During times of famine: I have a spiritual spring space

Chapter 2 Creating Friends Out of Thin Air

Zhuang Lihui roughly estimated that this planting yielded more than 30 jin of corn kernels.

He picked up a seed; it was very plump, the kind that farmers usually select for seed production.

It's time to go out, or my brother will come looking for him.

The next second, Zhuang Lihui left the spiritual spring space and found that it was already getting dark. He needed to find a bag or something to put that pile of corn kernels in.

From afar came the shouts of his younger brother, Zhuang Liming.

Zhuang Lihui did not respond. Instead, he quietly went home, found a sack, returned to the Spirit Spring Space, and put the pile of corn kernels into it.

After packing it up, he disappeared into the space with the small half-sack of corn kernels.

"What are you yelling for? Come back here!" Zhuang Lihui shouted towards the outside.

Zhuang Liming, who was outside looking for his older brother, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his brother's voice coming from home and hurried back.

Zhuang Lihui took the opportunity to collect two or three kilograms of corn kernels to use as seeds for the next batch of planting.

"Brother, when did you get back?"

The house was pitch black. In those days, there was no electricity in the countryside, and people relied mainly on oil lamps at night. But the Zhuang brothers were so poor that they couldn't even afford to light an oil lamp.

At this stage, the main body of the oil lamp was usually a glass bottle about 10 centimeters high, with an aluminum sheet as a sleeve around it. The bottle mouth had a lead cap, and a cotton wick was inserted through a hole drilled in the middle. A metal bracket provided support, and the glass lampshade protected against wind and enhanced the lighting effect.

"I just got back and I heard you yelling outside," Zhuang Lihui said irritably.

Zhuang Liming felt a little embarrassed.

His gaze fell on the sack next to his older brother. The light was too dim to see what was inside. But judging from the size of the sack, it must weigh at least twenty or thirty pounds.

"Brother, what is this?" he asked curiously.

Zhuang Lihui turned the bag towards him: "Can't you see for yourself? Hurry up and go make something to eat, aren't you hungry?"

Zhuang Liming reached into the sack, and as soon as he touched it, he knew what it was.

I grabbed a handful.

That's right! It's corn kernels, and the quality is quite high.

His voice trembled: "Brother, where did you find so much corn?"

The trembling in his voice wasn't from fear, but from excitement. With so much corn, if they ate it sparingly, it would be enough for the two brothers to eat for a month or two.

"I had a friend from before. I didn't want to go see him, but who in our village has any surplus grain?" Zhuang Lihui made up a reason casually.

Believe it or not!

Hearing this, Zhuang Liming stopped asking questions, took a bowl, and scooped out half a bowlful.

"Don't be stingy, we're hungry!" Zhuang Lihui immediately told him.

Zhuang Liming had no choice but to fill a level bowl, but he grumbled, "Let's eat it sparingly! By the way, should we send some over to Uncle? His family's sweet potatoes will probably be gone in a couple of days."

Zhuang Lihui nodded: "After you've eaten, take 10 jin to your second uncle."

"Wow! That's 10 pounds?"

"Don't worry! My friend has food. We'll go find him after we've eaten." Zhuang Lihui had no choice but to make up a friend out of thin air again.

Upon learning that his older brother's friend was so impressive, Zhuang Liming was overjoyed and went to cook corn porridge while humming a tune.

He first had to crush the corn kernels slightly to make corn grits, which would make the porridge the most fragrant and delicious. Zhuang Liming had forgotten how long it had been since he had eaten corn grits porridge.

For the past few months, I've mostly been eating sweet potatoes and wild vegetable soup.

It is said that eating too many sweet potatoes will cause heartburn, but in this day and age, having sweet potatoes to eat is already a very happy thing, so who would care whether it will cause heartburn or not?

While his younger brother was busy, Zhuang Lihui brought a hoe and a bucket from home into his space to continue his corn planting plan.

There is no day and night cycle in this space; it is always daytime.

He only took the hoe and water bucket out after he planted the second batch of corn. He couldn't leave them behind; he couldn't very well tell his younger brother that the hoe and water bucket had been stolen.

I need to go to the commune in the next couple of days to prepare a set of tools such as hoes, sickles, and shovels.

"Brother, where did you just go?"

"Go to take a dump? Where can you go?" Zhuang Lihui started spouting nonsense.

Alright! Zhuang Liming stopped asking.

The two brothers enjoyed a delicious meal of corn porridge.

However, such a small amount is impossible to fill you up. These days, you think you can get a full meal? Be grateful you're even given a bowl of porridge!

"Brother, this corn seems different from the corn grown in our village. It tastes much better," Zhuang Liming said.

At first bite, he thought it was his imagination, but after a few more bites, he was sure he wasn't mistaken. This corn was indeed better than any he had ever eaten before; it was fragrant, sticky, and even had a hint of sweetness.

He felt he could eat a whole pot of it.

"Maybe it's a different variety! After we've eaten, we'll take some corn to my second uncle."

You have to deliver it at night. If you deliver it during the day, people will know that you have grain at home, and everyone will come to your door to borrow it. Wouldn't that be a nuisance?

"Oh! You really are giving away 10 pounds?"

"It's your decision." Zhuang Lihui was too lazy to argue.

Zhuang Liming reluctantly packed 10 jin of corn, sneaked out of the house, and headed towards his second uncle's house.

He planned to take a shower; he was stinking. But after looking around, he couldn't help but laugh. Indeed, people do laugh when they're utterly speechless.

They didn't have any clean clothes, and the towel was just a tattered piece of cloth whose original color was no longer discernible; it was shared by the two brothers.

Soap? What's that? Neither of the brothers ever used that stuff.

Some people might ask, how did the original owner take a bath before?

After wetting it, rub it vigorously to remove the dirt, then rinse it with water, and you're done! If it's not completely clean, there's nothing you can do about it; conditions are limited.

Zhuang Lihui felt an itch on his head, and when he touched it, he felt as if he had touched something.

Lice!

That's perfectly normal. Not just those two brothers, but everyone in the whole village has a few lice on their heads.

At Zhuang Zhenmin's home, the couple had another argument, and their two children were crying loudly, still upset because they weren't getting enough to eat.

"They are all my elder brother's bloodline, my nephews. How can I watch them starve to death?"

"So you're just going to watch your son and daughter starve to death? Zhuang Zhenmin, I didn't hold it against you when times were good, I turned a blind eye. But what era are we living in now?"

Zhuang Zhenmin was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to refute.

Zhuang Liming listened outside for a while, feeling extremely ashamed, and then forced himself to knock on the door.

"Who?"

His tone was a bit harsh.

Zhuang Liming: "Second Uncle, it's me. My brother's friend sent some corn, and my brother asked me to bring some over to you in case of emergency."

He also made it clear that otherwise his aunt might think he was begging for food and wouldn't open the door.

Sure enough, the woman inside instinctively grabbed her husband when she heard it was her nephew. But when she heard the rest, she was shocked—they were bringing food to their house?

It's so rare.

Surprisingly, there was even some leftover food.

"Take it back! Your second uncle won't be short of food."

When Zhuang Liming's second aunt heard this, she was furious. She stomped on her husband's foot and then rushed to open the door to welcome Liming in.

"Liming, why are you being so polite? Please come in!"

Zhuang Liming's lips twitched, and he thought to himself: Can I be a little less polite?

However, he didn't hold it against his second aunt. Although she scolded him fiercely, she wasn't a bad person.