Siheyuan: Spring and Autumn

"Head of the household, what should we do? Xueru just gave birth, and in two months, Huizhen will also give birth. I can't take care of two people by myself. If we don't treat them equally, I'm afraid Xiaozheng will be dissatisfied with us."

After all, she has been taking care of Li'er since he was born.

Han Qing was happy, but the reality she faced also gave her a headache.

My eldest granddaughter Qin Jingli is just three years old and also needs someone to take care of her. Alas, I am too busy to take care of her. It is really a happy trouble.

Qin Leshan thought for a moment and said, "Don't think too much. Take good care of Xueru before Huizhen gives birth. Li'er is old enough to live with you. When Huizhen gives birth, you will have to travel back and forth between the two families for only a year. Alas, having too many children will be troublesome."

Having said that, the smile on his face never faded.

"Okay, I'll talk to Xiao Zheng."

After listening to his mother's words, Qin Zheng smiled and said, "Mom, it's not that troublesome. My mother-in-law is also free. You can take turns to take care of her during the day. I'll be there at night. Don't worry."

Things are indeed not that complicated. Ever since her daughter became pregnant, Ling Qiufang has been waking up with a smile at night.

Now that her grandson was born, she hurried to discuss it with Xueru.

"Xue Ru, your brother hasn't married yet, and we don't know when he'll have a baby. Can I help you take care of your child?"

"Okay. My eldest brother's daughter is only three years old, and he's going to have another one soon. I guess my mother-in-law is having a headache right now. It would be great if you could help."

Seeing that their daughter agreed, the old couple moved to the fourth floor of the silk shop as soon as her daughter was discharged from the hospital, and Han Qing's concerns were resolved.

Of course, she did not let go completely. She would bring her eldest granddaughter to Qin Zheng's house to help every day, and the two families got along very well.

"Your mother-in-law is really amazing. No wonder her three children are so successful."

Ling Qiufang saw Han Qing off and said to her daughter with emotion.

"Mom, I remember Qin Zheng said something. What was it? Oh, he said, good men are all alike, but good mothers-in-law are rare to find."

"He really said that?"

"OK."

"That's very well said. Mom is an experienced person and has seen many cases of mothers-in-law torturing their daughters-in-law. Your family is the first to have such a situation."

"Hahaha."

Chen Xueru laughed triumphantly.

After coming back from the hospital, she felt extremely comfortable during the confinement period.

Looking at the little person in the cradle next to me, my heart was filled with happiness.

On October 10, the Qin family had another baby. Qin Ming's second child was born, still a girl, named Qin Jingping.

Time passes by inadvertently.

In April 1958, the administrative divisions of Beijing were changed, and Qin Zheng’s hometown, Shunyi County, was transferred from Tong County, Hebei Province to the management of Beijing and established as Shunyi District.

Next, the domestic situation changed drastically.

In May, the trend of exaggeration began to prevail across the country, and "yielding 5 catties per mu" was no longer a difficult task.

In July, rural land was cultivated in a unified manner and the big pot meal system began. "Eat for free, work more actively" became an exciting slogan.

In August, the Great Leap Forward began, "three years of hard work, basically changing the face of the country", surpassing Y and catching up with rice.

Qin Zheng is powerless to change anything and can only comprehend and witness history with a peaceful mind.

On August 8, the Central Committee passed the resolution "The whole party and the whole people strive to produce 17 million tons of steel", and the Great Leap Forward in Steel Production began.

The country called on the whole country to cut down trees, dig coal, look for mines and smelt iron. Millions of small earthen blast furnaces and small earthen coke ovens were built, production standards were lowered, iron and steel were smelted using primitive methods, and even iron pots and other iron utensils used for cooking at home were smashed and used as raw materials for iron and steel smelting.

In the TV series, Xu Huizhen and Chen Xueru fought tooth and nail to compete for the first place in the amount of scrap metal paid. Now, both of them have entered the Qin family. Although there is competition, there is no fierce competition like them, and no one has to spend money to buy scrap metal.

Qin Zheng thought beautifully: "If the big trend cannot be changed, then don't do it, but the small trend can be changed. Well, reducing the impact of the big trend on my family will have a very good effect!"

Regardless of whether Qin Zheng could bear it or not, the adverse consequences of the Great Leap Forward and collectivization began to emerge. In addition, farmland across the country suffered large-scale natural disasters, and grain production began to decline in many places.

According to the "Huaxia Disaster Report":

"In 1958, from January to August, drought hit large areas of the country... Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou in the southwest, and Guangdong and Guangxi in the south. The spring drought lasted for a long time and affected a wide area, seriously affecting the sowing and growth of crops. There was no rain or snow in the central and eastern parts of Hebei for more than 1 consecutive days... In mid-May... the southwest, southern China and eastern Hebei continued to be dry. In the summer, more than 8 million hectares of farmland in east China and northeast China were affected by drought. 200 small rivers and 5 reservoirs in Jilin Province dried up, which was the worst drought in the past 800 years. During the year, the drought affected 266 million hectares of farmland in 1384 provinces and regions."

"From January to April in 1959, there was a severe spring drought in Hebei and Heilongjiang..."

"In 1960, the drought continued to expand..."

"In 1961, the drought continued. From January to September, there was a severe drought across the country..."

"From January to September 1962, a large area of ​​the country suffered from drought..."

No one expected that natural disasters would continue for five consecutive years, leading to a severe shortage of grain and non-staple food across the country and the country facing the most serious economic difficulties.

Starting from 1958, the most intuitive feeling of the people in Beijing was that the ration had been reduced!

"Oh my, what should I do? Is this going to allow people to survive?"

At the Jia family, Jia Zhang was sitting on the ground, crying with tears and snot.

As soon as the neighborhood committee staff left, four words kept echoing in Jia Zhang's mind: quantitative reduction. He felt like the sky was falling.

The family originally had a ration of only one person, and now the ration was reduced. Jia Zhang felt as if the sky was falling and the earth was collapsing, and the sky was getting dark.

Just as she was crying, Qin Huairu advised her with an ugly face: "Mom, stop crying. There are some things you can't say."

Unexpectedly, Jia Zhang slapped her hand away and scolded, "What can't you say? Ah, what can't you say? You can't even survive, what else can't you say? Why did I let Dongxu marry you? Are you stupid? Why didn't you think about transferring your household registration to the city?"

"Mom, can you please be reasonable? Is it me who doesn't want to transfer? When I could transfer my household registration, you didn't allow me to do so and asked my parents to share the food. Later, the household registration system in the capital was tightened, and I couldn't transfer it even if I wanted to. How could I have the ability to think so far ahead?"

"Humph, country bumpkin, you are just a country bumpkin. I should find Dongxu someone from the city."

Qin Huairu was so angry that she almost fell backwards. She couldn't help but complain in her heart: "You are a country bumpkin yourself, and you still have the nerve to criticize me."

"What should I do? There are four people in my family and I have one more baby in my stomach. There is only one ration for five people, so it's not enough. What should I do?"

Jia Zhang was still crying and ignored Qin Huairu's advice.