Chapter 5: The Village Head’s Request

The dumplings were ready and placed on the table. Grandma had also stir-fried a small plate of peanuts for the old man to enjoy with his drink.

Grandpa brought out his treasured bottle of sweet potato liquor.

“Yimin, want a drink?”

Zhou Yimin nodded. “Sure, I’ll have a couple of cups with you, Grandpa, but not too much. Next time, I’ll bring back some good liquor. My dad still has a bottle of Maotai.”

At the mention of Zhou Yimin’s father, the old man instantly flared up.

“Xuhua, that bastard! Don’t bring him up!” That scoundrel had good liquor but never thought to bring any back to honor his father. What a disgrace! Compared to his obedient grandson, he was far worse.

They had worked hard to send him to school, thinking they’d enjoy a comfortable life later. Who knew that after getting married, he would forget his parents? Ever since he moved to the city, he had rarely returned.

And now, he had gone even further—running off with a widow and becoming her lackey.

The only worthwhile thing that bastard ever did was give them a good grandson, who at least provided them with some comfort in their old age.

Sensing the tension, Zhou Yimin tactfully changed the subject.

Grandpa could rant all he wanted, but Zhou Yimin himself could not. After all, Old Zhou had fulfilled his duties as a father without fault.

The fragrant peanuts and dumplings whetted everyone’s appetite, especially the three little ones, Laifu and his siblings, who devoured their food like starving wolves.

“Elder Brother, can we have dumplings again tonight?” The little girl, Laifang, asked innocently.

In her memory, dumplings were a rare treat, usually only available during the New Year, and even then, they had never tasted as delicious as today’s.

Laifu and Laicai also turned to their elder brother, eyes full of hope.

Their mother shot them a glare. “You lot would be the first to eat shit too, wouldn’t you?”

Having one meal of dumplings wasn’t enough? Now they wanted more in the evening? What were they thinking?

Even in the past, only the landlords could afford to eat like this.

If it weren’t for Yimin coming back, they wouldn’t even have had enough wild vegetable cakes to eat.

“Oh…” The three little ones responded dejectedly.

Zhou Yimin chuckled. “No dumplings tonight—we’ll have meat instead.”

Their eyes lit up instantly.

Meat! That was even better!

Their mother, Huang Lan, quickly tried to rein them in. “Tonight, you eat at home. No—”

Zhou Yimin cut her off. “Join us for dinner.”

Huang Lan dared not agree outright, instead sneaking a glance at Zhou Yimin’s grandmother.

The old lady huffed. “If my grandson says you can come, then come!”

You guys are lucky this time.

“Alright! Thank you, Yimin. Thank you, Auntie!”

Truthfully, she and her husband didn’t mind too much, but for the sake of their three children, they thickened their skin and accepted. They wanted to give them as much nutrition as possible.

After eating their fill, Uncle San prepared to head to work. It had been a long time since he had eaten so well.

Zhou Yimin followed him out and handed him a cigarette.

“Uncle San, when I’m not around, I’ll have to trouble you to look after my grandparents.”

Zhou Xuqiang took a satisfied drag, grinning. “Hey! Do you even need to say that? Don’t worry! This is the countryside—I’ve got my eyes on everything. No need to stress over it.”

Just then, urgent gong beats sounded from the distance.

Zhou Xuqiang’s expression changed. He quickly said, “Yimin, I’ll have to leave this conversation for later. It looks like Shangshui Village is cutting off our water supply again.”

Water was life!

The wheat in the fields was in its heading stage. A lack of water would severely impact the harvest.

The heading stage was not only the wheat’s second growth period but also a critical phase for forming grain spikes and kernels. It was the wheat’s most water-sensitive period—irrigation was essential.

Besides wheat, the village also grew corn, which was equally at a crucial stage.

Zhou Yimin followed behind, eager to see the commotion.

As they passed the wheat fields, he noticed cracks forming in the soil. No wonder the village was panicking. Their food stores were nearly empty, and they were depending on this wheat harvest to survive.

The small river running through Zhoujia Village was nearly dry.

Before long, the young and able-bodied men of Zhoujia Village had gathered, their faces filled with fury, weapons in hand. Aside from farm tools, some even carried guns. In these times, it wasn’t unusual for villages to have firearms—even cannons. Clashes between villages could easily escalate into full-blown battles.

Led by the village head, the group marched toward Shangshui Village like an army seeking justice.

Zhou Yimin was still deep in thought when the old village head approached him.

“Yimin, I heard you’re working as a purchasing agent at the steel plant?”

Zhou Yimin glanced at him and nodded with a smile. “Yes! If our village has anything to sell in the future, you can come to me. I’ll definitely offer a better price than the supply and marketing cooperatives.”

He was well aware, though, that at this stage, Zhoujia Village had very little to sell. The villagers barely had enough to eat, let alone surplus grain to trade.

“Can you exchange for grain? Cornmeal would be fine,” the old village head asked.

Zhou Yimin was surprised. “What do you plan to trade?”

“If possible, I’ll gather some men tomorrow and head into the mountains to see if we can hunt a wild boar.”

They had no other choice—food supplies in the village were nearly gone. Even in the communal kitchen, the old village head had ordered them to add as many wild vegetables as possible.

Wild boars were dangerous, but they had to take the risk to avoid starvation.

“How about sweet potatoes? You can get more for the trade,” Zhou Yimin suggested.

He checked the store in his system. Cornmeal was available, but unlike the era’s usual version mixed with corncob, it was made from pure corn kernels.

The cheapest option was sweet potatoes—only one cent per pound. With ten yuan, he could buy 1,000 pounds.

Of course, he couldn’t just give them away at cost. In state-run grain stores, sweet potatoes were sold at three cents per pound, and on the black market, they went for at least five cents.

Even at that price, they were hard to come by.

Whenever sweet potatoes appeared, they were snatched up immediately.

He could sell them to Zhoujia Village at a slight discount, but not too low. Otherwise, it would cause future trouble. Even if he charged them five cents per pound, the old village head would still eagerly accept.

Besides, Zhou Yimin wasn’t running a charity. He needed to make money too. If he ran out of funds, all he could do was stare at the store inventory and drool.

The old village head didn’t hesitate. “Yes! Sweet potatoes are great!”

The more food they could get, the better—it was exactly what the village needed most.

He quickly asked, “How much can we trade for?”

“That depends on the size of the wild boar. If it has a net weight of 100 pounds, I’ll try my best to get you about 4,000 pounds of sweet potatoes.”

The old village head was overjoyed.

Even with ration coupons, 100 yuan would only get them about 3,000 pounds of sweet potatoes at official stores. On the black market, it would barely buy 2,000 pounds.

And that was assuming they could even find any to buy.

A 100-pound wild boar wouldn’t normally sell for 100 yuan. Wild boar meat was cheaper than domesticated pork—less fatty and tougher in texture.

But in times of scarcity, food and meat were precious. On the black market, it could fetch two yuan per pound.

No matter how they calculated it, trading a 100-pound wild boar for 4,000 pounds of sweet potatoes was a bargain.

“Alright, wait for our news. Yimin, on behalf of Zhoujia Village, I thank you!”

“Village Head, there’s no need for that. I’m a Zhoujia Villager too.”

Hearing that, the old village head exclaimed loudly, “Well said! Well said!”

(End of Chapter)