"Hmph! Don't be resentful! Everyone in our village knows the situation perfectly well. If we hadn't made the decision early on, how could every household still have a little bit of food left?"
"Who else would know about this besides the people in our own village? In my opinion, if you women hadn't been so loose-lipped when you went back to your parents' homes, spreading rumors everywhere, it would never have gotten out of the public eye!"
The village chief grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, clearly frustrated by the village's lack of progress.
In an instant, the discussions among the crowd grew increasingly noisy and boisterous, with everyone talking at once, creating quite a lively scene: "Hey, village chief, tell me, what should we do in this situation?"
The village chief frowned and pondered for a moment before speaking: "These days, everyone is struggling to make ends meet. With the New Year just around the corner, I'm thinking of having each household take proper precautions."
"If you're really worried, then each family can send one person to take turns patrolling and keeping watch in the village at night."
That way, perhaps we can keep out those with ill intentions!
"But as you all know, it's almost Chinese New Year, and nobody can stand this cold weather."
Everyone agreed that walking outside in this cold weather would freeze you solid.
Shen Xiaoxiao opened her big, bright eyes and looked around curiously, like a curious child.
Her inquisitive gaze wandered around, finally settling on the heavy body not far away.
Just then, their eyes met unexpectedly.
However, in just a moment, Shen Xiaoxiao quickly regained her composure, as if nothing had happened, and casually turned her head to the other side.
I was thinking to myself, I'm just a kid, I don't know you, I'll pretend I don't see you.
However, in that instant when she shifted her gaze, she couldn't help but steal a quick glance at the heavy silhouette of the body out of the corner of her eye.
At this moment, Shen Xiaoxiao's heart was already churning with turbulent waves, screaming wildly like a stampede of horses.
"Ah! My God, my medical skills are so amazing. With just a casual glance, all the information about his symptoms flooded into my mind like a tidal wave."
"Is this the inherited memory that Lord Yama spoke of?"
Ma Aning only heard Shen Xiaoxiao's scream; all other words were cut off, and she couldn't hear them at all.
Ma Aning then stopped worrying about it.
Immediately afterwards, Shen Xiaoxiao's muttered voice came over again: "Tsk tsk tsk, I really didn't expect that this old man is actually in pretty good health! Apart from accidentally twisting his back a while ago, he is perfectly healthy in every other way."
Standing to the side, Ma Aning stared at her daughter with a suspicious look, wondering to herself, "Huh? When did our little girl learn medicine? Why has she never mentioned it before?"
Ma Aning looked around. It wasn't appropriate to ask outside, so she could only keep it in mind and ask when she got home. She listened carefully to what the village chief was saying.
Upon hearing the village chief's words, everyone began to discuss among themselves.
"Quiet down! Fellow villagers, please be quiet for a moment. I have something important to announce to you."
"After discussion and resolution by our village committee, we plan to set aside a few acres of land to grow sweet potatoes next year," the village chief said again, standing on a stool with a solemn expression.
As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion arose in the crowd.
A tall, burly man named Shen Da stepped forward and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Village chief, why? Think about it, maybe next year's harvest will be better. What will we do if we plant so many sweet potatoes?"
The village chief shook his head helplessly, sighed deeply, and slowly explained, "Brother Shen, we can't put all our hopes on God."
"Look how severe the drought is this year. If the weather is like this next year, all the rice we planted will probably be ruined."
He paused for a moment, then continued with a serious expression, "At that time, let alone paying the grain tax, even the food supply for our own villagers might be a problem. Some people might actually starve to death. So, planting more sweet potatoes is just in case."
After hearing the village chief's words, the previously noisy crowd instantly fell silent. The villagers looked at each other, each lost in their own thoughts.
After a moment of silence, the discussion surged up again like a tide.
This time, however, the discussion was no longer about opposing opinions, but rather about concerns about future livelihoods and understanding of the village chief's decisions.
After a long while, an old man finally broke the deadlock. He raised his hand tremblingly to show his support for the village chief: "The village chief is right. We have to plan ahead. As long as we can fill our stomachs and keep everyone from starving, we can grow anything."
Immediately, other villagers echoed, "Yes, village chief, we'll all follow your instructions! We'll plant whatever we can to survive this disaster year."
Hearing the villagers' unanimous agreement, the village chief smiled with relief. He waved his hand and declared loudly, "Since that's the case, then it's settled. With everyone working together, we'll definitely overcome this difficulty!"
Seeing that no one was speaking, the village chief said directly, "Alright, everyone, go home! It's freezing cold, don't catch a cold, go home and rest."
"The Lunar New Year is just around the corner. If you have any money left over, you should start buying the necessary New Year's goods as soon as possible. You should also stock up on as much food as you can."
The older generation all had worried expressions on their faces. One of them sighed, "Alas, God really doesn't give us a way to live! We were just starting to see things improve and were hoping for things to get better and better, but who would have thought that God would be so uncooperative and send down disasters one after another."
"Alright, Uncle Jiu, please stop saying such things! These days, it's not appropriate to talk about these things outside." The captain quickly stepped forward to support the old man, anxiously trying to dissuade him.
"Never mind, I won't say it. But these days, even speaking a word requires such caution and evasion."
Uncle Jiu shook his head helplessly, sighed heavily, and then walked slowly and heavily toward his home.
The captain was genuinely worried, so he followed closely behind Uncle Jiu, slowly accompanying him home until he entered the courtyard before leaving with peace of mind.
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