Siheyuan: I Raised Ten Thousand Wild Boars

Somewhere in a tube building

"Mom, I'm so hungry. Can I have a snack?" Zheng Xuejun asked

He stretched out his little finger and pointed at his belly, his eyes full of hope.

"No, those snacks are for your father to nourish his body. You also have a monthly quota. You will be hungry after you finish them!" Wu Huiying refused while coaxing her crying little son in her arms.

It's really a bad time for this child to be born. The adults are not well fed, so where would they get milk for him to drink?

Zheng Xuejun is eleven years old and in the fourth grade of primary school. His monthly ration was originally 24 kilograms, but now it is only 18 kilograms.

If it were later generations, there would definitely be enough food. Because everyone would eat a lot of fruits, braised spareribs, roast duck, etc. every day, and they would not touch the fat meat, which was full of oil and water; not to mention some milk tea, barbecue, fried food and so on.

But where were these available at that time? The only source of oil and water was meat.

According to statistics from relevant departments, the annual per capita meat consumption in Beijing is 8.5 taels, which is less than 1 tael per month on average, the lowest in history.

Nominally, Beijing citizens were supplied with two taels of meat coupons per person per month, but meat was simply not available in stores. The meat was gone by the time it reached the meat processing factory, so people often went without meat for several months.

If there is no oil in the stomach, the appetite will increase. Children are in the growing period and they eat less than one pound a day. How can they be full?

Every day at school, Zheng Xuejun and his classmates discuss the most about how to avoid going hungry.

For example, instead of eating rice, drink porridge so that you can eat more. Or, eat less at the last meal and save it for the next meal, so that you won't feel hungry.

Or you can eat faster and finish your meal in just a few bites. With so much food suddenly entering your stomach, you will feel fuller.

These are the little tricks they have researched, but no matter what they do, they are still hungry!

His biggest dream now is to pick up a meal ticket so that he can have a full meal.

But who would lose a meal ticket now? A meal ticket represents life, and who wouldn't keep it close to their heart like their own mother? If they lost it, they would probably want to hang themselves. He had also heard of such things.

The only thing he could do was to tighten his belt, drink more water when he was hungry, and lie down when he had nothing to do, so that he would not be so hungry.

"Boom, boom, boom"

There was a knock on the door.

When Zheng Xuejun heard the noise, he immediately ran to open the door.

I hope my father has come back so that when he eats, I can ask for some food to fill my stomach.

"Oh, Brother Guohua, I miss you so much!" Zheng Xuejun opened the door and shouted excitedly.

The person who came was Li Guohua, Zheng Xuejun was Zheng Aimin’s eldest son, and Wu Huiying was Zheng Aimin’s lover.

Li Guohua was wearing a blue work hat, a worn work suit, and a torn sack under his arm. He looked back to see that there was no one in the corridor before he carefully walked in.

Since the disaster became serious, the factory leaders are the first to be unable to cope with the situation. Their rations are small to begin with, even lower than those of the workers in the workshops.

Because the textile factory has a farm, the situation is much better than that of other brother units, but that only means we can have a full meal at noon, and my family can't bear it.

Moreover, during this sensitive period, no one dares to take anything from the public, as that would be monitored by everyone.

Even when Li Guohua went out, he was wearing tattered clothes and holding an empty sack. If you didn't know him, you would think he was going to exchange it for coarse grains.

"Guohua, why are you here?" Wu Huiying asked as she stood up with difficulty, holding her youngest son.

"Aunt Wu, here are ten kilograms of corn flour and two wild rabbits. I'll put them here for you! I have to leave quickly now since there's no one around!" Li Guohua took out a few things from a torn sack and put them on the table beside him.

"No, Guohua, take it away quickly. You gave it to me last time. I can't take it this time no matter what you say!" Wu Huiyingguo grabbed Li Guohua's sleeve and said anxiously.

What era is it now? If our parents don’t have food, and we eat it ourselves, others will have less.

"Aunt Wu, you just had a baby, so you need to supplement your nutrition. I made these things myself, so you can eat them without worrying about making mistakes. Besides, without Uncle Zheng, there would be no Li Guohua today. Don't say anything. Uncle Liang, come here, I'm saying the same thing!"

After Li Guohua finished speaking, he reached into his pocket, took out a handful of candy and stuffed it into Zheng Xuejun's pocket. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Take good care of your mother and brother at home. I'll come to see you when I have time!"

"Got it, Brother Guohua!"

Zheng Xuejun couldn't wait to tear open a candy, put it in his mouth, and his eyes narrowed into slits because of the sweetness.

After saying that, Li Guohua picked up the torn sack and sneaked out.

As the disaster worsened, people began to use their brains. Things that they would not even look at normally became food on the table, and were euphemistically called "substitute foods."

Corn husks, corn cobs, rice husks, peanut shells, elm bark, acacia leaves, chlorella, duckweed, sparrows, mice, everything edible was used.

There are still many orphanages and welfare homes where the children are too young to survive. With the help of higher-level organizations, they are sent to Mongolia, Northeast China and other places willing to accept them to seek a way out.

At this critical moment, the leaders at the top were not idle. They first imported sugar, flour, and rice from abroad, and then supplied some expensive snacks and food in the domestic market. At the same time, they opened some high-priced restaurants and opened some free markets where required.

You can’t buy anything on the black market now, and no one sells anything in the free market. There are only a few people left selling peanuts and walnuts.

The food counter of the supply and marketing cooperative had empty shelves behind it, except for a number of empty food and candy boxes.

There were some candies and snacks on the counter, with a conspicuous label next to them saying "Not for sale"!

This is just used to decorate the facade and deal with inspections.

There was no chicken, duck, fish or meat in the vegetable market, as they had all been taken away by the meat companies. Since the beginning of this spring, there has been another severe drought, and even seasonal vegetables are in very short supply and are in limited supply.

The main dishes on people’s tables nowadays are various pickles and fermented beans.