Because of the snow, they figured no one would come over. To make it easier to feed the pigs, Shun'er and Shitou moved Dahuang's kennel closer to the pig farm. As soon as they got close, they heard Dahuang barking.
As soon as Da Huang barked, the gate to the pig farm opened from the inside. Shun'er and Shi Tou came out and first saw the village head, and hurriedly said:
"Village head, you've arrived. We haven't finished eating the food you brought last time. If we had, we could have gone out on our own. There's no need for you to bring it over; the road is so difficult to walk on."
The village head chuckled, turned slightly to the side, pointed to the three people beside him who were wrapped up tightly, and said, "Look who these are?"
Shun'er and Shi Tou then turned their attention to the three people. They saw that there were two adults and one child, all dressed in drab gray clothes, and it was hard to tell whether they were men or women. It was Meng Zhao who spoke first.
"Stone, Shun'er, you don't recognize me anymore?"
The two then realized who it was and excitedly exclaimed, "Sister Meng Zhao, it's you!"
Meng Zhao pulled the scarf down her face and said, "Yes, I came to see if you have any food here?"
"Sister Meng Zhao sent us a lot of food before the New Year, and the village head also sent some during the New Year. It's all from the pig farm, enough for the two of us to eat for about ten days. Don't worry, Sister Meng Zhao."
Meng Zhao nodded and said to the village head, "I'm really sorry to trouble you with taking care of the two of them and the pig farm for me."
The village head shook his head. "What's the big deal? Since we live in Shenjia Village, we're all from Shenjia Village. We're all one family, so it's only right that we take care of each other."
"The piglets are all doing well, eating and sleeping well, and none of them have died," Shun'er said proudly as he led them into the feeding area.
Meng Zhao walked into the pig farm and inspected it. The piglets were indeed all healthy. Before the New Year, she had come up with many ways to keep the pig farm warm. First, she built a warm wall based on the principle of a kang (heated brick bed). Then, she concentrated the adult pigs near the warm wall. This group of pigs also increased the warmth.
Then they improved the house's sealing, stockpiled a large amount of hay for replacement, and had Shun'er and Shitou increase the frequency of feeding the pigs when it was cold.
Hot water is constantly being heated in the pig farm. This heats the walls, increasing the overall temperature, and also serves to warm the piglets when feeding them.
In short, although the feeding room is not very warm, it meets the living standards for pigs.
To keep warm, a lot of firewood and charcoal were needed. Naturally, the village head could not hide the fact that she was burning charcoal. If she only burned a little, it would be fine, but if she burned too much, a lot of trees would have to be cut down. This back mountain belonged to Shenjia Village. Meng Zhao wanted to pay, but the village head refused to accept it. He just said that next spring, she could hire a few people to plant some more trees.
Meng Zhao came back this time not only to see the piglets, but also to collect some charcoal.
The pig farm usually uses firewood, and charcoal is mainly used to keep the five piglets she brought over before the Lunar New Year warm. At this time, the pig farm still has about two thousand catties of charcoal in stock.
Meng Zhao asked the village head to find a few strong villagers from the village, pay them a day's wages, and have them clear the snow on the road to the pig farm until it was passable by vehicles. Then they would pull the mule cart from the workshop to help her transport the charcoal to the county.
The carts were completely full, filling four mule carts in total. Meng Zhao calculated that the remaining few hundred kilograms would be enough for the pig farm for the time being.
Looking at the mule carts loaded with charcoal with a puzzled expression, Gu couldn't help but ask Meng Zhao, "Zhao Zhao, why are we hauling so much charcoal at once? There's plenty left in the county. There's nowhere to put it if we take it there."
“Mother, this charcoal isn’t for the shop,” Meng Zhao replied calmly.
Upon hearing this, Madam Gu became even more curious. "What does that do?"
“There are so many disaster victims in the county right now, it’s the perfect time to help them. We stockpiled so much charcoal before the New Year, it should last until spring. Why not donate some of it first? This will not only earn us a good reputation, but it will also be a way for us to do our part for our fellow villagers and these disaster victims. We can always burn more charcoal after the snow melts.”
After listening to Meng Zhao's words, Madam Gu agreed. She felt great pity for the disaster victims she saw today, let alone her kind-hearted daughter-in-law.
"Should we go to the city gate to distribute them later?" There are more disaster victims at the city gate, so it seems easier to distribute them there.
Meng Zhao shook his head. "Of course not. There are so many disaster victims at the city gate. If each person is given a pound or two, it will be gone in an hour. It won't be of much use."
He sighed and continued, "Besides, most of the people gathered at the city gate are refugees, not people from this county. We don't know if they will stay in the future. Giving them charcoal would probably be a waste of time."
When she said this, Meng Zhao felt very uncomfortable. She was not a cold-hearted person, but even the county government had to collect grain based on the household registration book, let alone an ordinary person like her.
The county magistrate, with good intentions, built shacks for temporary heating and called on wealthy merchants in the county to open soup kitchens at the city gate. As a result, even more people gathered there, but the county was short of resources and could not save so many people.
Before setting off, Meng Zhao covered the charcoal with dry grass. As they walked to the city gate, the people around them saw a mule cart coming and it was loaded with goods, so they immediately gathered around.
Meng Zhao and his group immediately sped up and arrived at the city gate. There, soldiers guarding the city came out to maintain order. Meng Zhao and his group quickly showed their household registration records and were able to enter successfully.
By the time they arrived in the county, it was past lunchtime. Wei Jinglan was at home with her two children and cooked them some hot food. Meng Zhao and the others ate with several villagers from Shenjia Village.
While they were eating, Shen Qinghe, who was keeping watch at Huimin Hospital, rushed over and said, "Sister-in-law, the donation office at Huimin Hospital has been set up, and the county magistrate himself has come, which shows that he attaches great importance to this matter."
Meng Zhao wasn't in a hurry. He first told everyone to finish their meal, and then he brought out some charcoal from his home, which amounted to about 1,500 catties. They then drove the donkey cart out the door together.
When Meng Zhao and her group arrived at the location, they saw that a large crowd had already gathered at the entrance of Huimin Hospital. However, judging from the clothing of the crowd, most of them were not well-dressed, and it was likely that most of them were residents from the surrounding area. After all, the county magistrate had only given the order to start the fundraising yesterday, and it was already underway today, so there probably wasn't much time for publicity.
Meng Zhao spotted Wang Xian speaking in the crowd from afar, but couldn't hear him clearly because of the distance, so he moved closer to him.
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