Chapter 115 Inviting Everyone to Drink Soy Milk
Fleeing?
It turned out that a locust plague had struck the north during the autumn harvest, drastically reducing the grain yield and making it insufficient to support the family through the winter.
Without food for the winter, the common people were no different from waiting to die, which is why they had no choice but to flee here with their families.
In the past few days, the village has seen a large influx of refugees fleeing the disaster.
At this moment, the child huddled on the ground, upon seeing Xiao Ran, immediately showed a look of fear on his face, stood up tremblingly, and whispered:
"No...don't send me away...please...I...I'll leave right now...I'll leave right now..."
As he spoke, he staggered to his feet and dragged his frozen body away step by step.
Jiang Ling looked at the child's thin figure and felt a pang of sadness.
But she knew that refugees always came in groups, and if she helped one, a whole bunch of refugees would come running over.
She herself may not care, but this will harm the entire village of Jishui.
Xiao Ran doesn't care about refugees; this kind of situation seems to happen every year, and he's used to it.
It wasn't that he was heartless; he just knew he had to do everything he could to survive.
If refugees appeared elsewhere in the village, he wouldn't bother to drive them away, but they weren't allowed in front of Jixiang General Store; he couldn't let them defile this place.
"Sister Jiang, everyone thought the shop would never reopen. So many people have come to the shop looking for you lately,"
"Aunt Zhao at the village entrance wanted to send my sister some melons and vegetables, Sister Qian at the village end wanted to send her some new rice, and Uncle Zhou at the village entrance wanted to buy something from my sister. But in the end, they all left disappointed."
“Even Young Master Lu hasn’t been showing up much lately. And Young Master Zhao, who brought us back last time, has come a few times. He even gave my sister a Mid-Autumn Festival gift, which is still at my house.”
Jiang Ling remembered that she had asked Zhao Jingxing to deliver the gift to Xiao Ran. She originally thought she would open the door in three days at most, but she didn't expect it to take so long.
"How's everyone been lately? Nothing's happened, right?"
Xiao Ran happily recounted the events of the past twelve days, all of them trivial matters in the village.
Fortunately, nothing serious happened, and life continued peacefully as usual.
By the time Xiao Ran had swept the fallen leaves away from the doorway, the sun had already risen.
The golden sunlight dispelled the chill of the morning, and the village gradually awoke.
Although the autumn harvest is over, the fields still have vegetables planted for the winter that need to be tended.
As the villagers carried their hoes past the general store, they all showed expressions of surprise and delight upon seeing the open wooden door and Jiang Ling inside.
Xiao Ran greeted everyone excitedly: "Good morning, Uncle Zhao, Aunt Qian, Aunt Zhou!"
"Good morning, Xiao Ran! The shop is open!"
"Oh my, it really is Miss Jiang who's back!"
"We've missed you so much these past few days!"
People gathered around, greeting each other with their own words.
Jiang Ling, who was still in the shop looking at the gifts Zhao Jingxing had brought, came out with a smile upon seeing this and explained to everyone:
"I'm sorry for your concern. I went out to buy some goods a few days ago, but something happened on the way, which delayed me and prevented me from getting back in time. I'm really sorry."
Just then, the horse-drawn carriage from the city arrived to collect the vegetables.
It wasn't Lu Qian or Li Hong who came today, but another unfamiliar manager and the shop assistant who delivered the gift for Lu Qian last time.
When they saw Jiang Ling, a look of surprise flashed across their faces, and they politely came over to greet her.
Jiang Ling asked the shop assistant, "How is your young master doing lately?"
I haven't seen Lu Qian in a long time, and I miss him quite a bit.
The waiter bowed and said, "Young Master, I hope you are well. However, our master recently opened a branch in the capital, and the young master is busy there and hasn't had time to come. Thank you for your concern, Miss Jiang."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they went to the shed as usual to start busily weighing and harvesting the vegetables.
Looking at the familiar and lively scene before her, Jiang Ling's mood brightened.
She turned to Xiaoran and said, "Xiaoran, help me move that table out. It's chilly this morning, so I'd like to treat everyone to something hot."
Xiao Ran responded loudly and quickly set up the table.
Jiang Ling then carried a large thermos out of the shop; it contained the soy milk she had just ordered from the breakfast shop, and it was still warm.
Upon opening the lid, a rich and mellow aroma of soybeans instantly wafts out.
This drew curious glances from the crowd.
"Sister Jiang, what is this?" Xiao Ran asked, sniffing.
"This is called soy milk. It's made from soybeans. It's best to drink it while it's hot."
Early in the morning, especially on a cool day like this, a cup of hot soy milk is the most comforting thing.
"Fellow villagers, come and try this soy milk! Have something hot to warm yourself up first thing in the morning!" Jiang Ling greeted them with a smile.
"Soy milk?"
"It's soy milk, right?"
"We're so lucky to have such delicious food now that Miss Jiang has opened her shop!"
The villagers gathered around curiously, looking at the milky white liquid in the bucket, which was slightly steaming.
Although soy milk is not a precious commodity, soybeans were not widely cultivated at that time, and there were no farmers in Jishui Village who grew soybeans, so they were relatively unfamiliar with it.
Jiang Ling explained with a smile while cooperating with Xiao Ran, serving the dishes one by one and placing them on the table.
Everyone carefully accepted the drink and tentatively took a sip.
Its silky smooth and rich taste, along with its unique bean aroma, instantly won over everyone's taste buds!
Most importantly, it contains sugar!
It tastes fragrant and sweet!
Wow! This tastes so good, so smooth! And it's even a little sweet!
"Delicious! So delicious! Thicker than rice porridge, more fragrant than milk!"
"It's so warm, it feels so good in my stomach!"
Compared to goat milk or cow milk, which have a slightly fishy smell, soy milk is obviously more palatable and better suited to their constitution, earning it a chorus of praise.
The villagers crowded at the entrance of the grocery store, drinking hot soy milk and exchanging pleasantries with Jiang Ling.
Before long, the entrance was once again crowded with villagers who came to sell vegetables, just like always.
The atmosphere was warm and harmonious.
The soy milk was almost finished, and the vegetable vendors over there were doing brisk business.
Jiang Ling thought about how much help the villagers had given her since she arrived in Jishui Village, and how rare it was to find such simple and genuine kindness.
She raised her voice and said to everyone:
"Dear fellow villagers, thank you all for your continued support of me and my little shop. As the weather is getting colder, I brought back some winter gifts for you all this time."
As she spoke, she had Xiao Ran bring out several large bundles of fabric and a pile of rice packaged in burlap sacks from the shop.
She pointed to the fabrics and said, "These materials are thick and durable, and the colors are also dirt-resistant, so they're perfect for making a winter coat."
The fabric was something she saw at the supermarket yesterday, sold by a closed-down tailor factory. Because it was cheap and of good quality, Jiang Ling bought it all.
She then pointed to the rice: "This is new rice from the south. There was a bumper harvest there this year, and the price of grain is cheap. I thought I'd buy some so that everyone could try it."
Everyone was stunned when they saw the mountain of cloth and grain.
"As long as you are a villager from Jishui Village, you can buy five catties of rice and five feet of cloth from me for just one coin today! Consider it a small token of my appreciation, to provide you with a winter coat and a bowl of rice!"
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