FID – Chapter 372

After the Xiapo villagers left and walked out of Xinghua Village, the man who followed An Cai spoke.

“Village Chief, why did you just do that?”

That one bow made them deeply uncomfortable.

Not that they didn’t want to admit their mistakes, but the village chief in their hearts was the backbone of the entire Xiapo Village.

He had been proud all these years, and villagers were also proud along with him.

It was really quite hard for them to accept the Village Chief’s sudden bow.

An Cai walked in front and only coldly said, without turning around, “I am the Village Chief.”

A village chief had a responsibility to a village.

He’d been harboring a grudge for so long, but what came out of it? A villager’s child almost died of illness, and his villagers were plagued by suffering.

An Cai looked down gloomily. 

When he really cheekily wagered to do something, it wasn’t as hard as he had thought.

In the small consultation room, Liu Jinfu wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.

An Cai’s bow really scared him.

That old bastard had been a gangster in his youth. He had never seen him bend over to anyone.

He was a man who was more ruthless than others at times, and also had a black heart.

As for today’s events, Nannan still won him by virtue.

The Liu family was equally shocked.

It had been more than ten years since the two villages’ feud ensued, and they could narrate what had transpired one after the other to their children as tales of the past.

The change came so abruptly that it caught them off guard.

But it was effective.

The thorn that had been stuck in the family’s hearts all year round seemed to have softened a lot with that bow and apology.

Their pestles were no longer so sharp, pricking others and pricking themselves.

Because of the winter, the Xinghua villagers had been busy running hither and thither with disaster relief. Now that the wind and snow gradually stopped, the government side also took action, so they basically had nothing to do. Hence, most of the Xinghua villagers snuggled at home by the fire and did not go out. 

It was also because of this that An Cai, the head of their enemy village, arrived at the Liu family compound without getting noticed all the way.

The villagers only came to know about what had transpired at that time from the Village Chief, Liu Jinfu.

Everyone was in an uproar and felt very proud of themselves.

When the two villages were in a tight deadlock, they were almost always pressed to fight. And then, when the village had Nannan, their lucky baby, the situation was reversed step by step.

Although the two villages had not interacted with each other for many years, in the end, their initial grievances had accumulated deep in their hearts.

This time, those grievances could be considered gone.

As for the Xiapo villagers, the day after drinking the fire blazing herb soup, the villagers infected with wind chill had a significant improvement and no longer expressed any trouble.

As time passed, the villagers stopped paying attention to them.

At the end of the first month, Kang Shiming personally brought the decree conveyed from the capital and read it out on the spot, and named Liu Yusheng as the disaster relief ambassador of Yunzhou. She was tasked with post-disaster reconstruction and people’s pacification together with the magistrate of Xiangshan County.

Xinghua Village ushered in another tumult.

Disaster Relief Ambassador – everything related to the word ambassador was a privilege.

Their village Nannan was truly born with good fortune. The higher she rose, the more famous the village became.

After receiving the imperial decree, Liu Yusheng rendered medical consultations during the day and devoted herself to perfecting a plan at night.

She was able to read and understand Feng Qingbai’s meaning in this decree, even though they were thousands of miles apart.

His trust in her sometimes flooded her heart with joy.

If she conducted a series of post-disaster management poorly, she’d become a target for public criticism. But if she performed well, the positive effects would be monumental.

Afterward, everything she would do would not only represent herself, not only the Liu family and Xinghua village, but also a whole faction of Feng Qingbai.

If she succeeded, the east wind would blow straight up.

And she, not for a moment, considered the consequences of failure.

This task only allowed room for success, not failure.

The Liu family had not been idle. They led the whole village to prepare for battle. As long as Liu Yusheng needed them, they could always flock to give her support.

On the government side, Kang Shiming had been very busy running around and did not bother Liu Yusheng this time.

For the time being, he was collecting data of the losses in various places. He must complete all these preliminary works before they could proceed to the next.

Although the court issued an imperial decree, there wasn’t a penny allocated for the relief, which was entirely unusual. Kang Shiming could not for a while think what the reigning power was thinking.

The people affected by the disaster were all Nanling citizens. There had never been a precedent where the court issued disaster relief but did not allocate funds. Once the matter spread, the people would certainly complain about it.

The ruler could not be unaware of this, so what exactly was he thinking?

He mulled over it and felt that the crux of the problem lay in the Relief Ambassador, Liu Yusheng.

So whenever Liu Yusheng had any request, he would definitely cooperate fully.

Not for any reason, but just a hunch.

As long as he cooperated well with that young girl, he would reap great benefits in the future.

Qian Wanjin arrived at Xinghua Village half a month after the Liu family received the decree.

When he was at the entrance of the village, he could not wait to lift the curtain of the carriage to look out.

On the way back, he passed countless villages, and he saw all the places where villages could be seen on the road in Xiangshan County. Although he couldn’t say they were devastated, the desolation after the disaster pervaded almost everywhere.

Even the people he met on the road bore no smiles on their faces.

The more he looked at those faces, the more worried he was.

He was worried that something had happened to Xinghua Village.

Thankfully, the village was as calm as usual.

The ice and snow covering the fields had begun to melt, and ice on the long winding green river had begun to break. He could see the clear water through the exposed river surface.

Once he entered the village, the voices from all the households were as boisterous as ever.

When the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Liu family compound, Qian Wanjin began to shout at the top of his lungs long before he could jump off the carriage, “Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Liu, Aunt Liu, Lucky Nannan, Zhixia, Zhi Qiu, I’m back!”

“Get inside the house if you’re back. What are you yelling at the door for? Nannan is giving medical consultation. This kid, he just has to show off his voice,” Grandma Liu yelled back in the courtyard. She went out while tying her apron and smacked the young man who jumped in front of her. “Get into the house quickly. Look at you freezing. Your ears are red. Is there no warmer in the carriage?”

“There was, but I was in a hurry at that time, so I didn’t prepare enough charcoal. I didn’t want to take the time to buy it on the way and just rushed back.” Qian Wanjin smiled: “Grandma, make me a pot of hot tea. I want the kind specially made by Lucky Nannan. I don’t drink big leaf tea.”

“Okay, I’ll brew it for you. Go inside and warm yourself by the fire.”

“Aiyo, Grandma, you’re such a sweet grandma! I’m going. There are still gifts in the carriage, but I’ll call Zhiqiu to come and move them. You can not touch them. The stuff is heavy.”

The granny and the young woman chatted happily as they entered the door. Without Qian Wanjin’s directive, Liu Zhiqiu automatically and spontaneously went out as the porter.

“I knew you’d definitely call for me first on your return. Can’t you find someone else?”

When rubbing shoulders with Qian Wanjin, Liu Zhiqiu gave him a contemptuous look, seeing him stuck to his grandmother like a fox assuming the majesty of a tiger.