Chapter 100 : A blessing in disguise?

But Mother Xiao also knew that she couldn’t give too much, otherwise, people would know that she had plenty of food.

So, she thought of a way to mediate the issue so that neither family would suffer any loss.

“Ermazi, how about this? You know how scarce food is in this world, and we have a whole family waiting to eat. I may not be able to give you much, but at most, I can give you 50 catties of cornmeal, 30 catties of sweet potatoes, 30 catties of potatoes, 30 catties of coarse flour, the two chickens you mentioned, and finally, one or two taels of silver. Do you think this is okay?”

“We are all from the same village, so we won’t suffer any loss. We are all trying to survive. We’ll give you this food, but we’ll also have to make do with it.”

If Ermazi eats this food sparingly, it should be enough to last him for two months.

Two months later, the imperial court must have taken some action. They couldn’t just sit back and watch these people suffer, right?

When Ermazi heard this, he wanted to ask for more food, but the other party had also offered him one or two taels of silver.

Thinking about it, the Xiao family had a total of ten people, and they needed much more food in a day than he did. Aunt Xiao was considered generous.

So, he stopped bargaining and agreed with gritted teeth.

“Okay, let’s do as you say. You can take the ox away, and I’ll go with you to move the grain.”

“No, just wait. We’ll go back and count the food, and have my sons bring it up to you. When you’re sure it’s all right, we’ll take the cattle away.”

Naturally, Mother Xiao couldn’t let him go with her, otherwise, the family’s wealth would be exposed.

What if everyone comes to her to exchange food?

Ermazi thought this was fine as he could spend more time with his ox.

So, it was settled, and the couple returned to the land temple and told Jiang Sui and the others about the matter. Jiang Sui agreed. With one more ox to help pull the goods, their journey to Jeju would be much easier and faster.

As agreed, 50 kilograms of cornmeal, 30 kilograms of coarse flour, 30 kilograms of potatoes and sweet potatoes each, plus two chickens, and one tael of silver.

At the end, Mother Xiao added a few handfuls of sweet potato flour. Anyway, they had extra sweet potato flour and a large bag of sweet potato starch. There were several hundred kilograms of cornmeal at home, so it would be okay to give out these fifty kilograms.

On the contrary, if Ermazi really killed the ox, he would be reluctant to do so. In the current situation, the ox couldn’t be kept, and Daqing had a clear regulation not to kill working oxen. But now he had no choice, even if it violated the law, it was just to survive.

Only these coarse grains could fill their stomachs and last the longest.

After preparing these, they asked Xiao Qin and his brothers to take them up the mountain. Ermazi had been waiting on the road that must be taken up the mountain with the ox since early in the morning. When he saw Xiao Qin and his brothers coming, he smiled.

When counting the food, they found a few extra handfuls of flour.

Seeing his confusion, Xiao Qin explained that it was added temporarily and that his mother had added it in when she saw there were extra amounts.

Ermazi was very touched and thanked them repeatedly. They were willing to exchange food for him, which was equivalent to saving his life.

Finally, when Xiao Qin and his companions led the ox away, Ermazi couldn’t help crying and looked at his ox reluctantly. The ox seemed to be a little spiritual. On the way down the mountain, it kept gathering its strength and mooing from time to time. It took a lot of effort to pull it back.

But after it was brought back, fed some grass, and tied together with the ox at home, it calmed down. Perhaps it was because it had a little companion. The two oxs looked at each other and gradually became familiar with each other.

“It’s easy now. We can take some light clothes with us, and put all the food and bedding on the ox cart. It will be much more convenient for us to travel.”

Mother Xiao felt that this trade was worth it.

Jiang Sui also felt it was worth it. Ermazi’s ox was well taken care of by him and could normally pull several hundred kilograms.

Although the house is gone, why does it seem like things are getting better and better? Is it just an illusion?

So, as the saying goes, “Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise.”

Perhaps this disaster is the opportunity to push the family towards a better future. As long as they grasp it firmly and get through it, everything will be fine.

At night, everyone continued to live in two small sheds. Xiao Hechuan took the initiative to ask to sleep in the shed with Father Xiao and others. After the rain, the heat had passed, and the breeze brought bursts of autumn. Especially at night, the wind was cold. The shed was made of wooden boards, and they picked up some tiles that were still intact in the ruins to cover it against the rain. There was a circle of rags around it to block the wind.

Compared to the tarpaulin shed built by Mother Xiao, the conditions in the shed where Father Xiao and others lived were indeed difficult.

But precisely because they are men, they should leave a better environment for women and children.

Ever since Xiao Hechuan recovered, whenever Jiang Sui was in the same space with him, even though there were other people around, they both inevitably felt awkward.

Instead, it was Mother Xiao who kept joking with the two of them to ease the atmosphere.

“When Suisui grows up another two years and becomes stronger and healthier, you must work harder to give me some lovely grandchildren. And you, Yuemei, after we settle down in Jeju, you must also work harder for me. Your father and I still have enough energy to take care of the children!”

Mother Xiao felt that Jiang was only fifteen years old and still a little young. It would not be good to have a baby too early. Having a baby too early could easily cause illness, so it would not be too late to wait another two years.

Zhou felt embarrassed by what her mother-in-law said, but she still nodded and agreed with a red face.

She felt that she was in very good health now, and all those problems like physical weakness and coldness had little to do with her.

However, what Mother Xiao said made Xiao Hechuan and Jiang Sui feel relieved at the same time. The two of them were just in the stage of getting to know each other and had not fallen in love so quickly.

After Xiao Hechuan returned to normal, his personality returned to what it was before. Just like Lanlan said, he didn’t like to talk much and didn’t like to laugh, but when his family members talked to him, he was always polite and gentle, with a faint smile on his face. He could usually read books and write for a whole day by himself.

He seemed to have no interest in anything other than studying and appeared to be a very cold person.

But Jiang Sui discovered through these two days’ observation that when Xiao Hechuan was in a normal state, he always had a faint smile on his face and spoke softly to people. He would read a book when he had nothing to do and would not raise his head for a long time. He looked very focused and serious. But she had noticed that sometimes he wasn’t actually reading the book at all. Through his eyes, she always felt that he was thinking about something, sometimes frowning slightly, sometimes curling his lips in relief, and his smile was fleeting.

But what was certain was that whenever he looked at his family, there was a gentle light in his eyes.