Chapter 56
56 Releasing Grain Again
“Ah Yu, go back and change your clothes. You’re wet. You have to wear dry clothes.” Liu Shi hurriedly turned around and said to Little Ah Yu. “Alright.” Little Ah Yu nodded. When the wind blew, her arms trembled.
It was so cold. She quickly went back to her room to change.
As for Old Madam Wang, she pulled Liu Shi along in the rain. The two of them walked further and further away.
Seeing that there was already a huge distance to their house, Old Madam Wang found a yellow-horned tree and stood under it.
“Mother, what should we do about Ah Yu?” Liu Shi was a little flustered. She was really agitated by the scene just now.
She was not the kind of person who had her own views.
Old Madam Wang said in a low voice, “Don’t be anxious. Listen to me, let’s do this…”
While they were discussing, the village chief knocked on the gong hanging at the village entrance again.
Coincidentally, the rain had stopped at that time. Those who had nothing on their hands went over to take a look.
Seeing that most of the people had arrived, Village Chief Hu said, “I have good news for everyone.”
“What good news?” No one could guess.
Village Chief Hu was not someone who liked to keep people in suspense. Under everyone’s expectant gazes, he smiled and said, “The good news is that Lord Zhang has sent someone to deliver more grain! However, this time, we’ll have less edible food, but there are plenty of grain seeds. It’s said that they were all directly distributed by the Ministry of Revenue!”
This was because they were about to miss the spring planting season. If the commoners did not have enough grain seeds, most of the land would be barren.
In that case, they would send some grain to make up for the lack of food during the autumn harvest.
Two days ago, the village chief did not buy much grain seeds in the county city. The rich people in the city had bought all the grain seeds to eat.
“Village Chief, you’re not lying to us, right? Why did the Imperial Court send us food twice?”
“That’s right. Are the food and seeds free?”
In the eyes of the villagers, they had to pay for anything that involved working with an official.
Village Chief Hu said, “Don’t worry. The bailiff who came to inform us said that they won’t take our money.”
Everyone’s expressions relaxed. It was good that there was no charge.
Village Chief Hu added, “The last time, it was Lord Zhang who escorted the food relief over. However, the disasters in various places are serious now, and the officials in the county city are too busy. Therefore, the food is not directly transported over this time, but placed in the county city’s government office. We have to go and get it ourselves.”
“Here’s what I think. Our small cart at home is definitely not enough. Do you want to go to the mountains to cut two more logs and make two more carts? It’ll be more convenient when we go to collect the grains.”
The amount of grains this time was even greater, and it was distributed based on the population on the household register. Therefore, the amount was even more abundant than before.
This concerned the future harvest. Everyone was very proactive.
The villagers hurriedly said, “We’ll go and cut the wood now. There are many people. Everyone, clean up a little. It’s fine as long as it’s usable.”
Someone else said, “I’ll weave a few more baskets and bring them along at that time.”
“Which families want to go together? Let’s set a rule. We’ll set off after the handcarts are done,” Village Chief Hu said.
Everyone expressed that they could go together. Of course, they wanted to watch the show.
Moreover, the more people there were, the safer the grain transportation would be.
Even if it took a few hours to travel back and forth, they felt that it was nothing.
“Bring me along. We’re going to the county city too. It’s better to have more people around.” Old Madam Wang also rushed over.
When everyone saw that it was Old Madam Wang, they thought that the Wang Family had sacrificed too much during this period of time and naturally had no reason to disagree.
Old Madam Wang said, “The grain distributed by the Imperial Court is fixed. If we’re late, the food might be all collected. If we go late, we’ll only end up empty-handed.”
When everyone heard this, they wanted to hurry over. It did not matter if there were not enough carts. It was the same for everyone to carry a few more sacks themselves.
Village Chief Hu looked at the sky outside and hurriedly said, “No, no. The officials said that they would save the portion for our village. They can keep it for a day or two, it won’t be too late for us to go tomorrow morning. It’s too late today. The road is slippery on rainy days. Don’t fall down the mountain.”
The mountain path was difficult to walk on, and the ground was even more muddy during the rainy season. It was very dangerous.
The next day, coincidentally, the spring rain that they thought would last for several days suddenly stopped. The surroundings were clear.
Everyone discussed going to the county city.
The day before, Old Madam Wang had also called her sons and older grandsons to the field to nurture the seedlings.
She lifted the straw and revealed very dense wheat seedlings. Everyone in the Wang Family gasped.
How many days had it been since the seedlings were planted? How did they grow so big?
“Don’t look so shocked. You’ve never eaten pork before, but haven’t you seen a pig run? Put away your stupid looks!” Old Madam Wang said angrily. “Tomorrow, I’m going to the county city with the village head and the others. Ah Yu will be going too. You’re not allowed to play tricks at home. When I come back and see that the seedlings haven’t been planted, see how I deal with you!”
The sons and grandsons of the Wang Family were stunned by the scolding. They only wanted to work well and completely forgot to ask why the seedlings had grown so tall.
In a day, everyone made three carts. Although they were still a little rough and were basically not polished, they could still be used.
With the handcarts, everyone set off.
Little Ah Yu carried her small bag and carried the small flower basket as she followed the group.
The lamb followed beside her, its four hooves running happily.
Old Madam Wang grabbed the back of its neck and chased it back.
“It’s such a long way. Don’t you want your hoof anymore?” Old Madam Wang shouted, scaring the lamb back.
Little Ah Yu stretched out her little hand and waved at the lamb. “Little lamb, be good and wait for us at home.”
The lamb: “…” It was very angry.
Although the sky was clear, the ground was not completely dry yet. The paths and official roads in the village were filled with mud, and the handcarts were pushed very slowly. If one walked over, half of their feet would sink into the mud.
However, everyone was very enthusiastic and did not find it troublesome at all.
Little Ah Yu only skipped for a while before someone carried her to the cart and pushed her along.
“Ah Yu, don’t run around. It won’t look good if your clothes are dirty later.” Hu San chuckled. “Third Grandpa is pushing you. If you’re tired, you can still sleep.”
Little Ah Yu said sweetly, “Thank you, Third Grandpa!”
This was the first time Little Ah Yu had ridden on a cart. She was so excited that she lay on it and looked around. Her eyes darted around, looking at something.
The villagers of Hu Family Village were no longer as depressed as before. All of them were in high spirits. Even the mud along the way could not stop their enthusiasm and joy.
Occasionally, they would see small wild fruits by the side of the road. They would pick them and put them in Little Ah Yu’s bag.
When they saw the wild flowers, they also plucked them and placed them in her small flower basket.
Little Ah Yu was overjoyed!
On the other hand, Zhang Zhan, who was in the Yongding County office, suddenly felt his right eyelid twitch.
A servant rushed to the door of the study excitedly and shouted, “Sir, a young master wants to see you outside!”
Zhang Zhan threw away the things in his hand and rushed out like the wind. He saw a few carriages parked outside the government office.
There were some servants standing outside the carriage, all of them holding wooden sticks.
At the front of the crowd was a young man about six or seven years old. Beside him, there was a monk, a Daoist, and someone from an unknown sect.
Seeing these people, Zhang Zhan felt his head ache even more.
What was going on!
“Xiao… Xiaohuai, you’ve traveled a long way. Go to the county office to rest and reorganize first. The others will be arranged to go to the courier station. What do you think?” Zhang Zhan hid his thoughts and revealed a standard welcoming smile.
Unexpectedly, the young man did not listen to Zhang Zhan at all.
He raised his sleeve slightly and looked straight at Zhang Zhan. As if each word from his mouth was worth its weight in gold, he uttered a single word, “Dirty.”
Along the way, he had not washed up properly.
The self-disgust on his face almost made Zhang Zhan think that he had seen wrongly.
This young master rarely spoke, let alone reveal his emotions.
It seemed that he had indeed suffered greatly.
“The hot water has already been prepared. Follow me.”
When Zhang Zhan welcomed these people into the county office, the group from Hu Family Village had also arrived outside Yongding County.