Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Gengrong and smiled slightly. If even someone literate, capable, and thoughtful like Gengrong stood on her side, would there still be doubts among ordinary commoners?

Zhao Hanzhang looked at the cooking smoke rising from each household, randomly knocking on one family’s door.

A man who had been cooking in the kitchen ran out to open the door. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, he became somewhat excited yet also timid. “My lady, why have you come?”

Could it be they were taking back the house and evicting him?

Zhao Hanzhang said, “I came to see how you’re all living here. Are you settling in well?”

The man breathed a sigh of relief and immediately replied, “Very well, very well, extremely well.”

“How many people live here?”

“Five. One room each,” the man said ingratiatingly with a smile. “We’re all keeping the house very tidy, nothing messy.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and headed toward the kitchen. The person who had been tending the fire was startled, then while still crouching, knelt on the ground. “Greetings, my lady.”

Zhao Hanzhang stepped forward to help him up. “No need for such courtesy.”

She looked into the cooking pot and asked, “Why are there only two of you? Where are the other three?”

The two hurried to reply, “They went to fetch water and gather firewood.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded approvingly. “Good division of labor. If you can live together like family, life will be easier.”

She stared at the pot and asked, “What are you cooking?”

The two honestly replied, “Bean rice.”

Zhao Hanzhang saw they showed no intention of inviting her to eat and could only shamelessly speak up herself. “I haven’t had my evening meal yet either. You wouldn’t mind if I stay and have some with you?”

The two immediately showed troubled expressions. After hesitating, one said, “Then my lady will have to wait a bit longer.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “I can wait.”

He immediately went into the room. Soon he came out carrying two bowls of white flour.

Seeing this, Zhao Hanzhang reached out to stop him. “Didn’t you say you were eating bean rice? Why bring out white flour?”

“Bean rice is what people like us eat. My lady is noble—how could you eat such coarse food?”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “I’m not so delicate. Whatever you eat, I’ll eat.”

The other party firmly refused. “That won’t do. When an honored guest visits, if we served them bean rice, we wouldn’t be able to hold our heads up in this neighborhood tomorrow.”

Zhao Hanzhang: “It wouldn’t be that serious. I just want to taste what your daily bean rice is like.”

They clearly hadn’t expected anyone would turn down perfectly good white flour and white rice to come eat bean rice.

But since Zhao Hanzhang insisted, they could only put the white flour away.

Zhao Hanzhang squatted by the stove with them to watch the fire, taking the opportunity to chat about their recent lives and plans for the future. “You’ve all finished harvesting the fields the office allocated to you, right?”

“All done. We turned over sixty percent of the grain and kept the remaining forty percent for ourselves.” One person said, “The beans are already dried and taken home. The rice is still drying.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Is it enough to last until next May?”

“Should be enough if we’re careful. The office says there’s still work-relief available. We plan to tidy up the fields and then go to the office to get work. The white flour and rice we earn can be exchanged for wheat and beans—we’ll have quite a bit more.”

Zhao Hanzhang: “So you won’t eat any fine grain at all, only coarse grains?”

The man replied unconcernedly with a smile, “Things are already very good now. In the past we didn’t even have coarse grains. Now we not only have houses to live in but can also fill our bellies—it’s enough.”

As they talked, the other three returned carrying water and firewood.

This house was only provided by the county office for temporary residence, without rent. One person per room. If it was one family, that was good. If not family, they could also share meals together.

Of course, if they couldn’t get along, they could ask the neighborhood head to mediate, and they could also build separate cooking stoves to live independently.

These five people had known each other in the slums, so they simply lived together. Taking turns daily to cook, fetch water, and gather firewood, they got by well enough.

The amount of rice they steamed daily was fixed. With Zhao Hanzhang bringing so many people, the bean rice suddenly wasn’t enough.

So all five refrained from eating and instead brought out bowls and chopsticks, serving everyone large bowls directly, planning to let Zhao Hanzhang’s group eat first.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at the beans cooked to mushiness and stuck together. She quickly thanked them and only took one bowl, then divided some for Professor Fu and Gengrong.

Three people sharing one bowl of bean rice. Never mind, on first smell it was actually quite fragrant—it just didn’t taste good, had no flavor, and had a beany smell.

Fu Tinghan took one bite and looked toward Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang also found it unpalatable but still forced herself to finish it. She asked, “You just eat bean rice without any vegetables?”

The five saw Zhao Hanzhang didn’t mind and happily smiled. “There are no vegetables.”

Zhao Hanzhang: “You should still grow some vegetables. Do you have vegetable plots? If not, I can allocate some to you?”

The five’s eyes immediately brightened. “Is that possible?”

“Of course,” Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and asked Fu Tinghan, “I remember there’s lots of abandoned land not far outside the western suburbs. That’s confirmed to be ownerless, right?”

Fu Tinghan nodded. “Abandoned for over five years can be considered ownerless.”

Zhao Hanzhang then said to them, “Go to the west—one household can clear two portions of vegetable plots. Once cleared, they’re yours.”

The five: …The west is too far, and it’s in the suburbs too.

The five felt that going without vegetables wasn’t really a problem.

Gengrong thought for a moment and said, “My lady, not far from here there’s also some wasteland, right behind several rows of houses. However, that land is very fragmented and the soil quality isn’t good.”

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the five and waved her hand at them. “Then you all go select a plot and clear it. If the soil quality is poor, go dig soil from elsewhere to fill it in.”

After Zhao Hanzhang finished eating and saw Fu Tinghan still had much left, she reached out to take it and poured the bean rice into her own bowl to eat for him.

“You should still eat some vegetables. Otherwise people easily get sick.”

Fu Tinghan’s face flushed slightly. He quickly took the bowl back. “I’ll do it myself.”

Zhao Hanzhang pressed down on his hand. “I’m hungry—let me have a bit.”

The five saw this and immediately stood up enthusiastically. “There’s more, there’s more here.”

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan were shocked and quickly waved their hands. “No need, no need. This much is enough. You all eat.”

Gengrong lowered his head, struggling to swallow the bean rice stuck in his throat. Tears nearly came out. It really was so hard to eat.

He glanced at Zhao Hanzhang. Seeing her finish even the bean rice in Fu Tinghan’s bowl, he felt deeply impressed. He had underestimated her.

Zhao Hanzhang let out a breath and set down the bowl, asking, “Besides bean rice, what else do you normally eat?”

“Wheat rice, and also steamed buns.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “White flour steamed buns?”

The five laughed. “How could we afford to eat pure white flour? They’re buns mixed with chaff—grayish-black in color but actually very tasty, even better than wheat rice.”

Zhao Hanzhang touched her stomach, finally deciding she should still go experience it.

So she pulled Fu Tinghan along to take their leave and find another household. As soon as the door opened, she asked whether they were eating wheat rice or steamed buns tonight.

Learning it was wheat rice or steamed buns, she would go inside.

On this alley, most households ate bean rice. Only a small portion ate wheat rice and steamed buns.

—