Chapter 431 Equivalent Exchange 1

Facing the old face of Shao Jiandang, secretary of the Huoguang Brigade, Wang Zhengguo squatted under the eaves of the office, smoking a cigarette and remaining silent.

A little further away from them, there were more than a dozen strong workers from the fire brigade.

They are said to be strong laborers, but they are not as energetic as the old men from the Wanglou Brigade. Some are skinny, some are swollen, but all of them have the same look on their faces and confused eyes.

The people next door can't eat and are starving to death. Wang Zhengguo is of flesh and blood, and he really can't just sit idly by. But if there is one, then there are two. Now which production team is not keeping an eye on this piece of fat? The Wanglou Brigade only has a small amount of food reserves. Can it stop you from borrowing it from me? Their land is barren and their work value is low. Borrowing their grain reserves is like beating a dog with meat buns, and they will never come back.

So many people are waiting and watching, unwilling to be the first to take the lead.

Shao Jiandang, the leading man, wiped his face and said, "Old Wang, just say something, don't keep silent."

"Squeak!" Wang Zhengguo spat out in a particularly eloquent tone.

Shao Jiandang was angry and funny, "If I ask you to squeak, just squeak. When I ask you to lend me food, why don't you lend me the food! Look at you, wearing an old sheepskin coat and opening the front door. Look at us. , Tighten your belts and pat your chest, don’t you feel sorry for us?”

"Brother Party Founder, you are making things difficult for me!" Wang Zhengguo put out the cigarette butt.

"If there was nothing else I could do, why would I beg you with such an old face? I really have no choice." Shao Jiandang sighed deeply, "More than half of the upside-down households in the brigade have handed over the public food. The food was only enough for each person to share 30 kilograms of dried sweet potatoes, which was not even enough to fill half of the village... Lao Shaotou, who was at the east end of the brigade, hadn't seen him out for several days. He only saw him when the people next door came to see him knitting. He had been dead for several days. It was cold and the body was not rotten, so no one found it. During the twelfth lunar month last year, there was no need to borrow food on New Year's Eve. Everyone was squatting at home, most of them hungry. There was no way. I asked people to carry out the livestock feed and share it with everyone, so that I can survive until the beginning of the new year to beg for food.”

Shao Jiandang's eyes showed a trace of sadness and shone with tears as he continued: "Our brigade originally had ten production teams, with a total of one hundred and ten households, but now there are only fifty-eight households left. The adults, the elderly and the children, a total of two There are more than a hundred people. Although the past two years are better than the first few years, the standard of public grain is still improved. There are not enough seeds, not enough labor, and productivity cannot keep up... Alas!"

Several strong laborers who followed had their faces raised. Lu Jiang and Wang Dachun, who were relatively tall, could vaguely see the tears on their faces. Some even squatted on the ground and held their heads, letting out suppressed sobs.

Asking for help is inherently inferior.

People are poor and have short ambitions.

How could Wang Zhengguo not know that what Shao Jiandang said was true? The dead Starlight Production Brigade is right next door to them.

"Brother Party Founder, you know what I'm worried about. Moreover, the grain reserves are set aside in accordance with national standards, and the quantity must not exceed one percent of the total harvest." Wang Zhengguo felt the same and could no longer refuse the Huoguang Brigade's request for help.

Seeing that he was slightly relaxed, Shao Jiandang hurriedly said: "Just help us get through this winter, Lao Wang, after the first month, the trees will sprout, and the wild vegetables and weeds will emerge. If the time comes, we must be diligent, and we will not starve to death." More than a hundred lives, no less, no less, no more, I don’t know how to face the dead and living fellow villagers! "