The next day, when Jiang Yao excitedly came to Jiang Huaixu's house, she smelled a pungent odor as soon as she entered the east room. She stood at the door and sneezed several times before she could see clearly what the people in the room were doing.
There was a small clay stove burning in the room, but what wafted towards him was not only warmth, but also the red powder that Jiang Huaixu and others were tinkering with.
"Cousin Yao, come and help!" Jiang Fu said to Jiang Yao with narrowed eyes.
Jiang Yao glanced at Jiang Huaixu, and seeing that she wasn't looking at her, she immediately brushed off the snow on her body at the door and squatted cautiously beside Jiang Fu.
Liu Yeer immediately handed her a stone mortar and picked up a handful of chili peppers and put them into the mortar. "Crush it into powder. Be careful not to touch it with your hands."
Jiang Yao understood. Isn't this also grinding spices? She had done it before.
Knowing that Jiang Huaixu only asked her to do this, her nervousness that had been building up all night disappeared in an instant, and she picked up the stone pestle and started pounding the peppers.
Jiang Huaixu had no intention of teasing Jiang Yao anymore. The chili powder she had bought at the mall was almost used up, but there were still a lot of dried chilies left. She thought that her family couldn't eat too many dried chilies, so she might as well grind them into powder directly.
If she grows peppers in the future, she plans to grind them into powder and sell them. It’s a bit troublesome, and she’s quite cunning, but it doesn’t matter, because all businessmen are cunning.
The four (three) people were talking while pounding peppers. Apart from the occasional sneeze, it was quite cozy.
When she was almost done pounding, Jiang Yao obviously didn't take Liu Ye'er's instructions to heart. She poured the pounded chili powder into the cloth bag. She scratched the chili peppers on her hands and wanted to raise her hands to rub her eyes.
Seeing her movements, Jiang Huaixu hurriedly said, "Don't touch your eyes!"
Jiang Yao was so frightened by Jiang Huaixu's voice that her hand trembled, and her hand stained with chili powder still touched her eyes.
Her irritated eyes blinked reflexively, and the place where her fingers touched felt burning painful. Her eyes turned red instantly and tears flowed down.
The other three people were stunned when they saw this scene.
Jiang Fu asked in a panic, "What should I do?"
Liu Ye'er also asked: "Can I wash it with water?"
"Just wash it with water. It won't be very effective, it may just relieve the pain a little." Jiang Huaixu said speechlessly.
After cleaning, Jiang Yao's eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been bullied.
Jiang Huaixu asked his cousin and Afu to clean up, pulled Jiang Yao into an empty room, and stuffed a pill into her mouth.
"Go back and talk to your parents properly. Don't exaggerate, otherwise... you know what will happen."
It's annoying to see this person. The best thing to do is give him the antidote and stop him from hanging around me.
After getting the medicine, Jiang Yao left crying.
By the evening, everyone in the village knew that the village chief's little daughter had come home and cried for a while, and now she could talk. When they went to the back to eat the big pot meal, everyone asked her why she was crying with a smile. She glanced at Jiang Huaixu, shrank back, shook her head like a rattle, and explained the reason for her crying with shame.
Jiang Huaixu withdrew his gaze and continued to drink the dumpling soup.
The heavy snow finally stopped in the evening of the third day. Many houses in the village were collapsed, and the new refugees also survived the most difficult days.
During the three days, all the villagers helped them. They would not ask for food for free, but would buy it with money. Some families even sold grain directly to them. The relationship between the two sides was very good.
After the shed was set up, Jiang Huaixu did not ask Jiang Fugui and others to help with pasting the oil paper. Instead, he found Jiang Erlang. The two of them completed the final work together. A layer of transparent but very tough "cloth" was laid under the oil paper.
Even if the outer oil paper was torn, the shed below would still be draft-proof. As for the entrances and exits, they were curtained with oilcloth.
After doing all this, Jiang Huaixu stayed in the shed all day. Except for the middle aisle, she sprinkled a thick layer of nutrient soil on the rest of the place, planting peppers and potatoes at the same time.
She was unfamiliar with these things and could only ask Jiang Boliang for advice from time to time. In the end, the two of them ended up huddled together in the shed.
Second Grandma finally returned to the village from the county town on the second day after the snow stopped. Their tofu stall had not been open for several days.
On the third day after the snow stopped, Jiang Huaixu's family welcomed guests - County Magistrate Yang and his wife.
"Why are you here at this time? It's so cold, what if you get frozen?" Second grandmother rushed over when she heard the news.
Madam Yang was helped down from the carriage by her maid and said with a smile, "No problem, I've been wanting to visit for a long time. Zheng'er wasn't in good condition a few days ago, and it snowed heavily recently. I'm coming now that the roads are easier to walk on. Please don't blame me, folks."
The villagers gathered outside Jiang Huaixu's house, all wanting to see what the county officials looked like, but they looked and said little, for fear of offending the important people.
Hearing this, they quickly waved their hands.
“No, no!”
“I dare not, I dare not…”
After talking for a while outside, Jiang Boliang and Qian Xiuzhu finally remembered to welcome the person into the house. "I'm so sorry, our house is small and very cold..."
When County Magistrate Yang wasn't smiling, his face looked a bit fierce, but his words were very down-to-earth. "What are you talking about? We're here to express our gratitude. There's no need to say 'sorry' to us. My wife and I are not the kind of people who care about things. Please be as polite as you can."
As soon as these words were spoken, the somewhat reserved villagers relaxed a lot.
After chatting around the stove for a while, Jiang Zhengmao, who was busy outside, came hurriedly and said, "I didn't know the county magistrate was coming. Please forgive me for not entertaining you well."
As he said this, he was about to kneel down.
Jiang Zhengmao was so anxious that sweat broke out on his head. He was trying out a newly made curved plow in the field with a group of men when someone said that the county magistrate was coming to their Jiuxi Village.
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