Chapter 529: Eat and Starve to Death

Chapter 529: Eat and Starve to Death

Chapter 529: Eat and Starve to Death
workshop.

When Li Kailang came over to collect the scrap steel, Jia Dongxu was so scared after being reminded by them that he broke out in a cold sweat and quickly made an excuse to go to the toilet.

It was just going to the toilet, no one cared.

Jia Dongxu went to the toilet and carefully moved the bricks, revealing the scrap steel hidden underground.

"Fortunately, they didn't find out, otherwise it would have been terrible." Jia Dongxu felt relieved, but then he became a little worried.

"They already have a feeling. If we continue, it will be exposed sooner or later. Why don't we just stop doing it for the time being?"

In order to avoid being discovered, Jia Dongxu made up his mind, but when he thought of the situation of the Jia family, he suddenly hesitated.

There were four hungry people in the family, and Qin Huairu had another one in her belly. The monthly expenses on food were extremely high, and she could not buy much food with just the fixed salary of a fitter.

What's more, we have to save money and provide money for Jia Zhang's retirement. So many places need money, it's not that easy.

He was asked to give up this "business", but what other "business" could replace it?

"Oh, I really envy Cui Yuan. He can make an extra 20 to 30 yuan a month by registering at a repair shop. Why can't I have such a good thing~"

After thinking about it, Jia Dongxu could only keep his head down and walk into the dark, "I have to be careful not to be discovered."

Jia Dongxu had thought more than once that if he could go back seven or eight years, he would definitely not marry Qin Huairu, and definitely not marry a rural girl.

The child was registered as a rural hukou under Qin Huairu and had no ration. Every time he bought food, he had to go to the black market, and he spent an unknown amount of money in total.

It would be fine if it were a time of good harvest, but now it is a time of food shortage and food is ridiculously expensive. It is difficult to make money through normal means!
After thinking it over, Jia Dongxu left the bathroom.

When he was going out, he happened to meet Xu Damao. In this awkward situation, neither of them had the courage to say hello.

There's nothing to say hello outside the toilet. Should I say "Have you eaten?"

Saying that you didn’t eat doesn’t seem very good.

It seems to be even worse after eating it.

A month and a half passed, and Xu Damao still failed to become a team leader and was still doing his job as a projectionist.

Until now, Xu Damao is still cursing Li Huaide for being a bad person and not being able to help with such a small matter.

But once Li Huaide looks for him, Xu Damao will rush back to find him.

Ever since Li Huaide took the upgraded version of Qianjinfang pro.plus, he has been obsessed with it and there is no point in taking other medicines.

In the past two months, Xu Damao has been trying every possible way to get more. How could Xu Damao help Li Huaide get it out of revenge?

Every time he agreed verbally, but in reality, no matter whether he could get it or not, he would definitely not sell it to Li Huaide.

"It's better for me to keep it for myself than to sell it to you. I don't need your few stinky dollars. It's useless to waste money on giving me medicine."

In the past two months, Xu Damao made at least 100 to 200 yuan by reselling medicine, which was enough for his pocket money.

"The weather is so nice today, that's it~" Xu Damao sang a little song, shook himself off, went to the toilet, and then rode his bike to the countryside to show a movie.

Let’s show more movies before the autumn harvest to provide some entertainment for everyone so that they can work harder during the harvest.

"Seeing I didn't give it to you, you want to mess with me? Hey, you can mess with me? Are you kidding me! Who am I? If I were so easy to be manipulated, I wouldn't be called Xu Damao!"

"If you want medicine, I won't give it to you. No matter how much you ask, you won't get it."

Xu Damao's trip to the countryside this time was arranged by Li Huaide.

Li Huaide secretly forced Xu Damao to tell him where he bought the medicine every time, but Xu Damao refused to say anything and always glossed over the matter, so Li Huaide wanted to give him a small punishment and a stern warning.

Unfortunately, selling medicine is Xu Damao's way of making money, so how could he easily tell others about it?

Besides, Li Huaide also needs to buy medicine from him. If he tells this, he will be useless and that would be even more miserable.

Although Xu Damao is not very wise, he still has some brains.

"Hey, Uncle Er!"

"Well, go to the countryside."

"Yeah, I don't know which idiot leader assigned this to me. I have to be busy again."

"It's better to be busy. When you are busy, you won't think too much."

"Yeah, okay, I'm leaving now."

After chatting for a while, Xu Damao rode away on his bike.

"This kid." Liu Haizhong and Xu Damao shared the same pain. Ever since he was reported last time, he could no longer be a team leader.

The workshop director transferred an old team leader over. This team leader was older than Liu Haizhong, so Liu Haizhong had to accept the defeat no matter how unwilling he was.

He was almost at retirement age, and the workshop had originally planned to let him take a break, but after the report came out, he had no choice but to take on the task.

Fortunately, the man was old, and Liu Haizhong did not dare to resist in front of him, for fear of angering him to death, which would then be disastrous for him.

"Oh." He shook his head helplessly, went to the bathroom, and then returned to work.

Jingle Bell--

As soon as the bell rang at noon, everyone went to the cafeteria to eat.

"Don't push, don't push!" Sha Zhu was maintaining order at the window.

"Ah, why are you eating double steamed rice again today? You've been eating it for three days and you're still eating it. What's the use of this stuff if it doesn't make you full?"

"Hey, kid, it's good enough to have something to eat. Why are you so picky? Eat it if you want! Do you want it?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Can we eat whole grains tomorrow? This double-steamed rice is not filling at all. We all do heavy work, and we can't sustain ourselves with just this kind of food."

"What's the use of you talking to me? I also listen to my leader. This is the only food in the cafeteria. If you don't want to eat it, go home and eat it."

"Okay, okay, please react. If you keep eating like this, you'll starve to death sooner or later!"

The workers prepared their meals, found an empty seat and sat down, looking at the distinct, large and translucent grains in the lunch boxes, and put a little into their mouths with chopsticks.

"Hmm~"

The rice grains are soft and sweet. There is no need to refuse. Just take a sip and the rice grains will be crushed. Then swallow them and they will all go into the stomach along with the saliva.

I can feel my stomach is slightly bloated, and it looks like the double-steamed rice is quite high, but it’s actually not good at all.

Double-steamed rice was a self-deceptive invention during the Great Famine, a form of "grain consumption increase method."

Double-steamed rice is made by putting rice in a container, adding an appropriate amount of water and steaming it once. After it is steamed, add more water and continue steaming it.

After steaming the rice twice, the rice doesn’t look like porridge, nor does it look like dry rice.

But because it absorbs more water, the rice appears to be larger and seems to be more filling.

But such food is not very helpful when eaten. It won’t take long before the stomach starts to growl again after a few farts.

You will only feel full in the first one or two hours after eating, but once it is digested, there is nothing left and your stomach is empty.

Double-steamed rice was only somewhat popular in the beginning. The meal originally meant for one person became a meal for two people, which looked pretty good.

Workshop workers do physical labor, and this kind of self-deception will be exposed as soon as they start working.

Everyone was already growling with hunger before they even got off work, so naturally they were not happy to accept such a meal.

"If we still have to eat double steamed rice tomorrow, I will go home and eat by myself from now on. It is better to have less rest than to be hungry. Sooner or later, I will be starved to death by this double steamed rice."

"It's ok to only eat this kind of food at night or during holidays, but you dare to eat it at noon? I'm afraid I'll be too hungry that day and die without the machine!"

The worker's words were immediately echoed by the surrounding workers.

"I'll go home and eat from tomorrow on. I can't get promoted now anyway, so what's the big deal if I come to work late?"

"That's right. We all have quotas for tasks. As long as we complete the tasks, it's fine. As long as we complete the tasks before leaving get off work, it's just a matter of going to work ten minutes later. It's not a problem."

"Yeah, as long as we complete the task on time, what can the director do to us? Can he make things difficult for us? If he gets angry, I won't do anything!"

The last sentence is just a saying, but the previous ones are not wrong.

The workers in the workshop all have their own tasks. They finish the tasks early and rest early. Except that they cannot leave the steel mill and not affect others, they can basically do whatever they want.

But everyone's tasks are assigned according to their work level, so it's hard to be lazy. In other words, you can be lazy now, there is no employee assessment, and some people's skills have improved, so they can do the work of the original work level much faster, so they can be lazy.

If it were before or after, as long as the technical requirements were met, everyone would sign up for the assessment immediately. How could anyone take a break?

"Alright, alright, hurry up and eat. After you finish eating, go to bed early. You still have a lot of work to do in the afternoon."

Three or four o'clock in the afternoon.

The double-steamed rice in their stomachs was completely consumed and everyone worked on an empty stomach.

Blacksmith workshop.

"Jingle bell!"

"Duang!"

Several masters were holding big hammers, hammering the workpiece in front of them again and again.

"Oh, no, I have no strength left."

After hammering a few times, the master couldn't stand the empty stomach anymore and had no strength in his body, so he had to put down the hammer and slow down.

"You didn't eat enough at noon." A co-worker nearby asked with concern.

The master did not answer, but sat on the ground for a while, then spoke slowly.

"How can we be full? Double-steamed rice is not enough to fill us up no matter how much we eat. We still do heavy work. I don't know what the leaders are thinking when they give us this crappy food."

After saying so much in one breath, the master had to slow down. Now he felt that speaking was a strenuous task.

Keeping silent can save some energy. I looked up at the workpiece on the table. There was only this last one left. I could take a rest after I finished it.

The master gritted his teeth and forced himself to get up.

The worker next to him immediately helped him up: "It's just this one workpiece. Let me help you. You should take a rest."

"No, it's just this last one. I can do it myself. I'm not like a woman with no strength at all."

The master gathered his energy and raised the hammer again.

The co-workers next to him looked at him worriedly, afraid that something might happen to him, so they stood by and watched.

The master took a deep breath, his face flushed, and slammed the hammer down heavily.

Jingle bells!!!
After more than a dozen consecutive hammerings, the workpiece is gradually shaped into the desired shape.

Seeing this, the master smiled knowingly and said, "Another dozen or so hammers will be enough."

The master intended to finish the task in one go, so he took a deep breath and raised the hammer again.

When the hammer was raised high and at the highest point, the master suddenly felt dizzy and his vision turned red and black.

The hand that was gripping the hammer was shaking, and so was the body.

"Not good!" The master felt that his hand, which was tightly gripping the hammer, had lost strength.

"Beware!"

The co-worker next to him was always keeping an eye on him, and when he saw the master's hand drop, he immediately shouted and his body reacted immediately.

The hammer was on the ground above the master's head. If it fell down, he would be seriously injured if not killed. It was impossible to grab the master's hand now.

The worker didn't care about anything else and kicked the master hard.

"Bang bang~" The hammer fell to the ground and even bounced twice.

wow——

The sound of the hammer hitting the ground suddenly quieted the atmosphere in the workshop, and everyone immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

I saw a master lying on the ground.

"Lao Wang, are you okay?" The worker immediately went to see the fallen master, checking his head and body to see if anything was wrong.

The master's eyes were filled with fear, and he seemed to have come to his senses.

"It's okay."

After saying that, he looked at the worker in front of him and said, "Thank you. If it weren't for your kick, I would have almost died. I will never eat double-steamed rice again!"

The worker patted the master's chest repeatedly: "Is it hurt? Do you want to go to the hospital?"

"It's okay, your kick was good." The master said thankfully.

"Lao Wang, I'm not telling you to stop working if you don't have the strength, but you won't listen. What if I'm not watching you? What if something happens to you? Your family depends on you to make money."

Listening to the accusations of his coworkers, the master didn't dare to refute a word.

After a few words, the worker stopped talking. He understood the reason and just reminded him. He was not a child.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" The workshop director heard the noise and hurried over to check the situation.

The worker immediately said angrily: "Lao Wang almost died. It was all because of the double-steamed rice in the cafeteria. It almost killed him."

"It's been three days, and I can't even eat enough every day! I'm already hungry at this time every day, and I have to eat double-steamed rice."

"Isn't this just adding hunger to hunger? We do heavy physical work, and if we don't eat well, we'll die! Director, you have to report this to your superiors."

"If I continue to eat double-steamed rice like this, I'll make it clear that from now on, I won't work at this point. I won't finish the work if I can't. I don't want to die!"

His words were widely recognized by everyone. During this period, more or less people encountered such things, but fortunately, nothing serious happened, so they were not taken seriously.

Some of them reported it but were suppressed by the director, who just said: "If you finish the work soon, everything will be fine."

Now everyone's accumulated patience has finally exploded and they can no longer endure it.

"Director, me too!"

"Director, if you don't want to tell us, we can talk to Director Yang ourselves. There's no way you'll kill yourself by working yourself to death."

Everyone was talking at once, and even a few senior blacksmiths stood up.

Now, if the director wants to suppress it again, he will be going against them.

"Okay, okay, I'll go talk to Director Yang about this right away."

Since the senior worker had spoken, the director couldn't force the matter down any longer, so he went out to talk to Director Yang.

They happened to meet other workshop directors, and after talking to each other, they found out that they were all dealing with the same thing, so they decided to go together to see Director Yang.

With so many people saying this together, there is no need to take responsibility for this matter.

"What! Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" This was the first time Director Yang heard of this.

Several directors were timid and did not dare to tell the truth, simply because they were afraid of losing their jobs and being called incompetent by Director Yang.

"Okay, if something like this happens again, tell me as soon as possible. It concerns the lives of workers, so it doesn't matter whether it's a big deal or a small one!"

Director Yang immediately ordered that the canteen was not allowed to make large quantities of double-steamed rice.

Director Yang did not completely stop making it, but he only made a small amount of it, mainly for administrative staff, and a small portion of it was eaten with double-steamed rice and coarse grains, which could also satisfy the hunger.

As for workers who do manual labor, no matter how heavy the labor is, the main thing is to make sure they are well fed.

Eating well is not important, eating enough is the most important thing. Director Yang is also afraid that something might happen to the workers because they don’t eat enough.

Upon hearing this, everyone at the steel mill cheered.

"I can finally eat my fill. I don't have to worry about starving to death!"

It is hard to imagine that there are people in the city who starve to death because they don't have enough food.

Who would believe this if they hadn't experienced it themselves?

But after this incident, everyone still doesn't dare to believe it completely, and starting tomorrow they will all bring an extra steamed bun from home.

If you are hungry, eat it. If not, save it for night. I would rather let it go bad than starve to death.

(End of this chapter)