During times of famine: I have a spiritual spring space

Chapter 8 Storytelling

The two siblings dared not take it back, fearing it would be stolen.

People in their village are starving to death, some are selling their daughters, what wouldn't they do?

Never overestimate the quality and character of the people in your own village; when you suffer losses, it will be too late for regrets.

The siblings were young, but they had experienced the harsh realities of life. Even their own uncle had seized their family's land after their father passed away!

Of course, now the land basically belongs to the production team, and their uncle only benefited for two years.

The boy took off his clothes and wrapped the five ears of corn tightly before the two siblings sneaked back to the village and returned home, avoiding everyone.

As soon as they entered the house, they quickly closed the door and even bolted it.

"Xiao Fan, Xiao Yu, what's wrong?" The woman in the room was half-lying down, coughing occasionally. She had been sick for several days and was the mother of the two siblings.

Seeing her children's behavior, she was worried, thinking they had gotten into trouble outside.

The girl happily walked over and helped her mother up: "Mom, we have food now."

The boy named Xiaofan nodded, quickly opened his clothes, and took out the corn inside.

"Mom! Look!"

Widow Yang looked closely and realized it was corn. She quickly asked, "Where did this come from?"

If it was stolen, we have to deal with it quickly and not leave any loose ends, otherwise it will be very troublesome.

"Mom, my brother and I were looking for firewood, right? We saw a piece of wood and thought we'd drag it back, but we couldn't drag it anymore halfway there. That's when a guy came along and offered us some corn in exchange for that piece of wood," Xiaoyu explained.

When Widow Yang heard this, she immediately realized that the other party was just pitying her two children.

At this point, what kind of wood could be worth 5 ears of corn?

My kids are really lucky to have met such a wonderful person. These five ears of corn should last them at least two or three days. Ideally, the corn cobs should also be ground up, making cornmeal.

Although corn noodles are rough on the throat and not very tasty, they are very filling.

"Mom, my older brother told us to trade wood for corn with him in the future," Xiao Fan added.

Widow Yang was stunned when she heard this.

She stood there stunned for a long while, took a deep breath, and her eyes reddened. It was clear that her child had truly encountered a kind-hearted benefactor this time.

He could even be called a savior!

"Good, good! From now on you must..." Widow Yang began to teach her children to be grateful and to do this and that in the future. Moreover, this matter must not be known to outsiders, for fear of causing unnecessary trouble for that benefactor.

Zhuang Lihui was unaware that yet another person was giving him a "friend zone" card.

By this time, he had returned home, carrying two bags in his hands.

One bag contained ears of corn, and the other bag contained daily necessities that he had purchased himself, such as shoes, cloth, towels, soap, and salt—items that were urgently needed.

"Brother, why did it take you so long to get back?" Zhuang Liming breathed a sigh of relief.

He worried all day.

"Didn't I tell you? I might stay at a friend's house."

Zhuang Lihui looked around the house. After tidying up and cleaning, it was much cleaner and tidier. However, it looked even more bare than before. Before, when it was messy, it looked like there was some "family property".

After tidying up, the room instantly felt empty.

"I thought you'd be back by morning at the latest. Jian'an came by yesterday and today, bringing us a bowl of grains. I couldn't refuse it," Zhuang Liming said.

But he didn't tell his older brother that Jian'an got a beating from his family after he went back.

He guessed that Jian'an had secretly taken the grain from his home.

Without his elder brother's permission, he dared not tell anyone that his family had corn, even though the other party was Jian'an, who had a very good relationship with them.

"Where's the grain?" Zhuang Lihui was overjoyed.

Eating corn all the time isn't good; you'll get tired of it and need to change things up.

He was just wondering how to get other crop seeds! His good friend Chen Jian'an brought them to him, which was a real lifesaver.

Good brothers, for life!

"Here it is, brother, what should we do? Should we send it back to Jian'an? We can eat corn for many days now," Zhuang Liming said.

"Why send it back? It's just your brother Jian'an's good intention."

Then he added, "I'll bring some corn to your brother Jian'an later, so Aunt Guifen won't scold him."

After saying that, Zhuang Lihui took out two pairs of shoes from the bag, one pair for himself and the other for his second brother: "These shoes are yours."

Behind them were towels, soap, salt, soy sauce, cloth, etc.

Zhuang Liming's mouth gaped open.

He only gave his older brother 5 cents, how could he buy so many things?

"Brother, these..."

Zhuang Lihui had already prepared his explanation.

"I saved someone before, and they owe me a huge favor. I used to think I could keep them so they could help you find a job later, but now we're starving, so I can't think about that long-term."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Liming was so moved that his eyes reddened and he involuntarily urinated.

Such a huge favor, and the older brother actually thought of finding him a job.

Seeing his younger brother's expression, Zhuang Lihui knew that his story had been very successful. The boy was deeply moved and had been completely fooled.

My silly little brother!

"Alright, why are you crying? You've lost your job, so be it. We'll figure something out later. Right now, the most important thing is to survive," Zhuang Lihui added.

The younger brother, Zhuang Liming, panicked, thinking that his older brother had misunderstood him as being concerned about losing his job opportunity, and quickly tried to explain.

"Hmm! That's the right way to think. Go get your older brother something to eat, and then crush this bag of corn cobs."

"Later, take this cloth to your second aunt and ask her to make us a set of clothes. Give the rest of the cloth to Shitou and Xiaohua to make a set as well," Zhuang Lihui instructed his younger brother.

Why should my younger brother be treated like a precious treasure when he doesn't have to do chores?

I work so hard in the Spirit Spring Space, can't I just enjoy myself?

"Okay!"

Zhuang Lihui casually dragged a chair over to sit down, but as soon as he sat down, the chair fell apart instantly, almost causing him to fall flat on his backside.

No, is this family really in such dire straits?

Zhuang Liming shrank his neck and hurried to make something to eat. He had broken the bamboo chair yesterday, then put it back together, but forgot to remind his older brother.

Looking at his broken home, Zhuang Lihui decided that he needed to optimize and upgrade it.

How can you not even take care of your own living space?

For example, the bed, table, and chairs can all be upgraded with the right tools and a little effort. The kitchen and bathroom also need some work done.

The chamber pot in the room had to be moved out; the smell was truly unbearable.

The people here like to keep the chamber pot in their bedroom so they don't have to go outside when they need to urinate in the middle of the night.

It wasn't entirely for convenience, but it was because it was pitch black outside at night, and there were no flashlights or anything. If I got bitten by a snake, it would be fatal, and I might have to go see my great-grandmother.

As a result, many people simply put a bucket or vat for urine in their homes.