I secretly sold grain at age 60

Chapter 26 Inspection

More than two hours later, a pile of objects had been erected on the open ground in front of the brigade.

Shovels, picks, and hoes—farm tools—were piled haphazardly together, mostly old and rarely used. Grain was pitifully scarce; the few sacks of rations were scattered here and there, each weighing less than ten pounds. There were also a few pieces of rare wild meat, the skin covered with teeth marks of varying depths, suggesting someone hadn't had time to cook it properly, and others, seeing it and craving it, had pounced on it, only to be unable to bite into it.

The village chief and team leader looked at the things in front of them and shook their heads helplessly. Then they called out to the villagers who had gathered in the open space, "Now that everyone has handed over what they were supposed to, we will organize people to search each house again."

Upon hearing this, the villagers below reacted in various ways. Some tensed instantly, their faces showing panic and unease; others remained nonchalant and composed; still others were filled with anxiety, each harboring their own thoughts.

Before long, the team leader selected seven or eight respected and influential elders from the village to conduct a house-to-house search. As they searched each household, they found a wide variety of items, each family employing a unique method of concealment. Some hid food in the stove hole, others stuffed it into the cracks of the roof beams, and still others secretly buried it in the soil of their backyard. These places seemed hidden, but they were easily spotted; once someone looked for them, a search was guaranteed to find something. Whenever something was found, the head of the household would be visibly embarrassed, hanging his head and avoiding eye contact.

Everyone knew that life was tough these days, and every household was already struggling to make ends meet. The search team understood this and didn't say anything harsh or critical, but just shook their heads and sighed inwardly.

They searched house by house, finding half a bag of grain in one household and a few dried goods in another. Even though there were only twenty or thirty households, the collected supplies piled up quite a bit. The team leader ordered everyone to move everything to the open space in front of the brigade and arrange it properly. Then, he led a group of elderly people to continue searching the next household.

Before long, the group arrived at Gao Huaiyi's house.

The group searched the house thoroughly, looking inside and out, in every nook and cranny, but found nothing of value. They were about to turn around and head to the next house.

Just then, Gao Huaiyi's cousin, Gao Huai'ren, suddenly stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Something's not right! There's definitely something else hidden at his house! He hunted a lot of game last time, but we haven't seen a single thing today. He must have secretly hidden it away!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers who were watching exchanged glances, and their eyes all fell on the brigade leader.

The captain frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "We've searched every place we could, and we really didn't find anything."

But Gao Huai-ren wouldn't let it go, insisting that Gao Huai-yi must have been hiding wild game. The brigade leader couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he had no choice but to wave his hand and order his men to go back to the house and search it again carefully.

Gao Huaiyi watched coldly from the side, secretly sneering to himself.

The place where he hid his things was extremely well hidden; these people will never find it in their lifetime.

A moment later, the people who went into the house to search came out empty-handed, still having found nothing.

The captain looked at Gao Huai-ren, his tone tinged with impatience: "We checked again carefully, but still nothing. Are you satisfied now?"

Gao Huai-ren refused to give up and tried to barge into the house, shouting, "You haven't searched thoroughly enough! There must be places you missed. I'll go in and search myself!"

Gao Huaiyi immediately stepped forward, firmly blocking his way, his face cold and hard: "You want to search? Fine. I've already searched twice, and I haven't uttered a single complaint. But there's a limit to how many times you can do something. I can tolerate you searching once or twice, but to keep searching my house like this is a blatant distrust of me, a disgrace to our family, and an insult to us. I will never let you in again!"

After saying that, he turned to the captain and said frankly, "Captain, other houses are only searched once, but mine has been searched twice, and I haven't said a word. But if you want to continue searching, you have to give me an explanation."

The captain looked around, then glared at the unreasonable Gao Huai-ren, and said in a deep voice, "We've already checked twice, there's no need to make a fuss. If we didn't find it, we didn't find it. No more making trouble."

As soon as he finished speaking, he led the group of people searching the house and headed straight for the next house.

The group searched house to house for more than two hours, finding a considerable amount of privately hoarded grain and meat in various parts of the village.

Looking at the piled-up supplies, the brigade leader immediately ordered loudly, "Send all this grain to the village canteen. Starting tonight, our village will officially have a collective canteen, and from now on, everyone in the village will eat together from the same pot! Tonight, the canteen will prepare some hearty dishes and stew a big pot of braised pork so everyone can have a good meal. As for the farm tools such as pickaxes, shovels, and hoes that were found, move them all to the brigade's warehouse for storage. After some time, they will be handed over to the commune for unified allocation and disposal by the higher-ups. Farm tools that can be used daily can be kept for now, and all other old and useless items should be handed over to the commune."

As soon as the words were spoken, the villagers immediately sprang into action. With many hands making light work, in just over half an hour, the grain was delivered to the canteen, the farm tools were put away in the storeroom, and everything was arranged properly.

After finishing this busy work, with no other tasks to do, the villagers dispersed in twos and threes, each returning home to either work in the fields or rest.

Around four or five in the afternoon, as the sun began to set, men, women, and children from the entire village gradually gathered at the entrance of the communal dining hall. Steam rose from the large stove, and the rich aroma of meat mixed with the scent of dried rice wafted through the cracks in the door, making everyone's stomachs rumble and their mouths water. Many huddled together, whispering, "It's been so many years since I've smelled such delicious food!"

Another half hour passed, and the food was finally all cooked.

At 5 p.m. sharp, the canteen opened for dinner. The villagers lined up in an orderly fashion and took turns to receive their share of food.

The distribution rules were set long ago: everyone would receive a large spoonful of glistening, fragrant braised pork, along with a staple food; able-bodied men who did heavy work would each receive three large cornbreads; female laborers would receive two large cornbreads; and young children would each receive one and a half cornbreads.

Everyone carried their food and found a place to sit down, then lowered their heads and began to eat heartily.

No one had time to speak; the only sounds were slurping and chewing as everyone wolfed down their food, their cheeks stuffed full. In these famine years of food and meat shortages, this hot and meaty meal tasted especially delicious and satisfying.