Siheyuan: Started in 1950, third-level cook

"Chen Jun, which grain store did you buy the rice and flour from yesterday? Is there any left in the store now?" asked the second aunt with a frown.

"It's the grain store on East Street. I don't know if it's still there now." Chen Jun said.

Got it!

When the second aunt heard this, she knew there was no hope. The store they had just queued up at was the one on East Street.

"What will we do if we can't buy food in the future? There are so many people in our family." The second aunt sighed, feeling a little worried.

With three children and two adults in the family, a lot of food has to be produced every day.

Second Aunt felt sad when she thought about the miserable days of hunger a few years ago.

But there are people in the courtyard who are even more miserable than the second aunt.

That was Jia Zhang who was standing not far away.

She had just returned from her shift at the hospital when she heard people there say that they could no longer buy food.

When she heard the news, she felt like the sky was falling.

Her family's food could only last for two days at most, and Qin Huairu and she had to go to the hospital to take turns taking care of Jia Dongxu, so they had no one available to queue up to buy food.

Although they could buy meals in the hospital, the prices were too expensive for the Jia family.

"Hey, Shazhu is back!"

Second Aunt's shout attracted everyone's attention in the yard.

Jia Zhang was the first to rush over and ask, "Shazhu, you didn't buy any grain either?"

"Buy food? Buy what food?" Sha Zhu seemed a little confused.

"You didn't go to the grain store?" Jia Zhang asked.

"I'm going to work!" Sha Zhu distanced himself from Jia Zhang with some disgust, worried that people in the courtyard would gossip about them.

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong asked, "Shazhu, do you have a lot of rice and flour stored in Fengdeng Tower?"

"How would I know? I'm just a cook. Rice and flour are not my business."

Well, since Shazhu doesn’t know anything, the people in the hospital are too lazy to pay attention to him.

This guy is basically the type who can feed the whole family if he feeds himself. Even if there is no food at home, he can just pack up some leftovers from Fengdeng Building and that will be enough for He Yushui to eat.

After a while, Yi Zhonghai and the aunt also came back with frowns on their brows.

When the people in the yard saw that the couple were empty-handed, they understood what was going on.

"Something is going to happen. I asked Lao Liang at the grain store, and he said the state-owned grain store is out of food. I heard that the warehouse is empty. It will take a few days for the grain truck to arrive, and we don't know how much grain will be delivered."

The news brought by Yi Zhonghai made everyone in the hospital feel even colder.

The warehouses of state-owned grain stores are empty, and even if private grain stores have grain, they have to raise the price.

Now even the third uncle Yan Bugui, who had food at home, began to worry.

The population of Sijiu City is too large, and the grain produced in the surrounding areas is not enough for consumption, so a large part of it is transported from other places.

The higher-ups must have noticed the food shortage problem. Chen Jun estimated that food had already begun to be transferred to Sijiu City.

But now that the news of food shortage has spread among the people, there will definitely be purchase limits on food to prevent the food from being snatched up as soon as it arrives.

From this perspective, public-private partnership is about to begin.

Before the public-private partnership, those private grain stores might have taken the opportunity to drive up grain prices and make a fortune. It may seem quite glorious now, but the more money they make, the bigger the trouble will be in the future.

Those that are selected for public-private partnerships all have a good reputation; not just any store can be selected for a partnership.

After chatting in the yard for a while, Chen Jun went home.

"Brother, you are so far-sighted. Fortunately, we stockpiled some food in advance, which is enough for us to eat for a long time." Lin Yao jumped out from the inner room.

Chen Jun smiled and patted her head, then asked, "Did you study at home just now?"

"Yes, I have been learning for a long time!"

"That's fine. Wait for the first exam and see if you can get into the top ten in the class. If you do, I'll reward you with a new set of clothes!"

Lin Yao smiled when she heard this, and then asked, "Brother, I'm studying at home, who will help you set up the stall? You can't handle it alone."

"Regarding setting up the stall, we'll see how the situation develops."

Chen Jun feels that something is not right recently. Public-private partnership is probably about to be promoted, and the street will probably come up with some new policies on street vendors.

If the situation is not right for me, the worst that can happen is that I report to the steel mill and be a deputy director comfortably.

Anyway, the family is not short of money, and it is enough for food and drink for a family of three.

In the future, various tickets will be introduced, such as meat tickets, grain tickets, cloth tickets, and even feces tickets and urine tickets.

Of course, these two tickets did not restrict people from going to the toilet. They were vouchers for some communes to buy fertilizers in the city.

You can’t buy anything through formal channels with just money.

After all, supplies are scarce, and the higher-ups want to ensure that as many people as possible have enough food to eat.

Thinking of this, Chen Jun suddenly felt a little dazed.

In later generations, materials are no longer so scarce, and food and drink are no longer a problem. People have begun to pursue a higher quality of life.

But looking back, in thousands of years of history, ordinary people have only been able to have enough food every day for a few decades.

It’s really not easy.

After spending some time studying with Lin Yao at home, Chen Jun went out again.

He went to Zhengyangmen to find Chen Xueru.

"Hey, what wind brought you here? You are such a rare guest!"

Chen Xueru was sitting in front of the counter writing things down. When she saw Chen Jun coming, she said something with some dissatisfaction.

These days Chen Jun didn't come out to set up the stall, nor did he come to play with her, which made Chen Xueru a little depressed.

"Oh, the New Year is even busier than setting up a stall. I have to visit relatives." Chen Jun made up an excuse.

"Okay, I forgive you." Chen Xueru waved to the shop assistant and asked him to make a pot of tea.

"Well, this jasmine tea is so fragrant, Boss Chen is so generous!" Chen Jun took a sip and felt relaxed all over.

"Chen Jun, I went on a blind date again the day before yesterday."

As they were chatting, Chen Xueru suddenly brought up the topic of blind dates.

Chen Jun said disapprovingly: "This is not normal. The Chinese New Year is the peak period for blind dates. It will be fine after a while."

But Chen Xueru answered irrelevantly: "But I don't want to go on a blind date. By the way, I want to eat the meal you cook tonight."

"No problem, come to my house for dinner tonight, it's free."

"Okay, it's settled." Chen Xueru's mood suddenly improved.

After finishing the tea in the cup, Chen Jun glanced at the situation in the store and whispered, "Boss Chen, do you know about the food shortage in Sijiu City?"

Chen Xueru shook her head. She never cared about such things.

If she can't buy food, she can just go out to eat. Anyway, she is a wealthy woman and seldom cooks for herself.

"This is a signal. If you have time recently, you can pay more attention to the situation in the city. Those private grain stores may take the opportunity to raise the price of grain, but the more they earn this time, the more unlucky they will be in the future."

Hearing this, Chen Xueru was stunned for a moment, but her eyes suddenly became serious.

She was very smart and heard another meaning in Chen Jun's words.

"You mean, the public-private partnership is about to start?"