When Chen Xiang arrived at Lujia Village with his escorts to store cotton, he found everyone looking gloomy and huddled together.
What happened?
Grandma Zhu glanced back at Chen Xiang, sighed, and pointed to the pile of cotton, "Perhaps it's because of the weather; the cotton is damp, and some of it has already gone moldy."
"It's damp?" Chen Xiang thought he could have winter clothes, but when he heard what Grandma Zhu said, he hurriedly went to check.
Sure enough, many black spots appeared on the piles of white cotton on the ground, and some of the cotton was stuck together.
Even Xixi thought the situation was terrible, no wonder everyone was sighing dejectedly.
What a pity! This is the last cotton in the area, and if we can't make clothes from it...
[My family and I could all die in this sudden blizzard; the temperature will drop to minus ten degrees Celsius.]
Cotton can still be sold for money; it can be sold to cotton dealers.
It's such a waste to just leave it here.
The sighs of joy reached the ears of the Zhu family. Knowing the grim situation ahead, everyone's face grew increasingly haggard and gloomy.
When Pei Sining entered the warehouse, she overheard Xixi's inner monologue and thought that reselling the cotton in the warehouse was a good idea.
After all, the team still needed to continue their journey and didn't have much time to slowly make winter clothes.
Thinking of this, he quickly went behind Old Lady Zhu, grabbed her sleeve, and shook it a few times.
Grandma Zhu looked at Pei Sining with a puzzled expression, bent down and approached him, "Sining, what's wrong?"
"Grandma Zhu, why don't you suggest to the village head that you sell all the cotton? Don't you still have gold? When you enter the city, you can also secretly purchase some supplies."
Pei Sining knew that Old Madam Zhu was secretly keeping some gold, but she couldn't take it out in front of Chen Xiang.
If Chen Xiang offered to help the village head resell cotton, he might agree to let Old Lady Zhu go to the city.
After all, the constables survived smallpox thanks to the care of the village head, so they would be willing to do this small favor.
But Old Lady Zhu is different. Although she has done Chen Xiang a favor, she is, after all, a prisoner. If she were to suggest going into the city to purchase supplies, Chen Xiang might not agree.
After a moment of contemplation, Old Lady Zhu nodded silently, "Alright, I'll give it a try."
Pei Sining's suggestion solved Grandma Zhu's idea of storing winter clothes.
After all, in Chen Xiang's eyes, their money had already been used to purchase food, so it would be a waste to spend a large sum of money to buy winter clothes.
This will definitely make Chen Xiang suspect that she is hiding money, which will make the journey ahead very unsafe.
Human nature is insignificant in the face of money.
Thinking of this, she took the initiative to step forward and walk to the side of the village head, whose face was full of worry.
“Village head, I have a plan you can consider.”
“Young lady, please speak. There’s no need for such formalities between us.”
The village head, who was still feeling sorry for the cotton, instantly relaxed when he learned that there was still a way to save it, and looked excitedly at Old Lady Zhu.
Grandma Zhu subconsciously glanced back at Chen Xiang, hesitated for a moment before speaking, "That is, to sell the cotton and get money."
"Sell it? This... young lady, there's a severe drought right now, why would anyone buy this cotton?"
The village head was somewhat disappointed by Old Lady Zhu's suggestion and kept sighing, "We had considered selling it before, but we just couldn't sell it."
"Village head, why don't we give it a try?" Zhu Chenfeng sensed something fishy in his mother's words and stood up to support her.
Remembering her daughter's mention of the value of cotton, Liu also stepped forward, holding Xixi in her arms.
"That's right! Village head, things are different now. Maybe the cotton merchants outside are already buying up cotton on a large scale?"
The rest of the Zhu family members nodded in agreement, supporting Old Lady Zhu's idea.
Nevertheless, the village head still hesitated, frowning and licking his lips repeatedly.
Is the village headman worried about the officials? In the eyes of ordinary people, they dare not offend even the lowest-ranking official.
Xixi also thought selling the cotton was a good idea, so everyone could leave Lujia Village with the money.
Otherwise, if we stay any longer, the older brothers and sisters in Lujia Village will die.
Pei Sining listened silently to Xixi's analysis and agreed with her opinion. She walked around the crowd to Chen Xiang's side.
"Lord Chen, what do you think? What do you think of Old Madam Zhu's idea?"
Before Chen Xiang could finish processing the information in front of him, he heard Pei Sining urging him on from the side.
“I think… let’s follow Grandma Zhu’s suggestion! Besides, we can’t stay in this village anymore. Why don’t you sell the cotton and take these children to find a new place to live?”
"Moreover, our team is running out of supplies and we need to go into the city to buy some more."
As soon as he finished speaking, the escorts standing behind Chen Xiang were somewhat bewildered, all looking at each other with surprise.
It's unbelievable that the cold-blooded boss in front of me would ever be so nosy.
"Boss, are you crazy? Anyway, Zhu Wen and the others are all better, and we're setting off tomorrow. Why bother with so many other things?"
"Exactly! Selling the cotton will delay our journey for several days, it's not worth it!"
The incessant chatter of his subordinates irritated Chen Xiang, who turned around with a dark expression and roared at them.
"Shut up, you idiots."
"That's right, you idiots."
Just as the escorts were pouting indignantly, Zhu Wen's voice rang out from behind them. He came up behind them, patted their heads, and whispered something.
"Fool! The court is in turmoil now. Winter clothes and food will only become more and more scarce. If we can prepare in advance, we won't die in this turmoil."
Having survived countless brushes with death, Zhu Wen still has one thought in mind: he will do whatever Grandma Zhu and the others do without complaint.
"Alright, stop talking." Chen Xiang turned around and reminded Zhu Wen with a straight face, winking at him.
Zhu Wen followed Chen Xiang's gaze and realized that everyone in the warehouse was staring at him, their faces gradually showing expressions of fear.
After hearing Zhu Wen's words, the village head immediately gave instructions to the children.
"Quickly, get the recovered villagers over here to sort the cotton, throw away the bad ones, and put the good ones in bamboo baskets."
At the command, all the children in Lujia Village sprang into action, and even Old Lady Zhu, with a bitter expression, joined in with her son and daughter-in-law.
Seeing everyone get moving, Chen Xiang put his broadsword aside, rolled up his sleeves, and joined in.
After a moment's hesitation, the guards followed Chen Xiang and helped the children carry the bamboo baskets.
The unity of everyone made Xixi happily wave her little hands, blow bubbles, and kick her little legs as she drifted off to sleep.
She came to her small courtyard while fast asleep, soaked in the comfortable hot spring, and drank special milk, feeling very relaxed.
Just then, Zhu Yanyan's angry roar suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard, startling Xixi so much that her heart stopped for a few seconds.
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