At the sa ti in the capital, Pan Chiyan was having a headache.
It had been more than a month, and the grains he bought with the help of Li Chenmo had been used up. Now, the higher-ups were asking him to procure more grains. He wanted to ask them where he would get the grains if there were no areas harvesting any grains.
Despite his annoyance and frustration, he could only talk so sense into them, but most of his words entered the right ear and ca out of the left ear.
While he was in the midst of racking his brain, he heard a knock at the door and said, "Co in."
Opening the door, Bai Xue'er entered the study room while carrying a tray. She looked at her husband's tired face and said, "Husband, today is Sunday. You should take so rest."
Seeing that it was his wife, Pan Chiyan took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, "I can't rest right now. The granaries are empty, and we are entering the winter season. If we don't make enough preparations, a lot of people will die this year."
Hearing this, Bai Xue'er placed the tray on the desk and handed a cup of tea to her husband while saying, "Husband, I heard from Comrade Luo that they will close the store at the end of this month. How about we go visit him and see if we can buy more grains?"
Pan Chiyan drank the tea and said, "Wife, it's not that simple. Even if we can buy so grains for our family, it's impossible to get enough grains to support everyone."
"The higher-ups are asking to find more grains to support twelve cities. Not to ntion that the budget is low, where can I find the grains? With these situations, how can I complete the task?"
Hearing this, Bai Xue'er leaned down and hugged him while saying, "Husband, no matter how you plan, this task is impossible to complete. So, you should take care of your health more. If sothing happens to you, what should Shiwu and I do?"
Seeing his wife worrying about him, Pan Chiyan finally nodded and said, "Alright, I will listen to you."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Bai Xue'er smiled and said, "It has been a while since we went out with Shiwu. Let's bring him to visit your parents."
"Okay."
After the two of them packed up so things to bring over, they departed with their son. While he owned a bicycle, they opted to ride a bus to visit Mother Pan and Father Pan.
An hour later, they finally arrived at the Pan family house. The mont they walked into the compound, they noticed that the people gathering at the park were more than usual. Seeing this, they exchanged gazes but said nothing.
When the neighbors saw them coming, one of them asked, "Xue'er, coming to visit your in-laws again?"
While the neighbor was full of smiles, her words still felt sour. For the last two months, Bai Xue'er indeed visited Mother Pan very often. Every ti she visited, she would bring sothing over, which made the neighbors envious.
Even though she noticed this, Bai Xue'er still smiled and replied, "It's rare for my husband to have a day off, so we co to visit his parents."
After she said this, she nodded at them and entered the building.
Not long after they left, one of them said, "Did all of you notice how pale and tired Chiyan was?"
Hearing this, a woman nodded and added, "Is he sick?"
"Who knows? Their family often has at and fish, how can he get sick so easily?" another one replied sourly.
"I think it's not because of illness. I heard from my son's comrades that we won't get our supplies on ti again this month since the granary is empty. He must be worrying about this matter," an old woman said in a hushed tone.
The mont she said this, everyone was shocked. They no longer had any mood to gossip about the Pan family and focused on asking about the situation.
"Aunty, are you sure about this news? Didn't the governnt say that the granary is full and we will receive our supply on ti?" a young woman asked.
Fearing that she would be held accountable if the news was wrong, the old woman replied, "I'm also not sure about this matter. But the state-owned grain and supply store didn't restock for more than ten days already."
Even without her confirming their doubt, with her words, everyone noticed the dire situation.
"This won't do. I have to inform my daughter and let her stock up more food. It's almost winter. If we don't have any food, we will die," a middle-aged woman suddenly said and ran back to her house.
As soon as she left, everyone quickly dispersed and made plans to stockpile more food to pass the winter.
Not knowing about what happened to the neighbors, Pan Chiyan knocked on his parents' door. Not long after, the door was opened, and Pan Chimu said, "Eldest Brother, Eldest Sister-in-law, you are here. Co in, please."
Walking into the house, Pan Chiyan asked, "Are you on leave?"
Pan Chimu nodded and said, "I have a month leave before I have to go back to the barracks."
Pan Chiyan nodded and asked again, "Where are Mother and Father?"
Just after he finished his words, he reached the living room and saw an unexpected guest.
Sitting on the couch, Houzi smiled and nodded at him.
Before Pan Chiyan could ask anything, Mother Xiao smiled and said, "Chiyan, just now, your mother was talking about how she missed you and your family. You all co at the right ti."
Noticing Zhao Xirui also present, Pan Chiyan changed his words instantly, "Aunt Xiao, it's been a long ti since I visited you. How are you and Uncle Xiao doing?"
"Your uncle is busy with his work as usual, and I'm doing well," she replied.
"Chiyan, Xue'er, co, let introduce you to my adopted son, Zhao Jun," she added.
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