After a walk around, Yuan Si had a general understanding of her new living environment. But the more she learned, the tighter her brow furrowed.
This was far from an ideal place to live. Li Family Village was situated on a plain with no mountains or rivers nearby. Everyone depended on what the land produced to survive. And because there was too little land for too many people, it was rare for anyone here to have a full stomach.
Seeing this, Yuan Si felt her plan might not be so easy to carry out. 'With no mountains and no water, where am I supposed to find food?'
Just as Yuan Si was worrying, she happened to run into a few villagers returning from the fields, carrying hoes on their shoulders.
"Well, if it isn't Little Si! Heard you just got back from the city yesterday. How come you're already out earning work points today? Your Ma isn't even doting on you a little?"
"Yeah, you went to the city to enjoy the good life, so why'd you come back? The city's much better than our village, right?"
Everyone here had known each other for generations. If anything happened in one family, the whole village would know by the next day. So, everyone knew Li Yuansi had been sent to her second sister's place in the city. It was inevitable that they would ask when they saw her on the road.
"Yeah, I'm back. It wasn't that great," Yuan Si said honestly.
But basically no one believed her. They all thought she was being arrogant. 'The city isn't good? Then where is? Our village? We're so poor we can barely afford pants.'
"Ha, you're a clever one. Don't worry, even if the city's great, I wouldn't try to take your place."
"Let's go, it's noon! Hurry to the cafeteria, or there'll be no food left."
The adults laughed and joked, trying to get Yuan Si to talk, but she remained silent. As soon as she saw the cafeteria, she broke into a run and dashed inside. 'It's so boring being with these people.'
Last year's harvest had been poor, with a severe drop in grain production. On top of that, for various reasons, the grain tax demanded by the state was higher than in previous years. The result was that the farmers, despite working the land all year, couldn't even feed themselves.
The communal cafeteria was also barely scraping by, just holding out for the summer harvest. Otherwise, they would run out of food entirely.
Even so, there wasn't much to eat. The cafeteria served five meals a day, scheduled around the commune members' work hours.
It was April, so commune members usually went to the fields a little after five in the morning. In the summer, this time would be even earlier. The cafeteria had to start cooking at five, usually just thin porridge. Once it was ready, it was carried in buckets to the edge of the fields. The second meal was around eight in the morning, which also required cafeteria staff to deliver porridge to the fields. The noon meal didn't need to be delivered, as the members would come back to eat it themselves. Porridge was delivered again around three in the afternoon, and the final meal was eaten at the cafeteria after the members finished work for the day at five.
It was now noon, the time when everyone had to go to the cafeteria to eat. If you were late and the food was gone, you had to go hungry.
Yuan Si entered the large cafeteria, her little head swiveling around until she spotted her mother. Then she took off running toward her.
"What took you so long? Hurry, I've already gotten your food." The old woman pushed a bowl of greenish gruel in front of her daughter, motioning for her to drink it quickly. "Your Ma here scraped this from the bottom of the pot just now. It's nice and thick. Hurry up and drink it, don't let anyone see." As she spoke, she shifted her body to help shield her daughter from view.
She worked in the communal cafeteria, and if some of the other old hens saw this, there would be nasty gossip.
Yuan Si stared at the greenish sludge in the bowl, and her own face turned a little green. 'What is this stuff? It looks even less appetizing than the porridge at Li Yuan'ai's house. She called it thick, but I can barely see any cornmeal. The boiled-to-a-mush wild vegetables inside do nothing to whet one's appetite.'
"What are you staring at? Hurry and drink," her mother urged from the side.
"Right!" Yuan Si comforted herself internally. 'Maybe this porridge just looks bad but tastes delicious.' She picked up the bowl and GULP, GULP, chugged it down.
"Here, Ma's not hungry. Have some more." Her face a web of wrinkles, the old woman watched her youngest daughter finish, then carefully poured half of the porridge from her own bowl into the empty one.
"Ma, no need. I'm full. You eat it." She had practically pinched her nose to force that bowl of wild vegetable porridge down. She really couldn't eat any more. 'Do these people have no sense of taste? How can they possibly eat porridge like this?' Yuan Si shook her head internally, finding it incredible.
Although Yuan Si was born in the post-apocalyptic era, she had been born at a relatively good time. She had the protection of a safe zone from birth, and with both parents being superpower users, she had never known a day of hunger. If she had been born in the early days of the apocalypse, she probably would have downed this wild vegetable porridge without batting an eye.
"What do you mean, full? How can such a little bit of porridge fill you up? You'll pee it out and there'll be nothing left. Didn't you say you could eat two bowls of gruel at your second sister's place? This is nothing. Stop pouring it back and forth. It'd be a waste if you spill it." As she spoke, the old woman picked up her own half-bowl of gruel and began to drink it carefully. After finishing, she even licked the bowl clean with her tongue.
Yuan Si looked at her mother, then at the half bowl of porridge in her hands. Although she wasn't full at all—in fact, after one bowl, she didn't feel like she had eaten anything—she couldn't let her mother give her food and then go home to fill her own stomach with cold water.
Besides, the thought of that porridge's horrifying taste made Yuan Si flinch. She shoved the bowl into her mother's hands and bolted outside. "Ma, you eat first! I'm going to turn in my task, then I'll head home."
"This child, so restless all the time, never a moment of peace. I don't know who she takes after." The old woman only caught a glimpse of her youngest daughter's back as she ran off and couldn't help but mumble a few words.
"Who else could she take after? Your Old Li certainly doesn't have that personality," a woman nearby said with a chuckle.
Isn't that the truth. Old Li was famous in the village for being an honest man. He knew how to work hard and had no ulterior motives, the kind of person the team leader could trust completely. Luckily, he was quite handsome in his youth, which was how he managed to find a formidable wife like Zuo Daya. Otherwise, who knows what a sorry state he'd have been bullied into by now.
The Li family's children were all good-looking. They took after Old Man Li in appearance, all with pleasant features, but their personalities were another story.
Zuo Daya would admit that her son and her youngest daughter took after her in personality. But the villagers all said that among the Li family children, only the second-born had Zuo Daya's temperament. Now, it seemed they'd have to add Little Si to that list.
"Hehe, my youngest daughter... it's not just me boasting, but she's much better than her older sisters." Zuo Daya also felt her youngest's personality was just like her own. It's no wonder she was biased; who doesn't dote on the child that resembles them most?
"Hehe, of course. Who in our village doesn't know you've raised several good daughters, sister? Look around, whose daughters are as filial as yours? Coming all that way back before the New Year just to see if their old Ma needs anything. We're all so envious just watching." The woman was referring to the time last year when the Li family's third daughter walked all the way back to her maternal home during the Little New Year to visit Zuo Daya. Basically the whole village knew about it, and it had become a heartwarming tale.
"Aiya, isn't that what children are supposed to do? I've worked my fingers to the bone for them my whole life. Now that I'm old, it's their turn to be filial to me," Zuo Daya said, her face beaming with a smile.