Chapter 468 Snow Disaster
Just two days after the Lantern Festival, snow began to fall from the sky again, and it kept falling without stopping.
Mrs. Wei looked at the snow falling from the sky and began to worry.
The Yu family bought several farms in the suburbs. Old man Yu took Yu Daniu and Yu Erhu to the farms whenever he had nothing to do to tend to the crops. He also had people build several fences around the farms to raise chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, sheep and cows.
During the New Year’s Eve dinner, all the meat on the table came from the Yu family’s own farm.
When it snowed earlier, Old Man Yu couldn't stay idle and took his two sons to the farm. But the snow kept getting heavier and heavier, and Old Man Yu, Yu Daniu, and Yu Erhu were all trapped in the farm. They sent a message saying that they would come back after the snow stopped.
As a result, the snow fell for two days.
Mrs. Wei was still a little worried that Li Chunhua, who was pregnant, would miss Yu Daniu on the farm and affect her health. So she went to the Qingpu Courtyard of the main house and saw Li Chunhua, Xingxing, Mian Ge'er and Xu Ge'er, roasting sweet potatoes around a charcoal stove.
Seeing Mrs. Wei coming over, Li Chunhua was a little surprised. With a little dust on her lips, she stood up and greeted Mrs. Wei: "Mom, why are you here on such a snowy day? But you came at the right time. I was roasting sweet potatoes with Xingxing and the others. Come on, I'll pick out a roasted one for you."
——Saw this heartless look, Mrs. Wei was speechless at first, and then she laughed.
Well, this is better than hurting yourself by thinking too much.
Grandma Wei also sat down next to the stove. Xing Xing had already picked out a small sweet potato that was roasted to golden brown. She picked it up with chopsticks and put it on a small plate. She handed it to Grandma Wei attentively: "Grandma, try it quickly. This sweet potato is very sweet."
There were cut chestnuts roasting on the charcoal stove. The chestnuts popped and popped, and there was a rich sweet fragrance in their noses. The heavy snow raging outside seemed to be far away from them.
Paired with a cup of hot and fragrant tea, Mrs. Wei felt that even a god would not change this day.
The snow stopped on the third night.
Early in the morning, the servants of the Zhenxi General's Mansion began to busy themselves with sweeping away the snow on the small paths in the mansion.
In addition, they had to busy themselves removing the thick snow on the eaves to prevent the beams from collapsing.
Mrs. Wei went out for a walk and came back with a serious look on her face: "...The snow is too heavy. It is said that many places have been hit by snowstorms."
“The houses collapsed.”
"There are already wealthy families distributing porridge at the city gate."
The Yu family was a little surprised to hear this.
This snowstorm is so severe.
Mrs. Wei couldn't help but worry about Old Man Yu and his two sons who were trapped in the village on the mountain.
Fortunately, in the evening, Old Man Yu, Yu Daniu and Yu Erhu returned from the village, one step deep and one step shallow.
While urging the maids to serve warm ginger soup, Mrs. Wei kept complaining, "... you had to go in the snow. Look, you almost got trapped in the manor, didn't you?"
"Mom, don't mention it," Yu Daniu said, "It's all thanks to us and Dad. Something almost happened on our farm."
When Mrs. Wei heard this, she immediately sat up straight: "Ah?"
It turned out that the continuous snowfall had collapsed the tenants' houses, and many of them were buried alive in the houses. It was Old Man Yu and his two sons, together with several people from the manor, who went to rescue them. They finally rescued all the survivors and temporarily settled them on the manor. Later, Old Man Yu opened the manor's granary and lent food to those whose houses had collapsed for emergency relief.
At that time, all the tenant farmers, including their families, knelt down in front of Old Man Yu and his men, crying bitterly with excitement.
Old Man Yu and his men have given them a way out.
After hearing this, Mrs. Wei was frightened again and nodded repeatedly: "That's how it should be, that's how it should be."
They also came from hard times and knew that these seemingly occasional natural disasters could actually take lives.
Once people are forced into a desperate situation, they are likely to do anything.
Mrs. Wei thought for a moment and discussed with Old Man Yu: "...I saw someone giving out porridge at the city gate. Should we find someone we know and open a porridge stall there?"
Old man Yu just drank a bowl of ginger soup, wiped his mouth, and nodded: "Okay, you have the final say."
Opening a porridge stall is no small matter. Mrs. Wei asked Li Chunhua, who was pregnant, to have a rest, and called Bai Xiaofeng, Su Rouer and A Wu to discuss the matter.
Ah Wu had been in Beijing before, and thought for a moment: "Giving out porridge is actually a lot of trouble. We need to maintain order and prevent some people from causing trouble or snatching... If our family wants to save trouble, we can give the food directly to the charity hall. The people there have done this many times and are very familiar with it."
This is also a solution. Mrs. Wei nodded and said, "Then we will take a look at the situation tomorrow and decide whether to open a porridge stall or give the food to the charity. We have to do something to feel at ease."
Everyone nodded.
The situation in Beijing became more serious the next day.
There have always been many small villages and towns surrounding the capital. The snow in the past few days has left the farmers, who had just recovered from the disasters in the past few years, with nothing left in an instant.
Many disaster victims gathered in the capital.
Many families have opened porridge stalls.
The most influential one is the porridge stall of Duke Xin’s Mansion.
Ten porridge buckets were opened in succession to distribute the porridge.
Bai Xiaofeng told her family the news she had gotten: "...I heard that the eldest wife of the Duke of Xin's mansion had a miscarriage, and the Duke of Xin's mansion was also trying to accumulate blessings for the unborn child."
Xing Xing was stunned when she heard this, and she remembered the night of the Lantern Festival, when the eldest young lady of the Xin Guo Mansion had blood flowing from her legs...
Xing Xing pursed her lips.
Bai Xiaofeng clicked her tongue again: "I also went to the porridge stand of the Duke of Xin's mansion. Wow, there were so many people there. The eldest daughter of the Duke of Xin's mansion was even distributing porridge in person in the porridge stand. She was dressed like a fairy descending from heaven."
When Mrs. Wei heard this, she became hesitant.
It sounds like all the wealthy families in Beijing have opened porridge stalls.
The reopening of the Yu family seems to be following the trend.
Another thing is that there are more and more porridge stalls, and many people will go to each porridge stall to ask for porridge and food. In this way, the people who really need help are squeezed out of resources.
Mrs. Wei felt that they were inexperienced and would have a hard time dealing with similar situations.
"How about we donate the food directly to the charity?" Mrs. Wei said, "We have never opened a soup kitchen, so we won't join in the fun this time."
Ah Wu said, "That's fine. The charity also takes care of some lonely elderly people and children. We can donate food there and help them."
Mrs. Wei nodded repeatedly after hearing this and asked someone to call her second grandson Yu Yongbai to handle the matter.
Yu Yongbai agreed.
However, when Yu Yongbai was about to go out to do this, Xingxing caught up with him and stuffed a stack of banknotes into Yu Yongbai's hand.
"It's very cold," Xingxing whispered, "Second brother, take this money and donate it to the charity for me so that they can buy some cotton clothes for those in need."
Yu Yongbai's expression was gentle, and he touched Xingxing's little head: "Our Xingxing is really kind."
That's how it's settled.