CHAPTER 796: FAMINE ERA 2 (2ND UPDATE)

In this era, every household lived in adobe houses, you couldn’t find any family in the whole village living in houses made of blue bricks and large tiles, only a few landlords in the town had them. Yet the wealthier one was, the more they were prone to robbery nowadays, so the smart ones quietly moved back to the countryside to live.

Ever since Ye Huan had time-traveled here, she rarely stepped out of the house because the weather was too cold, her clothes were thin, and she had just recovered from a severe illness. Thus, her mother insisted she stay home to cook and watch the children. Even so, she shivered from the cold, as there were few groves around, and even firewood was hard to find. Could anyone afford to burn firewood just to warm the kang?

The corn cobs had all been uniformly taken away to be sold for money, and that had nothing to do with you.

None of the Ye Family members were literate, nor had any of them been educated. This was also why, although Ye Huan’s Fourth Brother had made great achievements later, he only became a Company Commander. If only the literacy class had been persisted with and good learning maintained, then there might have been further possibilities. But without education, perhaps even the position of Company Commander might have been withdrawn.

Ye Huan felt that she should seize any opportunities to study in the future; otherwise, many things would be limited by this restriction.

The winters of this era were very cold and there was no heating. People had to go everywhere to pick up firewood, let alone afford cotton-padded clothes. Most families typically shared one pair of pants. Whoever went out wore them, while the rest huddled on the kang. This was what they called "huddling through the winter." Although it was not as severe as in the north, located in the Central Plains, the winter was still tough to endure.

Ye Huan’s room only had one room, containing just one kang. Her parents slept on one end, and she and her little sister on the other, so if she needed some private space, she still had to find an excuse to go to the toilet.

The reason they chose to build a kang rather than a bed was probably due to the lack of suitable timber. Plus, on particularly cold days, a kang was useful indeed.

Therefore, most of the families in their village had a kang.

The toilet in the backyard was the most common type of dry toilet in rural areas. The backyard had space, where sweet potatoes had been planted previously, but now it was left empty.

She had endured until March when spring began. Her space, having transitioned through white radishes, carrots, garlic, and cabbage, was now able to grow wheat and rice.

Just like before, she would harvest and sell the produce. Even if she needed the food from the space in the future, she couldn’t take out major crops like rice, wheat, or corn, only things like potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Potatoes could be planted at Level 4, but sweet potatoes had to wait until Level 14. She at least had to upgrade to Level 14 before the disaster years arrived while also saving a bit.

As the ground thawed, adults went out to plow the fields and also to break new ground in the riverbeds, waiting to plant a new season of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

There was a river in their area, and it wasn’t until the 1980s that they began constructing riverbanks. Now, with no riverbanks built, one could seemingly see the river in the distance.

With the onset of spring, it was common for children to dig up wild vegetables. Fresh shepherd’s purse and white wormwood, after being covered all winter, began to grow robustly. She felt it was essential to take advantage of the abundance of wild vegetables, gather more, and dry them. During the famine years, they could potentially serve as emergency rations.

However, because this season was just between the old and new crops—where the winter vegetables were almost finished, and the new season’s crops were not yet sown—they had to wait until early April when the ground finally warmed up before planting. After all, without plastic greenhouses to provide early cover, wild vegetables were the only available greens at home. Not to eat them? To set them aside to dry? Not only would adults disagree, but she would also have to provide some very compelling reasons.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I’m telling the truth, don’t doubt me, I had a dream. I dreamt that starting from the second half of next year, Henan will begin to experience various natural disasters. This year is just reduced production, but by 1942, there will be absolutely no rain, the summer harvest will yield only ten to twenty percent, fall harvests will face locust infestations, leaving not a single grain, and the drought will continue until the spring of 1943. During this time, people in Henan will start to flee en masse from the famine..."

To keep some surplus grain for the upcoming famine years, Ye Huan was also trying her best. Although it seemed inappropriate to announce it this way, recalling the news she saw in her previous life about people being able to predict the future and even clearly recount their past and present lives, she decided to use a psychological tactic that was worth believing rather than not, to wage a psychological battle with her family. After all, saving some food now was also for the sake of making it through the next two years.

"Huanhuan, you can’t be talking nonsense like this. If others hear it, they might think you are possessed!"