Chapter 77 Only One Breath Left
Everyone was silent, but the expressions on their faces said it all.
"Dream on!" Feng Lan shouted. "My money, Feng Lan, didn't come from the wind! I took Zhaodi in because she's filial and sensible, and worthy of my help! Not because her father is a scoundrel! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you use your own flesh and blood to negotiate with me?"
Her words were like slaps in the men's faces, burning with pain.
"Today, I'm making this clear! I won't take any of your daughters in! Take them with you now and get out! If I see any of you dare to beat, scold, or sell your daughters again, I, Feng Lan, will be the first to report it to the police! When that happens, no one, buyer or seller, will be able to escape!"
Feng Lan's aura was so strong and her eyes were so cold that the men were intimidated by her. They turned pale and pulled their daughters along, then fled in disgrace.
The farce finally ended.
But looking at the numb and desperate eyes of those girls, Feng Lan's heart could not relax.
She knew that if she drove these people away today, they would only vent their anger on these poor girls when they returned. This would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.
At night, Feng Lan tossed and turned.
Chen Kangbo sighed and took her into his arms: "Don't think about it, this is not your fault."
"Kang Bo," Feng Lan suddenly sat up. "I've figured it out. It's better to open up than to block. I can't save so many people on my own. If we want to solve the problem from the root, there's only one way."
Her eyes, in the darkness, shone with astonishing brightness.
"I want to expand my embroidery shop! I want to open the largest embroidery workshop in Pingjiang County! I will recruit apprentices, provide them with food and accommodation, and give them a skill that can help them make a living!"
Chen Kangbo was shocked by his wife's bold idea.
"This... How big a place does this need? How much silver does it cost?"
"Neither space nor money is a problem."
Feng Lan's thoughts were clear. "We can't handle this on our own. We must involve the county magistrate as well."
She analyzed, "There's a severe drought right now, and the number of refugees is increasing. The county magistrate's biggest headache is how to resettle these victims and stabilize the situation."
"My embroidery workshop recruits women, giving them work and food. This not only reduces the burden on the family, but also generates income. This is helping the county magistrate share his worries! This is a great achievement!"
"As long as he agrees and provides the policy, land, manpower, and even the initial start-up funds, everything can be negotiated! By then, not only these girls, but even all the orphans in the county, I can give them a home!"
The next morning, Feng Lan asked Mr. Wang to write a detailed petition, and then went straight to the county government office with the double-sided embroidered round fan that served as a stepping stone and the token given by the second concubine.
This time, she wanted to see the county magistrate, Song
When Feng Lan went to the county town to handle important matters, Chen Kangbo was not idle either.
The fifteen mu of land in the east courtyard has now become the most beautiful scenery in Pingjiang Village. Relying on the deep well, Chen Kangbo draws water day and night to irrigate the land, while other people's fields are so dry and cracked that you can put a fist in them.
His family's crops, however, were a delightful shade of green.
After the autumn harvest, corn, millet, and sweet potatoes filled the entire yard and cellar.
The golden corn cobs were stacked like a small mountain, and the heavy ears of corn bent the bamboo poles used for drying them.
The family had no worries about food and clothing, and even had some surplus.
That day, Erya took Sanya to the cloth shop in town to buy newly arrived silk thread.
Fenggu Embroidery Shop's business is so booming that the embroidery pieces handed in by the women in the village are sold out almost as soon as they are put on the shelves.
Especially those with novel color combinations and unique styles are in short supply.
After shopping, the two sisters passed by Fumancang, the largest grain store in town.
There was a long queue in front of the grain shop, with pale faces and sighing.
"The price has gone up again! Brown rice is already selling for a hundred coins per pound! Is this going to make us live?"
"That's right! It was still 80 wen the day before yesterday, and in just two days, it's already gone up by 20 wen! These black-hearted profiteers are trying to drive us to death!"
"What can I do? If I don't buy it, I'll starve to death. The fields are completely barren, so who has any surplus food?"
Erya felt indignant as she listened to everyone's complaints.
She pulled San Ya to the front and saw the sign hung by the grain shop clerk. The prices on it made her gasp.
The cheapest brown rice is one hundred coins per pound.
The price of better quality rice has soared to three hundred wen.
As for white flour, don't even think about it, there is no demand for it.
"These people are truly evil! They profit from this national crisis, and they're not afraid of retribution!"
On the way home, Erya's face was puffed up with anger.
San Ya was heartless. She shook the candied haws in her hand and said, "Who cares? We have plenty of food at home, so we won't starve!"
"That's what I said, but seeing others having no food to eat, I feel so upset." Erya sighed, looking worried like a little adult.
The two sisters had just returned to the village, and before they even entered the house, they saw the village head Chen Dequan running hurriedly from the other end of the village, his forehead covered in sweat.
"Uncle Kang! Is Uncle Kang here?" The voice came before the head of the village.
Chen Kangbo came out from the courtyard and said, "Village head, what happened? Why are you so anxious?"
"Oh my! Something terrible has happened!" The village head wiped the sweat from his face and gasped, "The old lady in the west yard... fainted from hunger!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Kangbo frowned and said nothing.
The village head saw his expression and knew he was unhappy, so he could only bite the bullet and continue, "He's not just fainted from hunger, he seems to have passed out from illness. He's lying motionless in bed, with only one breath left."
"But as for the family in the west courtyard, Old Man Chen himself was so hungry that he couldn't even stand, so how could he have the energy to take care of her? After Qian and her family returned to their parents' home and were beaten back, they lay in the house every day pretending to be dead. Now the old lady doesn't even have anyone to bring her water or medicine. She is about to die."
As the village head spoke, he carefully observed Chen Kangbo's expression.
"Kang Bo, I know your two families have a feud, but... after all, she's your biological mother. If she really died of starvation or illness in her own courtyard, it would be bad for your reputation if the news got out.
The villagers will poke you in the back."
"Look, can you... ask your Feng Lan to go over and take a look? At least give her something to eat to keep her alive. Don't let her die in our village. It would be unlucky."
After hearing this, Chen Kangbo's face became even darker.
Ask him to take care of those people in the west courtyard? He didn't just fill up the well, cut off the water supply to the whole village, and force them to death. He was already merciful!
Just when he was about to refuse, Feng Lan came back from the county town in an ox cart.
She heard the last few words of the headman, got out of the car, and walked over calmly.
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