The mist has just dispersed, and snow particles are floating in the sky again.
Mrs. Xin let out a breath of white air and lifted up the child tied to her chest.
The fine snow particles falling from the sky fell on her head.
Fortunately, last year when her husband was still alive, her family was relatively well-off, and she and her children still had jackets filled with rags.
It's still quite warm at this time.
But Mrs. Xin's heart was even colder than that day. She didn't know how the whole family would spend the upcoming winter.
Just thinking wildly like this, her legs were numb from walking, and Mrs. Xin came to the market.
After looking around, I found a shop with special red flags hanging on it.
There is a picture of a rice bowl drawn under the banner.
It was an official grain store set up by the government.
After the Lingzhi War, the price of grain for various aristocratic families headed by the Lian family increased.
Within a few days, the price of food soared, and Gongsun Yan recorded these people in a small notebook.
Later, Gongsun's shop was used to open cheap grain shops in various stores in the name of the government.
Mrs. Xin felt a little uneasy. She didn't know if the price of food here was really as cheap as the chief said.
The baby in my arms had taken a few mouthfuls of milk in the morning and was sleeping fairly well at this time.
Madam Xin patted him, opened the purse she was holding tightly, and shook out ten pieces of money without money.
This kind of copper coin has a vague character and outline. The edge of the copper coin has been polished by thieves who cut the wheel, so it is smaller than the ordinary five-baht coin.
Copper coins like this are of very poor quality, and shops usually don't accept them.
Since the war, Mrs. Xin's family has had no income, the food tank at home has bottomed out, and even the firewood is almost gone, so she went out to try it with this money.
She walked in anxiously, and the person looking after the store was a spirited young man.
Madam Xin immediately smiled subconsciously.
This young man was originally a servant of Gongsun's family. Gongsun Yan felt that it would be a waste to leave all these people idle at home, so he sent him out to work.
Ever since a store clerk thought he had a high status, bullied others in the store, and was sent to the Lulongsai Education and Reform Camp by Gongsun Yanfa, these clerks all had good attitudes.
He saw Madam Xin's color, and went up to her with a smile: "What do you want to buy, Madam?"
Madam Xin looked around. There were many big buckets placed in the shop, with a lot of grain piled prominently inside.
Liang, millet, wheat, grain, and a kind of yellow thing the size of the tip of your little finger, Madam Xin has never seen before.
On the other side are two buckets of seasoned tempeh and a bucket of snow-white salt.
When Mrs. Xin passed the salt bucket, she couldn't help but go a little further and hold her breath, fearing that she would blow away the snow and salt grains and someone would ask her to compensate.
There are signs on these grains, with prices marked in Arabic numerals and capital letters.
Mrs. Xin didn’t even recognize it, so she had to look at the clerk for help and asked cautiously: “I wonder which one is the cheapest?”
She already regretted walking in. Such precious salt was displayed in this store, and she didn't know how expensive the food was.
The waiter was already accustomed to such questions, and he pointed them out to her one by one: "Liang is four hundred dollars per stone, millet is three hundred dollars, and the cheapest wheat, grain and corn are two hundred dollars per stone."
Lady Xin had a look of surprise on her face and blurted out: "So cheap?"
When looking at the store, the young man always gets a bit of fun from people's surprised expressions, and immediately proudly said: "Of course, the price difference is subsidized by Lady Yan."
Lady Xin is no longer unfamiliar with Gongsun Yan's name.
Gongsun Yan is not one of those people who does good deeds without leaving a name behind them. No one in this generation knows how to hype up fame better than her.
A smile appeared on Mrs. Xin's face unconsciously: "Yes, Mrs. Yan is kind."
The clerk listened to her compliments and smiled and said: "You can buy it with the talisman letter. It's only limited. Each person can only buy a maximum of two stones per month."
Mrs. Xin rubbed her clothes awkwardly: "I only have ten dollars."
This guy didn't show any disdain. The previous one had already gone to Luronce to work on his sewing machine. He said as usual: "It doesn't matter, I'll sell it for as much as I want."
Mrs. Xin handed over the ten unwritten coins with some anxiety, always ready to show a flattering smile.
The guy took it directly without any reaction: "Have you brought the talisman letter?"
"Take it, take it." Mrs. Xin handed over the talisman letter in her arms and saw the waiter frowning.
When she was feeling uneasy, she heard the guy say: "Have you not gone to get a new talisman letter?"
Seeing Mrs. Xin's surprise, the waiter immediately showed an ordinary person's "I won't tell him" look and said: "Quickly go to Lifang to find a new talisman. Now you can get a new talisman, register your household registration in detail, and each person can receive one liter of wheat!"
Mrs. Xin's face showed joy. One liter of wheat, for five people in the family, old and young, is five liters!
It's more than what she bought with her money.
The clerk took another deep look at her arms, not knowing whether he was looking at the child or something else, and then said: "I heard that the Salesian Center will be built soon. In addition to taking in orphans, there will also be some special care for babies.
Nutritional subsidies are all donated by Mrs. Yan."
"You can pay attention to these messages."
"Now, this is your wheat." The boy specially found a large hemp bag to put it in for her.
Even though the surface of this bag is rough, it can be used as a windshield when disassembled.
Mrs. Xin was extremely grateful and thanked the man again and again before leaving the grain store carrying the light grain bag.
She stood in front of the grain store, perhaps because of the weight in her hands, or perhaps because she could receive a few five liters of rice.
The heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart seemed to have been lifted.
You can always get through it!
She said to herself in her heart.
She remembered that she was angry in the morning. Except for the little one who took two mouthfuls of milk, the elders and the two older children did not make breakfast for them.
Mrs. Xin quickened her pace, thinking that she would go back and use the wheat grains mixed with the remaining beans to make a meal of porridge.
Then go to the square gate and change the talisman letter.
The pace of the return trip was a little more relaxed. Mrs. Xin paid close attention all the way, thinking that it would be great if she could find a job where she could take her children to work.
The road home is getting closer and closer, and the surroundings are becoming familiar.
Madam Xin suddenly smelled a burst of smoke, and there was a commotion in the distance: "It's on fire, it's on fire."
She looked up blankly.
A column of thick smoke billowed upwards, in that direction...
Madam Xin felt panicked for no reason, and she hurriedly ran towards home.
The child on his chest was shaking so hard that he started to cry, but he had no time to care.
The smoke became heavier and heavier, and when she finally ran to the alley, the fire had already been put out by the people in the neighborhood because it was daytime.
Wooden beams collapsed to the side, emitting black smoke.
The despair in Mrs. Xin's heart suddenly eased when she saw the figures of an old man and two young children sitting on the ground.
She heard her six-year-old daughter say: "I just wanted to paste more soles when I was making porridge for my grandma and brother, and I didn't want to burn them."
The shivering girl's face was covered in black ash and streaks of tears.
Lady Xin glanced at the charred ruins.
It was the home that their family relied on to survive and survive the cold winter.
Her legs were weak and she fell to the ground, and the grain bag in her hand was soaked in the black sewage accumulated in the recesses after the fire was put out.