49 Chapter 49
◎The villain succeeds◎
After the mudslide, it rained in Guangzhou for nearly ten days before it gradually stopped.
Although the city escaped the disaster due to its high terrain and was not submerged by the flood, the continuous heavy rains caused serious waterlogging. The accumulated water in the city was almost as high as people's calves, and many houses were crumbling under the repeated impact of rain.
The inside of the Jiang family's gate has been tightly packed with adobe, but Jiang Jingyun looked at the outer wall submerged in water and said worriedly, "Will our wall collapse?" In the past few days, he has heard screams from nearby people. They are all people whose courtyard walls have collapsed and the accumulated water has directly flooded into the house.
Jiang Er Ge stood on a wooden chair and tiptoed to look outside. The weather had cleared up today, but because no one had cleared the drainage, the accumulated water had not decreased at all. He was not sure, "It shouldn't be. The walls were rebuilt before we moved in. They used the best blue bricks, which are very solid."
Seeing that Jiang Jingyun still looked worried, the second brother Jiang comforted him, "Don't worry, the sun is so strong, it will probably be dry outside in a few more days. What do you want to eat for lunch? I'll make it for you."
"Hmm...have some hot and sour noodles. Remember to filter the well water and boil it repeatedly before using it." Although the well was not flooded, just in case, he made a simple filter with stone gravel, fine sand, activated carbon and fine cotton cloth. It didn't work very well, but it was better than nothing.
Brother Jiang nodded and turned into the kitchen.
If you stay at home for more than ten days, you can find some fun in cooking and games.
"I don't know how uncle and the others are doing..."
After a few days of worry, the water outside finally receded.
The air was filled with an unpleasant smell of mud, the wet walls on both sides of the street were covered with moss, and some of the older houses had even collapsed completely.
There are ruins everywhere and misery everywhere.
Many victims were begging along the road, and unburied bodies were seen everywhere.
As they walked, they held Xiao Muyan's hand tighter and tighter, and their steps became faster and faster. When they arrived at the Su Mansion, Jiang Jingyun's face was as pale as snow.
"Jingyun?" Xiao Muyan looked at him worriedly.
"It's okay," Jiang Jingyun took a deep breath to relieve the depression in his chest, "I will do what I can. I won't dwell on this anymore."
Unfortunately, they arrived when Su Yuheng was out. They sat and drank tea for a long time before they saw someone walk in from outside with a gloomy face.
Seeing Jiang Jingyun and the others, Su Yuheng's expression relaxed and he asked, "Why are you here today?"
"I came to see your situation and get some information."
"It's fine here, but outside..." Su Yuheng sighed, "It's a mess."
"Ruins cleaning, body burial, post-disaster reconstruction, and delayed farm work..." Jiang Jingyun guessed that he had just returned from the government office. Judging from his expression, the situation was not very good, but he still wanted to find out, "I wonder how the government will respond?"
"The government has already applied to the court for disaster relief, and the government officials have also begun to deal with post-disaster matters, but..." Hearing that the government had already started to take action, Jiang Jingyun breathed a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, before he could finish his breath, he heard Su Yuheng continue, "It's only limited to the city, and the surrounding areas will be postponed for the time being..."
Saying it is postponed is actually no different from abandoning it.
"How could it be, it's obvious..." The situation around them is even worse. If it is not dealt with in time, the consequences of the bodies buried under the mud alone are disastrous. Jiang Jingyun gritted his teeth and said, "Can they only see this tiny area in front of them?"
"Do you think those people don't know?" Su Yuheng sneered. How many of them are just trying to take advantage of their positions? How many of them really care about the people?
Jiang Jingyun lowered his head and remained silent. After a long time, he finally made up his mind, raised his head and looked at Su Yuheng. His straightforward gaze was so intense that it made people's scalps tighten.
——
On the streets of Xishi, Jiang Jingyun walked in front with firm steps. Su Yuheng turned around and asked the person next to him: "You just let him do whatever he wants, and don't try to persuade him?"
Xiao Muyan looked at the person in front of him with a gentle expression: "Sometimes I feel that he doesn't seem to be from this world."
Su Yuheng looked puzzled. What kind of answer was this?
"He doesn't seem to be bound by many worldly constraints, and he sees all living beings as equal," Xiao Muyan continued, "Although he sometimes speaks tough, you'll find that he has a soft heart when you get closer to him." In the past, when those people in the village bullied him, Jiang Jingyun would only threaten them with words when he was extremely angry. Even if he was really angry and wanted to take action, he would only give them light punishments and never really hurt anyone's life.
"Besides, it's his money, so he can spend it however he wants. If he loses it, he can just earn more."
"I've always felt that people in your family are very clear-headed." Whether it was the imperial examination or money, Su Yuheng didn't push for it too much. Sometimes he envied Jiang Jingyun, "But it's true, it's just money. If nothing else, this young master has plenty of it. I'll just accompany you for this!"
"What are you two whispering about in the back? Hurry up!" Jiang Jingyun walked in front for a long time and found that they were not keeping up, so he turned back and urged them.
"Coming soon."
A lot of people gathered in front of the grain shop, all of whom were trapped at home by the rain for many days and whose rice buckets were empty.
Before I got close, I heard a noise from the crowd.
"A bushel of rice costs three hundred coins, why don't you just go and rob it!"
"Three hundred coins! Wasn't a bushel of rice fifty coins last month? How come it has increased so much?"
"There's not enough money at home..."
"Oh my, this is not giving people a way to survive..."
"Black-hearted merchants are making money from disasters, aren't you afraid of being punished by God?"
Amid the noise, a pot-bellied shopkeeper walked out of the store and said loudly: "Please be patient. I understand your feelings. However, due to the heavy rain for several days, the granary was accidentally destroyed, causing heavy losses. Now the grain store does not have much grain in stock, and raising the price is really a helpless move..." After saying this, he wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, looking heartbroken because of losing everything.
"It's fake," Su Yuheng leaned in and whispered, "His family's grain had been moved a long time ago. Not a bushel of grain was missing. It was all well hidden in the villa outside the city."
Jiang Jingyun raised his eyes and looked at him, "How did you know? Could it be..."
"Hey, don't talk nonsense, it has nothing to do with me..." Su Yuheng waved his hands quickly to prove his innocence, "I overheard it when I went to my uncle's place before..."
Jiang Jingyun looked at him meaningfully, his eyes full of inquiry.
"What's that expression on your face?" Su Yuheng gritted his teeth and said, "I'm not that kind of person, and neither is my uncle..."
"I'm sorry, it's my fault," Jiang Jingyun lowered his eyes, his face showing shame, "I was distracted for a moment and judged others by my own standards."
"Forget it, it's normal for you to think this way." Su Yuheng said dejectedly, "But my family doesn't need that little money. If you say this again, we won't be friends anymore!"
"Well, sorry, I won't do it again." Jiang Jingyun said with a smile, "Thank you, Master Su, for not bearing grudges."
"Humph, remember to make me eight or ten new things to make amends later."
"Okay, no problem."
The two of them successfully reached a settlement, but there is still no result on the other side.
As they were arguing, a familiar yet disgusting voice suddenly emerged from the crowd: "What are you arguing about? Three hundred coins for a bushel of rice, not a cent less. If you don't buy it today, it may not be the same price tomorrow!"
"What?! It's going to go up again!" Hearing that the price of rice was going to go up, everyone panicked, "This is killing us!"
"This is going to kill us..."
"Oh my God, please open your eyes and look at this world!"
"Why are you crying? It's good enough that you have something to buy! If you keep making noise, I'll charge you 500 coins per dou. If you don't buy, you'll all starve!" Ignoring the people's wailing, Xie Weicai pointed to a place in the crowd and said proudly, "Look at the time now. You can buy food with a little money. You should be content! Look at these two. Even if they kneel down and beg me, I won't sell them!"
Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and it was Jiang Jingyun and the others.
..., it's really a narrow road for enemies to meet.
Seeing the two men's ugly faces, Xie Weicai acted like a smug villain, "Manager Liu, see clearly, you are not allowed to sell a single grain of rice to these two people!"
Shopkeeper Liu bowed and said, "Yes, Master."
…
Tsk, the thunder has been striking for so many days, why hasn’t this bastard been killed yet? Is the gold content of the ancient golden crown so pure? Why isn't there any iron, copper or aluminum mixed in?
Annoying.
Seeing that today's plan to buy food was about to fail, the three of them turned around and left.
As they were walking back, Jiang Jingyun couldn't help but ask, "Is this the only grain store in this city? Doesn't the government care?"
"The big ones belong to their family. Even if the small ones have consciences, they dare not go up to them and seek death. As for the government..." Su Yuheng crossed his arms, his mouth full of sarcasm, "Why didn't they intervene? Guess who the people guarding the other village belong to?"
Jiang Jingyun understood what he had said before, "Officials and businessmen are colluding. Isn't he afraid of being investigated?"
"Who would sue? He has been in office for many years, and the local officials have been in cahoots with him," Su Yuheng shrugged, with a look of having seen through everything. "Besides, he is old and has no hope of promotion. Of course, he will take as much as he can before leaving office..."
All crows are black. Jiang Jingyun said with a sad face, "What should we do?"
I had originally thought of buying food and providing porridge, and offering work-for-relief in exchange for the victims' labor to clean up the rubble and bodies, but I didn't expect to encounter these bad things again. I couldn't help but feel discouraged. There wasn't much food stored at home, only enough for the family's food, and even if I took it all out, it would just be a drop in the bucket.
Are we really just going to sit back and watch and let it develop?
Just when he was in a dilemma, he heard Su Yuheng say, "Before, you asked me to stock up on food, but I accidentally bought too much. You can move a few trucks to use first. I'll go to my uncle's place and see if there's any solution..."
Jiang Jingyun's eyes sparkled: "Master Su is such a kind man, I will definitely make a longevity tablet for you in the future!"
"Don't give me that. I'm just in a good mood and want to do some good deeds to accumulate merit."
"How much have you stockpiled? How many trucks can you move? Can you move half?"
"Hey, that's enough. I'm just being generous, not a sucker. I have a whole family to feed."
…
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