An old woman with a headscarf wrapped around her head walked in carrying a plate of sweet potatoes.
Although it had an accent, it was easy to understand.
"These are for you to eat."
Ruan Qian accepted it with both hands and respectfully asked, "How should I address you, Grandma?"
The old woman pointed to her house not far away and said kindly, "My surname is Liu. If you need anything, just come back with me to get it."
"It gets colder at night, so you should cover yourself with a blanket, otherwise you'll easily catch a cold."
It turned out to be Granny Liu, whom the village chief had mentioned. Since the village chief had already said to inform Granny Liu, Ruan Qian suggested borrowing a few quilts.
Grandma Liu nodded with a smile, but before turning around, her gaze lingered on Ruan Zheng for a long time.
Ruan Yi and Ruan Zheng followed Granny Liu to her home and borrowed a few quilts. Then they saw Feng Da and a middle-aged man walking towards them with smiles.
Feng Da was carrying a string of wooden buckets, and the middle-aged man was carrying one as well. They greeted the Ruan family with smiles.
Ruan Qian and Ruan Zheng put down the quilt and called out their elder brother and younger sister.
"Gentlemen, this is Magistrate Deng of Nan County. He came to see you all as soon as he finished his business at the county office."
The Ruan family was greatly surprised, thinking that Feng Da was just saying it casually. They never expected that the magistrate would actually care about the refugees.
The magistrate's brows relaxed, and he introduced himself with a smile, "My name is Deng Zisong, and I am the magistrate of Nan County. In the future, if any of you have any difficulties that the village chief cannot resolve, you can come to the county office to find me."
“I was sent here from outside the area; I’m not a native of the South Island.”
Upon hearing what Magistrate Deng said, the Ruan brothers visibly relaxed.
Magistrate Deng continued, "I have seen the roster. According to the imperial court's requirements, the male members of your family need to serve in the mines, but there are also situations in the South Island."
"Okay, I'll talk to the village chief and give you three days to settle down. If you become better off later, you can pay him back for your work. Feng Dagen, you've told me the situation, right?"
The Ruan brothers nodded, and Magistrate Deng nodded with a smile, "That's good. This is a small token of our appreciation."
Feng Da untied two wooden buckets, and Ruan Yi stepped forward to take them. Looking down, he saw that one bucket contained several jicama, and the other contained two wooden shovels, a tinderbox, and a packet of licorice.
Ruan Yi took it out and handed it to his eldest brother, third brother, and youngest sister.
Feng Da explained, "This is jicama, which is mostly used as a staple food on the island. You can have this to tide you over, and tomorrow morning you can go beachcombing with the villagers after the tide goes out, collect some seafood, and that will provide you with food!"
"Seafood can be tricky, so you can use this wooden spatula. This is licorice root. There are many poisonous insects and snakes on the island, so you can use licorice root to fumigate and repel mosquitoes and insects."
"There are still some on the mountain. You can collect some after you've used them up, but be careful of the dangers."
Feng Da patiently instructed, "These were all bought by adults using their own salaries."
Magistrate Deng casually remarked, "It's just a small thing. Without buckets and tools, it's not easy for you to go beachcombing. It's alright, things will get better, take your time!"
"If you have any problems, find Village Chief Feng or me. Don't worry!"
Upon arriving in a foreign land, hearing such words, even if it was just comforting, still brought tears to the eyes of the Ruan family.
They still had to rush to Wanjiacun to visit the other exiles, the village chief, and Feng Da, before leaving amidst the gratitude of the Ruan family.
"Little sister, do you know what jicama is?"
Ruan Yi asked. (Image from the internet) "It's a sweet potato."
Sweet potatoes also exist in the Daqi Plain, but many poor farmers eat them. Although the Ruan siblings had heard of sweet potatoes, they had never seen them before.
"Peel it, cut it into pieces, and you can eat it. It's delicious!"
Ruan Meng explained.
The three brothers and their sister-in-law gradually came to understand the knowledge she had learned from Mazu about seafood and herbs.
The eldest sister-in-law took the lead, collecting the rubble inside the house, clearing a level surface, and spreading the quilts on it.
There was only one stone house. They borrowed four old cotton quilts from Granny Liu. The eldest sister-in-law spread two quilts out and covered the other two with them.
"How about the three of you sleep together tonight, and Mengmeng and I will sleep together?"
The elder sister-in-law sought Ruan Meng's opinion.
Ruan Meng nodded immediately, "I will make sure my brother and sister-in-law live in a big house!"
The eldest sister-in-law smiled and gently patted Ruan Meng's cheek, "Our Mengmeng is so thoughtful! Let's work together!"
Ruan Meng said earnestly, "Next, there are two things. Eldest brother doesn't have enough herbs. Tomorrow morning after we go to the beach, second brother, third brother, you two come up the mountain with me. I want to find some herbs..."
"We can give it to our eldest brother as a backup, or we can sell it in the county town. We hope that Mazu will bless us and we can raise six taels of silver in the next three days so that our brothers won't have to go to the mine!"
The older sister-in-law pressed down on the hem of her clothes, "My clothes..."
Before her sister-in-law could finish speaking, Ruan Meng stopped her.
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