Zhu Jia clearly smelled the rich aroma of rice filling his nostrils. Before him, the rice porridge was topped with a thick layer of rice cream.
It looked sweet and fragrant.
Shen Fujuan had even specially taken out a bit of Liubiju pickles to place on top of the porridge.
Zhu Jia took the bowl and chopsticks, first tentatively taking a sip.
After tasting the familiar sweet flavor, his eyes lit up.
It had been a long time since he had eaten such thick rice porridge.
After arriving at the commune, the porridge they ate was as clear as water, and what they ate most were coarse black steamed buns.
Because his body was relatively weak and his labor capacity poor, Zhu Jia sometimes couldn’t even get these things.
That was how he had starved himself into this state.
After tasting the flavor, Zhu Jia began to wolf it down. In less than two minutes, the large bowl of porridge was already empty.
He still seemed unsatisfied, licking his lips.
But Zhu Jia was, after all, an intellectual, with the pride of a scholar in him.
He knew that in these times, grain was precious to everyone, so he didn’t dare ask for more. Putting down the bowl, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and gave them a grateful look.
“Comrades, thank you.”
Zhao Xiaorou stood at the doorway, startled by Zhu Jia’s eating manner.
“Do you want more?”
“You still have some?”
Shen Fujuan nodded. “If you still want to eat, I’ll serve you a bit more, but don’t eat too much. Starving one meal and overeating the next can easily damage your stomach.”
Zhu Jia nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
He ate the second bowl of plain porridge much more slowly, as if savoring this rare taste.
Shen Fujuan couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.
In later television programs, Zhu Jia introduced himself as coming from a scholarly family, with ancestors who had held high official positions, and during the Republic of China era, even a university president had emerged from his lineage.
Once a favored son of heaven, he had fallen into the mud overnight. Anyone who saw it would feel a sense of pity.
“For today’s kindness, I, Zhu Jia, will repay you with my life in the future!”
Zhu Jia suddenly said this, startling everyone in the room.
“We don’t need you to thank us so much. Just consider it as us doing a good deed and accumulating virtue!”
Shen Fujuan felt somewhat guilty as she said this.
But she couldn’t outright say that she was counting on Zhu Jia to be of help.
“When we work tomorrow, come find me. It must be because you don’t know the proper methods that you can’t work well!”
Su Jianjun was even more straightforward in showing goodwill to Zhu Jia. In a short while, the two had already become like good buddies.
After seeing Zhu Jia off, the family finally began their meal.
Every evening, this meal at home was their most satisfying and happiest time.
After eating white rice for several days in a row, their bodies were finally not so weak anymore.
Over time, they began to stand out from the others.
Everyone else was starving, their eyes dazed, working with little energy.
But the Su family members all had rosy complexions and seemed to have endless strength when working.
This unusual scene also caught Huang Wenqiang’s attention.
He had seen many intellectuals from the city.
But it was the first time he had seen a family adapt so well.
Looking at their mental and physical state, they were even better off than many of the locals.
Huang Wenqiang also suspected that they had secretly hoarded grain during labor.
But after observing for a long time, Huang Wenqiang’s eyes grew sore.
He never saw them make any sneaky moves.
Besides Huang Wenqiang, there was another pair of eyes quietly watching the movements of Shen Fujuan’s family.
Su Lina’s family’s land was only about a hundred meters away from where Shen Fujuan and the others were working.
Su Lina could see their family every day.
From the very first day, she had been eagerly hoping that if her adoptive mother’s family was also struggling, she might feel a bit better inside.
Especially every time she looked down and saw the scars on her body left by her uncle’s beatings, Su Lina felt her hatred grow stronger.
Why were they so cold and heartless when they could have easily lent a hand?
They were just a bunch of selfish people!
Holding onto this thought, Su Lina had been hoping that their family would also become emaciated and pale from hunger like others, shedding that wealthy, city-dweller appearance.
However, a week had passed, and the Su family showed no signs of being tormented.
In fact, with experience, their work had become smoother and more efficient.
Su Lina was almost driven mad with jealousy.
Why was it that, having fallen to the same fate in Heihe Village, she was tormented to the point of being skin and bones, unable to eat enough every day, and still beaten by her family?
Meanwhile, their family helped each other, and even such heavy farm work didn’t seem to wear them down?
Gradually, a twisted thought took root in Su Lina’s mind.
She also suspected that the Su family must have secretly hoarded food, cooking small meals at night to sustain themselves!
So, after finishing work, Su Lina quietly made her way to their house under the moonlight.
Although there was a low earthen wall around the yard, it was so short and poorly maintained that it was practically useless.
Su Lina easily climbed over it and crept up to the window, listening for any sounds inside.
Clang, clang, clang.
It sounded like the chopping of a kitchen knife.
Recognizing the sound, Su Lina’s excitement grew.
She knew it! These Su family members, used to a comfortable life, couldn’t possibly adapt to rural living!
Now that she had caught them red-handed, she would never let them off!
Relying on her memory from her last visit, Su Lina tiptoed to the kitchen.
A faint, tantalizing aroma of rice wafted through the cracks in the window.
Instantly, it stirred Su Lina’s hunger.
Her stomach growled, and her excitement intensified.
She knew it!
The Su family really had hoarded food!
Though she didn’t know how they had managed to bring the food here, with this suspicion and solid evidence, Su Lina turned and ran back to where she had climbed in.
Stepping on a pile of firewood under the bridge, Su Lina tried to climb over.
But because she was clumsy, the firewood scattered with a clatter, falling all over the ground.
The people inside the house immediately tensed up.
Shen Fujuan paused while chopping vegetables.
She had been planning to stir-fry shredded potatoes and hadn’t started cooking yet. The noise made her wary.
The others also nervously gathered in the kitchen.
Shen Fujuan knew the importance of caution. She quickly placed the half-steamed rice from the pot into her Dimensional Space, along with the freshly chopped vegetables.
“We’ll have to make do today—no dinner!” Shen Fujuan shook her head at the others, her eyes carefully signaling Su Jianqiang to go outside and check.
…
Su Lina practically stumbled and crawled her way back to the brigade.
Her appearance startled several cadres who were playing cards.
“Zhaodi, what are you doing? Being chased by a wolf or something, in such a hurry?” The village chief frowned at Su Lina.
The eldest daughter of the Zhang family at the village entrance, Laidi, had lived in the city for a few years and thought she was a city girl now.
She brought back a bunch of bad habits.
Su Lina pointed toward the Su family’s direction and shouted excitedly, “Village chief, I know, someone is stealing grain!”