Chapter 218: Daniu Comes Home

On the hillsides, in the fields, and by the riverbanks, people were everywhere digging for wild vegetables. At first, shepherd’s purse, qiqi sprouts, sorghum seedlings, bean plants, and the like became the main source of food. But with every household digging and the growth not keeping pace with the harvesting, wild vegetables grew scarcer and scarcer.

Those who couldn’t find wild vegetables started eating tree leaves—toona sinensis, locust leaves, elm leaves, and even elm bark became precious food.

Now, even tree bark had been stripped clean. There was virtually nothing left to eat.

Daniu looked around but didn’t see his father. He asked, “Mom, where’s Dad?”

These days, to avoid getting hungry too quickly, most people just lay in bed, barely moving to conserve energy. That way, they could delay starvation for a little longer.

If the village’s farmland still had crops, people wouldn’t be confined to their beds. But now that there was no harvest at all, it wasn’t worth wasting energy anymore—they might as well conserve what strength they had.

“Your father went out to look for food and hasn’t come back yet,” Daniu’s mother replied.

Fourth Girl couldn’t wait any longer. “Mom, Third Brother, can you stop talking and cook something already?”

They were on the brink of starvation. If she didn’t interrupt, there was no telling how long they’d keep chatting.

Daniu said, “Wait a moment. I’ll go grind the corn into meal. We’ll have corn porridge.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a big bowl of corn kernels from the sack and turned to get to work.

He was the only one in the household who still had any strength left.

The women of the family carefully hid the remaining corn kernels away.

Then his mother said to him, “Daniu, don’t grind it all. We need to save some. There’s still a long road ahead.”

After nearly starving this time, having any grain at all was a rare blessing. Naturally, they needed to stretch it out.

If they rationed carefully, fifty pounds of corn might last two or three months.

Daniu replied, “Mom, we don’t actually have to be that frugal. The reason Second Sister was able to lend us so much grain is because her father-in-law sold the family heirloom and exchanged it for five hundred pounds of corn. She asked me to bring back fifty pounds first and then take our family’s heirloom to exchange for more grain. That way, we’ll have enough to make it to the next harvest.”

Daniu’s mother and Fourth Girl exchanged a look—just what kind of heirloom could be traded for five hundred pounds of corn?

Although corn wasn’t that expensive at market value, grain was no longer available anywhere—money alone couldn’t buy it.

On the black market, five hundred pounds of corn was worth at least a hundred yuan.

“Is that true?” Fourth Girl asked eagerly.

If it really was, then maybe they wouldn’t have to go hungry anymore. The pain of hunger was unbearable.

Hearing this, Daniu’s mother didn’t stop him from using the whole bowl of corn.

Earlier, she was afraid that once they finished what they had, there would be nothing left. But now that they had the possibility of exchanging the heirloom for grain, she was far more at ease. Indeed, the capital city was the capital—there was still food to trade.

Until now, they’d only been eating wild vegetables and tree bark. It had been ages since they had eaten real grain.

Just then, the main door creaked open, and a middle-aged man, all skin and bones, walked in. Seeing Daniu had returned, he immediately asked, “Daniu, were you able to borrow any food?”

He had spent the whole day struggling outside and still hadn’t found a single thing to eat—not even a root of wild vegetables. All that effort wasted. Thinking about it now, he regretted cooking all their food before. If he had saved some, the family might have lasted another day.

He had gone out with villagers to search for food and heard that someone had already starved to death. He couldn’t help but feel resigned—his own family might be next.

As he finished speaking, he saw the corn in Daniu’s hands and lit up with joy.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but worry—what if his daughter didn’t have enough grain left?

“Daniu, go prepare the corn porridge. I’ll talk to your father,” Daniu’s mother said.

Everyone had gone two full days without eating anything. All they had was water. Their stomachs were completely empty except for that.

Daniu didn’t say anything else and went back to work.

Meanwhile, his mother explained, “Old Chen, Second Girl’s father-in-law exchanged the family heirloom for five hundred pounds of corn. Second Girl asked Daniu to bring back fifty pounds first and then take our heirloom to exchange for more food.”

“I see. Then go ahead and trade it,” Old Chen replied.

Though he hated to part with it, if they didn’t, the whole family might starve. The ancestors would surely understand.

He wasn’t some miser. Once a person was gone, everything was meaningless.

As the scent of the boiling corn porridge drifted through the house, the three starving family members could hardly stay composed.

Daniu’s mother suddenly said, “It’s a good thing no one lives close to our kitchen. If this smell spread, who knows how many people would come begging for food?”

“Begging would be the best-case scenario. I’m afraid they’d come to steal,” Old Chen added.

Now that people were on the verge of starvation, it didn’t matter whether you wanted to lend or not—once they heard you had grain, the entire village would show up to ‘borrow’ some, regardless of whether you agreed.

Fourth Girl looked doubtful. “Dad, would people really do that?”

She was still young and believed the villagers were good people. They didn’t seem like the type.

“If you’re starving, what logic still matters? In ancient times, people even ate each other. What’s stealing in comparison?” Old Chen replied.

About ten minutes later, Daniu finished cooking the corn porridge and gave each person a bowl.

Second Girl took her bowl without even checking if it was too hot, slurping down a mouthful that burned her tongue, making her fan her mouth rapidly. Once it cooled down, she eagerly ate more, no longer caring about manners—she just wanted to fill her belly.

The others were the same. In less than two minutes, all four bowls were clean.

Even after finishing, Second Girl looked longingly at the sack of corn and asked softly, “Third Brother, can we have some more…”

That one bowl of corn porridge didn’t come close to satisfying her hunger.

Before Daniu could respond, Old Chen cut in, “Fourth Girl, that’s all the food for today. If you’re still hungry, drink more water.”

Just getting a bowl of corn porridge a day was already a blessing. Some villagers were only able to eat something every two or three days. As long as they weren’t starving to death, it was enough.

Hearing her father’s words, Fourth Girl knew there was no hope. She went to the kitchen, poured water into the pot used to cook the porridge, and drank the rinsing water.

Old Chen saw this but didn’t stop her. As long as she wasn’t wasting more of the precious grain, he would allow it.

“Daniu, get some rest tonight. Tomorrow morning, take the family heirloom to your Second Sister. Ask her to help exchange it for grain. Don’t worry about the details—just bring back whatever you can get,” Old Chen said.

He didn’t want to rush things, but he was worried that the price of grain would go up day by day. If they were late and couldn’t exchange it, or if they got less in return, it would be a huge loss.

(End of Chapter)