Chapter 377 Winning Hearts and Minds
"Mother!"
Just then, Xiao Baozhu ran out of the house and rushed into Jiang Nuanzhi's arms, frowning as she looked at the village head: "Grandpa Village Head, is there no food left at home? Are we going to starve to death?"
Little Baozhu blinked her bright eyes and looked at the village head. Her eyes were almost devoid of emotion, only showing curiosity.
The village head was speechless for a moment, stammering for a long time without being able to say anything coherent. Finally, he just mumbled, "Girl Jiang, this is..."
“I know this even if Grandpa Village Head doesn’t say it. Other families came to borrow grain before and said the same thing, and my father chased them away.”
As Baozhu said this, she even waved her little fist.
The village head's dark face immediately lost all color, and for a moment he didn't know where to put his hands and feet. He turned around and said, "I was confused, so I won't bother you any longer."
Having said that, he tried to leave as if fleeing.
Jiang Nuanzhi reached out to stop him: "Uncle Li, Baozhu is just a child, she doesn't speak properly, please don't mind her."
As he said this, he patted Baozhu's head: "There were indeed some people who came to beg for money earlier, but Arong saw that they were just complaining about being poor, so he just sent them away. But this little imp overheard them. You are naturally different."
After saying that, Jiang Nuanzhi smiled and pushed the village head's money back: "I've seen that you've barely slept these past few days because of the village. The village is so grateful to you. I feel very at ease with you here in the village."
As she spoke, Jiang Nuanzhi smiled again: "You've come to our family, and you've brought up the matter of food supplies again. How can we not help you? Come in with me, and I'll go get the food for you right away."
The village head had expected a humiliating beating, and at the very least, Jiang Yatou wouldn't be so easy to talk to. After all, this girl had fought with the village's old women and widows countless times before, and had never suffered a loss. Everyone in the village agreed that she was not someone to be trifled with.
Unexpectedly, she was so easy to talk to. When she looked up and met Jiang Nuanzhi's gentle smile, her eyes immediately reddened.
Since the incident in the village, he hasn't heard a single comforting word. Every day he faces the villagers' fear and chaos, and he also has to adjudicate their lawsuits—it's a veritable internal and external crisis. Even so, going home is no better. His wife complains, his son is bedridden, his granddaughter cries incessantly from hunger, and there's still no news of his youngest daughter; he doesn't know how she is doing.
After enduring this for days on end, the village head's hair had turned mostly gray.
He wanted to thank her, but his throat tightened and he choked up. After a while, he quickly wiped away his tears and said in a thick nasal voice, "Jiang girl, I thank you. I'll let bygones be bygones these days. I thank you, but I must give you this money."
Then, he directly stuffed the money into Jiang Nuanzhi's hand.
Jiang Nuanzhi still didn't accept it. When she entered the door, she led the village head in as well: "No rush, Uncle Li, please come in first. Man'er, pour some tea for your Grandpa Li."
The village head entered the courtyard and found it spotless. Two enormous snowmen, taller than the courtyard walls, were piled on the ground. Further in, even more astonishing things appeared: rows of large, beautifully crafted glass lanterns lined the path, lanterns he had never seen before. The houses, so tall, were unbelievably beautiful.
At that moment, Fu Man was outside carrying a wooden bucket. It was almost the end of the year, and Fu Man and Bao Zhu were in the yard preparing to make ice lanterns. Upon hearing Jiang Nuanzhi's words, he hurriedly responded and immediately went inside to open the door.
When the village head arrived at the door, he refused to go in no matter what.
"I'm filthy, especially my shoes, so don't get your floor dirty. I'll just wait here."
"No, please come in quickly, it's alright." Jiang Nuanzhi looked at the old man with gray hair and felt a strange pang in her heart.
At that time, he had his hands in his sleeves, his nose, cheeks and eyes were red, and he seemed to find everything fascinating. He kept looking into the house, but he was determined not to go in no matter how much Jiang Nuanzhi invited him.
Having no other choice, Jiang Nuanzhi instructed her children to stay and talk to him while she hurried to the small storehouse to fetch him some grain.
Before long, she came out carrying a basket.
"This girl, this is too much. How can I buy so much with just two taels of silver?"
The village head looked closely and saw that there was a large bag of grain in the basket, probably more than two dou of rice.
Although one tael of silver used to buy a bushel of rice, that was then. Now, with rising rice prices, one tael of silver can't even buy a bushel. At this time, the Liu family sells it for two taels a bushel. What's more, she also brought a piece of meat and several oil paper packets in her basket, which looked like good stuff, but she didn't know what they were.
"Uncle Li, please accept this." Jiang Nuanzhi handed him the basket directly, smiling as she said, "There's about two dou of rice here (one dou of rice is twelve jin). This piece of fatty pork is for you to eat before the New Year; you should nourish yourself properly. I've wrapped some Banlangen powder in this oiled paper for you. It's cold today, so brew it with hot water and drink some to avoid catching a cold. Also, these two packets contain brown sugar and some candied fruit that I made myself. You can take them back for your aunt and the children. Just be careful; Zhuzi's injury means he can only eat lean food, so don't give him anything fatty."
The village head stared blankly at the heavy basket Jiang Nuanzhi had given him, his eyes welling up with tears: "Jiang girl, how can your uncle take so many things from you? Wait here, your uncle will go back and get some more silver."
Jiang Nuanzhi smiled and directly stuffed the two taels of silver in his hand into the basket he was giving him: "It's for Uncle Li, don't take the silver. If you say it again, I'll get angry."
Then, he smiled and said, "I'll trouble you, Uncle Li, to tell the people in the village that we're selling grain. However, we don't have that much grain left over. At this time, if we can use the grain to save lives, it would be a good deed. But the price will be one tael and one dou."
Upon hearing this, the village head nodded repeatedly, "Good, good, good! Girl, you've done a great deed!"
"I'll go back and tell everyone right away."
Jiang Nuanzhi smiled and nodded: "Yes, Uncle, please don't lend all your food to others anymore. You should at least take care of your own health."
The village head stared blankly at Jiang Nuanzhi, his cloudy old eyes filled with tears again, and he choked up and couldn't speak for a moment, nodding hurriedly.
Even after Jiang Nuanzhi saw the person off at the door, she could still see the village head sobbing as he returned home.
Chi Heng sat on the cleared terrace on the second floor, looking down and stroking his chin repeatedly: "Do you think he would jump into the river now that his sister-in-law is telling him to?"
(End of this chapter)
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