Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 1716: Sudden Reduction of Supplies
Watching Sha Zhu packing the roast duck, Xiao Huaihua ate her fingers greedily. The aunt walked over, took a piece of meat and stuffed it into Huaihua's mouth, then looked at Qin Huairu, "Huairu, your uncle said that you can do it once or twice, but not three or four. Let Zhuzi build the house properly this time, and don't mess it up again."

"Otherwise it will rain soon, and we can't keep doing this!"

Although the family's life has improved thanks to the housing subsidy and the weather has turned warmer, Sha Zhu's banquet has entered its peak season and the family's income has stabilized.

But this kind of thing is like walking by a river, if you walk for a long time, your shoes will get wet.

If you end up making things worse, you will regret it!
Qin Huairu nodded immediately after hearing this, "Auntie, you are right, I think so too."

"We've made a lot of money, and a lot of people are jealous."

"Jealous? Who?"

After hearing this, Sha Zhu suddenly put the kitchen knife on the panel, looking angry, "If anyone is jealous, just tear down the house yourself, and you will definitely make money."

"You have no ability, but you are jealous of others' skills. What a filthy thing!"

After hearing this, Qin Huairu quickly closed the door, fearing that someone would hear it.

"Why are you shouting? Are you afraid that people can't hear you? Then report it to the street office and get all the money back."

After hearing this, Sha Zhu suddenly lost his temper and dared not say anything more when talking about money. If the money was really collected, the family would be back to the time before liberation.

He chopped the duck bones into pieces and prepared to make soup. An aunt nearby was relieved to see that Sha Zhu was subdued.

This silly Zhu is good in every way except that he can't change his bad habit of being reckless and outspoken.

Now that Qin Huairu is in charge, we can avoid taking detours.

"Hey, I have something to tell you."

Qin Huairu saw Sha Zhu guarding the stove and moved closer. Seeing that Qin Huairu didn't even call her name, Sha Zhu immediately pouted and said, "Go on, I'm listening."

"Hey, what's your attitude?"

"What's your attitude? It's just a matter of fact. How about I fry some peanuts and make some tofu with spring onions?"

"Cut two more preserved eggs."

Qin Huairu continued to say the rest. Sha Zhu looked up, his eyes widened, "Yes, yes, yes."

"Another bottle of wine."

"Yeah!"

"That's right. We don't even have any peanuts. And we're still drinking. Today's roast duck is three cents more expensive than usual."

Qin Huairu's joke made Sha Zhu happy, and he nodded, "You said it, I'll keep it in mind."

"After a while, Jingru came and told her clearly that we should build a good house this time and let her pay for it."

"what?"

"Ah what? Cover it properly this time."

“We don’t make money anymore.”

"Didn't you hear what Auntie said? It's okay to do it once or twice, but not three times. This is enough. Let's build the house and live in it in the future."

Sha Zhu said "oh", and then he heard Qin Huairu continue, "This time when building the house, Qin Jingru will pay for it herself, and we need her to pay 100 yuan. Remember?"

"One hundred? That's so much?"

Shazhu doesn’t understand. He didn’t need so many in the past.

"What do you think? These bricks, tiles and beams are free, and the labor is free."

"I heard that wood and other things are out of stock recently. If you want to buy them, you have to find a way."

“Don’t these cost money?”

"Did you hear what I said?"

Sha Zhu nodded hurriedly, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

"That's pretty much it."

Sha Zhu looked back and sighed in his heart, he would have to pay back this hundred dollars sooner or later.

Some of me are tired.

But building a house is just the same thing. He has done it before. Does he need a hundred dollars?

Night falls.

Lights are turned on in every household, whether it is an electric light bulb or a kerosene lamp, it is the light of home.

In the kitchen, pots and pans were clanging as the chefs were busy cooking dinner.

Yang family.

Yang Xiaotao sat at the top and Ran Qiuye sat at the bottom.

Miaomiao and Duanwu leaned on Ran Qiuye, while the two little daughters stayed close to Yang Xiaotao.

The two little guys couldn't hold chopsticks properly, so they were eating rice bit by bit with wooden spoons.

Steaming hot food was already placed on the table. Today's dishes were particularly rich. Yang Xiaotao specially made braised pork, mapo tofu, braised eggplant, scrambled eggs with leeks, and cold tomatoes.

These are all vegetables grown in the yard at home, and they are also what Ran Qiuye likes to eat.

As for children's taste, just follow the adults.

The family sat together at the dining table. Wangwang was leisurely moving under the table. He was attracted by the delicious food. He stretched out his little head, peeked around, and waited for his owner's reward.

In the yard, Wangcai and Heinu were each guarding a bowl, licking the food in it from time to time and eating with relish.

"Miaomiao, is it okay to go to school?"

Yang Xiaotao put a piece of braised pork into the bowl and asked.

Miaomiao nodded with a rosy face, "The teachers at school are so nice, and there are so many classmates."

Ran Qiuye put down his chopsticks and stroked Miaomiao's long braids. "Miaomiao has a solid foundation and learns very quickly. Lan Xin said that in two months, she will be able to catch up and be promoted to the second grade."

"That's good. Miaomiao is indeed the best."

Miaomiao smiled and said, "Dad, I am still the music class representative."

"is it?"

"Yeah, I led my classmates to sing, the sun always comes after the rain, please believe there is a rainbow"

Duanwu put down his chopsticks immediately after hearing this and said, "Big sister, I can sing too. I will sing too."

Now Yueyue and Rongrong also started to shout, while Ran Qiuye and Yang Xiaotao clapped their hands on the side.

For a moment, the dinner table was filled with laughter and full of family affection.

After dinner, Yang Xiaotao took his children for a walk in the yard and chatted with people there.

Ran Qiuye moved the TV to the yard and placed it on a chair.

When the people in the yard got the news, adults and children brought small stools, and some brought straw mats and gathered at the door, waiting for the machine to start up.

Not long after, I manually switched the channel and found the Sijiucheng TV station, then black and white images began to appear and the sound also played.

Ran Qiuye was sitting aside holding the third child, Miaomiao was holding the fourth child, and Duanwu was in Liu Yuhua's arms, snatching candy beans from Xiaoyu.

The one who is close to the water gets the moon first. The good thing about the Central Courtyard is that if you come early, you can get a good spot.

"Hurry up, it's time to start."

"What's going on?" Someone who was still walking behind asked hurriedly, and a group of voices immediately came from the front, "You need to be more careful."

"Please be more careful and grab a seat for me."

The shouts spread around, and more and more people came.

"Xiao Tao! Uncle wants to ask you something."

Wang Dashan leaned against a wooden pillar, holding a cigarette in his hand, and asked Yang Xiaotao.

"Uncle Dashan, you say."

Yang Xiaotao didn't care. Many people around him went to watch TV, and the remaining few were just close friends on weekdays.

"Xiao Tao, is there any supervision team in your factory?"

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "Yes, what's the matter?"

"You have it too, eh!"

Wang Dashan sighed first, then said, "Two people came to our slaughterhouse, saying they were from the supervision team. They gave us the task last month, and we managed to complete it, but we almost didn't get enough meat for the supply and marketing cooperative."

"Now it's even worse. The workload has been doubled. This is really making things difficult for us."

Wang Dashan frowned and took two deep puffs of the cigarette butt in his hand.

"No wonder. My wife went to the supply and marketing cooperative early in the morning to buy meat, but it was gone as soon as the door opened. She even said she would go earlier tomorrow."

Xiao Liu added, "So there's no meat."

Wang Dashan nodded, "Tell her not to go. Not to mention tomorrow, even in the next month, the supply and marketing cooperative may not have meat."

"And it's not just ours. All the slaughterhouses in the entire city are like this. Our director said that if this continues, it will be difficult to supply the factories."

Yang Xiaotao frowned, the cigarette in his hand flickering, "Uncle Dashan, doesn't the slaughterhouse have supplies from the surrounding area? How can there be a shortage of supplies?"

"You don't know that the supervision team is not only in the city, but also in the surrounding towns."

"It's not like you can raise pigs and sheep in a day or two. If you do this suddenly, you'll break the rules and disrupt the balance. Who knows what will happen in the future."

After Wang Dashan finished speaking, everyone looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.

“It’s not just meat.”

I don't know when Yan Fugui came over and obviously listened for a while.

Yan Fugui came closer, nodded to Yang Xiaotao, and then said, "This is not just meat. My wife, go to the grain station to get the rations for the second half of the month."

"Guess what, it's gone!"

Yan Fugui clapped his hands in surprise and said, "We knew the difficulties before. The food supply was for half a month, so that more people could have food."

"It's fine now. I went there twice in a row and they said there was no food. I heard that it was to support the disaster area, but people have to eat. This is not a big deal."

After Yan Fugui finished speaking, he looked at Yang Xiaotao.

In this courtyard, Yang Xiaotao has the highest status and must be well-informed.

Many people also came over to hear what Yang Xiaotao had to say.

Seeing this, Yang Xiaotao coughed lightly and said, "I am not very clear about the specific situation, but my superiors must have their own considerations."

"The fact that they haven't spoken out means that things haven't gotten to the worst."

"Everyone, relax. We are the heart of the country."

Yan Fugui opened his mouth to say something. During the three difficult years, the city also experienced the same thing. But when he saw Yang Xiaotao's expression, he didn't dare to say it.

I thought to myself that if the food didn't arrive in a few days, I would ask Yang Xiaotao to borrow some.

He knew very well that the Yang family's noodle jar was always full.

When others heard what Yang Xiaotao said, they didn't know whether it was true or not, or whether it made sense, but they didn't know what to say.

"Marshal, you didn't eat when I asked you to. What are you doing in the room?"

In a courtyard, in the front yard of a wrong room, under the light, an old woman pushed the door open and came in, holding a bowl and chopsticks in her hands. There was a steamed bun with a layer of pickles underneath and a boiled egg on top.

In the room, Wang Zhuo was leaning over the light bulb with his head lowered, carving the wood with the carving knife in his hand. Sawdust fell little by little onto the table and spread everywhere.

"Mom, I'm busy. Put it aside and eat it later."

Wang Zhuo said this without raising his head, staring at the round wood in his hand, afraid that he had made a mistake.

"I say, why are you doing this again? Just go to work and stop messing around."

The old woman put the bowl aside and began to nag.

"Mom, I know. You eat first. I'll be there later."

Wang Zhuo frowned, and the carving knife in his hand stopped while he spoke.

He looked at the seal of the Machinery Factory's Planning Department that was copied from the wood, striving to get every line exactly right.

He learned this skill when he was in Shanghai.

At that time, Shanghai had not yet been liberated, and he was making a living in the system.

But corruption is rampant around us, and it is impossible to survive as a good person.

So he learned the craft from a master craftsman, and later within the system, using this skill, he carved a few "official seals", traded in supplies, started a small business, and his life became more comfortable.

But unexpectedly, joyful world appeared in the blink of an eye.

My own method is useless. Even stamping doesn’t work because it relies on tickets.

The amount of food supply you can eat is limited, and the number of tickets you have every month is also limited. You can't even do business, you can only go to work honestly.

Contribute to the revolution.

That life is going to fall apart.

In the end, his wife left him, leaving him and his mother to depend on each other.

"Alas, Mom knows that you won't listen to anything I say."

"But I still want to say something, Marshal. I'll ask an auntie on this street to introduce someone to you. Go meet him in a couple of days."

"Although that girl is divorced, she is pretty and is now a factory announcer. I guess she is not much different from you."

"Mom, I know. We'll meet in two days."

Wang Zhuo said impatiently, and the old woman could only shake her head and leave the house.

拂拂
Blowing the sawdust off the wood vigorously, Wang Zhuo reached out to try it, and then began to compare it with the seal pattern on the table.

Under the light, I did it bit by bit, afraid of making any mistake.

After a long time, Wang Zhuo finally relaxed and a smile appeared on his face.

"Finally done."

Looking at the stamp on his hand, Wang Zhuo chuckled.

Put the stamp in the drawer. With this thing, I feel more confident about my own affairs.

Thinking of this, he turned around and picked up the dishes and chopsticks on the table behind him. Just looking at the black steamed buns made him lose his appetite.

In the end, I only ate one egg and kept complaining in my heart that life was worse than before liberation.

(End of this chapter)