Hu Shao smiled and explained to Yun Yu, "Brother Yu, the villagers are afraid that bandits will come and plunder the village. They feel more at ease if they bring their belongings with them."
Yun Yu fell silent, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. He had spent more than half a year interacting with the villagers in various villages and understood very well the damage that war had caused them.
Ultimately, it's because the villagers don't trust them enough, but it's okay, time will tell.
So Yunyu found them an open space and let the villagers from Dongxi Village put all their things together, so that the women, elderly and children who didn't have to wait in line could look after them.
Each household only needs one or two people to go and queue up with their household registration documents.
Su Yunzhi was drawn over by the noise from the Longtan Grain and Oil Store early in the morning.
He knew that today was the day Longtan Grain and Oil Store was selling discounted meat to the villagers, and every decision Lin Yinan made was beyond his expectations.
During this extraordinary time, she had raised so many livestock, but instead of selling them for money immediately, she sold them to the villagers at a low price. Su Yunzhi was impressed by her magnanimity.
Luo Shouxin and Pan Qingfeng stood aside to supervise and direct, and the division of labor in the grain and oil store was clear.
There are villagers specifically responsible for cutting meat, as well as those responsible for inspecting and purchasing agricultural products brought by villagers, while Lin Tiezhuang and Lin Fu are responsible for registration and verification.
It was the first time Lin Tiezhuang and Lin Fu had faced so many villagers, and they were a little flustered, taking a long time to register one person.
Seeing this, Su Yunzhi quickly stepped forward to help, "Brother Tiezhuang, let's look together. Afu will register, that will be faster."
The two men gave him grateful looks.
Several baskets of eggs were placed on the counter next to the meat exchange table. The eggs were buried in rice husks, and the villagers who had bought the meat hesitated to go up and ask.
His wife, standing in front of the basket of eggs, smiled and beckoned to him, "Buy a few, these eggs will hatch into chicks soon."
The villager asked in a low voice, "How much for this?"
The wife readily agreed, "Two for five coins, five for ten coins, but there's a purchase limit of five."
The villager was very interested, but his family was poor. When he first came to Longtan, he even had to buy rice seeds on credit. He had barely managed to save a few hundred coins from the corvée labor and only then did he have some money in his hands. He was thinking of buying two catties of meat for his elderly mother and children to eat during the New Year.
Thinking of the bamboo basket he carried and the dried vegetables his wife had dried, he tentatively asked, "Can I exchange my dried vegetables or bamboo basket for them?"
"Good workmanship can be exchanged."
The villagers were delighted to hear this. He quickly took off his basket and took out several handfuls of dried vegetables that were so dry they could be crushed with a pinch, as well as a few pretty little bamboo baskets and straw sandals.
Which ones do you think are worth exchanging?
The daughter-in-law looked at the clan chief beside her. Luo Shouxin's father and the clan chief came forward to look. The bamboo basket had no splinters at all, and the straw sandals were also well woven.
"No problem, your skills are really good."
The clan chief nodded, and his wife followed the procedures they had been trained on in the meeting. She took the bamboo baskets and straw sandals that were in short supply for them. They had planted a lot of dried vegetables today and had no choice but to harvest them.
The villagers put the five eggs they received into their baskets and carefully carried them on their backs.
Once the first person tried it, everyone else gathered around.
When there are many people, some will question it.
"Young lady, what if the chicks don't hatch after we buy them?"
The others nodded in agreement, "If it goes on for too long, the chicks won't hatch, and the eggs will spoil. This money will easily go down the drain!"
His words made the others even more hesitant to leave. Ten coins may not seem like much, but it would be difficult to earn them back.
Even the villagers who had just exchanged their eggs stopped in their tracks, listening to the discussion, and began to waver, wondering if they would get a refund!
As the villagers were talking amongst themselves, they saw an egg buried in a bamboo basket of rice husks shake a few times, and then crack open in full view of everyone. The eggshell was then pecked open little by little by the chicken's beak, and a fluffy yellow chick hatched out.
"Wow! Chicks have really hatched!"
"Give me five!"
"I want five too!"
No matter how much you talk about it, nothing beats seeing it for yourself.
The villagers in line kept their eyes and ears open, rushing over to exchange their meat for eggs as soon as they finished buying them, afraid they'd run out if they were too slow.
After buying meat and ten fertilized eggs, the old couple were very satisfied. They muttered to themselves that they should hurry back and hatch the chicks.
"Grandma, I'm hungry." The youngest grandson looked at them expectantly.
After walking with the adults all day, the two children were starving and dizzy. The eldest grandson, being sensible, didn't dare to make a sound even though he was hungry.
Looking at the many closed shops on both sides of the grain and oil store, the old couple, Da Shi, were at a loss. With so many shops closed, where could they buy food?
Da Shi and his wife, along with their two grandsons, returned to the grain and oil shop and asked Pan Qingfeng, who was standing at the shop entrance, somewhat embarrassed.
"Young man, are there any places to buy food in the county town?"
Pan Qingfeng slapped his forehead; he had almost forgotten such an important matter.
He hurriedly said, "Auntie, just keep walking straight along this road and you'll reach the county canteen. There's food there, and it's not expensive. Hurry up and take the children there to eat."
"Thank you so much, young man!" Aunt Da Shi said sincerely.
"You're too kind. Go quickly, don't let the child go hungry," Pan Qingfeng said considerately.
After everyone left, Pan Qingfeng found a few children from the clan to stand at the crossroads, holding up a sign with large characters written on it, to guide the villagers and instruct them to tell them where they could eat whenever someone approached.
The canteen was well prepared, and today it served white porridge with pickled vegetables, which cost only one penny a bowl. The bowl was a large bowl, and one bowl was enough to fill an adult up.
There were also mixed grain and vegetable pancakes, about the size of a palm, which also cost one coin each.
Even if they bought meat, the old couple wouldn't buy more than a penny's worth of porridge. Each of their two grandsons would have a bowl, while the couple would share the other bowl.
As they walked out of the canteen, the two children patted their round bellies.
"Grandma, the congee in the canteen is so delicious!" the grandson said happily with a beaming smile.
The eldest grandson was still savoring the taste of the pickled vegetables. "Mmm, Grandma's cooking is delicious."
"I saw oil droplets in the pickled vegetables."
Uncle Da Shi patted his two grandsons' heads, a smile on his wrinkled face.
"Let's go home after we've eaten! Life is getting better and better."
Hearing that a large bowl of thick white rice porridge with pickled vegetables cost only one penny at the canteen, many villagers gritted their teeth, stamped their feet, and dragged their families to the canteen.
Never mind, I'm too hungry!
I'm determined to have a bowl before I go back.
For a time, the Longtan Grain and Oil Store and the canteen were packed with people.
After finishing their meal, everyone consciously took their bowls outside, scooped water to wash them clean, and placed them in a bamboo basket on the side.
Since it's a rare trip to the county town, the villagers would eat and then browse the few shops available to buy daily necessities, such as needles and thread.
After confirming that the city had indeed sent troops to suppress the bandits, the villagers of Dongxi Village stayed in the city for one night. The next day, at Yunyu's urging, the villagers pooled their money and rented a mule cart from the county town to help them carry their heavy goods back.
Although Yunyu had not experienced the hardships of fleeing from disaster and losing his family, the villagers still listened to what he said after six months of getting to know him.
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