Chapter 719: Fleeing Famine 24
A young man said, "Oh, maybe it really is true. During those days fleeing the famine, one night I was in a hurry to pee. When I got up to find a place, I accidentally saw Du Laoda and Fan Laosan whispering about something. That little girl from Old Fan Family went missing the night before."
"Oh dear, there’s thunder and lightning, no wonder even people from the Du family were struck by lightning. It turns out the Du family and Old Fan Family had long been colluding together doing such disgraceful things. Tsk tsk tsk, it’s fortunate those beasts from these two families were killed by lightning, otherwise, if they returned to the village, who knows how many more people would have been harmed."
"Geng Dazhuang and Du Jincui were dragged down by them, weren’t they?"
"Dragged down? Du Jincui was part of the Du family; she deserved it."
In the morning, villagers came to the brigade to get their tools. Everyone was talking about the matter. Yuan Chun wore a sad and sorrowful expression, standing in the middle of the line.
Behind her was Mrs. Zhu, who consoled her, "Sister-in-law Geng, don’t be too sad. Life is tough, it’s a blessing Dazhuang and his wife left early."
On the way escaping the famine this time, Fengling Village lost seven elderly people, eleven children, and six women. The children who died were all girls; their families favored boys, unwilling to spare food for the girls. The malnourished girls didn’t last long before they died.
The women who died were mistreated by their mothers-in-law; on the way fleeing, their in-laws didn’t give them food, and they starved to death.
Perhaps because many in the village had died, few people showed sympathy for Yuan Chun.
Only the neighbors who were close to Yuan Chun cared enough to comfort her a bit.
Yuan Chun sighed, "They are all gone, and as a mother, I didn’t even see him one last time. I regret it. If I had known Dazhuang was so short-lived, I wouldn’t have gone home first. I would have stayed in the team to see him one last time."
"Sister-in-law Geng, my condolences."
"I’m fine, just a bit heavy-hearted; it will pass in a few days."
Yuan Chun rubbed her chest, her eyes slightly red.
Today’s work split people into two: half of them turned over the soil, and the other half planted radishes. As an elder, Yuan Chun was assigned to sow radish seeds.
This was an easy task, worth six work points.
Yuan Chun received a cloth bag a bit larger than her palm, containing half a bag of radish seeds.
The Geng family’s work was arranged on a plot of land where Geng Dalin turned the soil and Yuan Chun sowed radish seeds; Sun Chunfeng covered soil. The three of them completed more than half of the work by noon.
At noon, they finished their work. Geng Dalin went to the brigade to return tools; Yuan Chun and Sun Chunfeng went home to cook. However, upon returning home, they found Geng Xiaowu and three little girls had already prepared the meal.
A pot of thick rice porridge, a plate of cold mixed wood ear mushrooms, and a small plate of thickly cut pickles.
"Xiaowu, did you all cook this meal?" Sun Chunfeng asked in surprise.
Sun Chunfeng was quite pleased to come home to a meal, not needing to cook after returning.
Geng Xiaowu blushed and said shyly, "I boiled the mushrooms, but I don’t know how to mix dishes. Xiao Yu did the mixing. I tasted it; it’s a bit salty."
"A bit salty is fine. Salty food goes well with porridge." Yuan Chun looked at her five grandchildren, smiling and praising, "You are all good kids, knowing to help adults work. You’re all admirable. But you must be careful when using a knife to cut vegetables, don’t cut your fingers, and be very careful when lighting a fire. Do not let sparks escape the stove, as it could cause a fire."