The firewood under the stove was seasoned. She added more to kindle flames so that it was easier to light a few piles on fire.
"Those with smaller children can follow me upstairs. Zheng'er and Rong'er still have some clothes they wore when they were younger. The children can wear them. It's better than having them freeze."
"Thank you! Thank you, Jiuyue!"
A few women who were carrying their children were so touched that they almost cried.
The thought, how much karma did we accumulate in our past life to meet An Jiuyue who is so considerate towards us?
"Go, go on up. Jiuyue, we can start a fire."
The husbands of the women with young children hurried their wives to change their children's clothes. Then, they began carrying out different tasks—some cooked porridge while others started bonfires.
"Liang Zi, go to the cave where we hid the rice and bring a few bags of rice over."
The village's Junior Officer watched as An Jiuyue brought some women upstairs to change the children's clothes, and instructed the man beside him.
"Alright, I'll go now."
When Liang Zi quickly responded.
"Chief, I'll go too. It'll be too heavy for one person to carry," another man overheard their exchange and volunteered.
They did not know when the floodwaters in the village would subside. They could not keep eating Jiuyue's food. It was not easy for a young woman to raise two children, and there was probably not much rice in her home.
They had to use their own.
It was difficult to differentiate which bags of grain in the cave belonged to which families. But they were going to use it anyway.
"Sigh, if I'd known, I'd have made a trip to the Chief's house yesterday." The Junior Officer watched them leave to retrieve the rice and sighed.
"Don't blame yourself. Who would have thought that Old Kang's wife would be so ruthless!" Aunt Ju comforted her husband.
If not for the fact that everyone was in a dangerous situation, she really wanted to teach that woman, who was not only blind but also selfish, a lesson!
This is such a huge matter and she did not even breathe a word about it to her husband!
"Many people in our village have been swept away. Let's think about what we should do next," she continued.
"Yeah."
The village's Junior Officer glanced at the shivering villagers and sighed again.
Every time a flood occurred, it would wipe out half the villagers. The number of people rescued was always limited.
However, it was much better this time. More than half of the people in their village were saved with An Jiuyue's help. It was a great fortune amidst this misfortune.
"Luckily, we have some rice in the cave and Jiuyue has pots here too. We don't have to go hungry. But if we run out of rice, then…"
That will be terrible. Will we be able to live off wild vegetables and tree bark?
Of course, the answer to that is 'no'. Only those who are starving will be willing to eat tree bark. It is not easy for someone to eat that.
"Let's not talk about this. Let's light up the fire first."
He said.
After a while, a few bonfires were lit, and the people seeking warmth by the fire finally felt a little alive.
No one bothered to separate the men and women anymore. Everyone removed their outerwear and hung them on the tree branches. They wanted to dry their innerwear by the fire.
There was not much outerwear anyway. As the flood occurred at night, many were asleep and did not have enough time to grab a coat. However, those who thought of bringing a coat managed to grab a few with them.