Chapter 202: Starting Over
Life has made a choice again, and you have chosen him again, so don’t worry about it, just let it be, and move forward.
Zhao Yan returned to Fuzhou Prefecture, Yu Huatang's shop opened, the apprentices came back one after another, and Heyuan Street returned to its former appearance.
But the rain hasn't stopped yet. I heard that several places are still flooded.
She felt a little distressed and worried about him.
Within a few days, many people in the city fell ill due to the rain. The doctor said that it might be caused by drinking raw water. Generally, rainwater brought by floods or typhoons cannot be consumed directly. It must be filtered and boiled. The doctors then took people to inform every household about this.
Lord Yan also sent people to print out a number of documents, stating which foods must be cooked before eating.
Because of the disaster relief work in the front, many able-bodied men were conscripted.
The government office also confirmed that the doctor was too busy to handle the matter, so Lord Yan sent someone to ask for the help of a shop assistant.
Yu Huatang followed him, and several shops also sent people out.
When we arrived at the place, we saw an open space filled with straw huts and temporary houses. These should be refugees from downstream who were relocated here by the government.
Yu Huatang followed the doctor to help get things, distribute medicine and food.
Some people took it, but some did not. One of the old men said, "I don't want to eat it. You can take it."
Yu Huatang asked, "Why don't you eat it? This is disaster relief grain from the imperial court."
The old man closed his eyes and said nothing. His son beside him said, "They drove us away and blew up the dike. When the typhoon came, the rain poured down, and all our crops and houses were washed away. What else can we eat? We might as well starve to death..."
"You were relocated because the land there is low-lying and uninhabitable. The levees were blown up to divert the water. If the water breaches the levees, millions of people will be displaced. The court must have had you in mind before making this decision. You are being sent here temporarily. I believe that once the disaster is over, the new envoy will come back to you to request housing and food."
The son lamented, and the old man snorted coldly, "There are only a few good officials. It's good enough that he didn't take our lives to get promoted. We can't expect him to report this to the court. The girl has good intentions, but the world is not like this."
Yu Huatang continued, "I couldn't guarantee the previous official, but I can guarantee this time that he will not abandon you. He will report the situation here and your destroyed houses to the court truthfully, and every household will be spared."
"This pacification envoy's name is Zhao Yan. I'm sure you've heard about the epidemic two years ago. Even during that time, he never gave up on the people of Quanzhou, and he certainly won't give up now."
At this time, the son said, "I have heard of this person. Is he the pacifier here?"
Yu Huatang nodded and said, "Yes, that's him, so you must have faith in him. Disaster relief cannot be completed in a day or two, so you need to give him time. Now that the relief grain has arrived, what we need to do is to take good care of our bodies so that we can have the strength to rebuild our homes. The government office knows your difficulties and is doing its best to accommodate you. When the disaster is over, they will definitely not forget you."
The old man stopped talking, but took the food that Yu Huatang handed over to him again.
After helping, it was already evening. Lord Yan had just finished settling the people on the other side and came over and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Miss Yu. Go back and rest."
Yu Huatang nodded and said, "Master Yan, I think these straw huts will leak when it rains. I have some waterproofing materials and I will send them over tomorrow."
Yan Quan shook his head. "We've been told by our superiors that we can no longer requisition supplies from the people. Thank you, Miss Yu, for your kindness. New relief supplies from the imperial court will arrive the day after tomorrow."
"That's fine." Yu Huatang replied.
After that, Yan Quan also left, and Yu Huatang was the last one to leave. Although the straw hut in front of them was crowded, it was already good compared to the lives lost in previous disasters.
She wondered if the court had sent someone else instead of Zhao Yan, would that person, like the fleeing governor, make a fuss about the lives of the people and then act pretentiously, claiming that they had done their best to provide disaster relief.
Even if the disaster was serious, no one would investigate it in detail, and naturally no one would remember the people who died. They were just numbers on the memorials of these officials.
At the end of July, Yu Huatang heard that Zhao Yan went to Anxi County and said that there were several breaches in the upper reaches of the Xixi River in Jinjiang.
Later I heard that he had been to several resettlement sites for the people. In this situation, there were naturally many people around him, so he naturally couldn't spare the time.
But in the afternoon, Xiaolu came and whispered in her ear, asking her to go with him.
"Brother Anfu said that the young master was pressed for time and could only stay at the post office temporarily after arriving in the city. Now that he is already there, he asked me to take the young lady over to meet her."
"Are we going now?" Yu Huatang was surprised.
"Yes."
She hesitated for a moment, went back and told the shop owner that she was going out for a while, then followed Xiao Lu to the post station. The carriage traveled very fast along the way without a moment's rest.
Not long after, Yu Huatang arrived at Xiaolu and took the things he had prepared in advance with the postman. The postman checked and let them in.
Not long after Yu Huatang entered the room, he heard a group of people coming. It must be them.
After a while, the door opened. Zhao Yan saw her inside with a smile on his face. He walked closer, closed the door, and came over to hug her.
Yu Huatang was a little stiff, then slowly relaxed. When she saw him, she didn't know what to say, so she just lowered her head.
Zhao Yan said gently, "I really don't have time to go to the city, and I was worried that you wouldn't come."
She knew that human lives were at stake, and that disaster relief was the most important thing right now. If people saw him traveling thousands of miles to find a woman, what would people think? How could the people dare to trust him?
She looked up and asked, "Will the court provide compensation to those whose houses were destroyed, or help rebuild them?"
Zhao Yan said, "Of course, but we still have to wait for some time."
Yu Huatang came out of his arms and said, "I think the rain seems to have subsided a lot. The worst is over. It won't be long before people's livelihood can be restored."
Zhao Yan pulled her to sit down and said, "I suppose so, but it depends on the ability of the local officials."
Yu Huatang breathed a sigh of relief and was about to ask more, but Zhao Yan said, "I see you've been asking questions since you arrived. You're more worried than the average official. But after all your questions, I don't see you caring about me."
Yu Huatang felt a little embarrassed. Although she saw him, she didn't know what to say. Finally, she said, "I see that you look normal. You should be fine..."
Although the two of them said those words that day, when they faced each other like this, she didn't know what to say.
Zhao Yan reached out to pull her, but she dodged him. However, he reached out with his other hand, and this time when his fingertips touched hers, he immediately held onto them.
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