The noodles, said to be sent by Lu Jiang’s comrade-in-arms and taken from the pantry, were about an inch long each having been broken into pieces before being cooked. They were boiled in crucian carp soup and then served in a bowl. Using the silver soup spoon, she dished out just enough for the small child to handle. Standing outside for a while had cooled the noodles and soup which Xibao seemed to find irresistible.
Upon hearing Wang Zhengguo’s words, Feng Qingxue, who was about to feed Lu Xibao another spoonful, trembled. The spoon tilted and the noodles spilled onto Lu Xibao’s bib, instead of his mouth.
Xibao yelled, lowering his head and trying to lick the noodles off his bib. But he couldn’t reach them, so he continued yelling.
"Xibao dear, mommy will get you a new scoop."
Feng Qingxue quickly scooped up some more noodles and soup and fed it to her son. Meanwhile, Lu Jiang picked up the noodles from the bib and shoved them into Xibao’s mouth. The baby’s face instantly went from gloomy to sunny.
Seeing her husband’s gestures, Feng Qingxue didn’t stop him. Instead, she looked at Wang Zhengguo in shock.
"Uncle, did so many people really starve to death in our county?" Feng Qingxue asked, disbelief in her voice.
The idea that over 10,000 people had died in just three years from a population total of over 30,000 was hard to comprehend. That was one third, if not more, and there might also have been deaths that went unregistered, particularly those of infants who died before they could be registered.
Wang Zhengguo nodded and sighed, "I have heard that the villages struggling with extreme poverty and poor soil quality have basically lost all of their residents."
Feng Qingxue turned pale.
Lu Jiang steadied his son with one hand and secretly patted Feng Qingxue’s leg under the table. "Are you frightened? Don’t think too much about it. Aren’t all of us in this family fine? No one is missing. Forget the past and focus on now," he reassured her.
This famine, as per his father’s words, was 30% a natural disaster and 70% a man-made catastrophe.
Feng Qingxue took a few deep breaths.
At this moment, she finally understood why, when she had exchanged such meager amounts of grain for valuable jewelry and antiques, the people she traded with were still so grateful. It turned out that food was even scarcer than she had imagined.
"Uncle, in light of this, we must refuse my second uncle’s unreasonable demands even more strongly. We need to be on guard against people like him."
Upon hearing his niece’s words, Wang Zhengguo replied seriously, "Of course! Our Wanglou Brigade didn’t starve because, in addition to our fertile soil and good crops, we always kept something in reserve. Our stock of grain is our safety net, even if the country rules that reserves should not exceed one percent of the total output. When the Lu family’s possessions were confiscated, I followed your father’s advice and had someone guard the Lu’s granary. A portion was submitted to the state while the rest was kept in Wanglou Brigade’s possession."
As Wang Zhengguo recalled this, he lowered his voice, filled with deep emotion. "The annual grain reserves alone wouldn’t have been enough to protect the hundreds of families in our production brigade from famine. Haven’t you noticed in the year and more you’ve been here? Although many adults openly criticize the Lu family for their undesirable background and label Lu Jiang as a bad seed, it’s all talk and no action."