Zhao handed the spatula to Mrs. Liu, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked out quickly.
"Lianxin, Guihua, it's you!"
When the two women saw Zhao, they didn't dare to recognize her for a moment, but when they saw that she knew them and was of the same age, they shouted uncertainly.
"Zhao, Aunt Zhao?"
Zhao slapped her thigh happily, "Yes! It's me! What's wrong? You don't dare to admit it?"
Li and Chen were really a little hesitant to recognize Zhao. It had been three years since they fled, but they didn't expect that Zhao looked younger and richer than before they fled.
Now the skin on her face is extremely smooth, her complexion looks much better, there are fewer wrinkles, and her hair is black and shiny. She looks much younger than her parents-in-law.
"Aunt, I really don't recognize you! If you hadn't called out our names first, we wouldn't have believed you. Look at how you look, you look much better than before.
You look much younger than before. I would believe you were my sister! "
"That's right, Auntie. What are you eating? Is it true that the south is good for people, as those traveling merchants say?"
Zhao couldn't stop smiling. No woman doesn't like to be praised for being young and beautiful, and she is no exception.
"Oh, it's not as exaggerated as you say. I just ate better these past two years, so I look a little better. I also dress better, so it seems like a big change, but it's really just that."
That's all she said, because Li and Chen didn't believe a word of it anyway.
Mrs. Li looked at the cleaned house at the back and was a little surprised. "Aunt? Are you coming back to live here? Are you all moving back here?"
Zhao pulled Xiao Lingling closer and said, "Hey, no! We just came here for something and came back to stay for a few days.
It's just me and my granddaughter who are here. Your elder brother Lin and the others are busy and can't get away."
Li nodded to show her understanding. After all, if she had any good options, she would naturally not want to return to this remote and poor place.
"Oh, it's a good thing you two are here. I wanted to ask you something. When we came back, we found that the village was extremely quiet and many courtyards were dilapidated.
How many people live in our village now? Are they all the old people from before? Whose families are still here? Now that I'm back, I want to go and see them, but I also need to know who is still here.
Chen and Li looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh, "Aunt, you are right, our village is indeed dilapidated.
There were only seven or eight families living in the village, many of them orphans and widows with nowhere to go. Lianxin was unable to leave because her parents-in-law were in poor health.
I am here because my husband injured his leg and can't do any other work. I would be unemployed if I went out, so I can only make a living in the village like this.
The rest are mostly old, young, orphans and widows who can only help each other to get by. Although it is a bit difficult, they will not starve to death.
As she spoke, she sighed helplessly.
This situation was really beyond Zhao's expectations. She never thought it would turn out like this.
"How could this happen? I remember that your two families agreed to follow the village chief, didn't they?"
Speaking of this, Chen became angry. "We were going to leave, but we couldn't resist the troublemakers. Besides, we set out a little late, and we were robbed after just a few days.
Someone was secretly plotting against us, and we were left behind. Fortunately, we met a kind person who helped us, otherwise our whole family would have died on the road."
Xiao Lingdang and Zhao looked at each other and understood what the other meant.
Since they are back and since they were fellow villagers who lived in the same village for many years, they should naturally help out if they have the spare time.
But how to help depends on the specific situation.
Zhao gently comforted the two of them, "Don't worry, things will get better slowly. We finally got back, and I'll visit every household later."
Otherwise, I don’t know when we will meet again next time. So, I think you must have been busy all day, so go back and have a rest first.
I'll go to the village after I finish packing, and we can talk later."
The two of them didn't think much about it. They felt relieved when they knew that the visitor was not a stranger. They exchanged a few words with Zhao and then went back home.
Zhao no longer cared about what was happening in the kitchen, and instead pulled the little bell back to her room.
Without Zhao saying anything, Xiao Lingdang started putting things out on her own.
There were a huge pile of large sacks of 100 kilograms each, about 40 or 50 of them, as well as fresh fish and a few pheasants whose necks had been broken as soon as they came out.
In addition, Xiao Lingdang also drew out a large bucket of spirit pool water, added clean water and put it in small porcelain bottles. After filling forty or fifty bottles, only half of the bucket of spirit pool water was used.
"Grandma, how about this? We'll distribute it based on the number of people, one bag of wheat per person, one bag of rice per person.
There really isn't any really bad food in the space. If they want to eat for longer, they can go to the grain store in town and exchange it for brown rice, dark noodles, and more.
Then each family got a fish and a chicken, because it was so hot and too much would have gone bad.
The most important thing is these bottles of water. Give them one bottle each. Although it is not a panacea, it can nourish the body and it is a little thought from us.
Otherwise, giving each family another ten taels of silver would be enough, and the rest depends on their own efforts."
It’s not that she doesn’t want to give more, but she can’t.
These are the elderly, children, women and children. If they were to give each of them a hundred taels, if someone with ulterior motives found out, it would only bring them fatal disaster.
And to be honest, she didn't owe them anything.
Giving these is just hoping that their lives can be a little better, but if they want to truly live a stable and prosperous life, they still have to rely on themselves.
The most valuable of these things are just those bottles of potion.
The remaining food and silver will eventually be eaten and spent.
But as long as you have a good body, that is the best asset.
Zhao looked at these things and was very satisfied. She knew very well that this was enough.
Any more would be too much.
"That's great! Guaibao is very thoughtful, even more so than grandma. Alas, these are all poor people, and we can only help them temporarily. In the end, they still have to fend for themselves."
Seeing that everything was ready, Zhao couldn't sit still anymore.
She had originally thought of waiting until after dinner to go, but now she couldn't help but want to go and take a look. It was just the right time to see what they were eating. Just by looking at this one thing, she could tell how they were living now.
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