Chapter 210 Thoughts If it weren’t for Zhou Ye in Lin Lao Er’s family, I would hate to...
Zhou Ye thought about it over and over again but still felt worried about Lin Shu. He knew that Shu was now strong enough to protect herself, not only because she had become stronger, but he had long seen that Shu was more agile than an ordinary woman. However, after a natural disaster, there are always some people who take risks because of hunger, or evildoers who take the opportunity to commit crimes.
People are treacherous, and he was afraid that Ah Shu couldn't handle it.
After hurriedly helping Lin Zhaodi and Zhao Laosan remove the fallen beams and taking out the useful items inside, Zhou Ye quickly followed. However, the journey was long and difficult, and it took him longer than usual to get here.
Seeing Old Man Liao's oxcart from afar and seeing the two men at peace, Zhou Ye's anger suddenly eased. Before he could get closer, Ah Shu, who was also on the oxcart, popped her head out from behind the pile of "junk" and waved at him, happily sharing the good news.
There was a whole cart full of food, most of which was from their own family. Ah Shu was happy, and Zhou Ye was happy too.
"There's no room for you in this car. You just came here and now you have to walk back. Aren't you tired?" Lin Shu looked at him with a playful smile on her lips.
Zhou Ye replied, "I'm not tired. I'm just worried about you and Old Man Liao. If you don't come with me, I'll be distracted."
Old man Liao couldn't help but interrupt, saying cheerfully, "Just say you're worried about Ah Shu, but why would you bring me along? Oh, you didn't know what happened just now. It was so frightening! Three strong men followed us in the car and tried to steal our food! Ah Shu..."
Old Man Liao spoke too quickly and Lin Shu had no time to stop him. Although Old Man Liao was describing how Lin Shu bravely fought off the three men, Zhou Ye still frowned after hearing it.
He didn't say much, just said: "Next time I will go buy food with Father Liao."
Lin Shu pouted slightly, but didn't refuse this time. If the grain shop owner had accepted her suggestion, he might not be able to buy so much grain next time.
"Ashu, you guys keep going, I'll follow you." Zhou Ye said.
Lin Shu stared at him and hummed, "Aye, thank you for your hard work."
Just as he finished speaking, he changed his tone and snorted, "But you deserve it. Who told you to disobey me and follow me?"
Zhou Ye was helpless, "Well, I deserve it."
Lin Shu curled her lips and said loudly, "Father Liao, let's go."
Old man Liao thought that the two of them were clearly flirting, and he smiled when he heard it, "Aye, then Ashu and I will go first."
Zhou Ye glanced in the direction the ox cart came from, thinking about something, and then strode back.
The ox cart did not stop after passing the village head, but drove all the way to the end of the village. Old man Liao helped Lin Shu unload the grain belonging to several families from the cart. Lin Dashan, Zhao Laosan and others in the yard also hurried out to carry things.
With the presence of a few strong men, several stones of grain were quickly carried back to the courtyard.
The money Old Man Liao had brought with him could buy five dou of rice and flour, but now that the price of grain had risen, it was less than five dou. The same was true for Lin Zhaodi and Zhao Laosan. They were both shocked when they learned that the price of grain had risen again.
They got a bargain and bought a lot of grain in advance, so this time they only asked Old Man Liao to help buy three more buckets of grain. They didn't expect that the grain price, which had not increased before they left, would increase so much!
"After the price increase, the money I used to spend on three dou of rice is no longer enough to buy three dou," explained Old Man Liao.
Lin Zhaodi waved her hand. "If it's not enough, then it's not enough. We can't predict the price increase in advance. Brother Liao, you can give me two and a half dou of rice at the price of one hundred and forty wen per dou."
However, few people were as sensible as Lin Zhaodi. When Old Man Liao took the remaining grain to deliver to other families, the villagers' faces turned pale when they learned that the price of rice, originally 120 wen per dou, had increased by another 20 wen. Those who were truly short of food had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept the reduced amount of grain. Those who could still hold on for a long time cursed the grain merchant, then regretted not wanting the grain and demanded Old Man Liao return the money. Some shameless people even blamed Old Man Liao, wanting to buy the grain at the original price of 120 wen per dou and have him pay the extra money himself, which made Old Man Liao laugh.
"What's with your tone? If you want to scold the grain merchant, then scold the grain merchant. Why are you glaring at me?"
"Okay, give me your money back. If you don't want this grain, I'll sell it to someone else."
"Bah, buy it if you want or not, it's not me who raised the price of grain! If you don't buy now, it will be even more expensive when you want to buy it!"
When it was finally delivered to the village head's house, there was still nearly three stone of grain on the cart.
When Lao Li Zheng learned that the price of rice had risen again, he sighed deeply, but still accepted his share of the grain.
"How many villagers have asked you to return the money?" asked the village head.
Old man Liao nodded. "There are a lot of them. Aside from a few families who couldn't afford to eat and accepted the loss, the rest of the villagers were so angry that they didn't want any grain, or just wanted a few liters of rice. But I was prepared. In fact, it's not their fault for changing their minds. After the price of grain went up, I should have consulted the villagers before deciding whether to buy. But the village head also knew that it would be a long trip back and forth, and the old ox and I couldn't afford such a hassle. So I thought, regardless of whether the villagers wanted it or not, I would use the money to buy grain first."
Zhang Zongyao pondered for a moment and said to Old Man Liao, "Since so many villagers have returned their money, and you've used all the money you collected to buy grain, doesn't that mean you're responsible for the entire amount? Can you eat all this grain? If not, why not sell it to my family?"
As soon as these words came out, before the village head could say anything, Zhang frowned and said disapprovingly, "Zongyao, don't make this promise blindly. We've already spent more than two hundred yuan on buying grain, but we haven't even bought two stone of grain. If you take all the remaining grain, the family will have to pay another hundred yuan."
The village head said, "It's only one hundred coins. If the price of grain goes up again, you won't be able to buy this grain even with one hundred coins."
Zhang hurriedly advised, "Father-in-law, we can't use up all our savings just to buy food. The school in town is only closed temporarily. Zongyao will have to continue his studies after the disaster eases. Not only Zongyao, but the younger children in our family will also have to go to school in town in the future. These places cost money everywhere."
As soon as this was said, the second and third wives followed suit. They also hoped that their children could go to school in town like Zhang Zongyao. There was still food at home, and it would be enough if they saved some, but money was hard to come by these days; once it was spent, it was gone.
Old Man Liao had a strange expression on his face. Seeing that the family was about to start arguing over whether to buy so much grain, he quickly interrupted them and explained to the head of the village, "The grain has already been taken away by Ah Shu, the girl from Lin Lao Er's family. Ah Shu helped to advance the money I refunded to the villagers. Otherwise, how could I have so much money for so much grain? It was only because Ah Shu backed me up that I dared to use all the money to buy grain."
As soon as these words were spoken, the noisy people in the rooms suddenly quieted down and looked at each other.
Then, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.
They were arguing about whether to buy the grain that the villagers didn't want, but it turned out that the grain already belonged to someone else, making them a laughing stock.
Zhang Zongyao just looked surprised, but his mother Zhang looked unhappy.
How quickly she had rejected this matter just now, how embarrassed and angry she felt now.
The village head glanced at Zhang and said nothing more, then asked about the situation in the town.
Old man Liao did not hide anything and immediately told about the chaos in the grain store, as well as the thrilling scene where the ox cart was followed on the road and the three strong men tried to steal the grain.
The head of the village and his family all gasped after hearing this.
Zhang Zongyao shouted angrily: "How dare these people do this in broad daylight?!"
The head of the village stood with his hands behind his back, his face full of worry. Even in times of good weather and good harvest, there were still ruffians and idlers who did some petty thefts. Now that there was a flood, it was not surprising that these lazy guys would do such things. If the authorities did not investigate this matter in time, the food robbery would probably get worse.
"By the way, brother headman, A'Shu heard a piece of news from the grain shop owner, saying that tomorrow morning, the wealthy Qian family in town will set up a tent outside the gate to distribute porridge. But this is also what the shop owner said, so the news may not be true." Old man Liao just had a bad temper, not that he was ignorant of the ways of the world, so he didn't say the whole thing. What if something went wrong with the porridge distribution mentioned by the grain shop owner, and everyone would have made a wasted trip, and the villagers would turn around and blame him and Lin Shu for spreading false information.
The village head was delighted when he heard this and said, "This is good news. I'll have the eldest brother go around the village and tell the villagers to wait outside the gate early tomorrow morning."
After Old Man Liao left, the village head called Zhang Zongyao for a private talk.
One was the head of the village, and the other was a top-ranked student at the town's school. What they were talking about was naturally beyond the comprehension of the other members of the Zhang family.
As they talked about the flood, the father and son's expressions became more serious than the other.
"...It's a chaotic time outside right now, so just stay in the village and don't go anywhere."
Zhang Zongyao nodded, and after thinking of something, he asked hesitantly: "Grandpa, that girl named Lin Shu——"
The village head glared over with a pair of shrewd old eyes and interrupted him, saying, "I know what you want to say. Ah Shu is not the weak and incapable lady you think she is. Don't judge others by your own standards."
Zhang Zongyao looked ashamed and lowered his voice, "Grandpa, I didn't."
The village head snorted coldly, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You're fond of Lin Yao and feel sorry for her treatment, but who are you to feel unfair for someone else?"
Zhang Zongyao's face flushed red. "Grandpa, that was all in the past. I've let it go long ago."
He did have a preconceived notion about Lin Shu, but not because of Lin Yao. He felt that Lin Shu had enjoyed a life of luxury for over a decade, taking advantage of the situation. He also felt there was something fishy going on. If, as Lin Shu claimed, she had returned to fulfill her filial duty, why did she wait two years after her true identity was revealed?
"Hmph, you'd better really let it go. I heard from Miss Lin Shu that when she left, Lin Yao was already engaged in the capital. The man is the prince of the Duke's Mansion. He is handsome and talented. What do you have? You have nothing. You are not even a scholar."
Zhang Zongyao was silent, but after hearing what he said, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Didn't Grandpa tell me to wait a while and try my best to get a good score in the exam?"
As for Lin Yao, he had truly let it go. He had once, unwilling to give up, disregarded propriety and shame, and secretly sought her out. As long as Lin Yao gave him a positive answer, nothing would stand in his way. He could convince his mother to agree to the marriage, and he could even kneel before Second Uncle Lin and beg him to give Lin Yao to him.
But... Lin Yao doesn't want to.
The flowers have feelings but the water is ruthless, so he can only cut off his thoughts.
Then, Lin Yao transformed herself into the daughter of a marquis, and she had no more contact with him after that.
He hadn't thought about that smart, bold and independent-minded woman for a long time.
The village head got angry when he saw him in such a trance. "Lin Yao is indeed a good girl, but she is not suitable for you. Lin Shu has a good personality, but not everyone can maintain such a good personality after falling from the clouds. If it weren't for Zhou Ye in Lin Lao Er's family, I would have wanted Lin Shu to be my granddaughter-in-law."
This sentence shocked Zhang Zongyao's handsome features and distorted them, "Grandpa, what are you talking about!"
Not to mention that Lin Shu is now married to Zhou Ye. Even if she is not married, she has such a relationship with Lin Yao. He once loved Lin Yao. How could he marry Lin Shu again? What kind of person has he become?
"Keep your voice down." The village head hit him on the back of the head. "I'm only saying this to you in private. Now, of course, I've given up on the idea. You want to marry her, but she still looks down on you. Don't think you're a nobody just because everyone in the village says you're handsome and talented. Miss Lin Shu has been in the capital for sixteen years. She's seen all kinds of young talents. How could she look down on you?"
Zhang Zongyao: ...
Grandpa, when you said this, did you forget that I am your grandson?
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