Chapter 56: Decision
The village chief suddenly slapped his thigh and remembered what he had forgotten.
However, if such an embarrassing thing were to be told, wouldn't it make people laugh? Where was the dignity of the village chief? But if he didn't tell her, would the old woman misunderstand him?
Helpless, the village chief could only stammer and change the subject: "Wife, look. What is this?"
"What an exquisite purse!" Women and men always have different focuses. The village chief's wife was immediately attracted by the purse in his hand. She snatched it away. "Let me see."
After taking it away, he realized something was wrong. "Old man, could it be in here?"
The village chief nodded and said, "Copper coins, exactly one hundred copper coins."
"I've made a fortune!" The village chief's wife was just as excited as the village chief when she saw all those copper coins. The village chief, however, was afraid of revealing his wealth, so he quickly covered his wife's mouth. "Old woman, keep your voice down."
The village chief's wife nodded quickly, signaling the village chief to take his hand away.
The village chief finally let go of Chu Ci's hand and told him the reason for his visit and his own plans. "Later, tell the eldest brother to go guard the Fan family. The second brother will go over during dinner. In short, we must ensure that there is always someone watching over the Fan family."
"Okay, I'll go find the boss and ask him to go over there immediately." The village chief's wife is also a person of action. She will not tolerate the copper coins she has earned flying away because of poor performance.
On the other side, Mo Yan looked at Chu Ci along the way, wanting to say something but stopping himself several times.
Finally, Chu Ci couldn't bear it any longer. "Just say whatever you want to say. You know I hate to keep things bottled up."
"Young Madam, why bother the village chief with such a small matter as guarding the bricks and tiles? Minglu, Mingxin and others can do it very well." The money saved can be used for other things. Mo Yan really couldn't understand it.
Chu Ci smiled, but didn't mention that the village chief was a more suitable local tyrant than Minglu and Mingxin. He simply explained, "However, the Fan family will live in Jingtian Village in the future! One hundred copper coins is just a small amount of money, but as long as the village chief wants to live a good life, he will wholeheartedly protect the Fan family in the future."
"As long as we protect the Fan family, it doesn't matter who he is?" Mo Yan was a little nervous, but still asked.
Chu Ci was puzzled. It stood to reason that Mo Yan had only just met the village chief, so why was he so hostile towards him? So he asked solemnly, "Mo Yan, on what grounds do you judge the village chief to be of bad character?"
Cai Wei, who was standing by, thought Chu Ci was angry and quickly explained, "It wasn't Brother Mo Yan, it was me. I saw them drown a living baby in the river. If they didn't raise the child, why did they give birth to that poor child?"
As she spoke, Caiwei actually started to sob.
Chu Ci saw that Cai Wei was really sad, and hugged her in his arms with heartache. Cai Wei cried even harder, "He was so young, how could they have the heart to do this to him?"
Caiwei had grown up in a refugee village, so she wasn't ignorant of the ups and downs of life. But after following Chu Ci, she had no worries about food and clothing, and the ladies of the Fan family were all gentle and kind. She had thought she had moved on from the past.
She never expected that what happened in the past would reappear before her eyes so suddenly, and she finally could no longer suppress her emotions.
Chu Ci also felt uncomfortable, but she was calmer. "Caiwei, have you ever thought about the reason behind this?"
With Chu Ci's comfort, Cai Wei's mood gradually calmed down. Hearing this, she finally stopped crying, raised her head, and answered with a slightly choked voice: "It's nothing more than favoring boys over girls, or being afraid that the child has a problem and can't be raised?"
Chu Ci shook his head slightly.
In her previous life, she had only read in the literature that people in the exile area would drown or abandon their newborn babies to avoid the poll tax. Unexpectedly, a few days later, someone close to her actually witnessed such a tragedy.
There may be more in the future, Chu Ci sighed inwardly. "Caiwei, this is Yazhou."
Although Caiwei didn't understand what was going on, Chuci no longer wanted to explain. Seeing that Chuci had lost his initial good mood and looked tired, she immediately realized that they were the ones who caused the trouble.
I never dared to speak casually again along the way.
When they returned to the inn, Chu Ci locked himself in his room. The two had no choice but to quietly find Fan Jingrui and tell him everything. "Sir, it's all our fault for being so talkative. Otherwise, the young lady wouldn't be so upset."
Fan Jingrui was a pure ancient man. Although he felt uncomfortable hearing this, he was more dissatisfied with Mo Yan and Cai Wei. "You are so talkative! Go to your room and kneel for an hour."
"Yes." Mo Yan and Cai Wei did not dare to have any objection.
After Mo Yan and Cai Wei left, Fan Jingrui went to look for his eldest sister, Fan Qianxi. He remembered Chu Ci once jokingly saying that the way to cure a bad mood is simple: eat some sweets and let the sweetness seep into your heart.
Fan Jingrui decided to do the same.
It was rare for his younger brother to know how to coax his wife, so Fan Qianxi naturally gave him his full support. But within twenty minutes, Fan Jingrui knocked on Chu Ci's door, carrying a plate of exquisitely shaped steamed cakes.
"Please come in——" Chu Ci's tone was still weak.
Fan Jingrui pushed the door open and walked in, sitting down on a stool not far from the bed. Fang said, "Didn't you say that when you're feeling down, you should eat some sweets and let the sweetness seep into your heart? This is what my eldest sister made especially for you. Would you like to try it?"
Steamed cake, I had only mentioned it twice before. I never expected my elder sister to actually make it. Chu Ci's heart warmed slightly, and he scooped a spoonful into his mouth. "So sweet!"
"If you like it, eat more." Fan Jingrui advised when he saw that the dessert was really effective.
Chu Ci did not eat any more. "Actually, I was mentally prepared. Yazhou is short of resources. There are spring taxes, autumn taxes, land taxes, and even the previous county magistrate added a head tax. In the end, less than one-tenth of the income goes to the farmers. In this era, people have no contraceptive methods..."
Chu Ci kept on talking, seemingly trying to excuse those people, but Fan Jingrui knew that Chu Ci was still mourning for that young life.
"My wife was kind and compassionate, but she is gone. Instead of dwelling on the sorrow of the past, we should cherish the present, do more good deeds, and bring a little warmth and hope to those who are still suffering."
Chu Ci shook his head slightly. Even though Fan Jingrui was completely in line with her wishes and was very tolerant of her, Chu Ci still felt something was missing. Thousands of years of estrangement really couldn't be healed overnight.
Leave? But where can I go?
Chu Ci had never realized so clearly that he was like an isolated island in this era.
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