mtlumby2d Chapter 164: Only then did I realize what it meant to be full.
Chapter 164: Only then did I realize what it meant to be full.
Zhai Hua was kept outside, so it was difficult to say certain things.
With so many people watching, and many of them being teenagers who can't understand what's going on, if they spread rumors outside, who knows what kind of person they'll be portrayed as.
But the thought of so much meat made Zhai Hua's heart itch with desire.
"Xiao Ye, I heard you bought a lot of meat, so I was thinking of trading a few pounds with you."
Ye Nuan looked at her with a half-smile: "I wonder how you plan to change, sister-in-law?"
"How about I trade you some grain? I won't let you lose out. I'll trade two pounds of wheat flour for one pound of your fatty meat, how about that?"
Ye Nuan laughed. "How is it? Not so good!"
"Sister-in-law, you're joking. This flour is only 18 cents a pound, and if it's of slightly lower quality, it's 17 cents. Pork, on the other hand, costs 80 cents a pound, and if you only want the fatty part, it's 90 cents. According to you, you're thinking of spending a little over 30 cents to get a pound of fatty meat from my family? Wouldn't I be a complete fool?"
Ye Nuan has a loud voice, and the children who are closer to her can still hear her.
Zhai Hua's expression was not good: "Oh dear, we all live in the same compound, we're not outsiders. If you feel you've been cheated, just call me if anything happens at home later, and I promise to take care of it for you."
"No, please! I wouldn't dare. I have my own hands and feet, how could I dare to ask someone else to cook? Let's leave it at that. We don't even have enough meat at home, there's really no extra to spare. Let's leave it at that, I'll head back now."
Ye Nuan didn't give her a chance to speak again and went straight back to close and bolt the door!
This infuriated Zhai Hua.
"It's just a few pounds of meat, look at how stingy you are! And you call yourself a doctor? Pshaw! You have no compassion at all, who knows when you'll be the one to suffer!"
Zhai Hua cursed and swore all the way home. When she got home, she directed the children to do chores while still cursing Ye Nuan for being ungrateful.
When Du Haifeng got home, he naturally heard some things from Zhai Hua. However, he felt that Ye Nuan was not that kind of person. It must be that Zhai Hua herself didn't know how to speak, which was why Ye Nuan rejected her.
"Alright, if they don't want to exchange it, just go to the supply station again tomorrow and queue up to buy it. What's the point of nagging here for so long?"
Zhai Hua fell silent.
No matter how capable she is, she's still timid in front of her man.
Du Haifeng has four children at home, and they are all at the age where they are growing, so naturally they all feel that they are not getting enough to eat.
Unfortunately, Zhai Hua is too stingy. She insists on eating every single grain of rice at every meal, otherwise it would be a waste.
If you say it's not enough, Zhai Hua will say she'll cook more for the next meal, but in reality, the same amount was cooked for the previous meal.
Zhai Hua could wrong herself, and she could wrong the children, but she dared not wrong Du Haifeng.
With Du Haifeng's appetite, he could eat four steamed buns made from two kinds of flour at noon, each one bigger than his fist.
However, the eldest child in his family is only allowed to eat one at a time, and whether he is full or not, once he finishes one, that's it.
Du Haifeng hadn't paid much attention to this before and had no idea what the children's rations were. It was only after his eldest son told him several times that he wasn't getting enough to eat and that he was feeling dizzy that he scolded Zhai Hua.
After that, the eldest son was able to get two steamed buns, but the rations for the others remained unchanged.
Zhai Hua saves a lot of her monthly ration, exchanges it for grain coupons, and sends them back to her hometown.
With Zhai Hua's subsidies, her family members are doing quite well.
It's just that a few children have suffered.
Du Feitian, the eldest son of the Du family, knew that Zhai Hua wanted to exchange meat with Ye Nuan.
He felt ashamed.
That's incredibly shrewd of a calculation; no wonder his mother has such a terrible reputation in the compound.
Du Feitian found an opportunity to dig out all the grain coupons that Zhai Hua had secretly hidden in the house, and then asked Du Haifeng for a dollar, saying that he wanted to buy pens and notebooks. After that, he took his younger siblings out.
With grain coupons, Du Feitian was able to buy grain.
He didn't even need to go to the supply station; he could just take his younger siblings to the canteen and get everything they needed.
However, he knew he had to avoid people around him.
Du Feitian had done this before, but he didn't dare take too much. He only took enough for his siblings to have one meal, so that Zhai Hua wouldn't find out.
This time, however, Du Feitian felt that his mother had gone too far, because he had seen her put so many grain coupons into an envelope and mail it.
In Du Feitian's eyes, this was like giving away his own steamed buns and rice to poor relatives he didn't even know!
These days, stealing someone else's food rations is considered a grave offense!
It was for this reason that Du Fei stole all the grain coupons at once.
Du Feitian didn't manage to steal much money because Zhai Hua hid it very well, and there were basically no large bills at home. Every month, as soon as Du Haifeng received his salary, Zhai Hua would go to the bank that same day to deposit the money.
Du Feitian had seen the passbook before. He once heard Zhai Hua tell Du Haifeng that there was already a thousand yuan in the passbook.
Du Feitian was so shocked when he heard this that he almost gasped.
A thousand dollars!
With so much money in the family, yet never allowing the four siblings to have enough to eat, Du Feitian thought his mother must have some serious mental illness, otherwise how could she treat her own sons so poorly?
The four children of the Du family were all extremely thin, dark-skinned, and looked like little black monkeys.
At 2 PM, Du Feitian brought his younger siblings to the cafeteria.
"Master, please, just give us a few cold steamed buns, we're starving."
"Why are you only coming to eat now?"
Before Du Feitian could speak, the whole family chimed in: "We've cooked, but we're not getting enough to eat."
Upon hearing this, the head chef didn't ask any more questions. He gave the children steamed buns with some pickled vegetables inside.
The four siblings ate lunch at home and then ate seven steamed buns before they were finally full.
Even the youngest one ate a whole steamed bun in one go.
This startled the staff in the cafeteria.
How hungry are these children?
The next day, Du Fei came over at the same time again with his younger siblings.
There was some wild vegetable soup left in the canteen this time, so they gave each of the four of them a bowl for free, and then they ate seven big steamed buns.
The cook serving the food couldn't resist asking, "Did your mom not cook enough food for lunch again today?"
The youngest hurriedly swallowed the soup in his mouth: "My mom never makes enough food. I only learned what it means to be full after I learned from my older brother!"
Everyone was stunned.
Is that an exaggeration?
It's understandable that other families are having a hard time, but they are the children of Commander Du Haifeng!
With such high wages, how can you not even have enough to eat?
It's hard to believe!