I secretly sold grain at age 60

Chapter 13 Uncle Scams Grain

Gao Huaiyi carried half a bag of cornmeal and walked briskly through the gate of his yard. As soon as he entered, the smile on his face froze instantly.

The courtyard was quiet, devoid of its usual lively atmosphere; the atmosphere was tense, like a taut bowstring. Father Gao Jianguo squatted in the corner, smoking a pipe, his brow furrowed, his face grim and menacing amidst the swirling smoke. Mother Li Xiulan sat on a small stool, head bowed, shoulders trembling slightly, secretly wiping away tears with her sleeve, saying nothing. Eldest sister Gao Huaijuan stood to the side, her face ashen, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes. Second sister, younger brother, and younger sister stood timidly under the eaves, barely daring to breathe.

"Father, Mother, what's wrong?" Gao Huaiyi's heart skipped a beat. He quickly put down the grain on his shoulder, hurried to his mother's side, bent down, and asked, "Mother, why are you crying? What happened?"

Hearing her son's voice, Li Xiulan looked up, her eyes red-rimmed, her lips moved but she couldn't say a word, only her tears flowed even more fiercely.

The eldest sister, Gao Huaijuan, took a deep breath, stepped forward, lowered her voice, and recounted everything that had happened that afternoon.

It turned out that after finishing work in the evening, my maternal uncle, Li Xiushan, came straight to our door. As soon as he entered, he said that my maternal grandmother was seriously ill and urgently needed money and food for treatment, forcing my mother to give him the money and food. My mother looked troubled; the family was not well-off to begin with and had no money to give. My uncle immediately turned hostile, pointing his finger at my mother and arguing loudly, saying that she had forgotten her roots after getting married. Her parents gave birth to her and raised her, and now that her parents were sick, she was ignoring them and was extremely unfilial.

"Huaiyi, you don't know, none of our three brothers are any good." Gao Huaijuan's tone was full of helplessness and anger. "My eldest uncle, second uncle, and youngest uncle are all lazy and good-for-nothing. They idle around all day and refuse to do any work in the fields. Our lives are a mess. Every time we are short of money or food, they come to our mother for more." During the New Year, they took a lot of the family's grain under the pretext of taking it to support our maternal grandparents! Otherwise, the family would have had enough to eat.

Gao Huaiyi frowned, instantly understanding. No wonder the family's food supply had become tight and they were struggling to make ends meet not long after the New Year; it turned out that his uncle and his family had been coming to ask for retirement grain every few days, completely emptying the family's savings and stored grain.

"My uncle didn't get anything today, and he made some harsh remarks before leaving." Gao Huaijuan's face grew even more grim. "He said he'll come back tomorrow and wants fifty catties of fine grain, saying it's for our grandmother's medical treatment and health maintenance. He won't accept even a catty less."

Upon hearing this, Gao Huaiyi's anger flared instantly. Fifty catties of fine grain—in this year's harvest, who could afford that? This was clearly an attempt to extort money from his grandmother under the pretext of her illness.

Gao Jianguo, standing to the side, took a deep drag on his pipe, tapped it on the stone, and said in a deep voice, "I, Gao Jianguo, am honest and law-abiding, but I'm not someone to be trifled with. Today I almost got into a fight with him, but after much pleading, I managed to grind fifty jin of refined grain into forty jin of coarse grain."

Li Xiulan wiped away her tears and choked out, "That's forty catties of coarse grain! Where do we have that much grain at home... How are we going to survive?" No, we absolutely cannot give them any more grain this time. If we give them any more, we won't be able to eat.

Silence fell again in the courtyard, everyone's face etched with sorrow. Gao Huaiyi looked at his mother, her eyes red from crying, his expression ashen, already making his decision. This uncle's family had come to exploit them time and again; this time, he absolutely could not compromise or back down.

At this moment, his younger brother Gao Huaijun, with wide, round eyes and a face full of curiosity, came closer, tugged at his brother's sleeve, and asked in a clear voice, "Brother, what's in your bag?"

Gao Huaiyi looked down at his younger brother's innocent face, a faint smile playing on his lips. He turned and bent down to pick up the grain sack, walking to his parents. He untied the hemp rope at the top of the sack, revealing golden, plump cornmeal and a small amount of coarse grain mixed with sorghum. Looking up at his family's worried faces, he said in a steady voice, "Father, Mother, look, this is the coarse grain I traded for two wild rabbits when I went into the mountains today."

The tense atmosphere in the courtyard instantly eased upon hearing this. Mother Li Xiulan quickly stepped forward, gently stroking the coarse cornmeal, her eyes slightly moist; the grievances and worries of the past few days seemed to have largely dissipated. Father Gao Jianguo squatted to the side, his cloudy gaze fixed on the grain sack, a slight relaxation appearing on his tense lips. Eldest sister Gao Huaijuan and her siblings all wore long-lost smiles; in this year of food scarcity, half a sack of coarse grain was enough to give the family considerable peace of mind.

"Huaiyi is truly capable." Li Xiulan wiped her eyes, her tone full of satisfaction.

Gao Huaiyi retied the hemp rope, his smile gradually fading as his expression turned serious. He looked at his parents and said, "Father, Mother, my eldest uncle will be coming to ask for grain again tomorrow. We can't just passively accept this forever. I plan to go to my maternal grandparents' village early tomorrow morning, before my eldest uncle arrives, to find out the true situation of my maternal grandparents."

He paused, then said firmly, "If Grandma is really sick, we, as her younger generation, should visit her and fulfill our filial duties in no way should we; but if my uncle uses illness as an excuse to lie and extort money, then he won't take a single grain of our family's food!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Jianguo nodded heavily, his face showing approval: "You're right, that's how we should do it! We can't let them manipulate us time and time again." Li Xiulan also nodded, feeling both disappointed in her brother and approving of her son's actions. If her brother was really lying, she was unwilling to continue to indulge him.

The family felt a slight weight lifted from their shoulders, and the eldest sister hurried to the kitchen to start a fire and cook. Soon, the faint aroma of corn wafted from the kitchen, dispelling the oppressive atmosphere in the yard. Dinner was simple: a pot of corn porridge with a dish of pickled vegetables. The family sat around the stove, eating quietly, the previous gloom gone. After dinner, they tidied up quickly and went to their rooms to rest, and the night passed without incident.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the crowing of a rooster shattered the tranquility of the village. Gao Huaiyi got up early, ate a simple breakfast with his family, said goodbye to his parents, and strode towards the village where his maternal grandmother lived.

The two villages were not far apart, and after about half an hour, Gao Huaiyi arrived at the village entrance. He did not rush into the village, but stopped by the well at the village entrance, pretending to rest, and secretly observed the villagers coming and going.

When Gao Huaiyi saw an old man carrying a hoe passing by, preparing to go to the fields, he quickly went up to him and greeted him with a smile, "Grandpa, going to the fields?" The old man looked at Gao Huaiyi and said, "Oh, it's Xiulan's son!" Gao Huaiyi was taken aback and said, "Grandpa, you know me?" "Yes, I saw you when your family came back for the New Year, but you probably don't remember me!" the old man said, and Gao Huaiyi smiled and scratched his head.

The two started chatting. Under the guise of casual conversation, Gao Huaiyi subtly inquired about his uncle's family situation.

As they talked, the truth gradually became clear. The old man sighed and said frankly, "You know, those three boys from the Li family are notorious lazybones in the village! The wives of the eldest and second eldest aren't hardworking either, and the whole family doesn't like to work in the fields." In comparison, the third son is a bit better than his two older brothers, but he's not a hardworking person either.

"If it weren't for the village team leader's strict management, making sure they worked every day to earn work points, their whole family would probably have starved to death long ago. It's only because your grandparents are kind-hearted that they still have to work in the fields every day to earn work points to support their three sons, even though they're old. If it were me, I would have separated them and let them fend for themselves long ago!" His tone was full of sighs.

Gao Huaiyi listened quietly, his suspicions confirmed. He learned from his uncle that his maternal grandparents were in good health, working in the fields with the villagers every day, full of energy, and showing no signs of illness. His three uncles, on the other hand, did no work and relied entirely on their parents for food and drink. When they ran out of money and food, they even tried to get money from their married sisters.

Gao Huaiyi kept all the information in mind, his face remaining calm as he politely bid farewell to the villagers. He spent the morning inquiring with several people, and the information he received was all similar. He clarified the situation and confirmed that his uncle was using his grandmother's illness as an excuse to extort money.

Feeling emboldened, Gao Huaiyi didn't linger and turned to walk towards his village. Sunlight streamed down the country road; his steps were steady and powerful, a hint of coldness in his eyes. Since his uncle dared to lie and extort money, tomorrow he would expose his true colors in front of everyone, making him too ashamed to ever visit his sister again.