Chapter 129 Schemes
Yang Liu, of course, wouldn't reveal her true thoughts. She smiled ingratiatingly and said, "I'm thinking about how to deal with the magistrate later, so that I can bring you more benefits, village chief. If you're doing well, village chief, wouldn't that mean I'm doing well too?"
Village Chief Yang snorted coldly. Of course, he wouldn't completely believe Yang Liu's nonsense. This woman had many tricks up her sleeve, so he naturally had to be more careful.
"That's what you think, that's for the best. I'm not afraid of what you might do behind my back. People know about what's going on between us. If you don't listen and play tricks behind my back, it'll be even worse for you if word gets out about us, won't it?"
Yang Liu's face immediately turned green: "Village chief, how could I possibly wrong you? Besides, you are the village chief, and I am nothing but a woman who depends on you."
Village Chief Yang didn't say anything more to her. When the two arrived at the magistrate's gate, they sent someone to report to him and were then invited inside.
Village Chief Yang looked at the magistrate's mansion. Although it was much more frugal than before, it was still very grand. He wondered how Zhao Decai could be so lucky to be made a magistrate and live in such a nice place. He wished he had that kind of luck.
"Village Chief Yang, it's been a long time. What brings you here?"
As Zhao Decai came out, he saw Village Chief Yang looking around, his eyes darting around, seemingly lost in thought.
When Village Chief Yang saw Zhao Decai wearing the county magistrate's robes, his demeanor was completely different from before, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.
“The village head… no, I should call you magistrate now. I haven’t had a chance to pay my respects to you since you were promoted. I’m truly ashamed. I’ve prepared a small gift, and I hope you won’t find it offensive.”
Zhao Decai's expression turned slightly serious: "What are you doing? If I accept your gift, won't people say I'm bribing you? No, no, take your things with you. Just say what you need to say."
Village Chief Yang cursed Zhao Decai inwardly for his feigned incorruptibility, but outwardly flattered him: "Yes, yes, I was overthinking it. The magistrate has always been incorruptible. I brought some local specialties because I am grateful for the magistrate's past care for me. They are not valuable items."
Zhao Decai glanced at the things he had brought and said, "Let's talk inside."
Village Chief Yang then led Yang Liu in. As soon as Yang Liu entered, she gave Zhao Decai a flirtatious wink. She had tried to use her beauty to seduce Zhao Decai before, but unfortunately, she hadn't taken advantage of the opportunity and it had been ruined by Jiang Mi. This time, she had to make the most of this opportunity.
I heard that Zhao Decai's wife passed away many years ago, and now there is no woman in his household. It's only a matter of time before he gets married.
Maybe she'll have a chance.
Although Zhao Decai was a bit older, so what? As long as she could be the county magistrate's wife, that was better than anything else. However, thinking of Huo Ran... she still felt a little regretful.
Zhao Decai didn't look at Yang Liu, but instead asked Village Chief Yang, "What brings you here this time?"
Village Chief Yang sighed and said, "Since the last locust plague, all the crops in Qingyun Village have been eaten up, and there is very little left. The villagers don't have much grain stored at home either. With taxes due soon, we simply don't have the money. I've been worried these past few days and haven't been able to sleep well. I don't know what to do."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Decai also sighed. He was a good official who cared about the people and couldn't bear to hear that the people were not doing well.
"If I had told you to listen to Jiang Mi and start eating locusts earlier, we wouldn't have suffered such a huge loss. Now, you have only yourself to blame. The only thing to do now is to harvest the grain as soon as possible and plant something else. If you really don't have any money, you can go out to work to supplement your family income."
Upon hearing Zhao Decai mention Jiang Mi, both Village Chief Yang and Yang Liu's expressions turned sour. It was that woman again. If it weren't for her, they wouldn't be in this state. Even if Jiang Mi's methods were effective, they would still be the ones suffering the most in Qingyun Village!
"Isn't the imperial court offering any compensation? We are disaster victims, after all; shouldn't they at least give us some money or something?"
To put it bluntly, these two people came just to ask for money. Zhao Decai knew Village Chief Yang well enough to know that even if they did give him the money, it would probably be embezzled by Village Chief Yang alone and wouldn't actually reach the people.
"What compensation? Only your village is treated this way. This is the consequence of your disobedience. I personally went to your village and persuaded you, but you said you had your own way. Who can you blame?"
At this point, Village Chief Yang glanced at Yang Liu, but now was not the time to complain.
"It's too late to talk about this now, sir. We need to find a way to resolve the villagers' issues, otherwise I won't be able to control the situation if something goes wrong."
Zhao Decai thought for a moment and said, "In that case, we can only provide porridge to last until the next harvest, to ensure everyone has enough to eat. We'll have to ask wealthy people to donate to help, but who would be willing to do that?"
Village Chief Yang was somewhat dissatisfied. He had come here specifically to ask for money, and if they started distributing porridge, he would get nothing in return.
"Will the villagers accept this?"
Zhao Decai said, "At this point, the most important thing is whether the villagers have enough to eat. They probably only care about that. Besides, other places have also been affected by locusts to varying degrees, and this year's grain harvest is not good. It would be good enough if they could have enough to eat and wear this year. Don't think about anything else."
Yang Liu said sourly, "Yes, everyone has had a tough year, but the Jiang family has made so much money. They don't even share it with us. They've even opened a restaurant. They're trying to make money off us ordinary people. What are they up to?"
Zhao Decai frowned: "What are you talking about? They didn't steal or rob, they earned their money with their own hard work. If you planted sweet potatoes, you could also make money. Did anyone stop you? Didn't you drive them away yourselves? Besides, opening a restaurant is their skill and right. They didn't force you to eat there, and they didn't make any money off you."
Yang Liu was speechless with anger. She didn't know what benefit the magistrate had received from Jiang Mi, as he spoke up for her at every turn. Yang Liu was so angry that her face turned red and her neck bulged.
Village Chief Yang realized this too, but he was smart enough not to continue the topic.
“You’re right, sir. Right now, the most important thing is for the people to have enough to eat and wear. Distributing porridge is a good idea.” As he spoke, he gave Yang Liu a wink.
Yang Liu understood and nodded slightly. She got up and poured Zhao Decai a cup of tea herself, leaning slightly closer to him and speaking in a gentler tone.
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