Chapter 87 Riot

"Weiwei, has the word gotten this bad outside? These people are really something. Don't believe those who can't keep their mouths shut. It's impossible that there's absolutely no food, but there really isn't much either. Now I'm worried about where to get some food." Director Zhang had practically pulled his hair out.

This matter shouldn't have been his responsibility, but now all the pressure is on him. He has to suppress the riots and the strikes. He can barely sleep two hours a day. He's so worried!

“Uncle, isn’t it normal for people to hand over grain every year? Even though the harvest hasn’t been very good these past two years, it’s impossible for them not to hand it over at all.” He Caiwei hadn’t realized at this point that many people had already fled the village, and with no one farming, where would anyone come from to hand over grain?

"This year's harvest is less than a third of last year's. Some villages are completely empty, with no one around. Where will we get the grain to hand over?" Director Zhang knew he shouldn't say such things in front of the children, but he was about to explode if he didn't say these things.

After drinking, I started to talk recklessly, saying all sorts of things, both appropriate and inappropriate.

After seeing Director Zhang off, Lu Zhiheng was also worried about the increasingly chaotic situation outside. He felt that it was too dangerous for the elderly and children to be out and about in the current situation.

"Weiwei, is school closed?" Lu Zhiheng wanted to know if the school was closed. After all, things are so chaotic outside right now, and many parents are probably worried about sending their children to school.

"It should be about time. The school already had very few students, and now there are even fewer. There are only 8 of us in the class, including me. Our teacher said that we can get the books back and study at home, or we can take the exam first. The principal said that we can take the college entrance exam early. Of the 8 of us in the class, only 4 will take the college entrance exam, 2 will take the vocational school entrance exam, and the remaining 2 will take the job recruitment exam after they get their graduation certificates."

"I originally wanted to go to university, but things are so chaotic outside now, and university isn't easy to get into. There are vocational schools here, though, so I thought I'd go there. They even have schools that teach accounting." He Caiwei originally wanted to go to university, but there are no universities in Pengcheng. If she wanted to go to university, she would have to go to Haicheng or back to Pingcheng. There's also Kyoto, but those places are all too far from home. With things so chaotic outside, her mother would worry a lot if she were too far away, and she would also worry about her parents and grandfather.

“You’re only 12 years old now. Vocational school is only two years long. Even after you finish two years, you won’t be old enough to be hired. It would be better if you applied to a school in Kyoto and lived with your uncle. That way, we’d feel more at ease. After four years of university, you’ll be 16 and old enough to be hired. Then I’ll get you a job as an accountant at the transportation team.” Lu Zhiheng’s eyes narrowed immediately when he heard that his daughter wanted to study accounting. His clever girl was well-suited for this major, but she would still be too young after graduating from vocational school.

"Dad, you can't do this. I haven't even started school yet, and you're already thinking about how to get me in through connections. Do you think that's appropriate?" He Caiwei looked at her adoptive father with amusement.

"Who cares about whether it's suitable or not? I'm the captain now, and I make the decisions." Lu Zhiheng didn't care about anything else.

The father and daughter chatted and laughed at home, dispelling their earlier low spirits.

The old man has come back from his walk. Lately, every time he comes back from outside, he sighs.

“Why is Dad sighing again? Has something happened outside? If there are crowds gathering, please stay away so you don’t get caught in the crossfire. These people are using pretty violent methods to suppress others these days.” Lu Zhiheng was genuinely worried that his father might get caught up in the chaos if he went outside.

These workers are organized and disciplined, causing trouble outside. They haven't been able to catch the ringleaders yet, so they can only watch them continue like this. However, the lack of food is indeed a big problem, and they need to think of a solution. They need to discuss this with their wives when they come home tonight.

"Dad, are those people causing trouble because of a lack of food or something else? I've seen them making quite a fuss lately. A few days ago, a bus was even pushed over, and several people were injured." He Caiwei felt that those people must have a purpose, otherwise they wouldn't be so heartless as to push over a bus full of people.

"The strike at the textile factory was organized by someone. Some insignificant people in the city joined the workers' movement mainly because they couldn't buy food. Actually, many of them weren't workers. By the way, daughter, I remember Master Qu in Pingcheng. Do you know where all that grain in his warehouses came from?" Lu Zhiheng wanted to see if he could find some grain elsewhere.

But he really had no connections, since he had never dealt with these kinds of things before.

"Most of it was shipped over from abroad. The grain arrived still unhulled. Does Dad want that grain? They buy grain over there with gold, they only accept gold bars, nothing else." He Caiwei remembered that Master Qu had mentioned that those foreigners mostly wanted gold.

"Dad, let me put it this way, there are no connections here. There used to be a big port in Pingcheng, and a lot of things came from that port. A small part was in Haicheng. I remember that old man was very bold and once led a group of people to secretly run over from Chun Province in our country. When it was snowing, they braved the heavy snow and harvested a lot of wheat from the Russians."

Those Russians work very little, but they have machines there. They only work a few hours each day, and once it gets dark, they go back to rest without a care in the world. If the wheat can't be harvested in time, they won't harvest it anymore. When it snows, they pack up their things and go back inside to rest, because they generally don't work when it snows; it's too cold there to move. He Caiwei remembered reading in some book that those Russians only harvest wheat when it doesn't snow. She learned from them that they don't even need their tools; they just leave them on the field and go back.

Actually, this is unfounded. Who would just abandon their things? And wouldn't it be quick to clean up those things with machines?

"Who would refuse something so good? Don't listen to those people's nonsense." Lu Zhiheng didn't quite believe it. The wheat hadn't even been harvested yet and the people had already run away. How could they just throw away so much grain like that?

"That actually makes sense. After all, their land is vast and sparsely populated, so one person can occupy a large area. They have machines for planting and harvesting, but they might plant too much and not be able to harvest it all. Sometimes the granaries can't hold it all, so the rest just rots in the fields. Next spring, that can be used as fertilizer, burned, and then returned to the fields." He Caiwei suddenly remembered a scene from the book, about the male protagonist He Qiuyan's younger brother. During a mission, he was injured near the border. Not far from him, there was a large farm. Half of the wheat on the farm hadn't been harvested when it snowed. After the people there took back their machines and farm tools, they didn't come out again.