Chapter 210: Good Will but Poor Effort
Liu Qi said that his grandfather had gone to see the clan leader early in the morning, saying that he had something important to discuss, "maybe it was about spring ploughing and breeding."
After saying that, he looked at Qin Yao expectantly. This year, everyone was counting on her to guide everyone on how to breed so that they could achieve the high yield of 500 kilograms per mu that her family achieved last year.
Qin Yao was worried about stockpiling food and had no time to talk to Liu Qi. She pulled Liu Ji, who wanted to go to the village chief's house for breakfast, and rushed to the clan leader's house.
The two old men were indeed together, but they were not discussing breeding.
Qin Yao walked in, without drinking a sip of water, and told the two old people about her concerns about the lack of surplus food in the village.
"Do you want to stock up on food?" the village chief and clan leader asked in unison. Their looks were completely different from what she had imagined, as they were afraid of trouble. The two old men's eyes suddenly lit up.
Qin Yao raised her eyebrows and asked tentatively, "Are you two also thinking about this?"
The village chief and the clan leader nodded hurriedly. What a coincidence!
The two elders quickly pulled Qin Yao to sit down and told her that they were planning to use the money she had paid to the public school for the stones last year to buy some food to help those families in the village who were in particularly difficult situations.
As for the road construction plan, it will have to be postponed.
But they were afraid that other tribesmen would not agree to use the money to buy food instead of building roads, so the two were discussing countermeasures.
The money I have saved up till now has amounted to 12.6 qian. Based on the current price of brown rice of 3 wen per catty, I can buy 533 catties of it.
In the past, they were powerless.
But this year the public just happened to have this money, so he wanted to use it to help his clansmen first.
After all, when it comes to borrowing grain, one must have the grain first before being willing to lend it. Although they are the village chiefs and clan leaders, they cannot force the big households to lend grain to other villagers. At most, they can give some words of encouragement, but ultimately it all depends on personal awareness.
Qin Yao glanced at Liu Ji and said, look, this is the vision of a leader!
The village chief and the clan leader are old and experienced, and they think longer-term than the younger people in the village. The government said that the food gap in May and June can be made up, but who knows whether it is true or not.
After all, you still have to worry about your own life.
This coincided with Qin Yao's idea. The three of them discussed it and decided to stockpile as much as possible. If the whole village stockpiled together, what was there to worry about having too much food?
With Qin Yao's idea of stockpiling food, the village chief and the clan leader had more confidence in the villagers. At noon, they gathered all the free villagers and asked for everyone's opinions.
Unfortunately, the situation was completely different from what was expected.
We have enough food stored at home and don't want to spend this money.
The food stock at home is running low, so I want to borrow some from other relatives.
Those who did not have enough food stored at home smiled bitterly, saying that they wanted to stock up but had no money.
Finally, everyone looked at the clan leader and the village chief. What do you think we should do about this?
The village chief spread his hands angrily and said, "Let it go!"
Anyway, they have reminded everyone who should be reminded. If everyone is unwilling to buy food collectively, then each family should prepare it on their own and let fate decide whether it will be a blessing or a disaster.
The clan leader sighed deeply, "Why don't you learn from Madam Qin and Liu Ji? They don't lack food either, but they know to stock up. Don't be reluctant to spend the little money you have, what if the harvest this autumn is not good?"
When the fields are infested with insects, we must be mentally prepared for a reduction in production in advance.
The families without money were originally the poorest in the village. They could only smile bitterly when they heard this. With their conditions, no one was willing to lend them money.
I can only wait until after the spring plowing and then go to the city to find some odd jobs to see if I can make a living.
The clan leader and the village chief looked at each other, and seeing that Liu Dafu and Old Man Liu, who were famous people in the village, were there, they simply told them their original plan.
"We are all from the same village, and our ancestors are all from the same family. We should help each other."
"Originally, this money was to be used for road construction, but now that this has happened, it's always better to think about it earlier. The village chief and I would like to ask everyone if we can temporarily lend this money for road construction to those families to buy food?"
Everyone present knew which families were being talked about, and they all looked at the tribesmen whose sackcloth was not even properly worn.
At Qin Yao's suggestion, Liu Ji was the first to raise his hand to express his agreement.
Those poor tribesmen looked at him in surprise, as if they had not expected that Liu Laosan, whom they had looked down upon the most, would actually do such a righteous act.
Liu Ji puffed out his chest and thought to himself that I am no longer the same Liu Ji as before.
Now he is Liu Tongsheng Ji!
Old man Liu looked at his third son with satisfaction and raised his hand, "Our family agrees too."
Liu Dafu also agreed.
Someone took the lead, and several others raised their hands to express their agreement.
In the end, the majority agreed. The clan leader and the village chief took out the money and lent it to the poorest families in front of the clan members, and signed a pledge and kept the receipt.
Of course, the money will not be given to them directly. The village has to find someone to buy the grain first, and then exchange it for a corresponding amount of grain according to the amount they borrowed.
Although the money was said to be a loan, everyone knew that it was relief for the village.
It would be great if you have the money to pay it back, but don't expect too much if you can't.
Many villagers who voted against the proposal were not convinced when they left the ancestral hall, and the two groups quarreled for a long time before they calmed down.
But some people were reminded and decided to listen to the village chief and clan leader and prepare to stock up some food.
Old Man Liu and his family were still a little undecided, so they invited Qin Yao and his wife to return to the old house to discuss the matter.
Knowing that the couple had not had breakfast yet, He went to the kitchen and cooked a bowl of vegetable porridge for each of them.
Before, we could add an egg to the food, but now there is only vegetable porridge. The living standards have obviously declined.
It can be seen that the old house has also become nervous about the insect infestation and has started to reduce the portion of two meals a day.
Liu Ji was used to the sumptuous meals at home, so he found the porridge tasteless, but he still finished a bowl of porridge.
After the meal, Old Man Liu talked about the situation at home. He said that there was still some grain from last year, which would be enough to last until next year if there were no corvee labor, so he didn't know whether he should stockpile it.
Qin Yao answered firmly, "Stock up. Stock up as much as you can. If nothing happens, you can eat it yourself. If something happens, it can save lives."
Maybe there is a chance to make a small profit. But Qin Yao didn't say this.
The people in the old house are not so thoughtful, and saying too much will only add unnecessary troubles to them.
Old man Liu asked Qin Yao how much she planned to stockpile.
"Looking at the current food prices, we should stock up at least enough for a year."
Everyone calculated in their minds that Qin Yao's family's annual production volume was 3,000 kilograms.
It is still easy to buy this amount, but I am worried that other people will also stock up and the rice shops in the city will raise the price.
No, the price has gone up now. Fine rice costs twelve cents per pound.
Old Man Liu looked at Zhang, and Zhang said, "Our family can only give three taels of silver at most."
This means that I want to stock up on food with Qin Yao.
Qin Yao nodded to show that she understood, and directly pointed to Liu Ji, "You will be responsible for purchasing."
Liu Ji, who was staring at the sky in a daze, did not expect such a good thing to happen. A flash of ecstasy flashed across his eyes and he quickly agreed.
This is a good opportunity to hide his secrets!
How could Qin Yao let him do what he wanted?
He winked at Old Man Liu, who pushed Liu Fei in front of Liu Ji and said,
"Old Third, take care of Old Fourth and teach him more. You two should go to the county town first. If the county town doesn't have any, then go to the neighboring county."
Liu Ji's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it on his face. He put his arm around Liu Fei's shoulders and said in a friendly manner, "Don't worry, I will teach him well."
Liu Fei shook his hand away, "Don't get close to me!"
He retreated four or five meters away in disgust, staying far away from Liu Ji.
Seeing this irreconcilable situation, the sisters-in-law He and Qiu frowned.
Can these two people get together?
Qin Yao gave them a reassuring smile, saying it was not a big deal and they could just relax.