It is winter now, and the biting cold wind makes people's bones cold, but Balke and others are still working hard and sweating all over.
They carried stones that could be reused and worked hard with hoes to clear the lawn in the vacant lot. No one complained or gossiped; everyone was very active.
In the distance, the carriage came again, followed by a small trailer.
The sound of the trailer's wooden wheels rolling over the gravel was remarkably loud. Balk looked up and wiped the sweat from his face. He squinted at the large pot on the trailer, then glanced at the sun hanging high in the sky. He licked his dry lips and said, "Is it the City Lord's Mansion sending food?"
As soon as they heard the word "eat", everyone's stomachs started rumbling and they all stopped what they were doing.
"It must be beans." someone in the crowd said.
No one else said anything and agreed with that person's opinion.
Their staple food has always been beans, which are abundant, filling, and swell after being soaked in water, making them filling when eaten.
"Something is better than nothing." Balk thought thoughtfully. He said to those around him, "It's the kindness of the city lord that gives us food for free, and we even get paid for our work! This treatment is already generous enough."
Everyone nodded, but as the cart got closer, they saw a large pot on it. The fragrance could not wait to arrive, and it lingered in the noses of Balk and others along with the cold wind.
"Is this beans? Or something else? It smells so good!"
Some people in the crowd exclaimed, and they were reluctant to even inhale the fragrance. They carefully took a sip of the subtle smell in the air and savored it carefully.
Their fiery gazes were glued to the cauldron, not wanting to let go for even a moment.
"How can it smell so good! Oh my God, I have never smelled anything so fragrant." A person next to Balk sniffed.
Jiang Jin jumped off the carriage without even diverting their attention.
In the city of Achunkant, Jiang Jin's beauty is not as attractive as Yiguochi.
As the cauldron was slowly opened, an aroma filled the air. Balk peeked in, his pupils dilating instantly. "Meat! It's all meat!"
It’s too much of an exaggeration to say that it’s all meat. Jiang Jin was very upset. It not only contained beans and cubed animal meat, but also filling buckwheat.
Because the meat is cut into large pieces, it has many ups and downs inside, so it looks like there are a lot of them.
"Is this really what we should eat?" Balk was a little uncertain.
Their meat is very scarce. Except for a few lucky ones who can pick up some stupid rabbits on the outskirts, the rest of the time they can only wait until spring to buy it from nomadic merchants, or buy a few pieces from hunters who come hunting in spring at a high price to taste them.
There is no danger outside the Misty Forest, but it is full of terrifying monsters.
Every day there are those who are not afraid of death, sneaking behind the hunters hoping to get some advantage, but few of them can come back unscathed.
Even Brook couldn't guarantee that he could go deep into the Misty Forest and escape unscathed. Only hunters who had experienced the baptism of a strong body dared to go in and hunt.
In the city of Achenkant, the only way to judge whether a person is truly wealthy is to see whether he can eat a bite of meat.
The sound of Balk swallowing his saliva was so loud that even Jiang Jin was a little surprised.
The previous city lord loved eating meat. He stored a cellar of dried meat and bacon in the city lord's mansion, and even had a small magic circle piled with fresh meat.
It was precisely because of these reserves that Jiang Jin had meat to give them to eat. This might be the only good thing the previous city lord did during his tenure, Jiang Jin thought silently.
Bowls of meat-filled lunch were distributed to the twenty-four workers. They all drooled in unison, but no one dared to touch it. However, Balk couldn't help but ask, "Lord City Lord? Is this really for us?"
Facing twenty-four pairs of eyes full of expectation and disbelief, Jiang Jin pretended to remain silent, causing Balk to hold his breath in fear, fearing that Jiang Jin would say something that would disappoint him.
Everyone also widened their eyes, trembling and tightly gripping the wooden bowls, their eyes finally fixed on Jiang Jin.
They didn't dare to expect anything, but the more time passed, the more they expected.
"Of course it's yours." Jiang Jin suddenly broke into a brilliant smile, "This big pot! It's all yours!"
"Oh!! Thank you, Lord City Lord, for the gift! Thank you, God of Light!"
The crowd erupted in ecstatic cheers!
"There are five pieces of meat in my bowl!" someone shouted tremblingly.
"That's nothing!" another person shouted back, "My bowl has eight pieces! Hey! Don't tell me, this meat tastes really good! It smells so good!"
The dilapidated little church was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere. They chatted happily with each other, discussing how delicious the lunch was.
"There's still a lot in the pot. Everyone can have two big bowls." Jiang Jin's words pushed the atmosphere of the scene to a climax.
Everyone cheered repeatedly to express gratitude to the city lord and the God of Light.
There is light in everyone's eyes.
It's just a lunch with meat.
She looked at everyone eating with a smile, and suddenly realized once again the significance of her position as the city lord.
"In the future, when rice is grown in the city of Achunkant and every household can eat rice, then you will know that the rice you eat now is nothing." Jiang Jin said to herself.
But she didn't know that many years later, these twenty-four people would still miss that winter when the mayor of their city of Achenkant brought a pot of hot lunch with meat, beans, and oats. It was the most enjoyable and most missed meal they had ever had.
Jiang Jin had no intention of staying here to supervise the whole day. She was a typical lazy person. Since she had handed everything over to Balke, Jiang Jin would of course just pat her butt and be a happy hands-off boss.
Of course, before leaving, Jiang Jin pulled a cufflink from her sleeve and let Balke hold it.
"If you need materials and can't find me, just take this cufflink to the City Lord's Mansion to find Yager." Jiang Jin was very thoughtful.
Balk put the cufflinks back into his pocket, patted his chest, and shouted with extraordinary vigor, "I swear by the God of Light! I will never let down the City Lord's trust!"
Jiang Jin patted his shoulder to express her anticipation.
Judging from the current state of Balk and the others, it is estimated that they will be able to clean up this place in less than seven days. Jiang Jin sat in the carriage and waved goodbye to the twenty-four energetic people.
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