Chapter 29: Gratitude
Liu Decai looked unhappy, but finally he smiled:
"Uncle Lizheng, I am just expressing my doubts."
"After all, the stuff is here, so there has to be a way to divide it, right?"
"If you say we shouldn't split, then we shouldn't split. If you say we should split, then we have no complaints, right?"
Ye Lizheng glared at him and said nothing.
Old Man Ye sneered: "You are right. Decai is just like your father, always wanting an explanation!"
This time, Ye Caiping also found her memories of Liu Decai.
Liu Decai's father was the one who fought with Old Man Ye thirty years ago.
At that time, it was Liu Decai's turn to irrigate their fields, but his whole family was visiting relatives that day.
Old Man Ye thought that time waits for no one, so he told the head of the village to fill his own house first.
After Liu Decai and his family came back, they saw that Old Man Ye had drunk the wine first, so they asked him for an explanation.
They started fighting as they argued, and finally pushed down Mrs. Ye, who was pregnant at the time. As a result, the original owner was born sick and almost died.
Because of this incident, the two families became enemies.
Liu Decai's father passed away a few years ago. Liu Decai inherited his father's uncompromising character and a natural troublemaker, and was a well-known troublemaker in the village.
Ye Caiping glanced at Liu Decai coldly. It was already part of her plan to stop distributing the village's cassava.
Now that you have taught the method, you have to gain a good reputation for it.
If I gave another share, it would have been a good thing, but I ended up being blamed.
In this era, if you want to get out of the village, you must accumulate a reputation.
Now, after Liu Decai's incident, their family's debt of gratitude to the village seems even greater.
"Cai Ping." Ye Lizheng came over and whispered, "I'm sorry for what happened to you today, but you did the right thing. Don't worry, uncle won't let you suffer any loss."
Ye Caiping: “???”
Ye Lizheng had already turned around and shouted to the villagers, "Come on, line up and share the cassava!"
The villagers rushed to line up. There were two long queues, crowded with people, with noises of quarreling, beating and scolding rising and falling.
"Erdan, how can you be 12 years old? Go register with your uncle Daquan."
"Who said my Erdan is under 12? Look at him, he is so tall and strong, he looks like he is 13 or 14 years old."
"Go back and get your household registration book! Go, go, go!"
When they heard that they had to go back to get their household registration books, those half-grown children who had originally wanted to get away with it all ran away and lined up on Ye Daquan's side.
Ye Lizheng looked at this chaotic yet orderly scene and nodded with satisfaction.
Soon, half an hour later, all the villagers were carrying a bag of cassava, with smiles on their faces.
Those who have a small family received 60 to 70 kilograms, and those who have a large family received 500 to 600 kilograms!
Just as the crowd was about to disperse, the village head's wife walked up to Ye Caiping with a smile:
"We can share so much cassava because of you. This is to thank you."
As he said this, he stuffed a cloth bag into Ye Caiping's hand.
Ye Caiping opened it and saw that it was actually a small bag of brown rice: "Aunt, no need."
"Take it, take it. It's just two kilograms of brown rice. Our family got more than 100 kilograms of cassava! No matter how you calculate it, we are getting a great deal."
The villagers who were about to leave stopped in their tracks. Zhuzi's wife said, "Aunt is right. We can get so many cassavas thanks to you. I will thank you later."
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
The crowd burst into laughter.
Ye Caiping couldn't help but look at Ye Lizheng, who smiled and nodded at her.
So that's how it is. She didn't suffer any loss!
Ye Caiping took the small bag of rice and said, "Okay, then I'll respectfully obey your command."
When the villagers returned home, they immediately hung the cassava in the yard to dry. The whole village was filled with the joy of a good harvest.
When Ye Caiping and Old Lady Ye arrived home, they saw Zhuzi's wife and Tieniu's wife coming together.
Each person held a small bag of brown rice.
Zhuzi's wife said, "Cai Ping, it's all thanks to you that my family got more than 200 kilograms of cassava."
"My family weighs more than 300 kilograms."
One of them gave two kilograms of brown rice, and the other gave three kilograms. Ye Caiping said a few polite words and then accepted it with a smile.
Pour the rice into the wooden barrel and return the bag to them.
At this time, a thin boy of about seven or eight years old came in, holding a bag of brown rice in his hand: "This is from my family. Thank you Aunt Caiping, thank you Grandpa Ye."
Mrs. Du looked surprised and said, "Hu Xiaosi, this rice looks like it weighs three kilograms. Did your mother give it to you?"
Hu Xiaosi opened his mouth, feeling a little embarrassed.
Ye Yong had already stepped forward, frowning: "Mom, don't embarrass me."
As he spoke, he took the bag of rice, grabbed a handful and put it in the bucket, then returned the bag of rice to Hu Xiaosi: "We have received your gratitude. Let's go back!"
Hu Xiaosi followed suit and left.
Ye Yong turned around and said to Ye Caiping: "I will chop wood to make up for the rice I didn't take just now."
Ye Caiping said, "What are you replenishing? Although I told you the method of detoxification, it is all your credit to dig and select cassava. You also have the right to decide on these gifts. Besides, you must have a reason for doing this, right?"
Ye Yong was silent for a moment before he said, "This family is in a difficult situation. They don't have any strong laborers, and they only rely on two women to support them."
"Since their family is in financial difficulty, we naturally cannot ask for more. Just grab a little as a token of our appreciation." Ye Caiping said.
Old Man Ye smiled and said, "That's right."
Ye Caiping thought of the little boy again.
Your last name is Hu? That must be Hu Xiuxiu's house.
According to Ye Yong, Hu Xiuxiu's father is no longer around, and the family is supported by Hu Xiuxiu and her mother, while her seven younger brothers are all just kids.
Next, the villagers came one after another to give gifts of thanks. Most of them were brown rice. Three or four pounds was not too much, and one or half a pound was not too little. Some people also came with two eggs.
The most generous family gave a full five kilograms of brown rice. Because that family had a large population, they also received the most cassava, more than six hundred kilograms.
There were several particularly poor families with only the elderly, the weak and the sick in their homes. Ye Caiping just grabbed a handful of rice and returned it to the other families.
We need to help those in need, but we also have to give them some money to show our appreciation.
Collect what you should collect, and take what you should take.
Otherwise, others will think that their things are valuable and that she will have more good things in the future, and they will not be free.
Almost no one came in the afternoon.
Old Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Du looked at the buckets of brown rice on the ground, and their eyes were filled with joy.
Old Man Ye said, "I estimate it to be around 200 kilograms."
Ye Daquan grinned: "Just now, Liu Decai said that our family cannot divide the time, which made me angry... Although we have no plan to divide with the village for a long time, I am still angry."
"I don't think everyone is sensible. Although this brown rice is only about 200 kilograms, it is dry. Cassava is wet, and it will shrink by half after drying. In this way, it is the same as if our family got an extra share."
Ye Caiping calculated that except for a dozen or so stingy households, almost everyone in the village sent gifts of thanks.
It can be seen that the villagers are still simple and grateful.
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