Chapter 405 Old Clothes
Wen Zhenyi and Shen Hanxing saw that the two men had a lot of injuries on their faces, and they both looked puzzled: "What happened to the injuries on your faces?"
Lei Jiayang was furious when she asked: "Don't mention it."
Shen Hanxing poured them tea: “How did it happen?”
"The people beat him."
"Why would the people beat you for no reason?"
"You haven't been to some remote villages. These villagers are really..." Lei Jiayang felt like scratching the wall when he said this.
Wen Zhenyi turned to look at Meng Yongyuan: "Brother Meng, did you run into any troublemakers?"
"Well, we have gained some knowledge."
"Did they steal your things?"
"Robbery is a small matter, but they are unreasonable and won't listen to anything I say."
Chen Hanxing frowned: “It’s useless for you to say that you are officials?”
"What good could it do? In the end, the problem was only solved when their village chief came back."
Wen Zhenyi smiled and said, "Could it be that because you two are well dressed, they want you to be their son-in-law?"
"How did you know?" The two looked at her in shock.
"That's true!" Wen Zhenyi just made a random guess, but he didn't expect to get it right.
"No matter what I say, she won't listen. She says you can't leave unless you get married. I've never seen anyone forcing others to get married like this." Lei Jiayang got a headache just thinking about it. Now he thinks his own wife is still the best.
"This is also normal. They live in difficult circumstances and always want to catch the tail end of a good life."
"You can't just arrest anyone and have them marry you."
"Marrying you is also a way out. Maybe they have instilled in their children that they should help their parents' family after they get married."
Meng Yongyuan felt a headache just thinking about it now: "But speaking of it, life in these villages is indeed not easy. Although we have talked about building roads, it is not easy to transport news and things to them."
"The roads are difficult to travel and the distance is far. It will take some time for the news to reach them."
Lei Jiayang said at this time: "I used to think I had seen poor people, but after I went there, I knew what real poverty was. A family only had two sets of patched clothes, and whoever went out wore it."
"Both men and women are like this?"
"Most villagers are like this. A few families with better conditions have children running around naked."
"Do you have a solution?"
"How can we solve this?"
"Do they pick it out themselves when they pay their taxes?"
"Well, we picked it out ourselves. They couldn't transport the extra food, and we didn't have a bullock cart or anything like that. It was really hard. Every family had a hard time, and there were so many children."
Meng Yongyuan looked at Wen Zhenyi: "Do you have a solution?"
"After the road is built, a large part of the problem will be solved, but before that, you can raise some money and send it to them."
"Raise what?"
"Old clothes and old quilts. The clothes here are underwear, so there's no need to collect them. But the outer shorts, robes, and some old quilts can be sent to them."
"That's a good idea. I'll go back and put up a notice asking everyone to bring all the unwanted items to the government office."
"You also need to find a few laundry women to clean and dry the clothes and quilts that everyone has sent. It's best to boil them in water."
Lei Jiayang looked at her with confusion: "You still boil it in boiling water?"
"This is to prevent diseases from spreading on clothes. Boiling them in water and then exposing them to the sun can prevent diseases."
"Okay, I'll remember that. I'll put up a notice when I get back."
"We have quite a few old clothes and beddings at home. I'll cook and wash them later and have someone send them to you."
“Once the roads are repaired, we would like to discuss planting with you in other villages.”
"You've got the wrong person. You need to find experienced people. I have no experience in planting this kind of crops, and I don't know what's suitable to plant in what location."
"If I don't look for you, how will I process the things I grow in the future?"
"When the time comes, you should make a list for me. Write down clearly which place is suitable for planting what. Is it suitable for planting only one kind of plant, or all of them?"
"You want to check out the workshop based on this, right?"
"Well, otherwise I can't say that we have to build a workshop based on what we grow. We have to see if there is any possibility of processing and selling it."
"Okay, let's go back and find someone and wait until we have sorted it out."
"Well, we're busy with the autumn harvest, so wait until we're through this busy period."
Lei Jiayang and Meng Yongyuan both had a lot of things to do. The time they were away allowed them to see the poverty of the people and made them realize that what they saw was just the tip of the iceberg of the area under their jurisdiction.
Shen Hanxing waited until they left before saying with a smile, “Neither of them is staying for dinner now.”
"I guess I'll regret it once I get a little further out."
"That's hard to say."
The autumn harvest came as scheduled, and Wen Yongman now had to help Wen Zhenyi check on the autumn harvest of the fertile land under her name.
Now almost every household in the village has an ox cart, so they don’t have to worry about not having an ox cart to help pull the rice ears during the autumn harvest.
Wen Zhenyi was working in the fields when he talked to the villagers: "Does anyone have any old clothes or bedding that they don't wear at home?"
Aunt Ding straightened up and looked at her: "Yi Yi, why are you asking these questions?"
"I just want to ask, if you have anything you don't wear or don't need, please sort it out for me and I'll send it to the government office."
Dong Li looked up at her and asked, "What does the government need these old things for?"
"Send it to the villages that are in greater difficulty."
"Are there still villages facing difficulties now?" Old Mrs. Zhou was a little puzzled.
Wen Zhenyi told them about the situation in other villages.
"I always feel that our life was hard enough before, but compared to what you said, I feel that we lived quite well before."
"That's right. Although we used to wear a lot of patched clothes, at least we had something to cover our bodies."
Old Lady Dong smiled and said, "We have some at home. When the autumn harvest is over, I'll go back and sort them out and send them to the government office."
"We have some at home, and we'll sort them out and send them to the government office."
"Okay, if you have what you need, just send it over. If you don't have any, that's fine too. But it's all voluntary, and there's no money involved." Wen Zhen said to them with a smile.
"We know, but it's not about the money."
This year's autumn harvest was relatively smooth, just like in previous years.
As soon as the autumn harvest was over, the villagers collected clothes and bedding and took them to the yamen in ox carts.
When Wen Zhenyi and Shen Hanxing paid taxes, they went to the county town specifically. It had nothing to do with her before, so she didn't care. But now, it all has something to do with her.
She couldn't pretend she knew nothing.
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