novelraw Chapter 434 - 18: Starting with a Wild Boar_3
Chapter 434 - 18: Starting with a Wild Boar_3
Chapter 434: Chapter 18: Starting with a Wild Boar_3
Chu River was tallying up her haul—
A pig.
fat rabbits.
Various large and small fish.
Various loaches.
Various eels.
Various shrimps.
For a normal family of four, this stuff would last from the beginning to the end of the year, well-fed and with plenty of oil-rich dishes.
But for Chu River...
By herself, if she didn’t go all out, it would barely last her six months.
However, she couldn’t carry more anyway.
Shi Suifeng did say that trains these days are slow and crowded. With this much stuff, just squeezing in would be extremely tough, and any more would likely mean there’d be no place at all.
Chu River had to give up.
Shi Suifeng also said there was a black market, but she didn’t even have a chance to check it out...
Pork can’t be dealt with in just a day or two; some needs to be made to keep well, and some to take along requires more time.
Like making sausages; now isn’t the right time to make cured sausages, so they’ve been turned into smoked sausages by the clever captain’s wife.
The eldest nephew left early and came back late every day, not only eating until his belly was full, but learning so much he thought his brain was going to explode.
Luckily, with the support of a mysterious benefactor, the captain’s wife saw his dedication and let him try for himself, personally teaching him to make a dish...
The eldest nephew and niece were both single-mindedly rushing ahead, but the snacks Chu River brought back from the supply and marketing cooperative had already been mostly consumed, their bellies long devoid of richness.
Sitting down to eat, she noticed the increasingly thin porridge and shrinking pancakes on the table, dangerously narrowing her eyes.
"You haven’t been sneaking extra meals behind my back, have you?"
As soon as she said this, the Shi Family all shuddered.
Who would dare!
Everyone hastily shook their heads: "No, no, definitely not, it’s mainly because we just eat less."
"Yes, it’s hot, and we don’t have much of an appetite..."
Even Zhao Xiuhua turned all sweet: "Aren’t you getting enough to eat? But the family only has so much grain left..."
Chu River looked at her kindly: "Really? I don’t believe it."
She pushed away the dishware on the table, stood up, and headed straight to Zhao Xiuhua’s room. The old lock on the door came off with just a casual tug.
The two brothers, who wanted to stop her, hesitated upon seeing the lock they grew up with crumble like a fragile cookie.
Instead of stepping forward to stop her, one of them even held Zhao Xiuhua’s shoulder:
"Mom, look at you, we can’t let people go hungry, can we? Just let the sister-in-law eat well."
Sob...
As painful as it was, it was better than physical pain.
...
The eldest and second sisters-in-law huddled like quails, while the two kids who never got hit but occasionally got snacks watched the scene unfold, a peculiar notion forming inside them—
The more formidable you are, the more you’ll eat your fill.
Zhao Xiuhua and Old Mrs. Chu had the same trait.
The cabinets in their rooms hid good things.
Chu River effortlessly took down the dainty little lock on the cabinet, as she had with the door lock.
Upon opening the cabinet, there were sorghum flour, brown rice, white rice, millet, and some slightly yellowed flour.
Following a small door in the room, she looked inside—Oh ho!
Turns out the storeroom was connected to her room.
Three slabs of cured meat hanging from the beams, a small basket filled with white and powdered eggs. Bags of sweet potatoes, sorghum, corn, brown rice, white rice, wheat bran...
No wonder her in-laws had better conditions than the Old Chu Family; they were all so industrious!
Chu River was satisfied.
If she’d known earlier, the team would just be distributing food in six months, guaranteed to last them that half-year.
As for the rest... she would handle it, ensuring it didn’t spoil by the next year; old grain just doesn’t taste as good.
She closed the door and came out, casually picking up a bag of white flour:
"Let’s have egg pancakes for lunch."
Egg pancakes.
They need white flour and eggs.
Zhao Xiuhua rolled her eyes and fainted.
...
It’s a pity her attempts worked well on ordinary people, since living here means you have to consider public opinion.
But alas, to Chu River, the world’s eggs and white flour don’t move according to people’s will.
Faint or not, collapse or not, when it’s said egg pancakes, there shall be egg pancakes.
Not even a single sprig of green onions less.
She stepped on Zhao Xiuhua’s fingers, waiting for her to slowly wake up before smiling: "Don’t be so rash. I’m not wasteful with food. If you’re reluctant to share, just make it for me alone."
But giving such hard-earned grain to just this pestilence god alone was even more heartbreaking, wasn’t it?
At this moment, Zhao Xiuhua painfully thought—if heaven gave her another chance, she would definitely go back to the day the engagement was set with a kitchen knife in hand, rushing to the Old Chu Family—
"Dreaming of entering my house? Dream on!"
And cut down that old crone who taught her granddaughter to be such a pest!