Patrick Thorne carried a basket on his arm and a fertilizer sack on his back. The basket held two slabs of pork, over a dozen rice cakes, and more than ten coils of dried rice noodles. The fertilizer sack, meanwhile, contained half a bag of sweet potatoes.
The pork was from Phoebe Huxley, while the rice cakes, rice noodles, and sweet potatoes were from Raina. Tang Xiaonan had an aunt, Phoebe Thorne, who was married and lived in Wraven. Her husband worked for the Administration for Industry and Commerce, a government job, so their family owned no farmland. Because of this, Raina often sent grain and food to help her daughter out.
At that time, city dwellers weren't as well-off as people in the mountains. The mountains were remote, beyond the reach of the authorities. No matter how chaotic the outside world became, it hardly affected life there. As long as one was willing to work hard, there were always sweet potatoes and pumpkins to fill one's belly.
