Chapter 69: How to deal with the crisis

After dinner,

Leaving Widow Bai in the house to clean up the dishes, He Daqing and the deaf old lady went out to attend a meeting.

"Lao Yi, I remember you guys were talking about having a meeting yesterday!

I was in a bad mood yesterday. Please tell me what happened first and I will think about it."

"Here's the thing.
This year is a special time. Not only has the gold yuan depreciated sharply, but even the prices of grain and coal have skyrocketed.
Not only does the price change three times a day, but the goods may not be available.

As for coal, the colder the weather, the more expensive it is.

The price of coal this year is already three or four times higher than last year, and it will surely rise to the sky in the future.
So far, not only have we not bought enough food, but we also only have half of the coal we had last year. If we are not careful this year, people will freeze to death.

We discussed it a bit.
Meals are still eaten by myself as before.
Then they let the three girls, Yushui and Zhaodi, sleep on one kang, and the boys, Zhuzi, Damao, and Guangqi, sleep on another kang.

Then the men lived in one room and the women lived in another room.

Thus,
Of the original eight large tiled houses, only four needed to heat the kang.
In addition, people living close together tend to be warmer, so this can reduce coal consumption by at least half.

The money saved can buy some food.

Eat more sparingly at home.

That way, we can get through this winter.

of course,

I know you two don't eat at home, and the He family is not short of food. There are even several hundred kilograms of coal in Zhuzi's house.
This winter will definitely be much better than ours.

But since we are neighbors in the same yard, we must invite you to the meeting and ask for your opinion.

That's the thing.
Think about it first and see if you want to join us!"

Hearing that the purpose of today's meeting was this, He Daqing nodded heavily, and then asked,
"Have you discussed this? Is this what you all mean?"

"right!

I won't talk about Zhang's family.

Dongxu doesn't even have a salary now, and the family's savings are almost gone, so he will have to rely on me for support in the future;
Lao Liu and Lao Xu had many children and a large food shortage, so they naturally agreed to buy more food.
As for Old Yan, he would definitely not be left out when it comes to saving money;

Now it’s up to you.”

Seeing that everyone agreed, He Daqing also agreed.
“Our family is more prepared than you this year, but who knows what will happen in the future.

The gold yuan note is in this weird state again.

There might be a war in Peking.
We don’t know how long the war will last, nor do we know what the situation will be after the war.

I think your idea is very good. At this time, we should help each other, and our family should not be left behind."

Seeing that He Daqing had made up his mind directly, He Yuzhu did not object.
First, he couldn't explain what was going to happen next.
Secondly, since they are eating themselves, there is no question of who is taking advantage.

No need to add extraneous details.

In the end, he only asked that He Yushui must live next to him so that he could take care of her nearby, and he did not put forward any other unnecessary conditions.

Seeing that He Daqing and his son agreed,
Yi Zhonghai and his team discussed the specific arrangements.
In the end, it was decided that children like He Yuzhu would live in the east wing and the adjacent ear room in the front yard, while the men and women would live in the He family and the Yi family in the middle yard, who had provided double the amount of coal.

As for cooking, the fires on the four kangs would not go out throughout the winter, so there was no need to go back and light a fire.
Just take turns.

After the meeting, He Daqing began to explain things to Widow Bai.
"...

Wife, you should go to the steel mill to quit your job tomorrow, and then go with the sisters-in-law to buy food and coal.
Buy as much as you can. The key is coal.

According to the consumption in previous years, a kang would consume at least 1000 kilograms of coal in one winter.
For four kangs, our seven families need to gather at least 4000 kilograms.

Including Zhuzi and the old lady, our family will pay double. Lao Yi will help Dongxu, so they will also pay double. The rest, Lao Liu, Lao Xu, and Lao Yan, will each pay one.
Don’t make any mistakes then.”

"Okay, although we have to go through this together, we can't suffer any loss.

Don't worry, I know what's going on."

He Yushui, who was standing nearby, was confused when she heard that the Xu sisters would live together this winter.

"Brother, I still want to live with you, but I also want to sleep in the same room with Zhaodi.

Would you like to sleep with us?"

Looking at his innocent sister, He Yuzhu thought to himself, I don't want to be Xu Damao's brother-in-law. I will have to clean up my mess later.
He gently pinched He Yushui's face.

"You little girl,

You have taken all the good things, what can you do to others?
You and Zhaodi live next door to me, just call me if you have any problem."

"All right,
So, brother, are we moving today?"

Seeing He Yushui getting impatient again, He Yuzhu smiled and shook his head.

"We haven't bought the coal for the winter yet, so we can't move now.
Besides, your wing room has not been cleaned up yet, so it is not habitable. You have to wait until Aunt Bai and the others clean it up tomorrow."

"Oh, okay!"

The next night,
Xu Damao, Yan Jiecheng and others carried their bedding and moved into He Yuzhu's east wing.
"Zhu Zi, the kang in your room is too warm for us to sleep on. It's much warmer than the small kang my sister and I sleep on."

“It is the pillar.
Your kang is much more comfortable than mine and my brother's kang."

Hearing the two people exclaim,
He Yuzhu, who was boiling water on the floor stove, turned around and looked at Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi, who were lying on the kang with their legs spread out.
"You two families are also living in side rooms, right? The kangs in your house are all made by the Jiao family.

What difference can it make? ”

"The kang you're talking about is my parents' kang. We all slept on a small kang that we later found someone to build.
This is far inferior to yours, there is no comparison at all."

As soon as Xu Damao finished speaking, He Yuzhu laughed and said,

"I can understand what Guangqi said.

But Damao, when have you ever slept on your little kang? My Aunt Xu doesn't come home on weekdays, so don't you sleep with Uncle Xu?"

"That's not my kang either."

Seeing Xu Damao being stubborn, He Yuzhu was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore. He tidied up and climbed onto the kang to go to sleep.

"Okay, let Qingshan and Guangtian sleep in the middle, and you guys should go to sleep too.
I have to go to school tomorrow."

"We finally managed to sleep together, and now we are so happy, how can we sleep?"

"Yes, Zhuzi, we rarely have the opportunity to sleep together, so why don't we talk for a while!"

Looking at the excited Xu Damao and the other two, He Yuzhu really couldn't fit in with this group of 10-year-old kids.

"It's up to you guys, I have to go to bed.
Speak a little more quietly, or I will get up and beat you up."

Even in the face of He Yuzhu's threat,
The excitement of Xu Damao and his companions finally calmed down after being scolded by Xu Fugui, Liu Haizhong and others who were on night patrol.

(End of this chapter)