Rather than describing the predicament at the time as poverty, it's more apt to describe it with the words "life and death."
Taboos could lead to death.
However, hunger and poverty were certain to cause death.
Therefore, as soon as Zhang finished speaking, Wang Chen understood the implication behind his words.
"Do you mean to say that back then, people couldn't withstand hunger and had no choice but to risk the curse and go into the mountains to look for food?"
Zhang nodded, "Yes, I said earlier that during that year, the crops failed to yield anything. In the first half of the year, everyone barely survived on the remaining food aids from each other.
During the second half of the year, those who had food ate food, those who didn't ate anything they could find, like tree bark, grass roots, and there were even people who ate dirt."
"Eating dirt..." Upon hearing these two words, Yao Ruyi nearly laughed out loud.
