Reborn in the 60s, I hunt to support my family and even seduce the village beauty.

Chang Kun got on his bike and went to visit the surrounding houses.

Most houses were closed, and there was no smoke from the chimneys. Aunt Wang next door had a cold stove; she must have gone to the mountains to forage for wild vegetables.

Old Zhao's grandson squatted on the doorstep, so thin that only his big head remained, his two eyes were dark and empty. He didn't say anything when he saw Chang Kun, he just stared blankly at him.

Chang Kun felt a pang of sadness, squatted down, grabbed a handful of milk candies from his pocket, and stuffed them into the child's hand.

The child looked down at the milk candy in his palm, which smelled of milk, his eyes lit up, and he squeezed the candy tightly.

Chang Kun placed a small bag of potatoes and sweet potatoes at the gate of the courtyard, patted the child's head, and got up to leave.

What cannot be seen cannot be saved; the tragedy is right before our eyes, and no one can pretend to ignore it.

We arrived at Liu Tiezhu's house.

The gate to the courtyard was ajar, and it was quiet inside. Pushing the gate open, I saw several patched-up clothes drying in the yard, a bundle of firewood piled in the corner, and the lid of the pot on the stove was off, the pot was clean, not even a drop of water was left.

Chang Kun called out, "Uncle Tiezhu?"

Footsteps echoed from the storage room. Liu Tiezhu emerged carrying a shovel, paused for a moment upon seeing Chang Kun, then grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth: "Little Kun, what brings you back?"

"I came back to take a look." Chang Kun propped up his bicycle and started taking things out of the sack.

When Liu Tiezhu saw the grain, his smile faltered, and he quickly stopped him, saying, "This child... why are you bringing anything else? Your father just sent some things a few days ago, and you're here again..."

Chang Kun put his things down and didn't argue with Liu Tiezhu.

This Uncle Tiezhu had no connection with him in his past life, but when his parents died, it was Uncle Tiezhu who helped with the funeral arrangements. Others may not know about this kindness, but Chang Kun has always kept it in his heart. He was unable to repay it in his past life, but he is determined to repay it in this life.

"Where's my aunt?"

"You went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables. If I hadn't come back to get the shovel, I wouldn't have run into you." Liu Tiezhu sighed, carefully put the grain back into the house, and poured water for Chang Kun.

"We've run out of sweet potato flour at home, and the wild vegetables on the mountain have all been dug up. If we don't find a way, we won't even be able to eat wild vegetable porridge."

"Where did my brother Chu Qiang go? I heard he hurt his arm?"

"It's nothing serious. I saw a doctor; it's a small fracture. It'll heal after a while. Since he's bored at home, I told him to go up the mountain with your aunt to dig for wild vegetables." He then added, "That little brat dared to go into the mountains alone! He's finally learned his lesson!"

Chang Kun sat down in the courtyard, took a sip of water, and asked cautiously, "Uncle, how's the situation in the village now?"

Liu Tiezhu squatted down opposite him, took out his pipe, pinched a small pinch of tobacco into it, and lit it with a few matches.

He took a deep drag and muttered, "What else can I do? It's just like that!"

"Every household is starving. They're lucky if they can even get some wild vegetable porridge. I just came back and saw Old Zhao's grandson. The boy is only five years old. He was so hungry he could barely walk. His whole family toils in the fields all day long, but what they bring back isn't even enough to fill their teeth!"

He took another drag of his cigarette, coughed twice, and knocked the ashes to the ground.

"My position as the brigade leader sounds prestigious, but my family is almost starving. Your aunt goes up the mountain before dawn every day to dig for wild vegetables. She has to climb several mountains to gather half a basketful. Those wild vegetables are so bitter that she can't swallow them, but she has to eat them, or she'll starve to death!"

Chang Kun listened, growing increasingly silent.

He knew these past two years had been tough, but he never imagined that things would be this bad for every family before winter even arrived.

My hometown is close to the capital. I think back to my previous life, the authorities still cared about appearances and distributed some relief grain to the farmers in the vicinity, instead of just watching them starve to death.

But the relief food was for saving lives, and it was unknown when it would arrive.

As he was thinking, Liu Tiezhu leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Xiao Kun, I have something to tell you, but don't tell anyone."

"What's wrong, Uncle?"

"The autumn harvest is just around the corner." Liu Tiezhu glanced around to make sure no one was outside the courtyard before continuing, "The commune has already finalized the yield figures per mu and reported them to the district, then to the city, and so on, layer by layer... Guess how much they reported?"

Before Chang Kun could speak, he gave a wry smile and gestured three with his fingers.

"Three thousand catties, three thousand catties per mu!!"

He sighed and pointed towards the mountains: "Even in a year with favorable weather, we're lucky if we can harvest a few hundred catties of grain per mu... Three thousand catties? You couldn't get that even if you scattered gold in the ground!"

"But the higher-ups don't care about that. Once the numbers are reported, they have to be met! Failing to deliver enough grain is considered a sign of a problem with one's thinking, a drag on society!"

Chang Kun recalled those years in his previous life, when newspapers were constantly reporting exaggerated figures. Three thousand catties was nothing, rice yields of 36,000 jin per mu and wheat yields of 12,000 jin per mu were all reported.

And then there's this nonsense about a sow being as big as an elephant, except with a short nose. If the whole community slaughtered one of them, it would be enough to feed them for half a year... They're all just bragging!

But what about the grain harvested in the fields? The farmers were starving, yet they still had to hand over their grain, and what remained was not even enough chaff to eat.

Liu Tiezhu stood up, took a few steps in the yard, and then squatted back down. He had no one to talk to, but now that he had caught Chang Kun, he could finally pour out his grievances.

"I've seen the results this year, and it's even worse than last year. Some areas are suffering from drought, others from floods, and there's a severe insect infestation. But the higher-ups don't care about that; once the task is assigned, it has to be completed!"

"After the food rations are deducted, what will the villagers eat? Dirt?"

His voice was hoarse and his eyes were red, but he didn't let the tears fall.

"I'm such a useless brigade leader! I can't do anything about it as the villagers go hungry! Your father came by the other day and brought some cornmeal. I shared half with Old Zhao's family. His little grandson was crying from hunger. We can't just watch the child starve!"

"Uncle, do we have to hand over all the harvested grain in the fall?"

Liu Tiezhu glanced at him and gave a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"The commune didn't require us to hand over the whole amount; we only needed to hand over a percentage of the 3,000 jin per mu yield... But if we hand it over like that, how much will the village have left? I estimate each family will get at most two jin of bran. After a whole year of hard work, we only get two jin of bran. Really, hahahaha..."

His tears finally flowed.

Chang Kun held back for a while, but couldn't help himself and said, "Uncle, I'll have someone bring in a few hundred catties of grain later. Please share some with the villagers so that no one goes hungry."

Liu Tiezhu suddenly looked up and stared intently at Chang Kun.

"Xiao Kun, where did you get so much grain? I remember that people with city household registration only get about 20 or 30 catties of grain per month. Don't you dare steal Brother Dashan's and Sister-in-law Meifen's grain!"

Chang Kun waved his hand: "What are you saying, Uncle? How could I dare touch my parents' grain! Don't worry, I can get the grain, it's all from legitimate sources, so don't worry about it!"

Liu Tiezhu's lips trembled incessantly, and his body swayed. With several hundred catties of grain, the entire village of dozens of people had at least been relieved of their immediate crisis.

As the captain, he could finally get a good night's sleep.

"Xiao Kun, Uncle... Uncle thanks you!"

Several hundred kilograms of grain—this was the hope of the entire village; he could not refuse, much less dare to refuse.