Wang Zhong, Ma Renli, and Niu Dadan came down from the reservoir and were walking towards the village. They all looked worried.

"It seems the reservoir is hopeless!"

"Let's go to the water cellar and have a look."

The three of them were walking and chatting, but the topic was a bit heavy and the atmosphere was also a bit heavy.

"How much rations do the folks have left?"

"I still have half a bag of wheat, almost a bag of rice, and some sweet potatoes, but not much," Niu boldly said.

The bags are all standard sacks, but the density and quality of wheat and corn are different, so the weight of each bag is naturally different.

It's probably about ten or twenty kilograms of wheat. The corn is heavier, about one hundred and twenty kilograms per bag.

Ma Renli said: "I'm similar to Da Dao. I still have some potatoes and dried radish leaves at home."

Although Ma Renli was not as bold and capable as him, Yang Deng'er was a powerful character and a good hand at farm work. Ma Renli was much better than Qiao Yue, so the two families were almost the same.

These were basically saved last year and the previous two years, but now they are almost used up. However, compared with the original plot, it is much better, at least it is not time to grab the seeds to eat.

Wang Jian nodded and said: "The fellow villagers should be about the same."

There is nothing we can do about this. The summer harvest has reduced production by 60%, and the quality of the harvested wheat is not very good. After paying the public grain, there is not much left.

Niu boldly said: "Anyway, we can't grow crops now. Let the villagers save some food and survive for a while."

Wang Zhong nodded and said: "I can bear it for a while longer."

"Be brave, is there a place on our team where we can hide a little?"

"A hidden place?" Niu Bingdao said: "In order to hide from the little devils, we dug a hole in the ground. Is that place okay?"

"Di Zongzi?" Wang Zhong had the impression that Niu Dangdang and the others secretly held meetings at night to discuss the land for growing yellow tobacco in Laoqiugou in order to develop a side business.

"Yes, there is a big cellar down there. When the Japs came to raid, the whole village was hiding in it," Niu boldly said.

Wang Zhong asked: "How is the waterproofing and moisture-proofing done?"

"It should be no problem to store food," Ma Renli said.

"Storing grain?" Niu DaDang frowned and looked at Wang Zhong in confusion: "Isn't there a cellar under the warehouse?"

Wang Zhongdao: "A cunning rabbit has three burrows, and eggs cannot be put in one basket."

"Oh" Niu DaDang finally understood.

Now that the drought is severe in the county, Zhang Defu and his group don't have the energy to engage in any activities. Even if they have the energy to engage in activities, the people below don't have the energy to accompany them.

The villagers are either busy digging up grass roots and looking for wild vegetables in the mountains, or they are lying on the kang at home and trying not to move. If they don't move, they will naturally feel less hungry.

Time passed like this day by day. Because there was still food at home and Wang Zhong, a doctor with superb medical skills, helped with the treatment, Niu DaDaFang slowed down and was gradually able to walk around.

Autumn was coming soon, and the heat gradually receded. Niu boldly led the villagers to plow some land, poured a circle of water from the cellar, and planted the buckwheat that had been prepared in the storehouse.

Buckwheat is a treasure for drought resistance and self-rescue. Buckwheat is said to be short-lived and fast. It is drought-tolerant, shade-tolerant, acid-tolerant, and ridge-tolerant. It has a short growth cycle and quick results.

It only takes 60 to 80 days from buckwheat emergence to harvest, which is less than three months.

Since they have to farm, the villagers can't just drink porridge and eat water every day like before, otherwise they won't have the energy to work in the fields.

Moreover, it is the consistent rule of the Maixiang Brigade that during the busy farming season or during the holidays, the canteen that has been put aside for a long time must be reopened.

In late July of the lunar calendar, the canteen of the Maixiang Brigade was opened again. Instead of asking the villagers to turn in grain to support the operation of the canteen, the more than 50,000 kilograms of reserve grain stored in the warehouse for several years was officially put into use.

On the morning of the first day in the field, all the villagers gathered in the canteen.

"Let me say a few words first. This time we will replant some buckwheat. Because there is not much water in the water cellar, the area we plant is not large. It will take less than a few days to finish planting. The rules are still the same as before.

The more you work, the more you get. If anyone is lazy and cheats and gets deducted work points, don't blame me for not making it clear in advance."

When he said this, Wang Zhong also swept away the hungry couple at the front of the crowd.

"Brother Big Chong, don't worry. If anyone is lazy and refuses to work, none of us will agree!"

"No one can say how long this drought will last. I won't say more. Let's all work harder. Whether we can get more food depends on these buckwheat!"

After the mobilization, Wang Zhong gave an order, and everyone drove oxen and donkeys, carrying curved shaft plows, into the fields.

The Maixiang Brigade currently has six cattle, seven donkeys, and two horses. They are all skinny now. They will be planting buckwheat in the next few days, so they have been fed some high-quality forage mixed with beans and eggs in advance.

In addition to oxen and donkeys, powerful oxen like Wang Zhong and Dangdang also worked together to pull the plow.

As early as the early days of land reform, productivity was low and only Ma Datou's family had two oxen in the village. At that time, people would pull the plow at the front. If one person could not pull the plow, two people would work together.

Working with Wang Zhong is Jiang Hongguo. Wang Zhong is pulling the plow at the front, and Ma Renli is holding the plowshare at the back. Nowadays, Ma Renli is a good hand in both plowing and farming, although he is not as strong as Niu and the others.

, but not bad either.

This plowing is different from other jobs. Naturally, you can't just do it quickly. You have to take care of Ma Renli who is holding the plow behind. In fact, it is more tiring. However, Wang Zhong's physical condition is abnormal, which is better than that of the old man in his prime.

The scalpers were not weak at all. After a few days of hard work, Wang Zhong had nothing to do, but Ma Renli, who was holding the plow, was very tired.

The men are responsible for plowing, and the women are responsible for topdressing, ridging, and sowing. Although the work is not heavy, they still have to endure the scorching sun and endure the scorching heat.

It took a total of seven or eight days to grow all the buckwheat. In the canteen, there are two dry meals a day and one thin meal. There are also bean cakes and peanut cakes, which are all made of oil residue and have a good taste.

Although it is rough, it has high nutritional value and contains oil and water to keep you hungry.

After the buckwheat was planted, there was no intention of closing the canteen. Wang Zhong and others discussed it. From now on until the food stored in the warehouse is used up, the villagers will have two meals a day in the canteen and have to work.

Just eat dry food, and when you are not working, eat thin food, such as corn lake, sweet potato porridge, etc., as long as you can't starve to death.

If the villagers want to open Xiaozao Village, there will be no explicit ban on it, but if they run out of food and the team's warehouse is empty, don't blame the team for ignoring it.

Wang Zhong has already said the ugly things.

One hundred kilograms of cornmeal a day, and a total of more than five kilograms in the warehouse. If you continue to eat like this, you can eat it for more than five hundred days, which is nearly two years. It is the autumn of 1960. If you calculate it this way, as long as nothing happens,

, can almost last until the three-year disaster is over.

In addition to the buckwheat planted later, as long as one crop is produced, it will be enough for everything.

Not all the sown buckwheat can sprout smoothly. The villagers built simple sun protection sheds with hay one after another, and carried water from the water cellar every day to water them. They took care of the buckwheat that sprouted like their own children.

of fresh seedlings.

Time passed day by day, the autumn tiger gradually receded, and the autumn wind became bleak, but still not a drop of rain fell, and the sky above our heads became clear and blue day by day.

There are reports of disasters all over the country in the newspapers, mostly droughts, but in some coastal areas and parts of the south, there are tsunamis, typhoons, heavy rains, floods, etc.

Fortunately, it is now the autumn of 1960, winter is about to begin, and half of the three-year difficult period has passed.

In the yard, Da Hong and Er Hong also lay dying under the eaves all day long. They lay in the east wing in the morning and in the west wing in the afternoon. They knew how to find a place.

In the entire Maixiang Brigade, Wang Zhong is the only one who has a dog at home.

After the buckwheat was planted, Wang Zhong was still the same as before, taking his two hunting dogs into the mountains every three days, but he no longer had the same harvest as before.

It took two or three trips to get something, and the prey was all dry and skinny.

In the side courtyard of Ma's mansion, on the Kang in the main room, Wang Zhong took back his hand on Niu DaDang's mother's pulse. Niu DaDang asked nervously: "How is it?"

Wang Zhong shook his head and said: "It's still a matter of vitality. I just brought back a hare the day before yesterday. You and I will get the rabbit back and make it into dried meat. Cut a little bit every day and make it into minced meat porridge. Auntie should have some effect after eating it."

"No, no, you worked so hard to get it back, I can't have it!" Niu Dadan shook his head quickly.

"It's already this time, why bother worrying about this!"

"No!" Niu Dadan still shook his head: "You gave my mother the medicine she drank. How can I still want something from you?"

"In this way, just treat it as if I lent it to you, and you can give me an IOU and pay it back when the drought is over. Is that okay?"

Qiao Yue tugged on Niu DaDang's sleeves: "Bold!"

Niu DaDang looked at the white-haired old lady on the bed who looked a bit frail, gritted his teeth and nodded helplessly.

"I will exchange food for you..."

"Okay, don't be polite to me. I can go hunting in the mountains. My family's life is at least better than yours. Now is the slack season. The canteen calculates that one person only needs five or two bags of rice every day. With the little grain you have in hand, it's still better.

Leave it to replenish your health! As long as you are fine, it is better than anything else."

Niu DaDang looked at Wang Zhong, his eyes full of emotion: "Dachong, I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life."

Wang Zhong smiled: "Why are you talking about this? Auntie's body is the most important thing now."

"Okay, come with me!"

Jiang Hongguo didn't complain at all about Wang Zhong giving the hare to Niu DaDang, and even asked some questions about Niu DaDang's health.

In the evening, Jiang Hongguo used a lunch box to make corn porridge from the canteen. He took some dried meat from the warehouse, cut it into cubes and mixed it with the porridge. He added water to boil it. There was a steamer on the pot, and ten yellow buns were placed on the steamer.

After making the steamed buns, I took out a handful of pickles from the jar, cut them into pieces and simply fried them, and my dinner was complete.

"Eat more!" Wang Zhong stuffed two yellow buns into his son's hands.

Jiang Hongguo specially scooped some extra diced meat for her two sons.

"You should also eat more, don't starve the child in your belly." Wang Zhong also helped Jiang Hongguo scoop a bowl of corn porridge.

Jiang Hongguo paused in taking the yellow bun, then turned to look at Wang Zhong, full of surprise: "What?"

Wang Zhong put his hand on Jiang Hongguo's lower abdomen, smiled and said, "Don't you feel that you have been a little sluggish during this time?"
To be continued...