The two men were leaning against each other to study the medicine book. Jiang Nian moved his ears slightly and pointed outside the door.
"Is someone coming?"
Jiang Yue was surprised. Who would come to visit in such a storm? She put away her medical book and was about to put on her raincoat when Jiang Nian pulled her back and put it on himself.
She checked the house to see if there was anything extra and put it away.
The village chief and his son were worried that the yard was too big for them to hear, and they were also worried that the house inside had collapsed and someone was hurt, so they knocked on the door so hard that their hands turned red, and they even drank a few sips of rainwater.
Suddenly the door opened and it was Jiang Nian. He pointed inside the house, meaning for her to come in.
The village chief and his son hurried in.
Seeing that they were really like two drowned rats, Jiang Yue quickly said, "Village Chief, Brother Dashan, take off your raincoats and come in to warm yourself by the fire."
There is a fire burning in the stove, adding some steam to the house.
The village chief originally just wanted to come over to take a look and go back when he was relieved, but he was almost exhausted from the journey and didn't know if he would survive to reach the village entrance.
I had no choice but to take off my straw hat and raincoat, put them by the door, shake off the water on my body, and then go in.
As soon as I entered the house, it felt much warmer than outside.
It's really not easy. With so many households in the village looking over, it's their house, which is the smallest, that looks spacious.
Jiang Yue scooped two bowls of soup for them, but she didn't give the big bone stick to the eldest child, leaving it for him. She only scooped a few more pieces of radish for them.
Seeing the eldest son staring at him, I thought he was greedy too, so I scooped a bowl of soup for him as well.
Jiang Nian took the bowl and brought it to her mouth first.
Seeing that the village chief and his son were only looking at the soup, Jiang Yue took a sip from Jiang Nian's hand and whispered, "I'm not thirsty, you drink it."
In her opinion, a soup without meat is just a clear soup, but in the eyes of the village chief and his son, it is already the best!
There was dry firewood burning in the middle of the day, and soup was simmering on the stove, full of oil! One sip warmed my whole body!
Jiangshan bit into the radish soaked in soup, feeling a sense of guilt towards his wife and children...
The village chief warmed his hands with the bowl, reluctant to finish it in a few gulps. He said, "It's raining so hard. We've been patrolling all the way up from the village entrance, and many people's houses have collapsed. I'm worried about yours, so I came up to check."
As he spoke, his eyes looked around and at the rooftop.
"We repaired the roof a while ago, so it can still hold up for a few days. But it definitely won't last too long."
The village chief frowned and thought for a while, "You are few in number, why don't you squeeze into our house?" He guessed that judging from the actions of these two people, they must have a lot of money in their hands. He didn't know where the meat they exchanged a few days ago was, so they must have sold it.
Jiang Yue didn't expect that even though their family was in a bad situation, they were still willing to help others.
She declined and said with a smile, "Thank you for your kindness, Village Chief..."
Jiang Shan thought they were embarrassed and said, "It's not safe for you to stay at the foot of the mountain. Why don't you go to our house first and rebuild the house when the weather is better."
She pondered for a moment and told the truth, "We bought a house in the capital and will move out when the rain stops."
The two were shocked. This couple really loved to do some big things without saying anything, just like when they only had a few hundred coins left from the family division, they turned around and bought a mule cart.
"When did you buy it?"
"I bought it a while ago, but I just came back here to do some work. I'll leave as soon as I'm done."
Jiangshan was envious. His lifelong wish was to let his son live in a house in the town. He couldn't even think about living in the county, and the provincial capital was even further away.
"Is the city far away?"
She thought for a moment and said, "If the weather is good and we can drive the mule cart quickly, we can probably get there in two or three hours. If we walk, it will take a whole day."
In fact, they were both "speeding".
"It's so far..." It takes half a day to walk from here to the county town, and Jiangshan already feels it is very far.
Jiang Yue said seriously, "Village head, if you still want to buy grain, you'd better go to the capital. Grain merchants buy grain in the countryside at a very low price, but sell it at a very high price. There's only one grain store in town, and it has the final say on the price. Besides, the countryside is suffering from a disaster, and the town is so close, so it must be having a hard time."
"Prices in the prefectural capital will certainly rise, but there are four grain stores there, and the government is keeping prices low, so the price increase won't be too outrageous. If government aid is really needed, the relief grain will also go to the prefectural capital first."
Jiangshan didn't know what "stabilizing prices" meant, but he knew that the government would put anyone who arbitrarily raised prices in jail.
The village chief nodded. "I understand what you mean. The journey is long, and safety is secondary. Our main concern is..."
The main reason was that he had no money, he was poor! He had to save money to pay taxes. He was the village chief, he could get a few dou of grain and a few hundred coins every year, but he still lived in such a tight situation. Other families were even worse off.
Jiang Yue understood what he meant by wanting to say something but stopping himself, and took out the thin medical book from her bosom. She had already memorized everything, so it didn't matter if she gave it to them.
"This book was given to me by the town clinic. It has illustrations and explanations, and the words used are very simple. You can understand it after pondering it a few times. I don't need it anymore, so I'll give it to you."
The village chief was shocked and quickly put down the bowl in his hand and tried to wipe the water off his hands, but his clothes were already wet.
"No rush, Village Chief, listen to me first. The weather is abnormal, and the crops will not be harvested. It won't be a matter of half a year, it may be affected for a year or two."
Yes, if there is no harvest this year, where will we get the seeds for next year? Will we have the money to buy them?
"Brother Dashan's mule cart business is also failing, so we still have to find ways to make money from multiple sources. If you're not afraid, go into the mountains and live off the land. Find the herbs, prepare them, sell them and make money, and that can also help you and your family survive."
As for prey, it all depends on one's ability. Everyone knows the danger, but who would still be afraid of danger when their life is about to be lost?
She took a piece of oilcloth left over from taping windows, wrapped the book in it, and put it in the village chief's arms.
The village chief pulled his son to his feet and bowed solemnly to her, his heart filled with emotion. "Our family will definitely remember your kindness!"
"Village chief, you're too kind." Jiang Yue helped the man up.
The sky grew darker, and they put on their wet raincoats again and were ready to leave.
Before sending them out, Jiang Yue reminded them, "If you have made up your mind, act quickly. When the weather clears up, the mountains will be bustling with activity."
Not only animals came out to look for food, but villagers also went into the mountains to look for food, such as wild vegetables, mushrooms, and hunting. The legend that there were ferocious beasts in the mountains could no longer stop them.
The village chief agreed.
He wrapped the book tightly and stuffed it into his arms, feeling his whole chest burning.
Before entering the village, he looked back at the mountain shrouded in mist, feeling mysterious and dangerous. "Mountain, when we return, you and everyone, including your son, must memorize the contents of this book. We may need it to survive."
"Yes, Dad." Jiang Shan also looked over, "We have to speed up. Once the rain eases, we can go into the mountains to hunt first."
The village chief patted his son on the shoulder, noting that he had become much more mature over the past two days. Young people still need to experience more.
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