Chapter 233

Fan Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat, thinking to herself, "They're here!"

The news of the grain donation caused an uproar.

"Donate grain!? But...but everyone's harvest is bad this year! How can we possibly donate it!"

"Yes! They're struggling to even support their own families!"

"Mayor! You're aware of the situation this year!"

Fan Xiaoxiao silently watched the crowd shouting, but none of them noticed that the eyes of the disaster victims in the middle of the crowd were becoming increasingly strange.

It was a hatred tinged with jealousy, intense and venomous.

She was startled and tugged at the village chief, who was standing next to her.

The two exchanged a glance and quickly instructed Hu San that if anything seemed amiss, he should try to move closer to the town mayor and his group.

They were positioned too far inside; if anything happened, they certainly wouldn't have a chance to escape.

On the contrary, the position where the town mayor and his group stood was safer because the elders of the Tianshan Sect were there to oversee them.

Fortunately, no riots occurred.

An elder from the Tianshan Sect stepped forward and his loud shout silenced everyone.

"Enough!"

It must be said that the commands of martial arts practitioners are quite effective, and they immediately subdued everyone.

Village Chief Fu quickly introduced the man's identity to Fan Xiaoxiao in a low voice—Elder Guo.

That is, his cousin, a direct relative of the Guo family in the village.

Fan Xiaoxiao nodded silently. The elder who spoke had white hair and a beautiful beard that gave him an air of otherworldly elegance.

However, his eyes were extremely sharp, giving him a very aggressive look. Just by looking at his eyes, you couldn't tell that he was nearly eighty years old.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Elder Guo softened his tone, but his expression remained very serious.

“We all know that life is tough for everyone! The princess doesn’t want to force us to live a miserable life. So, we just discussed it with the princess. If we have food, we’ll contribute food. If we don’t have food, we’ll contribute money.”

Fan Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow at the Fan family, thinking to herself that she couldn't escape this point after all.

The people present were about to say something, but this time, Elder Guo did not give them a chance to resist.

He squinted, scanning the faces in the crowd.

"Don't tell me about the lack of food or money. Look at what you're wearing and using—aren't you all much better off than these refugees? Each family can eat and use less, it won't be a big deal. But look at these people in the middle! If they don't have food, they will starve to death! They will freeze to death!"

His words finally softened the expressions of the refugees in the middle. Their eyes, looking at Elder Guo, held more gratitude. Even the surrounding villagers showed some pity.

"Elder Guo is most skilled at inspiring people."

Village Chief Fu's words rang out once again.

"Next, he will definitely take the lead in donating food!"

Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at Village Chief Fu, and sure enough, Elder Guo on the platform spoke again a moment later.

"Our Tianshan Sect is dedicated to protecting everyone's safety. This time, of course, we won't just ask the villagers to contribute grain. Our Tianshan Sect never stands idly by! I, Guo, hereby guarantee that the Tianshan Sect will donate two hundred shi of grain and three thousand taels of silver! Our disciples will also help build houses for the villagers!"

Two hundred bushels of grain—that's the entire Tianshan Sect's monthly food ration.

Fan Xiaoxiao frowned. She seemed to recall that Sang Yu'er had mentioned that the Tianshan Sect's grain was transported month by month.

They shouldn't have two hundred bushels of grain right now. But Elder Guo is making such a confident statement.

Where does the food come from?

Fan Xiaoxiao frowned, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

Village Chief Fu, standing to the side, clearly understood Elder Guo's meaning, his face turning ashen. Hu San and the other young men also looked indignant.

Madam Fan was puzzled by their reaction: "What's wrong with you? Didn't the Tianshan Sect send grain? Why the expressions?"

Tiger Three's fists clenched so tightly they cracked. Hearing Fan's question, he managed to squeeze out the reason through gritted teeth.

"The Tianshan Sect doesn't have those two hundred shi of grain at all! The last one was transported from our village! The two hundred shi of grain he mentioned is supposed to come from our village!"

"What!?"

Fan's eyes widened, and she could hardly believe her ears.

Fan Xiaoxiao reacted better than her, feeling only that she had expected this to be the case.

With the Tianshan Sect taking the lead, other villages gradually followed suit. Some shouted that they would donate grain, while others shouted that they would donate money. The town mayor, standing on the platform, wrote down all the names of these villages.

Soon, it was Ginkgo Village's turn.

Village Chief Fu swallowed hard and glanced at Fan Xiaoxiao unconsciously.

"Go, do as I say."

Village Chief Fu nodded, his lips pressed into a tight line. On the platform, the town mayor called out the name of Ginkgo Village again.

Village Chief Fu wrapped his cotton coat tighter around himself and raised his hand in response, his voice trembling slightly.

"Here! In our village—we'll lead them to grow crops!"

As soon as Chief Fu spoke, it immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.

"Take them to grow crops? In the dead of winter, is Lao Fu out of his mind?"

"Who knows? Hey, this rich village chief isn't just thinking of leading these refugees to grow food, but then not providing any money or food, is he?"

"No way...then we'll get them to plant it in our village too!"

"Hahaha, are you crazy? How can you grow crops in winter?"

"What if...what if the village chief of Ginkgo Village wants to lead them to plant crops next spring!"

Upon hearing this, many people began to murmur amongst themselves. Some villages, harboring ulterior motives, immediately joined the clamor to plant grain.

Elder Guo narrowed his eyes again and slightly raised his hand to quiet everyone down.

"Village Chief Fu, what do you mean by that?"

Elder Guo's cold words made Village Chief Fu tremble. Even his previously coherent words became somewhat stammering.

"Well... in winter, we help them plant grain... grain. Our village's harvest this year is really, really bad. Elder, you know that, but... give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

The idea of ​​growing crops in winter was so absurd that even Village Chief Fu couldn't believe it at first, but...

He glanced at Fan Xiaoxiao; this young girl had brought him so many surprises. He didn't want to be controlled by others any longer!

With this in mind, Village Chief Fu steeled his resolve and spoke much more fluently.

"Elder, you may not believe it, but our village can indeed help them grow crops in the winter! That way, at least they won't go hungry until next autumn!"

"Growing vegetables in winter... How can you do that?"

Elder Guo still couldn't quite believe Village Chief Fu's words, but since the village was under his jurisdiction, Elder Guo still gave him some face.

Village Chief Fu took a deep breath, realizing that the other party was giving him a chance.

"Use glass!"

"Liuli!?"

Before Elder Guo could speak, a male voice suddenly came from behind the white cloth.

Fan Xiaoxiao was slightly taken aback, feeling that the voice sounded somewhat familiar. The Fan family member beside her also frowned slightly.

The next moment, a tall and handsome figure emerged from behind the white cloth. Fan Xiaoxiao was taken aback; the one who had brought troops this time was none other than General Yu, whom she had met in Yongzhou.

What she didn't expect was that her elder sister, after meeting General Yu... nearly lost control...

...

“Acheng…”

(End of this chapter)