Seeing that a fight was about to break out, the village chief shouted, "Stop arguing! What kind of behavior is this? We're all neighbors, can't we discuss things properly instead of resorting to violence?"
"Village chief, what do you suggest we do? Shouldn't this child come to my house?"
"Why should we go to your house first? We should go to my house."
In the blink of an eye, the argument started again. The village chief frowned and interrupted again, "Shut up, all of you. Since everyone is vying to raise this child, then let each family take turns raising her until her family comes looking for her."
"Let's go to my house first." Zhou Laosan was afraid of missing the opportunity. If the child's family came looking for him soon and the child wasn't at his house, he would be at a great loss.
But if he could think of this, others could too, which sparked a new round of arguments.
Finally, the village chief had no choice but to say, "Stop arguing. Let the child stay at my house for now, and then he can move to your house in a few days. If you still want to fight over him then, we'll decide by drawing lots."
The villagers of Yegou Village all fled here and settled down. The village chief, Zhou Quanyuan, was also the village chief and played a key role during the escape, so he was very respected among the villagers.
After arriving in Yegou Village, he became the village chief again through his own abilities. The villagers were still willing to listen to him, and since he had said so, no one dared to contradict him on the spot.
After leaving the village chief's house, Zhou Laosan and Zhang Cuihua left cursing, and the others scattered like birds and beasts.
“Honey, why didn’t you say anything just now? I love that child, and our family can raise her.” Zhao Guihua looked reluctant and kept turning back to look at the village chief’s house.
Old Zhou said honestly, "It's already a struggle for our family to raise five boys. That kid looks so round, chubby, and fair-skinned. We don't want him to get too thin."
"People like the third brother and his wife, who would even harm their own nephew, do you think they'd treat the child well if they took him back? Wouldn't falling into their hands be just as bad as our family?"
Zhao Guihua angrily pinched her husband's arm, wondering why she had married this blockhead.
Old Zhou winced in pain, his sallow, square face contorting. "Didn't you hear what the village chief said? The child's parents might come looking for him in a few days. What right do we have to covet him?"
"Why can't I think about it? What's wrong with wanting a soft, fair-skinned girl like that?" Zhao Guihua suddenly felt that she and her husband had nothing in common, which was too heartbreaking.
At the village chief's house, the village chief's wife, Zhao Xiu, held the little girl's hand with a kind expression and said, "This child is so beautiful. I think she is even prettier than the daughter of the rich man in town. She is so delicate."
If she hadn't already given birth to two daughters, she would have really wanted to adopt this child.
It's heartbreaking to think about. A few years ago, there was a drought, and the whole village had to flee. At that time, Qiuqiu was only six years old, Chunchun was five, and Dongsheng was only one year old. They suffered a lot during their escape, but fortunately, they all survived.
They fled to Yegou Village, and finally the rain came. The famine was over, and farming resumed. For the past two years, they have been able to eat about 70% full. They thought that life would get better and better.
Who knew that starting half a year ago, the south was plagued by either floods or droughts, and I heard that there was also a locust plague in my hometown in the north. Even if we eat sparingly, the grain harvested last autumn will only last until this year's autumn harvest.
With no rain for several months, the soil in the fields has started to crack, and it seems that farming will be impossible this year, which means there will be no food supply for the second half of the year and next year.
Thinking about the recent famine, the village chief and his wife discussed the matter with worried expressions.
"Everyone outside is saying that the drought almost starved all the people to death, but then it suddenly rained because the little princess was born," Zhao Xiu said mysteriously.
"Is it really that mysterious?" The village chief chuckled, clearly not believing it.
Zhao Xiu refused to listen and said even more enthusiastically, "Don't you believe me? Last time I passed by a teahouse on my way to the county town, I heard the storyteller talking about the current princess..."
As the empress went into labor, dark clouds began to gather in the sky above the palace, and thunder rumbled incessantly.
After the princess was born, the rain fell, and then the rain spread over the capital and throughout the entire Jin Dynasty.
I heard that auspicious clouds have appeared above the palace, sometimes transforming into a phoenix, sometimes into a dragon—that's a truly auspicious sign!
The village chief had also heard about this, and said seriously, "I heard that the current emperor regards the princess as a lucky star. This is not a fabrication. In fact, since the princess was born, the Great Jin Dynasty has enjoyed good weather and abundant harvests for the past few years, and the people have lived in peace and prosperity... But why has disaster suddenly started to occur again recently?"
"Do you think something might have happened to the princess, like she's sick or something? If the lucky star gets sick, wouldn't that affect the fate of the nation?" Zhao Xiuzhen dared to guess, but she lowered her voice so that only she and her husband could hear her.
"Star, who is Star?" The little girl had just heard them talking about the lucky star and felt a sense of familiarity. Something seemed to flash through her mind, but it quickly disappeared.
Oh dear, they'd forgotten about this little darling; apparently, she overheard their conversation.
The village chief didn't pay much attention to the little girl; how could a four or five-year-old child understand so much?
"I don't know how she ended up in the mountains. This child doesn't look like an ordinary family's child. I hope her parents can find her soon."
After thinking it over, the village chief felt that he couldn't let the child suffer. He couldn't keep calling her "little girl" or "girl" until her family came looking for her. It would be better to give her a nickname first.
"Child, do you really not remember your name?" the village chief asked again to confirm.
The little girl shook her head, her round face looking somewhat serious. Her mature demeanor made her even more adorable. "I don't remember. I don't have parents. Did I pop out of a stone? Uncle Village Chief, does that mean I can't stay at your house just because I can't remember?"
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