Chapter 94: A little bit of kindness, a big bit of hatred

The next day.

After Wen Yan finished the work at hand in the study, her stomach started to growl with hunger.

Pei'er was carrying a lunch box and was about to go to the shed to get some food.

Ever since the construction shed was set up, we haven't cooked much at home.

Lunch and dinner were brought back from the shed.

Wen Yan walked up a few steps: "Pei'er, I'll go."

She has been working at her desk all morning and her back is sore. Now she wants to go out for a walk to stretch her muscles.

Pei'er smiled and said, "I'm fine now, let's go together."

The two of them walked all the way to the shed.

Sure enough, there was fried leeks and eggs today, and the villagers were very happy.

It was just the turn of Dahu, Aunt Liu's brother, to get his meal.

He brought a large bowl filled with vegetables.

He took six big steamed buns in one breath.

Wen Yan was right next to them. Aunt Liu blushed with embarrassment and blinked hard, asking her son not to eat so much.

When Wen Yan smiled at Brother Dahu without any intention of blaming him, Aunt Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Pei'er prepared the food and went back.

Granny Yao took Wen Yan's hand and went to talk aside.

"The food we feed the craftsmen is better than what they eat during the Lunar New Year. I think it's enough to have a meat dish at noon, and we can also ration it out at night. We can just stir-fry some vegetables and cook some bone soup, and skip the meat dishes."

Grandma Yao spoke with great sincerity.

Every day, money was spent like water, including wages for craftsmen and money for buying food.

She felt sorry for Wen Yan.

Wen Yan knew that she was doing this for her own good and wanted to save money.

Wen Yan smiled and took her hand, comforting her: "Grandma Yao, it's just a meal, it won't cost much."

"It costs nearly one or two taels of silver every day, which is quite a lot. I can save some to send Zhihai to school!"

"Zhilin will make his own arrangements for Xiaohai's studies," Wen Yan said. "Besides, we've been providing this kind of food for over ten days. If we suddenly stop, won't it cause gossip? Besides, Ying Zhilin is about to take the imperial examination. Compared to his reputation, these small amounts of silver are nothing."

When Granny Yao saw that Yan was not convinced, she sighed and stopped trying to persuade him.

She planned to go back and talk to the old man and ask him to persuade Wen Yan.

Everyone else had finished their meals, and the stove was empty.

Wen Yan said hello to Aunt Liu and Aunt Li and was about to leave.

But I saw a little girl of five or six years old, thin and weak, barefoot, standing awkwardly outside the shed.

Her clothes were patched up, but very clean.

She stared at the bowl of food and kept swallowing her saliva.

Noticing someone's gaze, she turned around and found that it was Wen Yan looking at her.

She was so scared that she shrank her neck and turned around to run.

"Stop." Wen Yan shouted.

The little girl stopped immediately, shrank her neck, lowered her head, and didn't dare to look at her.

Wen Yan waved at her: "Come here."

The little girl hesitated and didn't dare to go forward.

It was Granny Yao who spoke again: "The scholar's wife asked you to come over, so just come over."

The little girl then moved forward step by step like a frightened little rabbit.

Wen Yan sat on the bench used for picking vegetables and asked her, "What's your name? What brings you here?"

The little girl bit her lip, her face flushed red but she didn't say a word.

Granny Yao said hurriedly, "She is mute and cannot speak."

Wen Yan was surprised: "Is it because of illness?"

"It's innate. Alas... he's also a miserable child." Granny Yao took out an empty bowl and took out half of her own meal. "Here, take it back and eat it with your grandma."

The little girl looked at the food in the bowl and suddenly became happy. She bowed happily to Grandma Yao and ran away with the bowl in her arms.

Wen Yan watched her running away.

I couldn't help but think of an old friend.

In her previous life, she met a girl when she was serving as the county magistrate with Huo Yaoxing.

Because I gave her a pair of red hairbands.

On the morning of the first day of the new year, he walked barefoot on the mountain road for nearly two hours and gave her the eggs he had saved.

The little girl in front of her actually overlapped with her figure.

Seeing that she cared about the little girl, Grandma Yao told her about the little girl's family situation.

The girl was born unable to speak.

Her family was not poor originally, until one year, when her father was captured and forced to perform labor service, delivering military rations to the border.

His father never came back.

There are only three women left in the family.

Her mother felt that her life was hopeless, so she asked for a divorce and returned to her parents' home to marry someone else.

From then on, the mute girl lived with her grandmother.

As the village head at that time, Chief Ying was relatively fair.

No one dared to eat her family's food.

With the help of the whole village, the grandparents and grandchildren have been living together until now.

This is not.

He was only seven or eight years old, but he was so thin that he was only the height of a five or six-year-old. It was all because of hunger.

It’s a pity that the mute girl’s grandmother is getting worse every year.

Their days are becoming increasingly difficult.

Wen Yan thought for a moment and asked Granny Yao, "Are there many lonely families like this in our village?"

Granny Yao suddenly became alert: "What do you want to do?"

This kid spends money lavishly. Could he be trying to give money to his mute sister's family?

This poor kid has no idea what he is doing and throws money around like it's rocks.

Wen Yan looked at Granny Yao's expression, as if she was facing a great enemy, and couldn't help laughing: "I was just thinking, aren't you guys still short of a fire girl? Let her come."

When Granny Yao saw that she wasn't going to spend money, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he was delighted again, pulling Wen Yan and saying, "I thank you on her behalf. I'll go call her after dinner."

"Add two more bowls of food to each meal, and share any leftovers with other orphans and widows."

Grandma Yao could see that Wen Yan wanted to help those families.

No one's money comes from the wind.

Granny Yao held Wen Yan's hand, tears welling up in her eyes. After a long while, she said, "I thank you on their behalf."

Wen Yan made a shushing gesture: "Don't say I asked you to send it. Just say there were some leftovers and you secretly gave them to them."

If you do good deeds without leaving your name, all your money will be wasted.

It was not until she returned home in the evening that Grandma Yao told Clan Leader Ying about this matter.

Chief Ying sighed, "A little kindness, a big grudge. We should just do whatever she says."

After a busy afternoon, it was getting dark.

Wen Yan estimated Ying Zhilin's school dismissal time and went to the gate to pick him up.

As soon as the two started talking, a series of hurried horse hooves sounds were heard in the village.

Immediately afterwards, a man and two horses stopped in front of Wen Yan's house.

Wen Yan recognized the man on horseback at a glance: "Brother Chen Yi, why are you here at this hour?"

Chen Yi dismounted and came to Wen Yan, whispering, "There's news from Jinyang Prefecture. The young general invites you into the city for a chat."

"When did the news arrive?"

"Today at noon."

In other words, after reading the message, Meng Xiyan asked Brother Chen Yi to call him.

This shows.

Meng Xiyan found out more than he did, and the situation was probably more difficult.