Zhao Xiangbei honestly recounted everything he had heard that day.
He didn't mean to eavesdrop; he was just standing close by at the time.
Old Mrs. Zhao listened with disdain, "What methods could that jinx possibly have? Your director should have his own judgment and shouldn't listen to a woman's words."
"But I also heard today that the mine explosion was foreseen by my second sister-in-law. Director Song said he would even try to get credit for her, as this is a reward from the imperial court, and it should be quite substantial," Zhao Xiangnan said meaningfully.
"What?" Upon hearing this, Madam Cheng's eyes widened. "Does that mean they will be rewarded with a lot of money?" If that's the case, then Madam He will be kicked out of the house, and their family will suffer a great loss.
If Madam He were still at home, she would surely have spent some of those reward money.
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Zhao clutched the two taels of silver she had hidden in her pocket in the inner room...
After this close call, many men in the village decided not to go to work in the mine anymore.
Without this job, the whole family could tighten their belts and make ends meet until the spring of next year.
He Tiantian has been staying at home these past few days. Liu Yonghe and Wang Dazhuang also don't have to go to work these days, so the two of them started by getting some mud to repair the leaky parts of the dilapidated temple.
As soon as the weather warms up, they immediately start making mud bricks and building houses.
He Tiantian was sitting in the house picking beans when she saw two little girls, Zhao Denglong and Liu Yulan, walk in with their heads down.
She was very puzzled, as she rarely saw the two of them looking so dejected.
"Lantern, Magnolia, didn't you two go to gather firewood? Why do you look a little unhappy?" He Tiantian asked with concern.
“Mother…” Zhao Denglong piled the few pieces of firewood she had picked up in the corner of the wall and said weakly, “There is no firewood on the back mountain. We walked a long way today but couldn’t find any.”
“Yes, Auntie, many people in the village went to pick them up today, but they didn’t pick up much,” Liu Yulan added.
He Tiantian glanced at the tall pile of firewood in the corner and comforted her, "If there's none left, we won't bother collecting it. It's good for you two to rest. If we use this firewood sparingly, it should last for a while; maybe the snow will stop soon..."
He Tiantian turned to look at the increasingly gloomy sky outside, and her last sentence was clearly somewhat lacking in confidence.
In this freezing weather, if the village runs out of firewood, and people can't cook or keep warm, they could really die.
Zhao Denglong and Liu Yulan nodded listlessly, but they didn't stop there. Instead, they picked up brooms and started sweeping the floor.
The old temple, which was originally dilapidated, looks extremely clean after their daily cleaning over this period of time.
Zhao Tingzhang's house has been practically worn out by villagers these past few days. They've been coming to him with two main issues: first, the village's opposition to the men going back to work in the mines.
Secondly, almost all the firewood stored up by every household for winter has been burned, but there is still no sign of spring. How are we going to get through the rest of the year?
With snowstorms so frequent today, surely the town's magistrate can't just ignore the plight of the people?
No matter what, they are the people's public officials!
Zhao, the village head, squatted on the ground, puffing on his pipe. His family was considered relatively wealthy in Changfeng Village. However, because spring had arrived late this year, they were struggling to make ends meet, often going hungry.
It's already March, why is it still snowing heavily?
If the rice plants still can't be planted in another month, what will the villagers eat?
Looking at the heavy snowfall outside, which resembled goose feathers, Zhao Tingzhang frowned deeply.
"Old woman, why are you still embroidering? Look how long our food will last, and who knows when this snow will stop falling." Zhao Tingzhang sighed heavily.
Liu quickly put away her work and turned to check the grain stored in the cupboard.
“Old man, we only have enough food for half a month. But what’s even more urgent is the firewood. It’ll probably only last for seven or eight days. We can’t even burn firewood for warmth at night anymore; we have to save it for cooking.”
After hearing this, Zhao, the village head, felt even more troubled. He put his hands behind his back, bowed, and went out.
With all the children at home, He Tiantian made an excuse to go out.
She found a secluded spot and secretly opened the online store, intending to buy some wood to take home.
I was shocked when I saw it. The timber in the mall was ridiculously expensive, costing one or two taels of silver per bundle.
Modern society emphasizes green and environmentally friendly practices and protecting nature, so things like this are naturally much more expensive.
He Tiantian looked at it for a long time, but couldn't bring herself to buy it.
Oh no, it looks like their family is going to suffer from cold and hunger too.
He Tiantian had no choice but to give up and walked home dejectedly.
On the way, they ran into Zhao Tingzhang. Seeing that Zhao Tingzhang looked even more dejected than she did, He Tiantian went up to greet him.
"Chief Zhao, where are you going?"
Zhao Tingzhang was brought back to his senses by being called. He sighed heavily, "It's Wanzi's mother. I was just taking a walk around the village."
“Oh…” He Tiantian nodded, but she could already guess what the problem was.
Director Song took Mozhu to town and hasn't returned yet. He probably doesn't know about the men in the village who are going on strike.
If the coal mine were to shut down, it would directly impact the interests of the imperial court. The people cannot fight against the officials; if this were to happen, life would likely be miserable for everyone in Changfeng Village.
Thinking of this, He Tiantian asked, "Chief Zhao, our village is so big. Isn't there anywhere else we can cut firewood?"
As she spoke, He Tiantian pointed to a mountain in the distance, "Has anyone been to that mountain? Could we find some firewood to get through this winter?"
Following the direction He Tiantian pointed, Zhao Tingzhang looked over and quickly shook his head. "No, there are wolves on that mountain. A few years ago, when the wolf packs were rampant, they even attacked people in the village. Some people have gone to that mountain, but they have never come back. They're probably eaten by wolves."
Over time, no one in the village dared to go to that mountain anymore. Even Zhang, the village hunter, stopped going.
He Tiantian was somewhat disappointed. Oh well, she decided to wait for Director Song and the others to return before asking about starting work.
She didn't want to lose her job in the mine, since she could still earn some money each month.
The mine had originally planned to rest for three days, but the three days passed quickly.
Seeing that no one from the mine had come to inform them, the villagers began to speculate. They wondered if Director Song had run away on his own to avoid paying them the remaining wages.
Thirty coins per person, and there are dozens of people in the mine, that's several taels of silver!
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