Chapter 13 Li Mingyue Gives Birth

While grain prices were still low and supplies were plentiful, Bai Xiaoyue kept only 50 yuan for her daughter to use in case of emergency.

The remaining 50 yuan was used to buy grain, specifically 700 jin of corn and sorghum, which Bai's father had someone transport home.

When Bai Xiaoyue went to the market to buy grain, she saw everyone excitedly discussing the news that the yield per mu could exceed 1,000 jin.

They were hoping to buy grain from the south at the lowest possible price, and she felt extremely distressed.

Some time later, Ye Jianguo returned from the south with two young men from the village. All three of them looked solemn.

It turns out that the claim of a yield of 1,000 jin per mu was completely fabricated.

A production brigade, known as "A", reported a yield of 600 jin per mu and received praise from the commune.

Soon after, a production brigade of the "B" class reported a yield of 700 jin per mu, and the town recognized it as an advanced unit.

Then, the "C" production brigade dared to produce 800 jin per mu, and the newspaper came to interview them.

With such eager performances, the whole country knew that the yield per mu could reach thousands of jin.

Because of the false reporting of yield per mu, the amount of grain delivered to the public was naturally higher, resulting in farmers actually receiving less grain.

If each family is not enough to eat, there is not much food circulating in the market.

On their way back, the group didn't see any grain for sale, and even with money, there was nowhere to buy it.

Fortunately, after listening to his son and Bai Xiaoyue's advice, Uncle Bai immediately organized the villagers to buy a kilogram of sorghum rice.

Now there's nowhere to buy it even if you want to, but the Hongxing Production Brigade has more than 800 people, so that little bit of grain is just a drop in the bucket.

Unable to buy grain, they could only rely on the harvest from the fields, but misfortune never comes singly.

The weather hadn't rained for a long time, and the corn husks were so dry that they were curling up. The village officials organized the entire village, young and old, to irrigate the corn.

The men carried water, the women scooped water, and watered the corn seedlings; no one dared to slack off.

After several weeks without rain, the river is about to run dry.

Ye Jianguo made a decisive decision: abandon the crops in the distance and only save the grain along the river.

Half of the corn seedlings that couldn't produce ears died from drought and could only be used as pig feed.

It hasn't rained for a while, and the well water level has started to drop, so people have to queue for water.

Bai Xiaoyue was thankful that her family had a well, so she didn't have to fight with everyone for water.

With the grain supply decreasing this year, everyone is going hungry.

Bai Xiaoyue remembered the cave where her younger brother threw away the grain.

She remembered that the cave seemed very damp, and wondered if it was possible to grow some sweet potatoes there.

The cave isn't very big, and we don't know how much we'll gain, but it's better than not trying at all.

She acted immediately upon thinking about it. She first spoke to Bai's father, who then told her to go find her eldest cousin, Bai Wenli.

Bai Wenli and his father took hoes and went with Bai Xiaoyue to investigate the cave.

Bai Xiaoyue was too timid to go in, but her father and Bai Wenli were quite happy when they came out.

The father said, "Daughter, we turned the soil over with a hoe, and it's quite moist. We can try planting some."

Bai Wenli nodded: "I'll find a few people to plant the sweet potato seedlings. Even though it'll be a little late, it'll be good to harvest some."

Bai Xiaoyue felt that her mission was accomplished and was very happy.

Despite everyone's arduous and tireless efforts, the harvested grain in the fall was only 40% of what it used to be.

This is already considered very good; many production teams had no harvest at all.

Bai's father told Bai Xiaoyue that they had harvested over 200 jin (approximately 100 kg) of sweet potatoes from the cave.

Bai Xiaoyue knew that sweet potatoes thrive in sunny conditions, and the cave was cool and shady, so harvesting over 200 jin was already a blessing from heaven.

The village officials looked at the small amount of grain they had collected.

After much discussion, it was decided that the main labor force would receive half a jin of grain per day, while the elderly and children would receive only 3 liang (150 grams).

The canteen cooks the food and then distributes it to each family, who then takes it home and distributes it among themselves.

They can take the food home and cook some vegetables from their own garden to eat with it.

Everyone is tightening their belts to make ends meet.

It didn't have much of an impact on Bai Xiaoyue; she could just take it home and eat it with her parents and children.

The sweet potatoes and potatoes she harvested from her vegetable garden are all in the cellar.

The dried vegetables and sweet potatoes I collected a few years ago are just what I need right now.

After the autumn harvest, Li Mingyue's child was born.

Bai Xiaoyue busied herself going to see the baby.

She brought with her two sets of small clothes that her mother had helped make, and a basket of eggs.

Then, steeling himself, he also caught one of the hens in the house.

Li Mingyue had been in labor for four days when Bai Xiaoyue took Chang Le directly to the small courtyard where she rented a place.

The courtyard is small, with a few brick and tile houses, all kept clean and tidy.

One room was for the couple, connected to the kitchen, while the other room was filled with food.

There was also a small room with a bed, which seemed to be for entertaining guests.

Li Mingyue lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), while Wang Weiguo stewed chicken soup in the kitchen.

As soon as she entered the door, Chang Le clamored to see the baby.

When Bai Xiaoyue brought him over, she saw what a big, chubby little boy he was.

Only with my dad working at the meat processing plant and my mom working at the supply and marketing cooperative could we be raised so well in these days.

"What a lucky boy, Mingyue. You've raised him well. Does he have a name yet?"

"His formal name hasn't been chosen yet, his nickname is Ping'er. I only hope that he will live a peaceful and safe life."

"Ping'er, it sounds nice, and the meaning is good too!" Bai Xiaoyue said, teasing Xiao Ping'er.

She teased him for a while, then put Xiaoping down and let her daughter enjoy him.

Looking up, I saw yarn on the counter and asked Li Mingyue:

"What, are you knitting a sweater for Xiaoping? You can't knit during her postpartum period, or your hands will hurt later."

"Back then, my mother-in-law had Weiguo bring it back," Li Mingyue waved her hand.

Bai Xiaoyue examined the yarn carefully. It was very soft, and inside there was a knitting needle and a crochet hook.

The amount of yarn is enough to crochet a little vest for a baby:

"Let me crochet a little vest for Ping'er. She can wear it over her inner clothes. It will be warm and protect her chest and back."

"Xiaoyue, you can do this too? Great! Great!" Li Mingyue said with delight.

She watched the yarn twirling between Bai Xiaoyue's fingers and found it magical.

Watching Wang Weiguo bustling about, Bai Xiaoyue, while busy with her own work, asked:

"Mingyue, why didn't your mother-in-law come to help you?"

Li Mingyue's face showed a hint of worry:

"Sigh, it's a long story. You know my mother is gone."

The old woman injured her foot again and needs someone to take care of her. She can only rely on Weiguo. She'll be able to manage on her own in a few days.

Bai Xiaoyue frowned: "If you don't take good care of yourself during your postpartum period, it can affect your whole life. How about I come and stay with you for a few days?"

I can't do anything else, but I can still cook rice.

Perfect timing! Now that everything at home is done, all that's left is to go up the mountain to pick hazelnuts, which I'm not good at.

"And you can keep our Xiaoping company." He then teased Ping'er.

Just then, Wang Weiguo brought out the food and called out that dinner was ready.

Li Mingyue said to her husband, "Weiguo, Xiaoyue is staying to cook for me!" She then covered her mouth and laughed.

"Thank you so much, Xiaoyue, you've helped me a lot!" Wang Weiguo was both surprised and delighted.

"No need to thank me, Mingyue is my friend, and besides, you've helped me so much."

"Just so you know, grain prices have gone up. Corn is now 30 cents a day and there's no stock. Sorghum is 25 cents a day too."

While serving food to his wife, Wang Weiguo talked to Bai Xiaoyue about the rising grain prices.

Bai Xiaoyue saw that he looked calm and composed, and realized he was a man who could keep his composure.

"Really, really, Xiaoyue, you're amazing! What do you think we should do with the grain?" Mingyue, being straightforward, beamed with joy.

Wang Weiguo looked at his wife chattering away helplessly, and kept putting her favorite dishes on her plate.