The sky was overcast, and a cold wind was howling. November in Ganzhou was already very cold, and the river was covered with thick ice.
Although Magistrates Li and Wang had told the recipients that they could come and collect the gifts within ten days, everyone still came on the first day without waiting.
The sooner you receive the aid, the longer your chances of survival will be.
Of the twelve constables under Magistrate Li, ten came to maintain order and also to save face for the magistrate.
Everyone wants to get involved in such a great opportunity.
When Aunt Zhang and Zhang Tiezhu arrived with their son, daughter-in-law and daughter, mountains of supplies had already piled up on the street.
Ye Ting looked at the piles of grain and cotton-padded clothes with extreme envy.
“It’s infuriating to compare yourself to others! I lost my mother when I was young, and my sister-in-law wouldn’t even make me a cotton-padded coat in the winter. I wore my nephew’s old cotton-padded coat, with my waist exposed, and smashed open the ice to wash clothes…” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
Aunt Zhang held her hand and comforted her, "Don't worry, you won't be without a cotton coat in the dead of winter when you come to my house. I'll make you another cotton coat later so you can stay warm and cozy all winter long."
Landlord Wang picked up Yin Jin'an and Jiu Tian early in the morning. The two did not appear on the street, but sat on the second floor of Landlord Wang's house facing the street, looking down at everyone receiving supplies.
Yin Jin'an had led troops and fought battles, so he had a rough idea of the amount of supplies.
Looking at the piles of cotton-padded clothes, trousers, shoes, rice, flour, and oil below, and estimating the prices in his mind, he figured that Landlord Wang probably hadn't cheated or swindled anyone.
These things are worth about 30,000 taels of silver.
Jiutian was pressed against the window, very excited.
"Second Uncle, look how poor that woman is. The two children she's leading are only wearing such thin jackets."
"Second Uncle, why is that man wearing floral cotton pants?"
"Second Uncle, Magistrate Li and Magistrate Wang have both arrived."
"Second Uncle..."
For the first time, Yin Jin'an felt that he was well-mannered. If it were before, he would have kicked such a child out long ago if he had been chanting "Second Uncle, Second Uncle" around him.
Listening to Jiutian's rambling now, he just thinks the kid is quite interesting.
Those who received the supplies cheered loudly and knelt down to express their gratitude. Jiutian, above them, kept whispering, "You're welcome."
Those who came to help distribute supplies were all from the town. Aunt Zhang brought Ye Ting over and said to Landlord Wang, "Master Wang, we've come to help too. What kind of work would you like us to do?"
Landlord Wang bowed in thanks and said, "Tiezhu, take Xiangliang and Xiangshan to the warehouse to move things. Time is too tight, and there are still many things that haven't been moved out yet."
He said to Aunt Zhang, "Why don't you help distribute the cotton-padded coats on the street?"
The distribution of items was orderly. People lined up, gave their names, found their names on the list, and Aunt Zhang and the others gave the items to the impoverished households.
This prevents some people from fraudulently claiming the money.
Ye Ting was in charge of getting people cotton-padded coats.
The first person in line was a woman, holding two children's hands. Her face was blue from the cold, and she shivered as she said, "Four sets. One set for the men, one set for the women, and one set for the children..."
She pushed the two children forward to indicate that they were the two of them.
Next to Ye Ting was Da Bao, who was in charge of checking and marking the names on the list.
Da Bao shouted, "A family of four, two sets for adults, two sets for the child."
Ye Ting quickly went to get it, took a set of cotton-padded jacket and trousers from the pile of men's clothing, and handed it to the woman.
The woman quickly opened it to take a look and found that the cotton-padded clothes and trousers were very thick. She was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Shoes! There are cotton-padded shoes too!"
Ye Ting quickly went to get a pair of cotton shoes.
The woman picked up the cotton shoes, tried them on with her hands, and said, "Do you have any smaller shoes? These are too big."
Ye Ting went to get another pair, but the woman felt they were a little too small, and she was too embarrassed to haggle over the price.
Ye Ting carefully prepared cotton-padded coats for her, both for women and children.
The woman was overjoyed and dressed the child in the clothes, which fit perfectly.
The woman asked shyly, "Could you please pick out a larger one for me?"
Ye Ting looked down on her. This woman was really stingy and annoying. She took the cotton-padded coat for free and was still being picky.
She said irritably, "I'm already so busy, who has the time to pick and choose for you? You're getting something for free and you still have to go through all this trouble?"
The woman felt embarrassed and awkwardly put her hands together, saying, "Please, children grow so fast. I want a bigger size so they can wear it next year. Otherwise, the clothes that fit perfectly now won't fit in two months."
"Take it, sister-in-law. Do you really expect to wear the same cotton-padded coat for the rest of your life? It's too big and not warm enough."
"Please, please give us a bigger one. Please."
"Next." Ye Ting had never seen anyone so tactless. She didn't want to pay any more attention to her and called for the next person.
The woman called out again, "The child's shoes aren't here yet! Where are the shoes?"
Ye Ting ignored her. The older child was about the same age as her nephew Ye Wei. If the woman couldn't wait and left on her own, she could give the shoes to her nephew.
But she underestimated the stubbornness of the poor. This woman was from the next county. She came here before dawn with two children, determined to bring the cotton-padded coat back no matter what.
So Ye Ting continued to fetch clothes for others, while the woman waited nearby. Whenever Ye Ting had a spare moment, the woman would come over and ask, "Could you please fetch the child's shoes for me?"
Ye Ting cursed inwardly, "Isn't this just clinging to me? Aren't you leaving yet?"
Ye Ting's group had a few elderly men from out of town receiving clothes and supplies. They were quite old and confused, so they couldn't figure out what to get.
Ye Ting only gave them cotton-padded jackets, deliberately omitting the cotton-padded trousers, so the old men, being confused, didn't think of asking for them.
Ye Ting stuffed the money she saved under the table.
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