Chapter 313: Food Exchange
"Let's finish eating first!"

With Uncle Yan taking the lead, the others started eating madly.

"Hold on, we still have noodles at home." Wang Deming turned around and told Aunt Zhang and Aunt Bai, "Aunt Zhang, Aunt Bai, help the villagers make another bowl of noodles and fry a bowl of egg sauce. I guess this bowl is not enough for them."

"to make!"

Zhang Ma and Bai Ma immediately put on aprons and sleeves, one cooked noodles and the other fried sauce.

Fortunately, the hand-rolled noodles in Wang Deming's family were all prepared in advance by someone at home. They were ready-made and all they had to do was boil the water and cook the noodles directly. Otherwise, they might not be able to feed these big eaters.

Wang Deming sat aside, made himself a cup of tea, lit a cigarette, and smoked slowly.

He didn't smoke before. At most he would go to Yongkang Hutong to get a cigar and smoke it for fun, which wouldn't hurt his lungs anyway.

But after going to various places several times to pretend to be a reporter and take photos, and then discovering some problems that he had no way to solve, he began to slowly smoke a few cigarettes whenever he felt upset, as a way to relieve his inner anxiety.

Especially from the end of last year to this year. I used to smoke a few cigarettes a day, but now I have become an heavy smoker who smokes a pack a day.

The cigarettes are Zhonghua cigarettes, 1 yuan a pack, but even the Zhonghua cigarettes don’t have filters.

After Wang Deming smoked two cigarettes in a row, Uncle Yan and the others were finally full. They patted their bellies, wiped their mouths with the back of their hands, and slumped in their chairs, grunting.

Wang Deming distributed cigarettes and did not make tea for them. Instead, he asked Aunt Zhang to pour each of them a bowl of noodle soup, so that the original soup could be used to cook the original food.

"Uncle Yan, please take your time and have a good rest. There is no rush to talk about this."

"Oh, Zhonghua, this is definitely a cigarette for high-ranking officials! You are doing better and better now! Where is your sister-in-law?" Uncle Yan took the cigarette and looked at it carefully, greedily sniffing the tobacco aroma under his nose repeatedly, then lit it on the lighter in Wang Deming's hand, took a deep breath, held his breath for a long time, and then slowly exhaled.

"What a great cigarette! The Daqianmen you brought me during the Chinese New Year last year is so good that I couldn't have smoked any better. I didn't expect that Zhonghua is even better than Daqianmen! It's true. I can exchange it for 3 packs of Daqianmen."

Wang Deming lit cigarettes for Uncle Yan and several village cadres, then smiled and replied, "Haha, my mother is working in the street nursery now. Xiaoru usually brings her meals, and then she comes back later at night. You know how busy the frontline workers are now. They all work overtime, and some go to the nursery very late to pick up their children."

"Well, you should work harder." After saying this, Uncle Yan sighed deeply.

The others also sighed deeply.

"Uncle Yan, what's wrong with you?" Although Wang Deming had some guesses in his mind, he felt that Changping was now under the jurisdiction of the capital, and it was under the feet of the emperor after all, so it should be better. Besides, the news in the newspapers recently was not as exaggerated as last year.

Uncle Yan's answer was not a question, he pointed at the noodle bowl and sauce bowl and said, "Deming, do you have enough food in the city? Can you eat so well? Do you have enough noodles and eggs?"

"Haha, you also know that I knew several Soviet comrades before. I asked the Soviet comrades to buy it for me from the embassy. In this city?" Wang Deming looked at Zhang Ma and Bai Ma. They were usually responsible for buying vegetables at the vegetable market. They were also in charge of the family's food books, food coupons and so on.

"How is that possible?" Aunt Zhang filled Uncle Yan's bowls with noodle soup again, her face looking sad. "In previous years, this time of year is when all kinds of vegetables and fruits are out of season, Uncle Yan. But now, look, where are the vegetables at home? At most, there are cabbages, potatoes, and radishes."

"The city's rations have just been announced, and they have been reduced by another 2 kilograms. We have a large family, and if De Ming hadn't been able to buy rice and flour from the Soviet Embassy, ​​we would have run out of food long ago."

"Deming," Uncle Yan took out a colorful small cloth bag from his inner pocket with trembling voice, and opened layer after layer, revealing a small stack of money. He pleaded, "This is the only money we have in our village. Can you help buy more food for us from the Soviet Embassy?"

Wang Deming frowned and asked in disbelief: "Uncle Yan, the summer grain has just been harvested. What happened?" "They were all taken away by the higher-ups!" The production team leader next to him interjected indignantly.

"what?"

Seeing Wang Deming's confusion, Uncle Yan sighed and explained, "Hey, Deming, the grain collected by the higher authorities is collected according to the output. According to last year's output and the estimated output this year, all the grain in the warehouse of this cooperative has been collected."

"This shouldn't be the case!"

"What shouldn't I do?"

"Hey Deming, just tell me how much food you can buy for us?" Uncle Yan pushed his handkerchief towards him. "Buy as much as you can. If possible, we will carry it back today."

"There's no more food left in the commune?"

"There is still some, but now the communal meals can only last for half a month at most. Now no family is allowed to keep any food. The county and the commune have special people who come to check every household, and if they find any food, they will take it away directly."

Wang Deming smiled bitterly, "Okay," he glanced at the small pile of money, "Auntie Zhang, please take the money, and then take two bags of food from home for Uncle Yan to take away."

"Deming, we want coarse grains! Cornmeal, sweet potatoes, and potatoes are all fine," Uncle Yan quickly stopped him, "How much rice and flour can we buy? Two bags of rice and flour won't last a day!"

"But we don't have coarse grains at home, and neither does the Soviet Embassy."

"Ah, can't we find a place to change? Like the morning market outside Deshengmen?"

"I've never been to that place, Uncle Yan. Either you take the grain there and exchange it with Aunt Zhang for another bag for Uncle Yan." Wang Deming's mouth became even more bitter. He knew that there was a black market in that place, but he didn't collect antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and he didn't need to go there to sell grain and meat for money.

It would be embarrassing if he was caught by the police, so he never went and never allowed his family to go.

"Okay, let's go now."

"Would you like to sit for a while?"

"No, let's go early, or it will be midnight when we get back."

"Well, OK, but Uncle Yan, I guess this is the last time I will buy food for you. My Soviet friends have all returned to their country, and I'm not sure if I can continue to buy food from the Soviet Embassy in the future."

"Oh, I know."

Uncle Yan, the militia captain, and the production captain all bent their backs even lower.
"Let's go to Deshengmen to exchange food first, and we can go back on the way."

Watching Uncle Yan and his men driving their donkeys gradually disappearing into the night, "Ding!" Wang Deming couldn't help but light up another cigarette. Is the situation so serious?

When will the application for grain import be approved?

(End of this chapter)