hall in the village for Xia Lin and his companions to stay temporarily.

A fire was lit inside the ancestral hall, making it warm and cozy. The group of children happily gathered around it and began to warm their already soaked and cold boots.

Xia Lin stood at the door and said to the two students, "You've been here for over a year now, how do you feel?"

The two men exchanged a glance and smiled helplessly. One of them, a student named Chu Wenjun, said, "When we first came here, we almost thought of taking our own lives. But later, Brother Zhou and I became determined to stay here. We vowed that if this village doesn't improve its situation, we will never leave."

"That's good." Looking at the two students who had come to the countryside, Xia Lin sighed. Judging from their appearance and speech, they should be from well-off families. But if they didn't speak, it would be hard to tell them apart from the hunters and farmers in the mountains. They looked so weathered at only twenty years old.

They were dark-skinned and thin, with high cheekbones and prominent bone knots. Their ten fingers were covered in calluses, and they looked completely different from when they came from the city. But the only thing that remained unchanged was that their eyes were still bright and piercing.

"Have the difficulties you mentioned in your letter been resolved?"

"No, and it's not easy to solve. Brother Zhou went back to Fuliang a few days ago and bought some improved seeds, but the villagers here refuse to switch to this variety, and they don't believe in the claim of a yield of thirty or forty shi per mu. We've tried to persuade them for a long time, but to no avail. In the end, winter came, and they still couldn't get enough to eat."

Chu Wenjun rubbed her nose and said with some sigh, "Although it's not good to say it this way, I really feel that a large part of the reason why some places are poor is because they have brought it upon themselves."

Xia Lin smiled and nodded in approval: "But we can't give up on them just because they brought it on themselves. What about the others? Have you encountered any resistance?"

"No, this place is so rare that it takes a long time to find in the county annals, so it's just a small village under Huangtan Township. Before we came, they were still practicing slash-and-burn agriculture. Of the hundred or so people, very few have ever been to the county seat."

Xia Lin stood there with his arms crossed: "I'll send a message back now and tell them to find a way to build a road here that connects to the main road. If there are any other difficulties, just tell me."

"It's just that... Headmaster, it's very inconvenient to irrigate the terraced fields here. Is there any way to bring the water from the lower level to the higher level? We've tried ordinary waterwheels, but there are only wells here, no flowing water."

“Use a pump.” Xia Lin looked up at the surrounding terraced fields. “Yes, just pump it up. This place is between two mountains and a high valley, so the wind should be quite strong all year round. Let’s get a wind-powered pump. I also have something to do these days.”

The poverty in this place is obvious and needs no further explanation. Even now, the fire they use to warm themselves is something the local villagers have painstakingly saved up to provide for them.

It's no joke that firewood ranks first among the essentials of daily life. You see, although this place is densely forested, there aren't actually many trees. Most of the vegetation consists of shrubs and weeds that can't burn for long, so they don't burn well and produce little heat. Even the tree roots that could burn have already been dug up.

Coal could not be transported due to the rugged mountain roads, and the days when the mountains were blocked by heavy snow were not a good time to go out and collect firewood. Every household had to use the firewood with utmost care.

It is said that Xiao Chu told Xiao Zhou that life has improved in recent years. The mass production of cotton has made it easier for the residents here to get through the winter. In earlier years, it would have been impossible for anyone in the village to live past fifty years old, because their bodies were too weak to withstand the cold, and the dry grass was not enough to keep them warm in the winter.

Heating with firewood? Absolutely not. Before the advent of coal, even the middle class in the city wouldn't dare to use firewood for heating. Only wealthy families could afford such extravagance. So when Emperor Hongbao was the ruler of the country, Xia Lin designed a greenhouse for him, but he wouldn't light it even once unless he absolutely couldn't bear it anymore.

The children chatted excitedly inside, unaware of what they were about to experience, while Xia Lin stood there with his sleeves tucked in, listening to Xiao Chu and Xiao Zhou's report on the situation.

They were just one of the millions of scholars who went down to the countryside, and what they experienced is exactly what many people are experiencing today.

We've heard too many heroic epics; what Xia Lin is doing now is shifting the perspective of heroes to the most ordinary mortals.

The reason he brought these children here is that, here, no form of education is more memorable than firsthand experience.

On the first night, due to the exhaustion of the whole day, Li Zhi, Li Chengqian, and even the most mischievous Tuoba Shang all slept soundly, the warm flames driving away their fatigue.

But starting from the second day, the nightmare finally began.

The firewood eventually ran out, and when they wanted to add more, there was none left. At first, they relied on their youth to endure it, but after a few hours, when hunger and cold struck at the same time, they all panicked.

"Fourth Uncle! I'm hungry!" Tuoba Shangguan Xia Lin called out to his fourth uncle, and he was the first to break down and shout, "I'm cold and hungry."

Xia Lin just smiled and took out a few steamed potatoes from the bundle, but by now these potatoes were frozen solid like rocks.

He took one and warmed it in his pocket, while Tuoba Shang picked up another and asked with a puzzled look, "Fourth Uncle... can this be eaten?"

Xia Lin slowly took out the potatoes and started eating. He didn't say anything, just silently ate the potatoes. This was the staple food of the villagers here in winter. Because it was easy to store, cheap, and tasted not bad, it was a better choice for this poor mountain village than cooking porridge with tree bark and grass roots.

There were some pickled vegetables as side dishes, but they were very limited, only a few pieces per person. These energetic young men were naturally not full, but having something to eat was better than going hungry.

"We will be staying here for the next month, please try your best to make do."

At this point, Xia Lin pointed to the vast mountains and snow-covered landscape outside: "You can choose to leave, but no one will pick you up; you'll have to find your way out on your own."

The children looked at each other, all of them exceptionally intelligent. They immediately realized they had been tricked, but since things had come to this point, even the most rebellious among them could only silently accept it.

Lying on the floor of the ancestral hall at night, despite having eaten, a surge of hunger still overwhelmed them. Tuoba Shang was so hungry that he couldn't sleep and tossed and turned. The warmth of the previous night was gone, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that could be felt by any part of his body that was exposed from under the blanket.

"Boss... Boss..."

Tuoba Shang called out in a low voice, and Li Chengqian responded from the darkness, "What happened?"

"Do you think we can survive? I don't think they were planning to let us live."

Li Chengqian was silent for a moment, then asked, "How many meals did you eat today?"

"Three meals a day, and only three tiny sweet potatoes. It was even worse than when I was imprisoned."

"Hmm." Li Chengqian responded and said, "I walked around the village today, and the people here are lucky if they can eat two meals a day. We ate two or three days' worth of their food in one day."

"What!?" Tuoba Shang exclaimed in surprise, "How did he survive? That's incredible!"

"Is it because they're so capable? Shouldn't you feel ashamed?" Li Chengqian sighed helplessly, then said, "And this is after their lives have improved. Can you imagine how they used to make a living back then? If they could survive, why can't we?"

(End of this chapter)