Chapter 39: Holding a Village Meeting to Decide Their Fate

“Of course, the reason Miaomiao was able to exchange so much this time might be because the pharmacy was in urgent need of these medicinal herbs. The price might drop later on, but no matter what, they should still fetch around two or three yuan per batch.”

“Now that the autumn harvest is over, the villagers are preparing to stockpile food for the winter. If we can mobilize everyone to go into the mountains and gather herbs, then process them uniformly and sell them in the city, we might just be able to make it through this winter,” Old Zhao explained his intentions in detail to Wang Hongjie.

“This… this money really came from selling the medicinal herbs gathered in the village?” Wang Hongjie looked at Su Miaomiao in disbelief.

“Of course. I wouldn’t joke about something this serious,” Su Miaomiao nodded.

In that moment, Wang Hongjie felt as if he had seen a ray of hope in the midst of a desperate situation.

If just a few children could earn five yuan in a week, imagine how much the entire village could make if they worked together. Even if they didn’t make a fortune, they could at least double that.

There were still over two months until winter. If everyone worked hard, it was possible to earn around a hundred yuan in that time.

With those 100 yuan, the villagers might truly be able to survive the entire winter.

Wang Hongjie was so emotional that even his fingertips trembled. But soon, another worry crept in.

He looked at Su Miaomiao nervously and asked, “But… can you guarantee that someone will buy the herbs we gather?”

“Medicinal herbs are always in short supply no matter the time. As long as we control the quality, there’s no need to worry about finding buyers,” Su Miaomiao said firmly.

Even in the worst-case scenario—if no one wanted to buy—she still had ways to make them buy.

She could simply take out a prescription and tell them that if they wanted it, they’d have to purchase the herbs processed by their village.

She had taken note of everything Wang Hongjie had just said.

If they couldn’t find a way out, then few people in Shimatou Village would survive this winter.

Su Miaomiao also recalled the elderly people she had seen before—sitting blankly outside their homes—and the children who licked even candy wrappers clean.

She… wanted to help them.

More importantly, by helping them, life for her own family in the village would also become easier.

The Huo family members were knowledgeable and capable people. They couldn’t be left to spend the rest of their lives in this village just picking corn cobs.

She needed to build up her reputation in the village first so it would be easier to influence things in the future.

“Now that you’ve said that, I feel reassured. I’ll go gather the villagers right away for a meeting!” Su Miaomiao’s words were like a calming pill to Wang Hongjie. All his previous worries were swept away. He got off the heated bed immediately, ready to use the village loudspeaker to call everyone together.

Moments later, the loud voice of the village chief echoed across Shimatou Village.

“Everyone, please gather immediately under the old locust tree for a village meeting. There is an important matter to announce. No one is allowed to be absent.”

Wang Hongjie repeated it three times, and as the villagers heard the broadcast, they each grabbed a small stool and a palm-leaf fan, hurrying to gather under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.

Su Miaomiao followed along with Wang Hongjie and Old Zhao.

By the time they arrived, most of the villagers were already there.

People sat around in small groups, chatting and joking.

They had been extremely busy with the autumn harvest recently, barely having time to rest, and now that it was finally over, everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.

Most assumed the meeting was about discussing the distribution of grain, so everyone’s faces were still lit with smiles.

But when they saw Su Miaomiao and Old Zhao standing beside Wang Hongjie, surprise flickered across their expressions.

Some of the more sensitive villagers had already sensed it—this meeting was probably about something important.

Wang Hongjie stepped to the front of the crowd and looked at the pale, skinny, almost skeletal villagers before him, and his heart was filled with sorrow.

But when he thought of the announcement he was about to make, strength surged back into his body.

“Everyone, please quiet down,” Wang Hongjie raised his hand to calm the crowd.

The noisy gathering instantly fell silent, and all eyes turned to him.

“I called everyone here today to announce two things. The first one, I believe many of you have already guessed—we’ve successfully completed the delivery of our collective grain quota.”

The villagers immediately lit up with joy upon hearing this. But just as quickly, Wang Hongjie continued.

“However, after handing over the grain, the amount left in the village is not enough for us to survive the winter.”

The crowd instantly erupted in panic and complaints.

“How can that be? We were all counting on that grain to get us through the winter!”

“That’s right! My mother’s been bedridden for three days—we were just waiting for the grain to make her some food!”

“My daughter-in-law is so hungry she can’t produce any milk. My grandson cries every day, and now he doesn’t even have the strength to cry!”

“No food means a death sentence for all of us!”

“…”

Wang Hongjie had expected this chaos when he decided to announce the news.

That’s exactly why he locked himself in his house for two days after returning from delivering the grain—he didn’t know how to face the villagers.

It wasn’t until Su Miaomiao brought him a glimmer of hope that he dared to come out.

He raised his hand and shouted loudly, “Quiet! Haven’t I been trying to find a solution for everyone?”

Seeing that Wang Hongjie was still relatively calm, the villagers slowly settled down again.

Yes, the village chief wouldn’t just stand by and watch the entire village starve to death.

Then, Wang Hongjie pulled out a five-yuan bill from his coat.

“Do you know what this is?”

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

“Village Chief, we’re already in a crisis and you’re joking with us? That’s money in your hand—we’re not so ignorant that we don’t know what money is.”

“Yes, it’s money. But do you know where this money came from?” Wang Hongjie asked.

“How would we know that?” The villagers looked at each other in confusion.

“This money was earned by Comrade Su leading the village children to dig up medicinal herbs and sell them,” Wang Hongjie enunciated clearly.

“What? Money from digging up medicinal herbs?” The crowd was in uproar again.

They all knew their kids had been following Su Miaomiao up the mountains to dig up roots and herbs.

And that they got candy every day.

Those kids had always run around the village anyway, and the adults didn’t pay much attention. Figured that as long as they were getting candy, it was harmless.

But to think they were actually earning money?

“Yes. And this money was earned in just one week,” Wang Hongjie confirmed.

“Five yuan in one week? That’s really profitable!”

“So, Village Chief, are you calling us here today to get everyone to go dig herbs in the mountains too?” Some quick-thinking villagers immediately caught on.

“Exactly. There’s still over two months before winter comes. We need to use this time to dig up as many herbs as we can and sell them in the city. Then we’ll use that money to buy supplies for winter. That way, we won’t have to freeze or starve this year!” Wang Hongjie declared powerfully.