Siheyuan: The farm in my mind is in your hands.

"Mrs. Chen!"

Chen's mother was talking to Chen Jianghe about their experiences in Zhaojiazhuang over the past two years.

There was already someone shouting outside, and it sounded like they were outside the house.

Chen Jianghe left the main house and found that the person was not outside the gate at all, but directly outside the courtyard wall of the main house.

It is called a courtyard wall, but in fact it is just a partition made of several pieces of wood.

"It's Second Grandpa!"

When Xiao Duoduo saw the person coming, she quickly greeted him and ran to the front door to open it.

"Xiaoduo, are you home yet?"

An old farmer who looked to be in his fifties came in, holding onto the wall, holding a black bowl in his hand that looked like it belonged to someone else.

Chen Jianghe took the initiative to greet him, "Hello, fellow villager, I'm here to visit my relatives."

The farm man felt visibly embarrassed because the young man in front of him looked so energetic and did not look hungry at all.

Thinking of his own situation, he felt a little ashamed.

But the old man soon came to his senses and decided that life is good and there is no point in comparing with useless things.

Thinking of the purpose of his visit, the old man went into the house with a smile on his face.

Without the support of the wall, he could hardly stand and his body was shaking.

Seeing this, Chen Jianghe went over and gave a hand.

"Mrs. Chen."

"This is the toad meat that Qingmiao and Xianglei dug from the ground. Her mother mixed it with some Guanyin soil."

"Hurry up and eat. Xiaoduo will come home with me to eat later."

As the old man spoke, he handed the black substance in the bowl to Chen's mother.

He wanted to bring more.

But the toads in Wodong have no meat at all, and even if they are mixed with Guanyin soil, there won’t be much.

Just a little bit of meat.

His family still had to work hard to get this.

I’m afraid that Mrs. Chen will also die, and then there will be no one to take care of Xiaoduo.

He also went to the third brother's house early in the morning.

The whole family was lying against the wall, and only their eyeballs could move.

Therefore, the task of taking care of his eldest brother's son, that is, his own nephew Zhao Qing's family, had to fall on his own shoulders.

Besides, the only ones left in this family are my nephew’s daughter Xiaoduo and my mother-in-law Chen Dasao.

If things continue like this, his eldest brother's family will be extinct.

Wait to go back.

He also had to find a way to get some more Guanyin soil and cook it into soup to feed the third brother's family. He couldn't just watch people die.

"Uncle, please take it back to the child. I am almost well again."

Mother Chen pushed the bowl back. If it weren't for the help from the Zhao brothers, she might have died long ago, let alone taking care of Duoduo.

original.

Autumn of 56.

When Chen's mother in Sijiucheng received the news that her daughter Chen Xiaoman was seriously ill, she went to the street office to get a letter of introduction the next day.

Since the man's death, the two children have become Chen's mother's last concern.

The eldest daughter, Chen Xiaoman, married far away in Zhaojia Village, Huating County. The youngest son, Chen Jianghe, failed to get into high school and spent his days running around with a group of other children from the courtyard.

Before she left, the street subsidy had not yet arrived, so she asked an old man in the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai, to help manage the money and keep an eye on Chen Jianghe.

Without waiting for Chen Jianghe to come home, Chen's mother went to the train station.

Chen Xiaoman said in the letter that she had suffered severe bleeding after giving birth and had barely survived, but was unable to get out of bed and needed someone to take care of her.

As a result, Chen's mother stayed away for more than two years.

Zhao Qing had no brothers or sisters, and his parents died one after another. The family lived on the little food they had. At the beginning, Chen's mother had to bring her own food coupons.

Fortunately, they ate from the same pot for a while.

With the help of Chen's mother, Chen Xiaoman's health gradually improved.

Unfortunately, famine soon began to spread, and no grass roots, tree bark, flying things in the sky, or running things on the ground were spared.

Later, Guanyin soil became a good thing that could satisfy hunger, but eating too much could also be fatal!

Once.

In order to let his family eat soil, Zhao Qing walked 50 miles and carried back 60 kilograms of Guanyin soil.

It’s not that Chen’s mother hadn’t thought about taking Chen Xiaoman and Duoduo back to the old city. Even if they had to beg for food in the city, it was better than being choked to death by the dirt.

But at that time, Chen Xiaoman's body did not allow her to stay out of bed for a long time, let alone walk such a long distance.

Moreover, at that time, there was not a single cart or animal in the entire village. All the food that could be eaten had been eaten, and all the things that could be dismantled had been dismantled.

More importantly, there is no money, no tickets, no medicine...

Later, Zhao Qing and Xiaoman died of starvation due to eating too much Guanyin soil and suffering from long-term malnutrition.

It wasn't just the two of them. During that time, only one in ten people in the surrounding villages survived.

Some people questioned the authenticity of cannibalism. If Chen's mother had not seen it with her own eyes, she would not have believed it.

But she had been on a long journey and had experienced too much.

The x buried the day before will be dug out the next day, or even before the next day.

Others won't do things in broad daylight, after all, it's against human ethics, so most of them do it in the middle of the night.

Regarding Zhao Qing and Xiaoman's funeral, Chen's mother asked Zhao Qing's second uncle and third uncle for help.

Direct cremation.

Otherwise she couldn't accept that the person was already dead and was being reused.

Cannibalism.

Later, when she thought back on it, Chen's mother often felt the absurdity of the incident and the despair of the people at that time.

(Author: All descriptions in the novel are fictional. This article is a time travel fantasy and has nothing to do with reality. Any similarities are purely coincidental.)

Without the young one, the remaining two still have to survive.

Mother Chen took Xiao Duoduo to beg for food.

It was okay at first.

Others feel sorry for the child and those who have money at home will help him.

A bite of vegetable cake, a rat tail, a sparrow head...

Suffering always pushes people to grow quickly. It is in such an environment that little Duoduo becomes very sensible at a young age.

Later, everyone had nothing to eat, and Chen's mother even left all the food she found to Duoduo.

Soon, she became like everyone else, with swelling all over her body and feeling weak and fatigued.

During this period, Zhao Qing was able to obtain food occasionally from his second and third uncles.

Their two families' children were older and could find food everywhere, so more of them survived.

Since last month, Xiao Duoduo has taken on the task of finding food for the two of them.

Chen's mother was afraid that her child would be targeted, so she specifically told him to come back before dark.

The day before yesterday, Chen Jianghe saw Xiao Duoduo looking for food by the ditch.

Although there were only a few golden folds of rice, if he hadn't come, that would have been the food for both of them.

……

Zhao Qing's father was named Zhao Dejin. He raised several younger siblings by himself. Later, he was left with only two younger brothers, but he died when he was in his thirties.

My second uncle, Zhao Degui, has been dealing with land all year round, and my third uncle, Zhao Deren, knows some carpentry work.

Alas, without food to eat, nothing will work.

……

……

at this time.

When Uncle Zhao heard Chen's mother say she didn't want to eat, he felt nervous.

Could it be that Mrs. Chen is having a last burst of vitality?

It looks quite similar. He is not in his normal mental state and has a sickly radiant look.

Zhao Degui has seen so many dead people that he has become numb to the thought of death.

Even for himself, one day he might just turn off his eyelids and his life would be like that.

But after all, they were acquaintances and relatives, and he still didn't want to see anyone die.

So he advised:

"Sister-in-law Chen, this family is relying on you now. If you are gone, what will happen to Xiaoduo?"

Chen Jianghe was touched by the kindness of Uncle Zhao in sending food.

However, he also didn't want his mother to drink the porridge made from Toad Guanyin soil.

"Uncle, what my mother said is true. Don't drink this porridge."

"If you eat too much Guanyin soil, you will not be able to digest it and will be constipated. It can even kill you!"

Isn’t the ending of my sister Chen Xiaoman, brother-in-law Zhao Qing, and many others an example?

Chen Jianghe cannot help everyone, nor will he risk his own life to gamble with other people's conscience.

But why not help your relatives and friends within your ability?

"What nonsense are you talking about, young man!"