Chapter 210 Friends (Happy Dragon Boat Festival)
Manbao and his friends did not go directly to the county government office. Instead, they brought flower baskets to the street where they often sold flower baskets. But strangely, the children who used to play here were gone.
Zhou Liulang looked around and then found a relatively friendly and familiar-looking vendor to ask.
The stall owner also had an impression of Zhou Liulang. It was because these kids were young and most of them had unique businesses that were different from theirs. There were only so many people on their street, so it was hard for him not to remember them.
Knowing they were looking for their children, he laughed and said, "Who would dare to let their children run away these days? Didn't you see that even the candied haws vendors haven't opened their stalls?"
Glancing at the flower baskets in their hands, he said, "Snacks are having a hard time selling these days, let alone things like yours that are neither edible nor useful. I think it's even harder to sell them. I might as well save my time and go back to weeding the fields."
Zhou Liulang didn't believe it. You know, their flower baskets are not only beautiful, but also contain delicious candies, which has always been the reason why their flower baskets are more popular.
Even if we can't sell all of them, we can always sell three or four, right?
At least I can earn enough money for lunch.
So the four of them didn't leave, but walked down the street carrying the flower baskets. When they saw children, they shouted at the top of their lungs. Manbao even ran past people carrying the flower basket, but although the children looked at them eagerly, the adults didn't pay for anything.
By the time they walked down the street and reached the county government office, they had not sold a single flower basket.
The four of them looked at each other, and Daya said, "Maybe we really can't sell them. I just saw that the snack business on the street is so bad."
Datou said, "It must be because of the heavy rain, and their family has no money left."
Zhou Liulang looked at the flower basket in his hand and asked, "What should we do? We have made a lot of flower baskets."
The key point is that the bamboo basket can be taken back, but the flowers cannot be kept overnight.
And to be honest, the thing their family has the most is bamboo weaving. He even finds it too much effort to bring these small bamboo baskets home.
Zhou Liulang slumped his shoulders. It seemed that he couldn’t do the flower basket business this year.
Manbao also sighed and said, "Since it can't be sold, let's give it away."
"Who are you sending it to?"
"Let's go find those sisters who always buy us so much candy and give it all to them."
Daya had no objection. Zhou Liulang thought about it and felt that it would take up too much space to store it if he carried it back. In that case, he might as well give it away.
So the four of them walked skillfully to the back of the county government office and knocked on the door.
The gatekeeper smiled when he saw them. "The sky has cleared up. I figured you would be here soon, and sure enough you are here today. Wait, I'll pass the message inside."
Fu Wenyun quickly came running over, her skirt lifted. She pulled Manbao into the yard and said, "Is everything okay at home? I asked Qiuyue to go look for your brothers on the street, but the people selling things at the street stall said that your family hasn't been here for a while."
"My family is fine, but it's raining, and the mountain roads are difficult to walk on," Manbao said. "There's even mud on one section of the road. A lot of water rushed down from the mountain, blocking the road. It took people from our village and Wuli Village two days to clear the road."
Fu Wenyun was shocked. "Isn't that very dangerous?"
Manbao nodded repeatedly and told her about the collapsed house in their village. Although Fu Wenyun had heard a lot of such stories from her father, she always felt that they were far away from her. Now, after hearing Manbao say that her neighbor could kick down the house with one kick, she felt that this kind of thing was actually quite close to her.
Manbao told her a lot of stories about the village, and Fu Wenyun told her about the county and some rumors that only people in officialdom would know.
During this period, the legal advisor and the county magistrate and county lieutenant often had meals at their house. As time went by, even if Fu Wenyun didn't want to listen, she had to listen to a lot of things.
Their mother didn't allow them to gossip about this, and their eldest sister wasn't interested in such things. Even if Fu Wenyun wanted to talk to someone about it, she couldn't find anyone to talk to. Now that she saw Manbao, she naturally had endless things to talk about.
Zhou Liulang and others were rarely invited into the yard, and the servants hurriedly brought out some stools and wooden blocks from the small guard house nearby for them to sit on.
Then he closed the door and squatted aside curiously to listen to the gossip.
"My father told me that the Jiedushi and the Governor of Yizhou were all reprimanded by angels from the capital. Even the King of Yizhou was impeached. They're currently doing disaster relief, so the Saint hasn't held anyone responsible. Once this is over, I'm afraid all the officials in Jiannan Road will be held accountable." Fu Wenyun was a little worried. "I don't know if my father is okay."
Manbao said, "Our Luojiang County didn't have a dike breach, and your father can't do anything about the rain, so it should be fine, right?"
Fu Wenyun whispered to her, "My father said that whether it's okay or not depends on what happens next. If the resettlement of the refugees is not successful, or if the people under our jurisdiction flee, there will be a serious population loss. Even if our Luo River doesn't burst its banks, we won't be able to escape."
Manbao's mind moved, and he whispered in her ear, "I have a plan. As long as the common people don't starve to death, they basically won't leave their homes. Now that it's raining, the grain harvest has definitely decreased, but no one has died, and the soil isn't flooded too badly. If the county government gives them some relief grain, they should be able to get through this."
"That's what the county magistrate said, but my father said it's difficult because the influx of refugees will only increase. The county government has to reserve some relief food for them, otherwise they will definitely cause chaos."
"What about the autumn taxes? We don't even have food to eat, so how are we going to pay taxes in the fall? Everyone will be even more miserable by then. If things go wrong, it will really be a mess."
Fu Wenyun began to think about it. She had never thought about this before.
Manbao asked her, "What books are you reading recently? Because it's raining, our teacher has asked us to read a lot of history books and also told us about the Jianwei Weir."
"Jianwei Weir?" Fu Wenyun felt that the name sounded familiar.
Manbao nodded and said, "It's the Jin Dike that caused the accident in Yizhou this time. The master said that the Jin Dike is only a part of the Jianwei Weir."
No wonder, that must have been what she heard when her father was talking to someone.
Fu Wenyun said, "I've already finished reading the Book of Songs. I wanted to read the Great Learning you mentioned, but my mother said that was for my younger brother and told me to focus on the qin that my teacher is teaching me."
Manbao exclaimed, "You can also play the piano?"
Fu Wenyun nodded, but her expression was a little bitter. "Now I have to practice the piano for two hours every day, so I only have a little time to read in the morning and evening."
Manbao expressed sympathy and envy for her because she couldn't play the piano and she thought people who could play the piano were very amazing.
As they talked, they talked about the refugees outside. Manbao gave her the six flower baskets he had brought with him. "Put them in the study or hang them by the window. If you find some nice flowers, change them up. I think flower baskets are very beautiful."
Fu Wenyun also thought it was beautiful and accepted her kindness.
Manbao felt that the time was almost up, so he asked, "Are you still going to buy some candy?"
(End of this chapter)
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