As Zhao Jun's family "blissfully" enjoyed their breakfast, far away in a shack at the New Logging Camp, Dou Baoguo, Zhao Qingzhu, and Niu Guoliang were also eating.
But their meal was nothing like the sautéed potatoes, eggplant, and peppers made by the Forest Farm's head chef. In front of each man was a small enamel bowl filled with a soup of cabbage and potato strips.
The soup was thin and watery, with not a drop of oil in it. The staple food was just as simple: steamed cornmeal buns.
Made of pure cornmeal, the buns crumbled with every bite. The men had to hold their bowls underneath to catch the crumbs in their soup, which they would then drink down so as not to waste a single scrap of food.
Dou Baoguo frowned as he ate. Ever since moving to the city, the worst fare he'd had was dry rations made from a two-grain flour blend. It had been years since he'd had to gnaw on a cornmeal bun.
