Chapter 70
Only then did Jiang Yun Zhu realize that when spring came, people would come to sell wild veg.
"Miss, they are freshly picked wild veg in the morning. If you want them, I can sell it cheaply." Mrs. Zhang showed Jiang Yun Zhu the wild veg in the basket, pleadingly.
She was a villager from Zhangzhuang Village. Two years ago, her husband fell ill and passed away. The rest of the family was old and young. Without a choice, she dug up these wild veg and went to the city to see if anyone wanted them.
Before coming to Qishanju, she had been to many places. But no one bought her wild veg at all.
Wealthy people looked down on wild veg. Ordinary people, if they want to eat them, they could dig them outside the county city. What was the need of buying?
Mrs. Zhang was getting desperate.
The wild veg were fresh and tender; green and glistening. Each one as long as a palm, with crystal dewdrops on them. Jiang Yun Zhu fell in love with it at first sight. After this winter, every day was either cabbage or radish. Finally there were green leafy vegetables.
"What wild veg are there?" She asked.
"I only dug shepherd's purse today, wild river celery, and hogweed. If Miss wants something, tell me which one you want and I'll dig it for you immediately." Mrs. Zhang said hastily.
When she said this, Jiang Yun Zhu remembered a lot of delicious food, "Now do you have golden dock, Chinese toon, willow buds, and Siberian elms?"
"There are golden docks, Chinese toon, and willow buds. Siberian elms will have to wait two days. We do have sophora flowers at the moment."
Sophora flowers worked.
"How much are these?" Jiang Yun Zhu pointed to the wild veg in the basket.
Mrs. Zhang gave a very low price. This basket only cost eight cents.
Jiang Yun Zhu directly gave her ten wen and told her to deliver wild veg tomorrow. That’s right, she wanted those Chinese toon and willow buds too.
"Okay, I will definitely come tomorrow. Miss, please don't buy someone else's." Mrs. Zhang hastily responded.
Ten wen was nothing to Jiang Yun Zhu now. But to this woman, it could save lives.
Mrs. Zhang left happily. Li He moved those wild veg into the kitchen.
"Boss, could these vegetables be sold?" Xue Jing picked up a shepherd's purse and asked. The people who came to their store were all gentlemen and misses with some money at home. Could they like this kind of food? Even he wouldn’t want to eat. Before when there was no food, he ate this until he was completely sick of it.
As soon as he saw it, he felt sourness churning in his stomach.
Li He, Mrs. Huang, and the others weren't interested in these wild veg. So if they were asked to choose, white rice would go best with meat. Even if they ate it every day, they wouldn't get tired of it.
Jiang Yun Zhu smiled. It was precisely because of the special customer group in their store that this wild vegetable could be sold. Think of the modern times, one couldn't dig it even if they wanted to eat it.
Of course, if she wants to serve them on the table, she has to prepare them.
Just like this hogweed. Chop it up, add the meat stuffing, and mix well. Then roll it up with bean curds, fry it in an oil pan to shape it, take it out, cut it into oblique sections, and deep fry it in an oil pan until the skin is golden.
Put it on a plate and arrange it in a flower-shaped tower. Make a pan of sweet and sour soup here and pour it from above.
The ruddy soup was dotted with flowers. The hogweed was crystal clear green and the bean skin was golden yellow. Then put two flowers carved from white radish on the plate. This dish would immediately become extraordinary.
Both Li He and Mrs. Huang were dumbfounded. Wild veg could end up like this? It contained meat as well as being deep-fried. They could eat a big bowl of wild veg like this.
"This actually spoils the taste of wild veg a bit." Jiang Yun Zhu said. However, many people expressed that they love wild veg, but in fact they were all professing love of what they really fears. Basically, every wild vegetable had a special taste. If it was left uncooked and served on the table, few people would like to eat it. Why else would everyone add it to the normal recipe?
This was already very good. It not only gave the taste of spring, but also took care of the tongue.
Next, Xue Jing watched Jiang Yun Zhu make shepherd's purse tofu soup with high broth and mixed wild river celery into shredded chicken, which had a big spoonful of rich red hot oil dizzled over...
Today, Qishanju had launched four or five kinds of dishes, such as hogweed rolls, shepherd's purse tofu soup, and cold river celery salad.
Most of these gentlemen and misses have heard of these wild veg, but very few of them have eaten them.
In spring, one got to eat wild veg. It was unknown who said this. And everyone immediately decided to try it.
Hogweed rolls. This dish was colorful, like the color of spring. Take a bite. It was crispy and delicious. The sweet and sour soup on the outside blended perfectly with the flavors of bean skin, meat filling, and hogweeds. It was delicious.
The shepherd's purse tofu soup. Clear as the sky. Take a sip. It tasted so flavorful and delicious. It was the taste of spring!
Also the shredded chicken mixed with river celery. It was spicy and crispy. Once one take a bite, they couldn't stop.
So they were surprised to find that wild veg was so delicious. Oh right, take it home and give it to their parents, so that they could try it too.
Today's wild vegetable series received unanimous praise from everyone. The store’s turnover had grown a lot. Some people even wrote poems for the wild veg. Li He watched and didn't know whether to admire Jiang Yun Zhu or lament how the wild veg could receive such glory.
After making money, everyone was happy.
Jiang Yun Zhu deliberately kept two bundles of wild river celery and decided to make dumplings for lunch. She called Xie Lian to do it together.
Now there were two kitchens in this backyard. One was bigger, it was used for Qishanju. The other was smaller and was used for making snacks and making tea. At this time, the big kitchen was busy, while the small kitchen was very quiet.
The taste of wild river celery was similar to that of modern celery. But because it grew near water, it was more fragrant, crisp and tender. After being finely chopped, it was mixed with minced meat. It had a special flavor. People who love it would love it to death, and those who hate this taste would throw it away like a shoe.
Jiang Yun Zhu was one of those who liked this kind of taste. So she moved quickly and soon a round dumpling was wrapped and placed there.
Xie Lian's movements weren't slow. Within a short while, she made a dumpling.
"Do you like to eat dumplings?" Jiang Yun Zhu asked her casually.
Xie Lian nodded. She liked it.
"Eat more in a while." Jiang Yun Zhu said.
Xie Lian curved her eyes. She liked Qishanju and Jiang Yun Zhu.
Jiang Yun Zhu felt that the atmosphere was good and spoke, "Actually, you saved Qin Yao, Gentleman Lin, and even your elder brother that day."
When mentioning this matter, Xie Lian froze directly.
Jiang Yun Zhu slowed down her tone, "If you didn't tell me, how could I save them? So the person they should thank is you. I know you are afraid of that person, but that person had already gone to prison. He would never be able to hurt you."
Xie Lian's eyes were red, while her hands were shaking in fist form.
Jiang Yun Zhu felt that it was better not to stimulate her. Still, she had to tell her something, "No matter what happened before, it isn't your fault.
You can speak now. Whether it’s your elder brother or me, everyone likes you very much. "
After saying this, Jiang Yun Zhu continued to keep her head down to make dumplings.
Xie Lian looked at her. Could she speak? Wouldn't they hate her?
Xie Lian slowly regained her composure. But she didn't intend to speak. Jiang Yun Zhu knew that this was very difficult for her. What should be said, she had already said. The rest was left to time!
The next day, Mrs. Zhang sent more wild veg, as well as Chinese toon sprouts, golden dock, Sophora flowers, etc.. So a few more dishes were added to the menu of Qishanju. More people came. Everyone wanted to try these tender wild vegetables.
On this day at 13pm, the number of customers in the store gradually decreased,
"Excuse me, are you hiring here? I can do anything. I don't need much money as long as it is enough for our family to eat." A thin man stood at the entrance and asked Li He.
When Li He saw him, he thought of himself. Back then, he was like this too, standing humbly at the door with his wife and mother as they sought for a full meal.
"Wait here, I'll ask the boss." Li He replied.
"Thank you, thank you!" the man said gratefully.
Li He went into the backyard and told Jiang Yun Zhu about the matter.
Jiang Yun Zhu shook her head. She had no plans to hire anyone recently.
Li He went out and told the man about it.
The shine in the man's eyes seemed to disappear at once. He thanked Li He, staggered away, and asked other stores if they were recruiting.
Li He felt uncomfortable seeing it as well as glad that he was lucky enough to stay in Qishanju.
The next day when Chabuliang was open for business, a woman with a child lingered at the entrance for a long time before walking in.
"Server, do you have any leftovers from customer's meals in your store? Can you give a little." The woman lowered her head in shame as she spoke. She wasn't a beggar, but the child was going to starve to death.
Li He looked at the child in her arms. The child seemed to be about one year old with a big head and a small body. At this moment, the child seemed to be crying, but there was no cry. Only a faint hum.
"This kid can't stay like this!" Li He said.
The woman immediately burst into tears. She couldn't help it.
"I'll go ask the boss first." Li He entered the store and told Jiang Yun Zhu about the outside affairs.
"Give them some snacks and milk." Jiang Yun Zhu saw the woman at the door and said.
Li He immediately agreed to go. He specially picked out a plate of easy-to-digest lotus root cake for the woman.
White and sweet lotus root cake and two cups of milk. When the woman saw it, she wanted to kneel down to Li He. Such good stuff, she dare not covet.
"Our boss gave it to you. Not me." Li He told her to get up.
The woman wobbly kowtowed to Jiang Yun Zhu again from a distance.
"Eat quickly!" Li He said.
The woman got up and took the lotus root cake and milk. She didn't dare to eat it by herself. She fed it to the child first. The child drank the milk and stretched his neck forward vigorously, wanting to drink more.
The woman was afraid that he would choke, so she had him drink it slowly.
After finishing a glass of milk, the child's stomach bulged. The child still wanted to drink more.
"Don't overstuff your stomach," Li He said. From the looks of it, he was very hungry. Can't keep eating.
The woman hurriedly took the cup away.
There was a plate of lotus root cake and a glass of milk left. She put the lotus root cake in her old bag and kept it for the child to eat. She couldn't take the milk away, so she drank it.
After thinking for a while, Li He took out a string of money from his sleeve and gave it to her, "That's all I could do for you."
The woman gratefully thanked him. She took the money and left.
Li He brought back the cup and plate. He asked Jiang Yun Zhu, "Boss, more and more people are seeking refuge on the street recently. Should we buy more food?"
Jiang Yun Zhu discovered this problem too, "They are all escaping from Changfeng Manor, right?"
Li He nodded, "According to the previous years, at this time, the land should be getting planted. But I heard that Changfeng Manor hasn't had a single drop of rain..."
In the past two years, Changfeng Manor had suffered from disasters. Waiting for the rain to start farming should be the last hope of many people. But now, seeing that this hope was gone, everyone could only come out to flee the famine.
Moreover, there would definitely be more and more people like this. By then... Li He was worried about Qishanju. So he asked Jiang Yun Zhu if she wanted to buy more food for storage.
Jiang Yun Zhu had already bought three batches of grain when he came. At that time, she almost spent all her money. It should be enough for them to eat for a while. But she didn't want to stand out. So she said, "Can you go to the grain store to look?"
"Okay." Li He went out quickly.
After a while, he ran back with an anxious expression, "Boss, hurry up and buy grain. The price of grain has already started to rise."
When he went to the grain store now, some people in the store were complaining about the price of grain, while some people were snatching grain. The owner of the store said they would stop selling once today’s grain was sold out. The price may increase tomorrow!
Raised this fast? Jiang Yun Zhu was surprised. Then she took out ten liang silver and asked Li He to buy grain.
"Boss, don't you want to buy more?" Li He asked.
Ten liang silver grain was enough for ordinary people to eat for a long time. But Qishanju could use up one bag of rice and two bags of flours a day. These grains seem to be insufficient.
"You go first." Jiang Yun Zhu said. He may not be able to buy these ten liang worth! Normally, there was a lot of grain in the grain store. But if everyone buys it, it will be sold out soon.
Li He hurried over. After half an hour, he came back angrily. As Jiang Yun Zhu guessed, he only bought six liang silver worth of grain.
"It's enough for us to eat for a while." Jiang Yun Zhu said.
In the next few days, there were more and more refugees on the streets of Wuling County. At first, everyone was willing to help them. However, the food prices kept rising. Some people said that the price kept rising because of these refugees Seeing the extra money they spent every time on grains, everyone’s enthusiastic kindness toward these refugees ran out.
Some people even complained why the officials didn't drive these refugees out.
Something happened this day. It completely intensified the conflict between the two side.
Several refugees robbed a small restaurant. Although the constables quickly arrested the refugees, the people started to be wary of the refugees
The refugees’ days became more and more difficult.
On this day, Constable Head Hu came to the door.
"Constable Head Hu, what are you doing here?" Jiang Yun Zhu came out and asked in person.
"It's nothing serious. In the afternoon, the county magistrate invited you to the county yamen. Don't worry, you’re not the only one invited. Wuling County’se rich households and managers are all invited by County Magistrate." Constable Head Hu cheerfully spoke.
"What is this for?" Jiang Yun Zhu found it strange.
"I don't know either. You'll find out when you go. Excuse me, I have to go inform another house." Constable Head Hu left quickly.
In the afternoon, Jiang Yun Zhu went to the county yamen, only to see that the place was crowded with people. Who would dare not come when the county magistrate invited them.
Jiang Yun Zhu felt that she was a small character, so she found a place where no one was around and waited.
About a quarter of an hour later, Magistrate Meng arrived.
Everyone bowed Magistrate Meng.
It had only been a month since she saw him. Magistrate Meng seemed to age a few year. His eyes were bloodshot and his expression blared out exhaustion.
He let everyone get up and stated, "I want everyone to see something." After speaking, he led the people out.
Everyone didn't understand his thoughts and could only follow along.
Along the way, someone recognized that this seemed to be the way out of the city.
Sure enough, soon, they arrived at the gate of the city. Someone with sharp eyes found that there seemed to be a lot more soldiers guarding the city gate than before.
When they got out of the city gate, everyone stood there in a daze.
All the refugees, old and young, were all in ragged clothes and with yellow and emaciated faces.
When they saw Magistrate Meng and others, they struggled to get up and begged the masters to give them a way to survive.
"You've seen it yourself." Magistrate Meng gritted his teeth and said. The refugees in the county were actually only a small part.
Everyone looked at each other. There were those who were sympathetic, and those who were indifferent.
Soon, Magistrate Meng explained his purpose for asking everyone to come today. He wanted to open a porridge shed outside the city to serve porridge. However, opening a warehouse for disaster relief needed the approval of the court. But these people were not from his Wuling County. The disaster relief should be from Changfeng Manor for. So he had no reason to open a warehouse.
He wanted all the rich families and managers in the county to donate a little silver or rice to help these common people.
It turned out to be like this. Some people were willing to donate a little, but some felt that Magistrate Meng was meddling.
"Magistrate, isn't the Wuling Mine always short of people?" Someone asked Magistrate Meng. If they were sent there, it would be fine.
Magistrate Meng held back his anger, "Wuling Mine’s requirement is strong young people. If these refugees could live, who would want to wait here to die."
No one spoke anymore and started donating money.
Some people donated one liang and some donated five liang. The most donated was twenty liang, but to the disaster refugees, these silvers were unable to fill the tank full.
Magistrate Meng was dissatisfied in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it. He was already doing this under a lot of pressure. If he insisted again, these wealthy households would start to make trouble and he wouldn't be able to be the county magistrate.
"I'll donate two hundred liang." At this moment, someone said.
Everyone looked at him one after another. It was Manager Song of Baofulou.
"Magistrate, I don't have that much money with me. Could you allow me to go back and get it?" Manager Song said.
"Of course." Magistrate Meng’s attitude toward him became gentle.
Manager Song looked at Jiang Yun Zhu who was behind the crowd and cheerfully said, "Qishanju and Chabuliang make money every day. I wonder how much Boss Jiang will donate this time?"
As soon as he said this, everyone looked at Jiang Yun Zhu.
Only then did Jiang Yun Zhu realize that when spring came, people would come to sell wild veg.
"Miss, they are freshly picked wild veg in the morning. If you want them, I can sell it cheaply." Mrs. Zhang showed Jiang Yun Zhu the wild veg in the basket, pleadingly.
She was a villager from Zhangzhuang Village. Two years ago, her husband fell ill and passed away. The rest of the family was old and young. Without a choice, she dug up these wild veg and went to the city to see if anyone wanted them.
Before coming to Qishanju, she had been to many places. But no one bought her wild veg at all.
Wealthy people looked down on wild veg. Ordinary people, if they want to eat them, they could dig them outside the county city. What was the need of buying?
Mrs. Zhang was getting desperate.
The wild veg were fresh and tender; green and glistening. Each one as long as a palm, with crystal dewdrops on them. Jiang Yun Zhu fell in love with it at first sight. After this winter, every day was either cabbage or radish. Finally there were green leafy vegetables.
"What wild veg are there?" She asked.
"I only dug shepherd's purse today, wild river celery, and hogweed. If Miss wants something, tell me which one you want and I'll dig it for you immediately." Mrs. Zhang said hastily.
When she said this, Jiang Yun Zhu remembered a lot of delicious food, "Now do you have golden dock, Chinese toon, willow buds, and Siberian elms?"
"There are golden docks, Chinese toon, and willow buds. Siberian elms will have to wait two days. We do have sophora flowers at the moment."
Sophora flowers worked.
"How much are these?" Jiang Yun Zhu pointed to the wild veg in the basket.
Mrs. Zhang gave a very low price. This basket only cost eight cents.
Jiang Yun Zhu directly gave her ten wen and told her to deliver wild veg tomorrow. That’s right, she wanted those Chinese toon and willow buds too.
"Okay, I will definitely come tomorrow. Miss, please don't buy someone else's." Mrs. Zhang hastily responded.
Ten wen was nothing to Jiang Yun Zhu now. But to this woman, it could save lives.
Mrs. Zhang left happily. Li He moved those wild veg into the kitchen.
"Boss, could these vegetables be sold?" Xue Jing picked up a shepherd's purse and asked. The people who came to their store were all gentlemen and misses with some money at home. Could they like this kind of food? Even he wouldn’t want to eat. Before when there was no food, he ate this until he was completely sick of it.
As soon as he saw it, he felt sourness churning in his stomach.
Li He, Mrs. Huang, and the others weren't interested in these wild veg. So if they were asked to choose, white rice would go best with meat. Even if they ate it every day, they wouldn't get tired of it.
Jiang Yun Zhu smiled. It was precisely because of the special customer group in their store that this wild vegetable could be sold. Think of the modern times, one couldn't dig it even if they wanted to eat it.
Of course, if she wants to serve them on the table, she has to prepare them.
Just like this hogweed. Chop it up, add the meat stuffing, and mix well. Then roll it up with bean curds, fry it in an oil pan to shape it, take it out, cut it into oblique sections, and deep fry it in an oil pan until the skin is golden.
Put it on a plate and arrange it in a flower-shaped tower. Make a pan of sweet and sour soup here and pour it from above.
The ruddy soup was dotted with flowers. The hogweed was crystal clear green and the bean skin was golden yellow. Then put two flowers carved from white radish on the plate. This dish would immediately become extraordinary.
Both Li He and Mrs. Huang were dumbfounded. Wild veg could end up like this? It contained meat as well as being deep-fried. They could eat a big bowl of wild veg like this.
"This actually spoils the taste of wild veg a bit." Jiang Yun Zhu said. However, many people expressed that they love wild veg, but in fact they were all professing love of what they really fears. Basically, every wild vegetable had a special taste. If it was left uncooked and served on the table, few people would like to eat it. Why else would everyone add it to the normal recipe?
This was already very good. It not only gave the taste of spring, but also took care of the tongue.
Next, Xue Jing watched Jiang Yun Zhu make shepherd's purse tofu soup with high broth and mixed wild river celery into shredded chicken, which had a big spoonful of rich red hot oil dizzled over...
Today, Qishanju had launched four or five kinds of dishes, such as hogweed rolls, shepherd's purse tofu soup, and cold river celery salad.
Most of these gentlemen and misses have heard of these wild veg, but very few of them have eaten them.
In spring, one got to eat wild veg. It was unknown who said this. And everyone immediately decided to try it.
Hogweed rolls. This dish was colorful, like the color of spring. Take a bite. It was crispy and delicious. The sweet and sour soup on the outside blended perfectly with the flavors of bean skin, meat filling, and hogweeds. It was delicious.
The shepherd's purse tofu soup. Clear as the sky. Take a sip. It tasted so flavorful and delicious. It was the taste of spring!
Also the shredded chicken mixed with river celery. It was spicy and crispy. Once one take a bite, they couldn't stop.
So they were surprised to find that wild veg was so delicious. Oh right, take it home and give it to their parents, so that they could try it too.
Today's wild vegetable series received unanimous praise from everyone. The store’s turnover had grown a lot. Some people even wrote poems for the wild veg. Li He watched and didn't know whether to admire Jiang Yun Zhu or lament how the wild veg could receive such glory.
After making money, everyone was happy.
Jiang Yun Zhu deliberately kept two bundles of wild river celery and decided to make dumplings for lunch. She called Xie Lian to do it together.
Now there were two kitchens in this backyard. One was bigger, it was used for Qishanju. The other was smaller and was used for making snacks and making tea. At this time, the big kitchen was busy, while the small kitchen was very quiet.
The taste of wild river celery was similar to that of modern celery. But because it grew near water, it was more fragrant, crisp and tender. After being finely chopped, it was mixed with minced meat. It had a special flavor. People who love it would love it to death, and those who hate this taste would throw it away like a shoe.
Jiang Yun Zhu was one of those who liked this kind of taste. So she moved quickly and soon a round dumpling was wrapped and placed there.
Xie Lian's movements weren't slow. Within a short while, she made a dumpling.
"Do you like to eat dumplings?" Jiang Yun Zhu asked her casually.
Xie Lian nodded. She liked it.
"Eat more in a while." Jiang Yun Zhu said.
Xie Lian curved her eyes. She liked Qishanju and Jiang Yun Zhu.
Jiang Yun Zhu felt that the atmosphere was good and spoke, "Actually, you saved Qin Yao, Gentleman Lin, and even your elder brother that day."
When mentioning this matter, Xie Lian froze directly.
Jiang Yun Zhu slowed down her tone, "If you didn't tell me, how could I save them? So the person they should thank is you. I know you are afraid of that person, but that person had already gone to prison. He would never be able to hurt you."
Xie Lian's eyes were red, while her hands were shaking in fist form.
Jiang Yun Zhu felt that it was better not to stimulate her. Still, she had to tell her something, "No matter what happened before, it isn't your fault.
You can speak now. Whether it’s your elder brother or me, everyone likes you very much. "
After saying this, Jiang Yun Zhu continued to keep her head down to make dumplings.
Xie Lian looked at her. Could she speak? Wouldn't they hate her?
Xie Lian slowly regained her composure. But she didn't intend to speak. Jiang Yun Zhu knew that this was very difficult for her. What should be said, she had already said. The rest was left to time!
The next day, Mrs. Zhang sent more wild veg, as well as Chinese toon sprouts, golden dock, Sophora flowers, etc.. So a few more dishes were added to the menu of Qishanju. More people came. Everyone wanted to try these tender wild vegetables.
On this day at 13pm, the number of customers in the store gradually decreased,
"Excuse me, are you hiring here? I can do anything. I don't need much money as long as it is enough for our family to eat." A thin man stood at the entrance and asked Li He.
When Li He saw him, he thought of himself. Back then, he was like this too, standing humbly at the door with his wife and mother as they sought for a full meal.
"Wait here, I'll ask the boss." Li He replied.
"Thank you, thank you!" the man said gratefully.
Li He went into the backyard and told Jiang Yun Zhu about the matter.
Jiang Yun Zhu shook her head. She had no plans to hire anyone recently.
Li He went out and told the man about it.
The shine in the man's eyes seemed to disappear at once. He thanked Li He, staggered away, and asked other stores if they were recruiting.
Li He felt uncomfortable seeing it as well as glad that he was lucky enough to stay in Qishanju.
The next day when Chabuliang was open for business, a woman with a child lingered at the entrance for a long time before walking in.
"Server, do you have any leftovers from customer's meals in your store? Can you give a little." The woman lowered her head in shame as she spoke. She wasn't a beggar, but the child was going to starve to death.
Li He looked at the child in her arms. The child seemed to be about one year old with a big head and a small body. At this moment, the child seemed to be crying, but there was no cry. Only a faint hum.
"This kid can't stay like this!" Li He said.
The woman immediately burst into tears. She couldn't help it.
"I'll go ask the boss first." Li He entered the store and told Jiang Yun Zhu about the outside affairs.
"Give them some snacks and milk." Jiang Yun Zhu saw the woman at the door and said.
Li He immediately agreed to go. He specially picked out a plate of easy-to-digest lotus root cake for the woman.
White and sweet lotus root cake and two cups of milk. When the woman saw it, she wanted to kneel down to Li He. Such good stuff, she dare not covet.
"Our boss gave it to you. Not me." Li He told her to get up.
The woman wobbly kowtowed to Jiang Yun Zhu again from a distance.
"Eat quickly!" Li He said.
The woman got up and took the lotus root cake and milk. She didn't dare to eat it by herself. She fed it to the child first. The child drank the milk and stretched his neck forward vigorously, wanting to drink more.
The woman was afraid that he would choke, so she had him drink it slowly.
After finishing a glass of milk, the child's stomach bulged. The child still wanted to drink more.
"Don't overstuff your stomach," Li He said. From the looks of it, he was very hungry. Can't keep eating.
The woman hurriedly took the cup away.
There was a plate of lotus root cake and a glass of milk left. She put the lotus root cake in her old bag and kept it for the child to eat. She couldn't take the milk away, so she drank it.
After thinking for a while, Li He took out a string of money from his sleeve and gave it to her, "That's all I could do for you."
The woman gratefully thanked him. She took the money and left.
Li He brought back the cup and plate. He asked Jiang Yun Zhu, "Boss, more and more people are seeking refuge on the street recently. Should we buy more food?"
Jiang Yun Zhu discovered this problem too, "They are all escaping from Changfeng Manor, right?"
Li He nodded, "According to the previous years, at this time, the land should be getting planted. But I heard that Changfeng Manor hasn't had a single drop of rain..."
In the past two years, Changfeng Manor had suffered from disasters. Waiting for the rain to start farming should be the last hope of many people. But now, seeing that this hope was gone, everyone could only come out to flee the famine.
Moreover, there would definitely be more and more people like this. By then... Li He was worried about Qishanju. So he asked Jiang Yun Zhu if she wanted to buy more food for storage.
Jiang Yun Zhu had already bought three batches of grain when he came. At that time, she almost spent all her money. It should be enough for them to eat for a while. But she didn't want to stand out. So she said, "Can you go to the grain store to look?"
"Okay." Li He went out quickly.
After a while, he ran back with an anxious expression, "Boss, hurry up and buy grain. The price of grain has already started to rise."
When he went to the grain store now, some people in the store were complaining about the price of grain, while some people were snatching grain. The owner of the store said they would stop selling once today’s grain was sold out. The price may increase tomorrow!
Raised this fast? Jiang Yun Zhu was surprised. Then she took out ten liang silver and asked Li He to buy grain.
"Boss, don't you want to buy more?" Li He asked.
Ten liang silver grain was enough for ordinary people to eat for a long time. But Qishanju could use up one bag of rice and two bags of flours a day. These grains seem to be insufficient.
"You go first." Jiang Yun Zhu said. He may not be able to buy these ten liang worth! Normally, there was a lot of grain in the grain store. But if everyone buys it, it will be sold out soon.
Li He hurried over. After half an hour, he came back angrily. As Jiang Yun Zhu guessed, he only bought six liang silver worth of grain.
"It's enough for us to eat for a while." Jiang Yun Zhu said.
In the next few days, there were more and more refugees on the streets of Wuling County. At first, everyone was willing to help them. However, the food prices kept rising. Some people said that the price kept rising because of these refugees Seeing the extra money they spent every time on grains, everyone’s enthusiastic kindness toward these refugees ran out.
Some people even complained why the officials didn't drive these refugees out.
Something happened this day. It completely intensified the conflict between the two side.
Several refugees robbed a small restaurant. Although the constables quickly arrested the refugees, the people started to be wary of the refugees
The refugees’ days became more and more difficult.
On this day, Constable Head Hu came to the door.
"Constable Head Hu, what are you doing here?" Jiang Yun Zhu came out and asked in person.
"It's nothing serious. In the afternoon, the county magistrate invited you to the county yamen. Don't worry, you’re not the only one invited. Wuling County’se rich households and managers are all invited by County Magistrate." Constable Head Hu cheerfully spoke.
"What is this for?" Jiang Yun Zhu found it strange.
"I don't know either. You'll find out when you go. Excuse me, I have to go inform another house." Constable Head Hu left quickly.
In the afternoon, Jiang Yun Zhu went to the county yamen, only to see that the place was crowded with people. Who would dare not come when the county magistrate invited them.
Jiang Yun Zhu felt that she was a small character, so she found a place where no one was around and waited.
About a quarter of an hour later, Magistrate Meng arrived.
Everyone bowed Magistrate Meng.
It had only been a month since she saw him. Magistrate Meng seemed to age a few year. His eyes were bloodshot and his expression blared out exhaustion.
He let everyone get up and stated, "I want everyone to see something." After speaking, he led the people out.
Everyone didn't understand his thoughts and could only follow along.
Along the way, someone recognized that this seemed to be the way out of the city.
Sure enough, soon, they arrived at the gate of the city. Someone with sharp eyes found that there seemed to be a lot more soldiers guarding the city gate than before.
When they got out of the city gate, everyone stood there in a daze.
All the refugees, old and young, were all in ragged clothes and with yellow and emaciated faces.
When they saw Magistrate Meng and others, they struggled to get up and begged the masters to give them a way to survive.
"You've seen it yourself." Magistrate Meng gritted his teeth and said. The refugees in the county were actually only a small part.
Everyone looked at each other. There were those who were sympathetic, and those who were indifferent.
Soon, Magistrate Meng explained his purpose for asking everyone to come today. He wanted to open a porridge shed outside the city to serve porridge. However, opening a warehouse for disaster relief needed the approval of the court. But these people were not from his Wuling County. The disaster relief should be from Changfeng Manor for. So he had no reason to open a warehouse.
He wanted all the rich families and managers in the county to donate a little silver or rice to help these common people.
It turned out to be like this. Some people were willing to donate a little, but some felt that Magistrate Meng was meddling.
"Magistrate, isn't the Wuling Mine always short of people?" Someone asked Magistrate Meng. If they were sent there, it would be fine.
Magistrate Meng held back his anger, "Wuling Mine’s requirement is strong young people. If these refugees could live, who would want to wait here to die."
No one spoke anymore and started donating money.
Some people donated one liang and some donated five liang. The most donated was twenty liang, but to the disaster refugees, these silvers were unable to fill the tank full.
Magistrate Meng was dissatisfied in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it. He was already doing this under a lot of pressure. If he insisted again, these wealthy households would start to make trouble and he wouldn't be able to be the county magistrate.
"I'll donate two hundred liang." At this moment, someone said.
Everyone looked at him one after another. It was Manager Song of Baofulou.
"Magistrate, I don't have that much money with me. Could you allow me to go back and get it?" Manager Song said.
"Of course." Magistrate Meng’s attitude toward him became gentle.
Manager Song looked at Jiang Yun Zhu who was behind the crowd and cheerfully said, "Qishanju and Chabuliang make money every day. I wonder how much Boss Jiang will donate this time?"
As soon as he said this, everyone looked at Jiang Yun Zhu.
Gesshh.
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