Jiang Yang took a deep look at Shen Qing, as if deep in thought.

As the village head, he had not yet considered things as thoroughly as she did.

“If we survive the flood in the end, it will be thanks to you.” If they didn’t survive, then it would be their fate, as it was meant to be.

Shen Qing was taken aback.

She hadn’t expected Jiang Yang to speak so highly of her.

She felt a bit embarrassed.

Truth be told, everything she had done and thought was based on her own interests—teaching the third branch of the Jiang family a skill to earn money because she believed they were capable relatives and could form a team to look after each other during the escape; outsourcing to the two families of Feng Qin was because she needed it, and only secondly because they were good people; the same applied today with the Zhao Hong families;

As for Sun Xiaomai and Zhou Chuncao, who lived in the same village, she didn’t want to give them a single penny nor join them in a team.

“If we survive the escape, it will be everyone’s merit,” she said.

After all, in her dreams, one by one, members of the Jiang family had died, and the family was on the brink of extinction.

The top priority was to ensure survival, and as for whether they lived well… that could be dealt with later.

Jiang Yang was thinking much further ahead.

When the flood came, where would they escape to?

Other places couldn’t farm this year either, and would only be able to start planting next year; but from clearing the land and sowing to harvest, how would they deal with the food supply during that time?

Shen Qing wanted to set off early, but even if they could leave, they had to leave behind something to observe.

It was uncertain whether the land could still be cultivated, and for people living off the land, how could they bear to abandon their homes and possessions to live somewhere else?

Only when it was confirmed that they couldn’t survive on this land anymore would everyone resolutely embark on the escape route, uniting to fight the enemy!

When hearts are united, a team is easy to lead.

---

Shen Qing wanted to inform Jiang Erye right away about asking Zhao Hong’s two families to gather fish, shrimp, and supply vegetables, mainly to avoid the family turning against her.

Most of the people in Qili Village could catch fish and shrimp, and not to mention, Jiang Datou, Jiang San Ye, and Jiang Wu Ye could all do it;

There were also wild vegetables and dried vegetables; every household had women resting at home, and purslane and lamb’s ears were everywhere in the fields.

If they didn’t refuse any, there wouldn’t be enough to distribute.

There weren’t many resources, so they had to be distributed as evenly as possible, or else the poor families could starve to death!

Unexpectedly, Jiang Erye, Jiang Ying, didn’t turn against her.

Instead, he thought she had great vision and responsibility, willing to sacrifice for others.

Shen Qing: … I definitely didn’t mean to sacrifice myself, but being praised for having vision and responsibility made me feel a bit proud.

---

When they reached the Zhao family, and Shen Qing mentioned her decision, Zhao’s brothers stared at her, their mouths almost wide enough to fit an egg, and it took them a long time to respond.

Zhao Laoda blinked his dry eyes and asked uncertainly, “You said you want to exchange this year’s new grain for fish and yellow eel mudfish, even little wild shrimp?”

He could understand the big fish and the yellow eel mudfish, but the small wild shrimp were a headache—tiny bodies with little meat, and eating them was troublesome.

Apart from giving the children the shrimp tails, the rest would just be crushed and used to feed the chickens.

Giving them away for free seemed about right. Who would want to exchange grain for them?

Especially this year’s new grain!

Shen Qing added, “Yes, we need the small wild shrimp as well. For the fish, it’s better to get small mixed fish… well, I’ll take the big fish too.”

They couldn’t bear to eat the big fish they caught either. They would sell them in the city, but it took time and effort, and they didn’t make much money. It was better to save the time and just catch more fish.

As for the big fish, although they weren’t worth much, they could still keep them for themselves.

Dishes like chopped chili fish head, boiled fish, sauerkraut fish, salt and pepper fish bones, and braised fish chunks…

Shen Qing was getting a bit hungry for fish.

Zhao Laer realized, Shen Qing was indirectly helping their Zhao family!

Otherwise, it would make sense to ask for big fish, but why would she want small mixed fish and wild shrimp?

These things were all caught and then crushed to feed the chickens and ducks to make them lay more eggs.

Shen Qing explained, “You know that our family is making brushes now, and everyone is busy. We don’t have time to go fishing, and next month we’ll be harvesting wheat, so we won’t have time then either. So, I’m troubling you to gather it yourselves. I feel really bad about it.”

They were doing all the work to catch the fish and shrimp, and the grain would only be theirs once they harvested it. It was like they were doing the same job twice.

Zhao’s brothers quickly shook their heads and said in unison, “No trouble at all! We’re very happy about it!”

It was wheat!

Wheat that had already grown in the fields!

Who wouldn’t be happy about that?

They visited the fields every day, hoping for a fuller and better harvest.

Now, Shen Qing was going to give them that wheat in exchange for just doing the labor to harvest it.

This wasn’t trouble at all.

It was a wish come true for any farmer!

…

“Alright, unthreshed wheat is worth seven wen per jin, and the yellow eel is about thirteen or fourteen wen. How about two jin of wheat for one jin of yellow eel?”

Fish and shrimp…

Shen Qing was in a dilemma.

How should she decide on their value?

There was no specific market price for them in the city.

Zhao Laoda added, “How about three jin of small fish and small shrimp for one jin? What do you think?”

After saying that, he anxiously wondered if it wasn’t too much of a bargain.

Zhao Laer also felt uneasy.

The small fish and shrimp weren’t worth much, and there was no clear price in the city.

Either they were sold together with the big fish or just a few wen for a pile—no fixed price.

Three jin for one jin?

Shen Qing was more than happy with that!

At that moment, she felt that the Zhao family brothers were really great—honest and straightforward. They didn’t try to take advantage when she approached them.

She said enthusiastically, “Alright, besides the fish and shrimp, I’ll also take wild vegetables. You can send five jin of fresh wild vegetables for ten wen each day. If you have dried vegetables, I’ll take those too, at five wen per jin. Ask the women at home, and if they can do it, they can send them over tomorrow morning.”

Before Zhao Laoda and Zhao Laer could respond, the two wives who had been eavesdropping at the door couldn’t wait and rushed out, saying, “Yes! We’ll make sure to deliver fresh vegetables tomorrow morning! Absolutely fresh!”

Who would’ve thought that the wild vegetables growing everywhere in the fields could be turned into money, and two wen per jin at that!

And there were dried vegetables—if they had too many to eat, they would blanch and dry them to save for the winter when vegetables were scarce.

Every household had them, and Shen Qing chose their Zhao family.

Shen Qing was so kind!

Zhou Chuncao and Sun Xiaomai were truly ungrateful.

Originally, Shen Qing had been good to them, but they treated her like dirt.

No wonder Shen Qing had stopped being kind to them.

They should learn from this and never behave like Zhou Chuncao and Sun Xiaomai, with hearts as cold as wolves and dogs!

Shen Qing stood up, smiling. “It’s settled then.”

The Zhao family expressed endless gratitude until they could no longer see Shen Qing’s figure.

They closed the yard door and exchanged a glance, still feeling like it wasn’t real.

“Head of the family, I used to think the Jiang family—no, Sister Shen—wasn’t so good, but I never imagined she would be this kind. She’s practically sending us food and grain!”

“That’s right! Otherwise, how could anyone exchange money for wild vegetables? I heard that Jiang San Ye’s tofu business was also because of her. He could just ask for a few jin of wild vegetables every day from Jiang San Ye’s family. No need to spend money!”

“Not just Jiang San Ye’s family! You forgot about the two Feng Qin families? As long as she says it, every family will gladly send wild vegetables and dried vegetables!”

“And the small fish and small shrimp—those are this year’s new grain, and she even exchanged that for us!”

“She’s specifically helping us out. We have to repay her in the future!”