sailing in that era

Chapter 2 Mother's Borrowing Routine
Peng Baili looked at his third brother's greedy eyes and felt a little funny in his heart. He was really a glutton.

In today's home, boiled eggs are a luxury. Generally, the eggs in the house are used to exchange some pocket money for the three brothers to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstones.

"Your elder brother injured his foot, this is for him."

Seeing the little eyes of the third brother, the mother patted him lightly with her hand, and then put the hot boiling eggs in a bowl with cold water.

After hearing this, the third brother looked away with longing eyes.

Peng Baili saw his younger brother like this, it was not easy for this little glutton to do this, you must know that in the past as long as there was delicious food at home, he would not lag behind others.

Then look at the dull look of the second brother, and glance at the eggs in the bowl.

Peng Baili felt very uncomfortable, life at home was really hard!
Decades later, it is hard for people to believe that the temptation of an egg is so great, because eggs can be eaten every day.

But for their family now, it is really a luxury.

Although the family was allocated land two years ago, the amount of land allocated was very little. The whole family lived on less than two mu of land and had to pay public grain every year.

God often makes troubles. When the corn planted at home is just half-ripe, there will be several strong winds every year. Many corn (corn) stalks are directly blown off, and the yield also plummets.

It can be said that their family borrows food for at least three or four months every year.

Peng Baili still remembers that when his mother was out of crops, she would often take them to borrow food from people in the village who had surplus food. She rolled her eyes one after another, and her mother tried her best to please them.

It's heartbreaking to think about these things.

Peng Baili sat on the bed like this, listening to his mother's nagging, and gradually became familiar with the current situation.

I also know with certainty that I have been reborn.

Now everything is so real, the mother's kind nagging, the second brother's silent expression from time to time, and the third brother's happy expression that keeps laughing after a while...

All of this is so real.

When eating lunch, the whole family holds rice with rice in their hands. This is a rice made with rice flour through two steaming procedures. It has always been a staple food in the family.

Rice with rice is especially good at fighting hunger, much better than rice, but the taste is much worse.

Especially the corn-wrapped rice in his bowl is not even separated from the skin. If there is a soup with rice, a layer of grain-wrapped rice can be seen on it.

Seeing his younger brother, Peng Baili still glanced at the white eggs he was peeling in the bowl from time to time, and directly divided the egg whites into two halves and gave them to the two brothers.

"Brother, eat it, I like potatoes..."

"Brother, you eat, let your feet get better soon."

……

The second brother was serious when he spoke, but the younger brother refused against his will even though he was greedy.

It was only when their mother asked them to hold it that they took it in their hands.

Seeing them eating in small bites, the third child narrowed his eyes, with a look of enjoyment on his face.

Peng Baili also put the egg yolk in his mouth, and a strong fragrance wafted in his mouth.

Really fragrant!

I feel that this is the best egg he has ever eaten.

Afterwards, a bowl of rice was soaked in a pot of sauerkraut and yam soup. There were sporadic drops of oil floating on the soup, which disappeared after a few puffs.

At this time, Peng Baili saw the sadness flashing on his mother's face, she was eating very slowly, and she hesitated to speak.

He couldn't help asking.

"Mom, is something wrong?"

After hearing what he said, the mother said: "I went to your third grandma's house to borrow food in the morning, but I didn't borrow it. It's not easy to borrow food because it's not picked up!"

Peng Baili knew as soon as he heard it. It is now the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and the farm is still growing in the field. As for last year's Chen Liang, his family has already bottomed out.

Their family has been out borrowing food for more than two months.

Peng Baili comforted him.

"Mom, don't worry. Anyway, the food at home can last for ten days and a half months. Think of a way slowly."

The mother said with a very ugly face: "You child, if you don't find a good ration now, it will be bad when there is really no next meal."

Later, the mother was still hesitant, and Peng Baili knew what she was going to do.

Borrow usury!

Yes, it is loan sharking.

These things are still fresh in his memory, because their family lives on loan sharks from time to time.

Food is precious these days!
People who are not particularly close will ignore you.

Don't open your mouth.

In this case, only cash can be used to sell grain.

Their family borrows hundreds of dollars in usury loans every year. Although this amount of money is small, it is actually quite a lot.

You must know that the price of corn is only about ten cents per catty.

A hundred yuan can buy a thousand catties of grain.

The borrowed money is mainly used for production advances, and to buy food for livelihood in times of food shortage.

Finally, of course, there are the tuition and miscellaneous fees of the three brothers. This is not to say that elementary and junior high schools will be free in the future, and a certain living allowance will also be given.

There is no such thing in this day and age. Although the tuition and miscellaneous fees are only a few dollars, it is really hard to earn money!
It is now [-], and the spring breeze of reform is in this small mountain village in the southwest, but it has not affected it at all, except of course that each household is allocated land.

The rural labor force is quite wealthy. Neighbors help out with some work and usually just take care of the food. It is impossible to get paid.As for making money from crops, it's impossible. 80.00% of people don't have enough food to eat. As for the cash crop - tobacco, the government purchases it at a very low price, but you can't make much money.

In addition, everyone is just getting in touch with this new thing, and the technology is not very good.

When curing tobacco, if the firepower is not controlled well, it will be damaged, and the damaged tobacco is worthless.

In addition, growing tobacco also requires a strong labor force, which obviously does not meet such conditions for their family.

It can be said that the family basically only has money out, not money in.

It is really difficult for my mother to maintain this family! !

Peng Baili secretly decided to set a small goal first, so that his family can become a ten thousand yuan household within two years.

Peng Baili asked in a low voice.

"Mom, are you going to Sanbo's house to borrow money?"

Mother was very surprised when she heard that, "Boss, how do you know?"

After hearing this, Peng Baili wanted to roll his eyes. It seemed that his mother's routine of borrowing money had never changed.

First at Sanbo's house, if you don't get any money, then borrow it from other people's house.

Sanbo's family, the third elder brother of his father's mother and compatriot.

He also knew that when he went to Sanbo's house to borrow money this time, not only was he rejected, but Sanbo's mother even satirized his mother for a long time.

When my mother came back, she hid in the back room and cried once.

This incident has always been fresh in his memory.

"Mom, don't go, didn't you just quarrel with the third aunt a while ago? What can you ask for now?!"

Peng Baili quickly persuaded.

After hearing his words, my mother was a little discouraged. She didn't know that she had quarreled with her third aunt a few days ago, but what can she do to make a living?

Sometimes it's nothing to lose face in order to have enough food and keep the children from starving!
The mother seemed to be comforting herself and Peng Baili and said, "Don't worry, your third uncle will definitely borrow the money. As for what your third aunt wants to say, let her say it!"

After hearing this, Peng Baili said eagerly: "Mom, let's forget it. The third aunt and the third uncle are a couple after all. If you borrow money like this, they will definitely have conflicts."

"Besides, their family is not the only one that can borrow money. Isn't Kanxiatang Sanbo's family very rich? Let's go to his house!"

He really didn't want his mother to be angry again. His mother was a relatively strong person outside, and she always endured any anger outside.

After returning home, I always hide in the house and cry softly.

In fact, she is only superficially strong.

The heart is very fragile.

But for the sake of the three of them, it had to be like this.

The mother didn't insist in the end, and she didn't want to be slapped in the face.

"Okay, let's go to Kanxia's third uncle's house, but if that's the case, I have to do a day's work for their family."

"It's okay, when my feet get better, I'll carry potatoes for their family for two days."

"You child, you are so young, don't be brave!"

……

The mother disagreed with his words, but she was reluctant to let her children do coolies.

Only 12 years old!
Peng Baili felt that it didn't matter, but in fact, the three brothers came here like this.

After another year or two in the original time and space, he often helped other people's houses with work, mainly to relieve the pressure on his mother.

Although he is only 12 years old, he is already half a labor force. He cuts pig grass and feeds the pigs every day. One pig in the family has not let his mother worry about it, and it is full.

Although the pigs were not given much food, they still grew fatter.

Even my second brother, who is two years younger than me, is also a small expert, and he mows grass very fast.

The yams in their field were carried home by the two of them in baskets.

For the next few days, Peng Baili stayed at home, mainly because his feet were very inconvenient and he couldn't walk too hard.

He didn't just lie on the bed, but walked around the room.

What caught the eye were thatched houses in twos and threes. This kind of house is built with stones, but the roof is covered with straw. This kind of house is warm in winter and cool in summer, so it is quite comfortable to live in.

It's just that if the house is not built very well, then when it rains heavily, the house will leak from time to time.

In his memory, during rainy days, his family would usually prepare a few empty pots, and put them there to catch the rain wherever there was a leak in the house.

He still remembered that on a night of heavy rain, the quilts of the three brothers were all wet, and the next day, all three of them caught cold.

"Baili, is there a big problem with your feet?"

"Small problem, it's almost over."

"Baili, without you swimming in the river with us these few days, I can already swim on my back. Surprised, you are behind!"

……

The little friends in the village often come to play with Peng Baili. Although he has a stubborn personality, he is more righteous, and he still has a few good friends.

"Boss, I'm back, where's your mother?"

Hearing this voice, Peng Baili looked up, and a long-lost and familiar person appeared in front of him.

(End of this chapter)