"Sanni, however, took it as a given, after all, her little sister was a fairy and naturally couldn't be expected to work.
*
After dinner, when people headed for the fields, they found that the jubilant mood from the grain distribution the previous day had faded in every household, and all that was left were sighs of dismay.
In their area, three neighboring communes had had the best harvests, leading to droves of relatives coming to borrow grain, which put them in an awkward position.
If they refused to lend, it would harm their relationships and reputation, but if they lent to one household, others would soon follow. This predicament threatened to deplete their own grain supplies.
Unable to refuse the requests, several households had already lent out quite a lot of their grain.
Zhao Mancao observed them with furrowed brows, worrying they would end up lending out all of their own grain.
He decided to hold a meeting at the commune dam after lunch.