Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 56: Sudden Food Famine and Ecological Economy

The panic and resentment brought about by the general meeting of the entire courtyard, like a thick dark cloud, shrouded the courtyard and finally turned into a fierce storm at the Jia family's dinner table.

Dinner was even thinner and palatable than usual; the cornbread buns were noticeably smaller, and a small dish of pickled vegetables became the main course. The atmosphere at the dinner table was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

After shoveling a couple of mouthfuls of thin porridge, Jia Zhangshi grew angrier and angrier, and the more she thought about it, the more panicked she became. Finally, she couldn't contain her anger any longer and slammed her chopsticks on the table with a loud "bang," which startled Banggeng and Xiaodang, who were carefully drinking their porridge.

Her slanted, triangular eyes flashed, pointing directly at Qin Huairu, who was silently munching on her cornbread with her head down. Her voice was sharp and piercing, filled with bitter resentment:

"It's all your fault, you jinx! You jinx! I told you from the start not to marry me! You're just a country bumpkin, what do you have besides your pretty face? Huh? Now look what's happened! Karma's come back to bite you!"

She practically spat in Qin Huairu's face: "If you hadn't stubbornly insisted on marrying into our Jia family, would Banggeng and Xiaodang have gotten rural residency with you? Now look what's happened! The rations have been reduced! Reduced so drastically! Is Dongxu's meager grain enough to feed you few country bumpkins? Our Jia family is truly cursed for eight lifetimes to have married a good-for-nothing like you! You're just here to collect a debt! Are you deliberately trying to starve our whole family to death?!"

Qin Huairu turned pale from the barrage of insults, her body trembled slightly, and her eyes instantly reddened. She dared not argue back, only biting her lower lip tightly, lowering her head, large tears silently falling into the bowl of porridge in front of her, her shoulders shaking with each sob. She knew that in this family, she would always be the one with the lowest status, the one her mother-in-law could vent her anger on at will.

Jia Dongxu was already upset about the reduction in quotas. After a long day in the workshop, he couldn't even have a proper meal when he got home. Listening to his mother's unreasonable and accusatory rant, his anger flared up.

He slammed his bowl down, the bottom hitting the table with a dull thud. His neck stiff, he yelled irritably at his mother, "Mom! Are you ever going to stop?! What's the point of yelling at Huai Ru?! How can you blame her for this?"

He was panting heavily, both anxious and angry, and he roared out all his pent-up resentment: "Two years ago! Didn't the neighborhood committee come down to collect data and encourage families who could afford it to move their household registration to the city? Didn't they discuss it with you? What did you say? Huh?!"

Jia Dongxu became increasingly agitated, his face flushed red: "You absolutely refused! You said that although those few acres of land in the countryside had been handed over to the government, the old connections were still there, and maybe one day you could still have some hope, clinging to that long-vanished 'tenant rent'! You insisted on keeping your household registration in the countryside, thinking you could gain that little advantage! Now look what's happened! The policy has changed! The quotas have been cut! And now you want to blame others! If you had listened to advice and moved your household registration here, would things be like this now? Who can you blame?!"

These words struck a nerve with Jia Zhangshi, highlighting her shortsightedness. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she jumped up, her voice even sharper: "You, Jia Dongxu! You think you're all grown up now? Daring to talk to your mother like that! Who was I doing this for? Wasn't I just trying to ensure this family had more food? Who knew the policies would change so suddenly? Who knew the ration quotas would be cut so drastically? And now you're blaming me? You heartless bastard!"

Banggeng and Xiaodang huddled in the corner of the table, too scared to even breathe. Banggeng's eyes were filled with tears of fear as he tightly gripped his sister's hand. Xiaodang buried his face in his hands, his small body trembling slightly with fear. They didn't understand why their grandmother and father were arguing so loudly; they only knew that the food at home was getting worse and worse, and the atmosphere was becoming increasingly terrifying.

Jia Dongxu was so angry at his mother's unreasonable nagging that his chest ached. Pointing outside, he said, "For a little bit of grain? Now look what's happened! Where's the grain? From now on, forget about grain, even getting enough to eat will be a problem! You're just being difficult!"

"Me? If you weren't so incompetent, unable to earn big money or buy high-priced grain, would we, mother and children, have to suffer like this with you?" Jia Zhangshi began to argue unreasonably, trying to shift the blame.

Seeing the argument escalate to the point of almost overturning the table and smashing the bowls, Qin Huairu could no longer hold back. She sobbed and ran back to the inner room.

The panic spread like a plague throughout the courtyard. As night fell, the courtyard lost its usual tranquility. The news brought by Director Wang was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the last bit of warmth from the stoves in each household.

The entire courtyard seemed to have lost its soul. The men squatted silently in the corners, smoking; the women stared blankly at the half-empty rice jars; even the children were unusually well-behaved, afraid to make a sound. A sense of frugal worry permeated the air; everyone was mentally calculating how to save every last grain of rice for the next meal, how to squeeze every last drop out of their teeth and fingers. Night.

The night was as dark as ink, and the suppressed sighs and soft sobs in the courtyard were like invisible needles, pricking Lin Yan's heart and causing a slight tightness. Although he was single-mindedly pursuing the Dao, he was not heartless after all. Seeing the shadow of food shortages and the suffering of his neighbors, he could not completely turn a blind eye.

His figure disappeared into the darkness as he left the courtyard and headed towards some hidden corner of the city.

This was his first time visiting this place known as the "black market." Rather than a "market," it was more like a tacitly agreed-upon trading point that had naturally formed in abandoned factory areas or secluded alleyways. There were no bright lights here, only a few scattered lanterns or flashlights casting a dim, yellowish glow that outlined the shadowy figures of people.

A tense and wary atmosphere permeated the air. Most of the vendors covered most of their faces with dark headscarves, tattered hats, or scarves, or simply faced away from the light, placing their goods—perhaps a few pounds of yellowish rice, a small bag of flour, a few dried wild game pieces, or a few bundles of wilted vegetables—on the ground or in their baskets, waiting silently.

The "customers" passing by were equally hurried, heads down, their eyes quickly scanning the goods on the ground, rarely asking prices. Once they found something they liked, they would squat down, extend their hand, and use their fingers to gesture special numbers and prices on the vendor's outstretched hand—either tapping the vendor's palm with their knuckles to indicate the amount, or pinching the vendor's knuckles to indicate the quantity. The entire process was almost silent, relying entirely on a set of unspoken codes to negotiate prices. After the transaction, money and goods were quickly settled, and both parties immediately parted ways, disappearing into the darkness as if they had never met. This was a risky and helpless form of trade that spontaneously formed among ordinary people in a specific period, driven by the need to make a living.

Lin Yan's powerful divine sense swept across the area and immediately detected the location of the soul imprint. He did not approach, but instead lingered in a shadowy corner, his mind subtly sending out a silent summons.

A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed in an ordinary blue worker's jacket, looking completely unremarkable, strode over. His face was plain, but his eyes were sharp and steady; he was Lin Xiao, the puppeteer in charge of this black market transaction.

Upon seeing Lin Yan in the shadows, Lin Xiao immediately bowed and lowered his voice, "Master, you've come in person."

"Hmm," Lin Yan's voice was calm and even, "Tell me about the business situation here over the past three months."

Lin Xiao lowered his voice to a very low level: "Reporting to Master, we have been operating according to Lin San's instructions. In areas where the grain supply is sufficient and the price is stable, our people have not actively released grain to disrupt the market in order to avoid attracting attention. Our main focus has been on organizing people to hunt in the mountains and forests outside the capital, catching some wild rabbits, pheasants, wild boars and other meats, while also selling a small amount of fine grains of good quality."

"The main buyers are wealthy individuals who are discerning about food and avoid attracting attention, such as the elderly and the wealthy who prefer to keep a low profile. Transactions are mostly settled in gold, silver dollars, or antiques, jade, ancient books, and paintings in good condition. All these hard currencies and antiques have been properly stored in the expanded space warehouse area as you instructed."

"Occasionally, there are also transactions in paper money, but not many. These paper money incomes are used for the daily activity expenses and food subsidies of the veteran brothers under my command, to maintain basic operating expenses."

Lin Yan listened quietly and nodded. Lin San's arrangement was sound and discreet, in line with his previous requirements—to quietly accumulate wealth, especially in hard currencies and antiques that would be extremely valuable in the future.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "The situation has changed. Starting today, we can appropriately increase the supply of coarse grains to the market, mainly cornmeal, sorghum rice, sweet potatoes, and potatoes—things that can fill an empty stomach."

He instructed, "The price should be set at the bottom line we agreed on before, at the same level as the supply and marketing cooperative's listed price, but—" he emphasized, "no grain coupons."

"Remember, each person is limited to a maximum of 50 kilograms per purchase. Tell your people to be smart and distribute the goods in a spread-out manner, avoiding concentrating them in one place to prevent unnecessary trouble."

A glint flashed in Lin Xiao's eyes, and he immediately understood his master's intention. This was to alleviate the urgent needs of some of the lower classes without drawing attention to themselves, while strictly controlling the scale and impact to avoid becoming a target of public criticism.

"Understood, Master! I will arrange it immediately and do it cleanly and efficiently, leaving no loose ends," Lin Xiao replied in a low voice.

"Go ahead." Lin Yan waved his hand.

Lin Xiao bowed again, and then, like an ordinary passerby, quickly disappeared into the shadows of the black market.

Lin Yan stood there, looking at the hidden market struggling to survive in the darkness, his heart gradually calming down. There wasn't much he could do, nor could he change the overall situation, but quietly releasing a little food in these corners might allow a child in a family to sleep peacefully at night, or allow an elderly person to endure a few more days.

That was enough. He turned around, his figure disappearing back into the night as he returned to the courtyard house.