Siheyuan Back to the 1950s

When it was Yan Bugui's turn, he simply didn't even ask. He knew that asking was useless and would only add to his troubles without any substantial effect.

Sure enough, when he got the grain book back, the numbers written on it were exactly the same as what he had calculated in his mind.

Yan Bugui had no choice but to accept this reality and go to pay the money to get the food.

The subsequent actions were quick. After the money was paid, several staff members quickly weighed and bagged the grain. A moment later, two people had already loaded the grain onto the cart.

Yan Bugui checked it again and found no problems, so he got in the car and walked home in a depressed mood.

"Uncle, why are you unhappy?"

Sun Zhengguo asked the question even though he knew the answer.

"Hey! You are not the head of the household, so you don't know how expensive firewood, salt, oil and rice are. The ration was just reduced last month, and it was reduced again this month. How can we ordinary people survive?"

Yan Bugui looked extremely distressed. How could this be a reduction in his quota? This was clearly a reduction in his life.

But this cannot be blamed on him. Although he still has some family background, as a person who came from the old society, he had experienced a food crisis.

Yan Bugui understood one thing: food is the foundation. If there is a real food shortage, money is of no use. It would be too useless to even use it to wipe your butt.

Sun Zhengguo didn't know how to comfort him. He could only give him a little reminder. As for whether he could change it, he was powerless.

"Uncle, I heard that the drought will continue for a while. Since the price of food is not high now, aren't you planning to stock up?"

As soon as this topic was brought up, Yan Bugui became excited.

"No, we have to stock up a little bit. Many families in the courtyard are stockpiling. I know it when I see people passing by the door every day. But it's just a drop in the bucket. It can't keep up with the consumption!"

"Then what should we do? After all, we don't know how long this situation will last."

Sun Zhengguo was curious about how to solve this problem.

"What else can I do? I can reduce my family's diet too! Even though I won't have enough to eat, at least I can survive."

After hearing these words, Sun Zhengguo fell silent. In this era, daily necessities are scarce. It is nothing like in later generations, when some children would have to be chased and fed with meat buns in the morning.

The two of them walked in silence and soon returned to the courtyard. After unloading the grain, Sun Zhengguo went to his sister's classmate's house to return the cart.

When I came back, I happened to meet Qin Huairu, who was with her two children.

Needless to say, the two kids are great and can enroll in school soon. Even Xiaodang can walk now, so it is easy for Qin Huairu to take care of the two kids.

"Sister-in-law, are you going out for something?"

Sun Zhengguo asked casually and politely.

"Zhengguo is back. Let's get it today. Even though it's only enough for your brother Dongxu, it can still help in an emergency."

"Bang Geng, Xiao Dang, why don't you say hello to your uncle? What did your mother teach you?"

"Hello, uncle!"

When seeing the two children saying hello, Sun Zhengguo thought of Jia Zhang. Now the two children are well educated. He wonders what kind of people Jia Zhang will teach the children to be when she comes back.

"Hey! Hello!"

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Qin Huairu left. Sun Zhengguo did not go home either. He called Yan Bugui and the two of them started playing chess at the door.

While playing chess, I also met many aunties who went to buy food. These aunties used the method of ants moving mountains, carrying the food back one trip at a time.

This made Yan Bugui even more determined to buy a bicycle. It would be so convenient to have a car.

At noon, seeing that his younger brothers and sisters had not returned home yet, Sun Zhengguo prepared some food for himself. Of course, all of it was prepared in the space. He was afraid that the smell of meat would be too strong and would alarm everyone in the courtyard.

After lunch, I had a good sleep and then walked slowly to the gate of the yard, ready to find someone to chat with.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw the missing person Liu Guangtian bragging to a few aunties!

"Hey! Guangtian, weren't you missing? Where did you come from?"

Liu Guangtian was not found last night, and Sun Zhengguo did not learn about the follow-up situation, so he did not know where Liu Guangtian was doing.

"Didn't I go to the countryside with Brother Damao to show movies? Brother Damao has already asked someone to pass on the message."

What Liu Guangtian didn't know was that Secretary Zhang, who delivered the message, was summoned to the small warehouse by Li Huaide that same day. If he knew, he would probably want to castrate Li Huaide.

"Oh! Then I don't know."

"Hey! What about Xu Damao?"

"Brother Damao, it's still early, so he went to the steel mill to return the projector."

After saying this, Liu Guangtian prepared to leave. He wanted to quickly ask his mother what was going on.

"Brother Zhengguo, you play for a while, I have to go home first."

Not long after Liu Guangtian left, Yan Bugui came in excitedly carrying a bag of things.

When the three aunts saw this, they hurried over and took the bag from his hand.

"Boss, take a rest first. I'll take the things home."

The three aunties carried the bags and ran home, not giving the other aunties a chance to watch.

The middle-aged ladies nearby were all very envious. What was in the bag?

They all knew it must be food.

This stingy old man Yan must have exchanged fine grains for coarse grains. They also wanted to exchange, but they didn't know who to find and there was really no way.

Several middle-aged women immediately showed their courtesy and tried to get some information from Yan Bugui.

"Look! Uncle San is the best in our courtyard. He brought back the food without any effort. My family also has some fine grains. Uncle San, do you think he can..."

Yan Bugui understood what this old lady was thinking, but it was really difficult to change her now.

These days it’s good enough to have something to eat, who cares about coarse grains or fine grains!

"This grain is not exchanged. I lent it to someone before, and they are returning it to me now."

Yan Bugui's words confused the middle-aged ladies.

This is totally out of the ordinary. Yan Bugui is willing to lend grain to others. How can it sound so fantastic?

Sun Zhengguo, who was standing by, twitched his mouth when he heard this. This Yan Bugui had already practiced shamelessness to the highest level, to the point of making something out of nothing.

"Humph! If you don't want to help, then don't help. Look at what lame excuses you came up with."

"That's right, Yan Bugui is not a good person. He is definitely a profiteer."

"Stop your stinking bullshit. Come on, Aunt Chen, let's go to the street office and let the people there judge whether I have engaged in speculation or not."

Yan Bugui got angry and swore for once.

He knew that Aunt Chen might have said it unintentionally, but he didn't dare to take the blame!

Speculation?

If he fails to handle this properly, going to jail will be the lightest punishment, and target practice will be his final destination.

"Uncle, don't be angry. It's all my fault for saying the wrong thing."

Aunt Chen also realized that her remarks were really inappropriate and hurried to make amends.

Seeing that Aunt Chen had given in, Yan Bugui was not the kind of person who would not give in. If he had not said a few words just now, these aunties would not know how to spread the news!

"Forget it, forget it. You have to be careful with your mouth next time. Don't say anything nonsense. Didn't the street office tell you that spreading rumors is also illegal."

"Yes, yes, I will definitely change it next time."

The aunties saw that they not only did not get any benefits but also were criticized. They felt that the loss outweighed the gain and left in anger.

"Uncle San, you are amazing! In ancient times, Zhuge Liang debated with many scholars, and now Uncle San can stun all the aunties with just one word."

After seeing Yan Bugui's demeanor, Sun Zhengguo couldn't help but praise him.

"You're such a slippery guy, I can't do anything about it! It's all because of the food. I hope we can restore the ration next month!"

Yan Bugui's wish is beautiful, but Sun Zhengguo knows that it is simply impossible.

And this is just the beginning!