Chapter 42: Cook myself for everyone to have a meal?

Lu Chengjing and several elderly people in the village have indeed come up with a solution, which is to record points based on work.

After a major natural disaster, the imperial court would issue disaster relief silver, and local governments would open their warehouses to provide relief funds, which would be distributed to counties and villages.

The villagers' labor was recorded as points according to a set standard, and relief supplies were distributed according to the points. The more they worked, the more they got, and the less they worked, the less they got. No one was allowed to gossip.

Shang Wan felt that this was similar to the system in the doomsday base where one could kill zombies and mutant beasts in exchange for contribution points, and then use the contribution points to exchange for supplies, but there was still one essential difference.

She glanced at Lu Chengjing. Could it be that her vase was cheated?

"Mr. Xiucai, can we earn some money?" Li Xiaoshan asked on behalf of a group of children in the village.

"Of course, regardless of age or gender," Lu Chengjing said, scanning the faces of the villagers, "as long as the contribution is up to standard, points will be credited."

The children suddenly cheered, but they only calmed down after being glared at by their parents several times. They then ran to the side and started whispering to each other.

Luo Er raised his hand and asked, "If I help with the work, will the village provide me with food?"

Several elders in the village had already discussed this matter. Old Man Liu said, "We won't take care of the meals. Each family will take care of their own meals in the future."

"Why don't you provide food? Eating from a big pot is so delicious!"

Old Man Liu was fully aware of Luo Er's calculations. He said, "Everyone eats differently, so it's hard to calculate the amount of food. We cooked a big pot of rice last night because of special circumstances, and we steamed a limited number of buns this morning. One for each child and two for each adult. No more."

Luo Er's face suddenly fell.

Someone nearby started to make a noise: "Luo Er, you ate five bowls of rice last night. What? You want to eat five bowls again today?"

"You just don't eat enough?" Luo Er glared at the person who started the quarrel. "It's like you haven't eaten meat in your entire life."

"Who are you talking about?"

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, the people around them quickly separated them.

Li Dashan asked anxiously, "When will it start? There are still a lot of things buried under my house."

Old Man Wu waved his hand and said, "There's no need to rush. Only when you're full will you have the strength to work."

The air was already filled with the aroma of steamed buns and wheat. Many people's stomachs were rumbling and they kept turning their heads to look at the big pot stove.

Several aunts were standing by the pot, throwing juicy young cabbages into the boiling water.

Old Man Wu asked loudly, "Are all the steamed buns ready?"

"Alright!" Aunt Yao heard her husband shouting and replied loudly, "The soup is ready, we can eat now!"

The children couldn't wait to run over and line up to get the steamed buns.

The steamed buns were round, bigger than an adult man's fist, white and soft. The children couldn't wait to take a bite. They were so hot that they opened their mouths and breathed out, but they were reluctant to spit it out.

The clean bowls and chopsticks were placed in a bamboo basket. If you wanted to drink the soup, you could take a bowl and scoop it from the pot.

Although there are only a limited number of steamed buns, there is plenty of vegetable soup.

Everyone ate and talked, forgetting the unpleasantness that had just occurred.

"Here." Shang Wan handed a steamed bun to Lu Chengjing and placed the bowl of soup on the table in front of him.

"Thank you." Lu Chengjing reached out to take it, but Shang Wan didn't let go. She tore off a piece of the steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth. "You can skip the words of thanks next time."

Lu Chengjing, whose mouth was stuffed with steamed buns:?

How can you thank me if you don’t say thank you verbally?

Shang Wan stuffed the remaining steamed bun into his hand, thinking that he could only use his left hand now and would have to put down the steamed bun if he wanted to drink the soup, so he placed an empty bowl in front of him.

Little Yuanyuan tilted her head and glanced at her father, then glanced at the empty table in front of her. She immediately felt that she was being treated differently by her mother Xiangxiang.

The little guy pouted unhappily and raised his hand to slap the table to express his strong protest.

"Good girl, hold back a little." Shang Wan quickly grabbed her little hand and stuffed a small piece of steamed bun into her mouth.

Sweet! The big round eyes are curved, and the two small teeth chew the steamed bun bit by bit, so satisfying!

Shang Wan pinched her jokingly and said that she was satisfied with just eating steamed buns and was quite easy to raise.

"Sister, you eat yours, I'll feed Yuanyuan." Xiaohuan saw that Shang Wan had something to say to Lu Chengjing, so she took the initiative to reach out and hug Yuanyuan, tearing off a steamed bun to feed her.

Shitou shook the soup to cool it down and fed some to Yuanyuan whenever he had a chance.

Shang Wan glanced at Lu Chengjing while chewing on a steamed bun. Lu Chengjing felt a little confused by her gaze, so he stopped drinking soup and turned to look at her.

Shang Wan asked, "Did you come up with this idea of ​​recording points according to work?"

"Yeah." Lu Chengjing responded lightly.

Shang Wan narrowed his eyes and looked at him suspiciously, "Were you tricked by those old men?"

Lu Chengjing was slightly stunned, "Why do you say that?"

Shang Wan glanced around. They were sitting in a corner with no one around, so it was a good place to talk.

She lowered her voice and said, "The village has suffered a disaster. The government has distributed gifts to everyone, regardless of whether they work or not. Now you've come up with this method. It's like taking the things that should have gone into their pockets and putting them together, and then forcing them to work before they can take them. Aren't you playing people for fools?"

"Indeed, everyone gets a share." Lu Chengjing stirred the overcooked, mushy vegetable leaves in the soup bowl, looking at the small vortex in the center of the bowl. His voice was a little cold, "But it has to be distributed first."

Shang Wan frowned, "Are you saying there's something wrong with this disaster relief grain?"

"Indeed, there were some in the past." Lu Chengjing stopped stirring and glanced at Shang Wan. "There are many smart people in the village. They are willing to accept the method of recording points according to work because when we proposed this method, we implicitly promised them that we would collect the relief grain."

Shang Wan found it strange. "According to Shen Qi, the relief grain won't be allocated until at least the day after tomorrow, but everyone has to start working today. Aren't they worried that you won't get any money or grain, and your physical labor will be in vain?"

"If you can't get it, there are ways to get it back." Lu Chengjing's voice was slightly cold, "There are people around to take care of it."

Shang Wan understood the hidden meaning and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, Mr. Xiucai is so selfless. What's going on? Are you planning to cook yourself for everyone to have a meal?"

Lu Chengjing: "..."

"Speak." Shang Wan kicked his calf with his toes.

A slight pain spread from the touch, his muscles tensed for a moment and then slowly relaxed. Lu Chengjing said helplessly: "I know my limits."

Shang Wan glared at him coldly. He had no awareness of being a vase. Did he know that vases are fragile and easy to break?

Facing Shang Wan's cold face, Lu Chengjing felt a little uncomfortable.

Since the first time they met in the prison, Shang Wan had never shown him such an expression, as if if he reacted wrongly, Shang Wan would abandon him without any reluctance.

He pursed his pale lips, moved his white fingertips slightly, and slowly, bit by bit, pinched the hem of Shang Wan's sleeve that was hanging on the bench.

Shang Wan lowered his eyes and glanced at her, then tutted his words, "I'm angry. There's no point in being a spoiled brat."

Where did he act like a spoiled brat?

Lu Chengjing's ears burned red, and his voice softened slightly, "Don't be angry first, listen to what I have to say."

As if possessed by some mysterious force, he pinched Shang Wan's sleeves and shook them gently twice, and his long eyelashes trembled violently.

(End of this chapter)