A group of people came, two or three from each family. Some carried some things, while others came empty-handed. They crowded around, and her main room was packed with people.
Although she knew that these people came to her for help because they had no other choice, the fact that so many people came to her door at once made her feel like she was being roasted on a fire.
She didn't want to bear the burden of so many lives lost. Anyway, she had already given her instructions; whether or not she could carry them out was not her fault.
"Ginger? That's so expensive, we don't have any at home!"
"Yes, Auntie, we don't have any ginger, such a precious thing. I wonder if you have any left? Could you lend me half a piece? We'll definitely pay you back once the flood is over!"
"My family will also borrow half a dollar, and we promise to pay it back later!"
"My family will also borrow half a dollar..."
"My family will also borrow half a dollar..."
A group of women were chattering away, each one asking to borrow half a piece of ginger, afraid that if they called out too slowly or too softly, they wouldn't be able to borrow it.
After all, they knew in their hearts that even if Yue Jiuyue's family still had ginger, there certainly wouldn't be much left. No one would hoard dozens of pieces of ginger. If they had that kind of money, they would either secretly hide it or use it to buy grain. Buy ginger? How stupid would that be!
Yue Jiuyue was indeed not stupid. She originally bought ginger only to remove the fishy smell when eating meat. However, when winter came, she was afraid that someone in her family would catch a cold, so she bought a lot from the mall and secretly put it in the cellar.
Unexpectedly, the family had nothing much to do all winter, and no one liked to visit each other. At most, they would take their daughter out to play for a while, so the ginger was not used much.
Moreover, although her family raised a flock of chickens and rabbits, no one could bear to eat them!
So, her family does have quite a bit of ginger, enough for the whole family to share, so why did she do that?
She was no stranger to the story of "a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment," and she certainly couldn't bring herself to do that kind of "saintly" thing.
Here, "Holy Mother" is a term of praise.
“Mrs. Lin, even if the village borrowed this ginger from you, they will definitely pay it back once the flood is over. Don’t worry, even if the village doesn’t have money, they still have land!”
Village Chief Lin arrived at some unknown time and had been listening for an unknown amount of time, yet he remained outside in the rain without going inside.
Upon hearing Village Chief Lin speak, everyone in the room fell silent and quickly squeezed into the east room where Yue Jiuyue was sleeping, making room for Village Chief Lin in a fairly spacious location.
“Since the village chief has spoken, I will naturally listen to him. But I can’t lend all of my ginger to the village; I have to keep some for myself.”
Since the village chief had stepped in, Yue Jiuyue naturally had to give him face. However, she had to make sure to say the unpleasant things beforehand to avoid anyone blaming her for hiding anything later.
"That's for sure, give as much as you can."
Village Chief Lin didn't make things difficult for Yue Jiuyue. The ginger belonged to Yue Jiuyue's family, so naturally it was up to her to decide. She couldn't possibly lend out all the ginger without considering the lives of her own family, could she? Besides, he couldn't bring himself to do something like that.
"Alright, then you can wait here."
Seeing that the village chief had no objections, Yue Jiuyue put on a straw hat and a raincoat before braving the heavy rain to go to the cellar.
There was still about a basket of ginger in the cellar. Although her family had been drinking ginger soup five times a day, she had been secretly adding more to the basket.
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