Chapter 245 What do I want your lives for?
The village chief's words were so powerful that everyone present lowered their heads in shame.
The threshing ground, where hundreds of people gathered, was so quiet that the only sound was the sound of each other's breathing, and you could hear a pin drop.
Sang Zhixia knew that the village chief interrupted Wu Changgui's plea and wanted to stop him from speaking first.
The old village chief was afraid of putting himself in a difficult position and afraid that he would be soft-hearted because of the villagers' pleas.
But the famine has just shown its terrible signs, and countless people will struggle on the line between life and death. If you are soft-hearted today, what about tomorrow?
The Xu family's granary has been targeted by bandits, and those who escaped today will sooner or later cause trouble.
If any trace is revealed at this critical juncture, the entire Xu family will be in great danger.
The people of Luobei Village cannot bear such a crime...
The village chief shed silent tears after he finished speaking, and said with difficulty, "Girl, just do what you have to do."
"You've saved the lives of so many families in this village. We'll do whatever you say, no ambiguity!"
Sang Zhixia was grateful for the old village chief's kindness and paused before saying, "Since we are here, we are all guests."
"Mo An."
"Why."
"There are still some vacancies in the thatched cottage on the east side of the mountain. Take them all there, light the stove and cook enough porridge for them to eat first and then we can recover."
Although the way these guests came was very unpleasant and even disgusting.
But Sang Zhixia really couldn't bear to watch so many people die.
Mo An agreed without hesitation.
The village chief was surprised: "Girl, this..."
"It's no problem."
Sang Zhixia gathered her cloak and said, "It's just that I can't survive and just want to drink a bowl of porridge. I can still afford this."
"but……"
Sang Zhixia paused for a moment, and under the gazes of countless people, she spoke word by word, "You were indeed wrong today. Wrong is wrong, and I cannot erase this."
"Today's circumstances are special, and it's late at night. I can let it go for now, but the wrongs you've done will always have to be paid for in the future."
Sang Zhixia paused for a moment after she finished speaking. The starving villagers surrounded by the people from Luobei Village looked at her with red eyes. One of them, brave enough, mustered up the courage to ask, "What's the price?"
"Yes, just say it! I'll pay any price as long as I can live with my stutter!"
"As long as you can give me some food to keep my child alive, I can give you my life now... I can do anything! As long as..."
"What do I want with your lives?"
Sang Zhixia slowly exhaled a breath of air tinged with cold air and said softly, "If you eat my rice today, you must come to my farm to work for free when spring comes."
"If you don't think my conditions are too harsh, then go and line up over there. If you think my request is excessive, then there's no need to force yourself. You can leave now."
The person asking the question didn't expect that Sang Zhixia's condition was just this. He was stunned for a moment and suddenly realized the deeper meaning of this sentence.
After the spring, I went to work on the farm...
Doesn’t that mean that I can survive this winter and live until the beginning of next spring?
"You mean, if we're willing to work, we can have food?"
Sang Zhixia frowned and emphasized: "Yes."
"You must listen to me no matter what you do, no matter how you do it."
"And I'm talking about the entire year after the spring, from the start of plowing to the end of the autumn harvest. For the entire year, I won't pay you a cent."
Someone trembled and asked, "If we don't pay you, will we give you food?"
Sang Zhixia smiled: "Here."
“I’ll do it!”
"And me!"
"Our whole family can work! As long as we are given food, we don't want any wages!"
Working a year for nothing sounds scary.
But no matter how scary the conditions are, you can still survive!
As long as they can survive, they will agree to any conditions!
Everyone's reaction was just as Sang Zhixia expected.
Everyone happily accepted her harsh conditions, and some even knelt down and kowtowed towards her.
"We can live...we can live..."
"Thank you, benefactor..."
"Thanks……"
Sang Zhixia couldn't stand it any longer, so she turned her head away, closed her eyes, and said, "You guys work for me, and it's only natural that I give you a bite to eat. You don't need to kneel to me."
"Mo An, take them all over."
Mo An called a few people to follow him. When some men in the village saw this, they took the initiative to grab torches and go over to help.
The threshing ground, which had been filled with dead silence earlier, now had an indescribable lightness to it, and most people felt relieved.
But the gloom in the village chief's eyes only deepened.
The village chief frowned and said, "Girl, if you leave these people here today, what are you going to do tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow?"
Is it possible that some come and some stay?
How could the Xu family's little stuff withstand such a bullying?
Moreover, once the news of today gets out, more and more people will want to follow suit and rush here to seek survival.
Once this door is opened, how will it end?
Sang Zhixia heard the undisguised worry in his words, smiled and whispered, "Don't worry, I went out and found some helpers. With them helping to watch over us, nothing will go wrong."
"Besides, it's no use coming to me to make a living. In a few days, the city will open a porridge stall to give out alms. Going to the porridge stall run by the government office over there to get food is the way to make a living."
The village chief didn't know what was going on outside. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Porridge stall?"
"The government is going to open a soup kitchen in the city?"
Sang Zhixia said vaguely, "That's true, but I haven't found out the details of how it's going to be handled yet. But you can just put your mind at ease."
The village chief was still worried and frowned, saying, "That won't work either."
"Those who were let go today seem to be spies of the bandits. If they let that group of bandits into the village, that would be a big deal!"
“No!”
The village chief clapped his hands in shock and said nervously, "With just your family alone, even if you find more of them, it would be impossible to keep them under control!"
"I have to call everyone in the village who can move to come and look after your family!"
The old village chief was truly enthusiastic, but Sang Zhixia just smiled after hearing what he said.
She said, "Really, there's no need. The reinforcements I've called will be here in about two days. You'll understand what's going on when you see them."
As for that gang of bandits...
Sang Zhixia sneered disdainfully.
With the 10,000 soldiers given by General Chen, let alone a few hundred bandits, even a thousand of them would not be a threat.
Just by stepping on them with your feet, you can crush those bandits into mud!
There was really nothing wrong with Sang Zhixia, but the village chief thought she was still too young.
The village chief said anxiously, "You are young and have never experienced the harm caused by bandits. You don't know how vicious and cruel those evil people are! They are all ruthless people with blood on their hands!"
Sang Zhixia opened her mouth but didn't refute, but she said in her heart: She felt that General Chen was the real ruthless person.
When she thought about the tens of thousands of people waiting to drink her rice porridge, she regretted asking General Chen for a lower price!
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