Chapter 69
69 Decision
When Zhang Zhan went to look for Qin Huai, he saw that the kid had already packed his luggage and was sitting in the carriage. He was wearing a slightly dark green coat with light patterns on it. His hands hung on his knees, and his back was straight, his eyes indifferent.
He did not look like a child who was about to turn seven years old. Instead, he looked like an old monk who had returned to his youth.
“Little ancestor, can I call you my ancestor? Don’t cause trouble for me at this time. I’m very busy here!” Zhang Zhan really was having a headache. “Now, there are still more than 100,000 refugees in the entire Yongding County who need me to settle them down and you’re causing trouble here again. What do you want me to do?”
It was unknown what the higher-ups were thinking. This was a disaster relief and they had to comfort the victims. Yet the county magistrate had not arrived to help them deal with all kinds of chores.
Even the donkeys in the villages probably did not have as difficult a life as him!
However, this little ancestor was stubborn and could not be beaten or scolded. He was also too young to be blamed.
Wasn’t this making it difficult for everyone?!
Qin Huai seemed to not see Zhang Zhan’s urgency and was unmoved.
“What exactly do you want? Can you stop? When I’m done here, I’ll send you back, okay?”
Qin Huai remained silent.
“Ahhh!” Zhang Zhan clenched his fists so hard that they cracked.
He took a deep breath and told himself to calm down.
At this moment, Qin Huai suddenly coughed heavily, and black blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth.
He calmly took out the handkerchief in his arms, wiped away the blood, and threw it aside.
Someone came forward and took the handkerchief away.
Zhang Zhan’s movements suddenly stiffened. He rushed into the carriage and said anxiously, “Why are you vomiting blood?! What’s going on!”
Qin Huai glanced away and did not say anything, looking like he was unwilling to talk to him.
“Qin! Huai! What’s wrong with you!” Seeing that Qin Huai was silent, Zhang Zhan turned around and called out to the servant who was cleaning up the handkerchief.
“Give me the handkerchief!” He wanted to see what it was.
Suddenly, Qin Huai said, “March.”
Zhang Zhan turned his head. Qin Huai stared into his eyes and said word by word, “March is when my time is up.”
With that, Qin Huai closed his eyes, unwilling to speak further.
It also hid all the sarcasm and coldness in his eyes.
Zhang Zhan suddenly thought to himself, He’s only six years old now, but he clearly looks like a 60-year-old person.
There was no sign of life at all.
Chi Jia appeared in time and said, “Madam has already ordered everyone to retreat. Don’t worry, Lord Zhang. Young Master won’t cause trouble, nor can he cause any trouble.”
After a pause, he added, “He just wants to live his last days well.”
“How could this be?” Zhang Zhan frowned. Seeing Qin Huai’s expression, he suddenly said, “Which village are you planning to go to?”
Chi Jia replied, “Feng’an Village. I heard that there’s a peach forest there. Young Master wants to take a look.”
Feng’an Village was to the south of Yongding County. It was a village in the valley and also the village that was barely affected by the snow disaster.
Because of this, the scenery in the village was still well preserved. At this moment, the mountain flowers were blooming.
Zhang Zhan thought of Qin Huai’s current body and said, “I’ll arrange two people for you and a doctor to accompany you over. There’s nothing more I can do for you as the people in the county office are currently too occupied.”
“There’s no need. I’ll escort Young Master.”
Zhang Zhan thought of Chi Jia’s skills. He estimated that he alone was enough to fight against more than ten or twenty ordinary government officers.
“Then, as for the Doctor, are you going to-”
“Is that necessary?” Qin Huai asked coldly.
Zhang Zhan choked and did not say anything else.
This child was young, but he was very stubborn and never listened to anyone.
When Qin Huai came, more than ten servants had accompanied him, including monks, Daoists, and others.
Now, those people were staying in the county office and waiting to return in two days.
Now that he was going to Feng’an Village, those people were not going to accompany him. Only Chi Jia and a coachman accompanied him.
After he left, the more Zhang Zhan thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. He went to talk to those people.
“Didn’t you escort the young master over? Why didn’t you follow him?”
“Amitabha.” The monk chanted a Buddhist proclamation and said, “Little Benefactor has his own plans. This monk can only escort him here.”
The Daoist priest flicked his horsetail whisk. “This Priest has calculated that only by letting the Little Young Master settle down on his own can there be a chance of survival.”
Zhang Zhan felt that they were all talking nonsense. He turned around and asked the person in the strange clothes.
“Then what do you say?”
“The young master’s life has been rough. Now that he has encountered a calamity, no one can save him. He can only overcome it himself. If others interfere too much, it will only harm him.”
Zhang Zhan: “…After talking for so long, you just don’t want to follow him anymore? When did Madam ask you to go back?”
“We can return anytime before the Dragon Boat Festival,” the monk said honestly.
“That’s good. It’s only the first month now. There’s still enough time before May fifth.”
Zhang Zhan said expressionlessly, “In that case, don’t be idle. Follow me to help with the disaster relief!
Monk, you are in charge of ferrying the souls of those who died from the disaster.
Priest, prepare the arrangements for the ritual.
The rest can go outside the city to comfort the people.
And those with able hands and feet, don’t waste food here. Go to the various villages and help build houses!
“We’ll return the day it’s completed!”
Everyone was speechless.
After instructing these people, Zhang Zhan returned to the study and quickly wrote two letters. He called a servant over and whispered, “Hurry up and send these to…”
Two hours later, Qin Huai and the others arrived at the corner. To the right was the path to Feng’an Village.
“Young Master, following this path on the right, we’ll reach Feng’an Village in two hours. It’s still early-” The coachman smiled.
“Stop.” Qin Huai’s voice sounded from the car.
The coachman pulled the reins and heard him say again, “To the left.”
“The left side is not Feng’an Village, but the north! There’s a snow disaster there, there’s nothing good to see-”
Chi Jia, who was sitting outside with him, knocked the wooden stick in his hand on the car. “Cut the crap.”
The coachman: “…We agreed to go to Feng’an Village.”
A silver ingot was suddenly thrown into his arms.
The coachman immediately picked up the silver and took a bite. When he saw the clear imprint, he laughed loudly and said, “The snow has melted recently so the peach forest in the north is even more beautiful. Young Masters, sit tight. Ride!”
With a whip, the carriage turned to the left.
Everyone in Hu Family Village was busy planting spring seeds. With the grain seeds given out, everyone’s enthusiasm for farming was surprisingly high.
At a glance, they were all busy farming.
Village Chief Hu’s eldest son, Hu Daliu, had finally brought back the donkey and a cow.
“All the cows in town have been sold so we had to go to the county city to buy this. The old cow was also sold, so only this calf is left. It’s a little weak, but the price is also 10% cheaper.” Hu Daliu led the calf to the field and said to the others, “The calf is weak. Everyone, don’t use it too quickly. Otherwise, it’ll be tired out in a day or two.”
Everyone waved their hands. “Daliu, do you still need to tell us? We too can’t bear to use this calf much. Everyone, let’s go over and help out. When it’s autumn, we’ll take a good look at this calf.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone laughed. The fatigue from working for the past few days seemed to have lessened.
On the Wang Family’s side, Old Madam Wang was calling Liu Shi over to take out the divine water from the gourd.
“This water is quite useful. Take half out, mix it with the water, and pour it into the ditch dug over there.”
In the next few days, the family would use the compost there. With this water, the crops would probably grow better.
Liu Shi said in a low voice, “Mother, can I bring some back to my family?” This water could grow crops. They had seen it after observing it for the past two days.
The banana forest at the back of the house had three large bunches of banana plucked from it already.
The bananas that were plucked a few days ago were already ripe and the children at home were all shouting about how sweet they were.
If she brought it back to her family, their harvest this year would be much better.
“No!” Old Madam Wang rejected.