Once outside the cave, the woman left a few people behind, saying, "Keep an eye on them and don't let them leave. We need to get our share of the grain, but how we distribute it will have to wait and see." Their village had a large and powerful force, and even with their superior martial arts skills, Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi couldn't fight off four opponents.
Moreover, they also demanded that the men in their village build houses. Since they were asking for favors, they naturally had to give up more grain. The woman thought it was a good idea and quickened her pace to deliver the message.
Upon receiving the news, Lin Fuhai and several other men from the village who were considered influential rushed over. They were digging a trap. These days they could catch some small wild animals for food, but there were many of them, and one or two rabbits wouldn't be enough to satisfy everyone. So they decided to dig a trap to see if they could catch a wild boar.
While they were working, Chen Jinhua from the village came to tell them that Miss Song had found grain in a cave. Now they didn't have time to dig traps anymore; distributing the grain was the priority.
At this moment, Song Zhuiyan and the others were standing outside the cave. When they saw Lin Fuhai bringing people over, they immediately told him their thoughts.
"A thousand catties of grain? Can you take us to see it first?" Lin Fuhai was excited, but he didn't show it too obviously. With grain, the villagers could survive the winter. The weather was getting colder, and it was going to snow soon. If they didn't have grain to get through the winter and no clothes to keep warm, they would be half dead if they didn't die.
Especially the elderly and children, they may not make it to next spring.
"Fine, but let's make this clear first: I have to decide what's inside, or I'll burn it all instead of giving you any." Song Zhuiyan's attitude was forceful.
"How can you be like this..." Chen Jinhua couldn't stand her behavior and was about to say something when Lin Fuhai stopped her.
“Sister-in-law Jinhua, say less,” Lin Fuhai gestured for her to shut up, then added with a smile, “Miss Song, let’s go take a look first. Things can be discussed. Everyone is in a difficult situation. There’s no need to fight to the death. The people of Linjia Village are not unreasonable. It was all a misunderstanding before…”
Lin Fuhai said a lot of nice things, mostly to whitewash his previous act of seizing grain, and to say how capable the men in his village were, that building houses was no problem for them, and that he hoped they would contribute more so that they could get more grain.
They walked and talked, and after half an hour they arrived at the cave where the grain was stored. When they saw the grain inside, everyone got excited and chattered non-stop.
"My God, I can't believe it! There really is food and clothing. It's like God has eyes and wants to help us!" Chen Jinhua quickly rushed to the food, clutching a few pieces of clothing tightly in her hands.
To make it look more realistic, Song Tantan deliberately covered it with a lot of dust, and Chen Jinhua didn't mind, even though her face was covered in dust.
Seeing this, the others rushed over to grab it as well, as if whoever grabbed it would own it.
"Stop it, all of you! Anyone who messes around again, I'll chop them up!" Song Zhuiyan pulled Chen Jinhua, the ringleader, to her feet, held a knife to her neck, and threatened to teach her a lesson if she didn't show her what she was capable of.
"Miss Song, let's talk this out. Don't get angry. We won't steal the grain, absolutely not. What do you suggest?" Lin Fuhai said with a fawning smile.
"This grain, half for our people and half for the people of your Linjia Village, and the same goes for the clothing." Song Zhuiyan did not immediately release Chen Jinhua, the knife held firmly against her neck.
"Well, can we make a deal? We have more people than you, there are only twenty-one of you. How about we split it in two and you split it in one?" Lin Fuhai was very calculating.
"There's no room for negotiation. Either we give you half, or you don't get a single grain of rice. We also need you to build houses and provide meals. If there's a shortage of food, how will we feed you? We don't have the money to hire you for work. Besides, this is a desolate place. Even if we had money, it wouldn't help. Food is the most important thing. Don't try to bargain anymore. This is settled."
Zhong Qingyi watched coldly for a while, then stepped in to support her, saying, "We found the grain, and we can give you half of it. What more could you want?"
Zhong Qingyi was very tall and, although rather thin, possessed the imposing aura of a martial artist. He always carried a sword, clearly not someone to be trifled with. Several people from Linjia Village had been beaten by him and knew his prowess. His presence was quite intimidating.
The people of Linjia Village were quick-witted and compromised after a brief standoff. Lin Fuhai rubbed his hands together, somewhat impatiently asking, "What about these things?"
"Distribute it immediately. Have your men come and take away 500 jin, half millet and half rice, and the same goes for the clothes. Our things will be moved to the stone house and kept under my and Brother Zhong's watchful eyes." These words were meant for the people of Linjia Village, so they wouldn't dare to come and steal again.
"Okay, Lin Dong, go back and tell everyone to come and move the grain. Hurry up." Lin Dong was a young boy, and his eyes had been glued to the grain for a long time. Now that he had been assigned a task, he immediately jumped away happily.
Zhong Qingyi, Zhu Xiu, and the others were also moving grain. The stone house was closer to them, so they were faster than the people from Linjia Village. However, there were more people from Linjia Village, so once everyone from Linjia Village arrived, they moved all 500 jin of grain in one go.
After the people from Linjia Village left, Zhu Xiu asked, "Miss Song, shall we go back to that cave we were in before?"
"Don't go back. Just stay in this cave for now. Once the house is built, you can move out." Song Zhuiyan said expressionlessly. The group of people could squeeze into the stone house, but she was unwilling to do so. After all, it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away.
Zhu Xiu and the others had no objections. The women began cleaning the cave, while A Zhu and Chun Sheng led people to collect firewood.
The stone house had been cleaned for several days and was now very clean, ready for immediate move-in. Song Tantan was overjoyed and ran into the room, rolling around on the bed. Finally, she had a decent place to live.
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