Chapter 7
Sending Food
In the entire county and even the entire town, Hu Family Village was one of the poorest villages. No matter how poor other villages were, they still had a small landlord and about 100 mu of land. Hu Family Village did not have anything. The richest village head’s family only had 10 more acres of land than others, and their family had just enough land for planting.
The houses were built with half green brick and half stone, and most families would become poor after building one.
Because they were poor, every family had no surplus food. The snow had sealed all paths into the mountain for a month and had yet to truly melt. Even if they wanted to sell their possessions to exchange for food, there was no way to go out.
Therefore, in the village, food was equivalent to life.
When Old Madam Wang saw the food in the bag, she was only stunned for a few breaths.
This Flower Jiang!
“Come back, take your things back!” Old Madam Wang took a few steps forward, grabbed Third Aunt Hu, and stuffed the bag into her arms. “Are you looking down on me? Our Wang family isn’t that hungry!”
Third Aunt Hu’s heart was still bleeding, but in the end, she was caught off guard and caught the bag of food. When she heard Old Madam Wang say this, she immediately blurted out, “Who doesn’t know what your family is capable of? Most of the people in your family are kids who eat the food of the old. Your family has seven kids! And yet, you still brought home a little girl—”
Actually, she really wanted to say the word “burden”, but after being chased around the village by Old Madam Wang a few times, she changed her words.
Even the other people in the village had changed their words.
That broom really hurt, and it was very embarrassing to be chased around by an old woman!
“Shut up! I’m in a good mood today, so I still have the strength to deal with you!” When Old Madam Wang heard that she wanted to talk about Ah Yu again, the little bit of emotion in her heart was instantly blown away, leaving only anger.
She immediately extended her thin arms towards Third Aunt Hu.
“Aiyo, what’s going on? Who knows how many days the sky will remain sunny? Save your energy! Don’t you want to celebrate the new year?” An old voice sounded.
Old Madam Wang had just grabbed Third Aunt Hu’s hair when she let go. She straightened her sleeves slightly and turned around to look. It was Old Master Hu, followed by two juniors.
The two young men each carried a basket on their backs. Their footsteps were light, and there was probably not much in the baskets.
“Old Master Hu, are you out to bask in the sun? Why are you here?” Old Madam Wang looked at the two young people again. “Are you going to the mountains to look for something? Although it’s been sunny for a few days, the snow in the mountains hasn’t melted yet. You shouldn’t go in. Be careful not to fall.”
Old Master Hu was a charitable old man. He was an elder in the Hu family and had a high reputation in the village.
Old Master Hu stroked his beard and shook his head. “I think the weather will not remain clear for more than two days. There will still be more snow.”
It turned out that Old Master Hu had brought the two juniors to deliver food from house to house.
When Old Master Hu was young, he was a teacher at a private school. Later on, he returned to the village and saved up some money. It was not much, but it was enough for him to retire.
Sometimes, when everyone was really poor and could not afford to eat, some shameless people would come to him asking for help. Old Master Hu would also help out.
“I discussed it with Pillar. As the snow has remained unmelted, and the road to town is very dangerous, I gathered with a few elders and put together some food. Those who are in trouble should all take some. At least you can survive these few days. Last year, more than ten people starved to death. My heart ached when I saw it…”
Pillar was the village chief’s nickname.
Old Master Hu was actually here to deliver food. He followed over, perhaps with the intention of encouraging everyone.
There were more than a hundred families in the Hu Family Village, with a total of more than 700 people. Last year, the snow also sealed the mountain, and five young people who came out to look for food froze to death. Another 12 starved to death in the village. No one dared to mention that winter.
When Old Master Hu came over, Old man Wang had already seen him from afar and hurriedly walked over.
Old Master Hu usually did not talk to these village wives, and he was afraid that they would really end up fighting, so he came out.
“Wang Zi, you came at the right time. Bring your family’s food in.” Old Master Hu asked the young man to take out a bag of food and brought out another bag himself. “Your family recently picked up a girl. I’m afraid there’s not enough food. This should be considered more than enough for you.”
Not every family had this welfare. It only depended on which family was more lacking.
After hearing Old Master Hu’s intentions, Old man Wang thought of the giant python that was still being skinned in the courtyard and turned to look at Old Madam Wang.
Old Madam Wang naturally knew what he meant.
If they ate the python themselves, it would not be a problem for them to survive this cold winter.
But if they were to split it, how would they split it?
“You’re the head of the family, so it’s naturally your decision.” Old Madam Wang was a little angry. She turned around and took away the two bags of food from Old Master Hu’s side, then snatched the bundle from Third Aunt’s arms as well.
Third Aunt Hu now refused. “Hey, hey, hey, Donkey Zhang, Old Master has already given your family food. This is ours. Give it back to me! I don’t want to go hungry!”
“Who says that you can take it back?” Old Madam Wang rolled her eyes and turned to leave. “Lending me food is your blessing!”
Third Aunt Hu was furious. This old woman, how could she bear a grudge for so long!
But soon, Third Aunt Hu was no longer angry because Old man Wang invited her and Old Master Hu to the Wang family’s gate.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw the huge python that filled the entire courtyard.
“My god…” The python with half its skin peeled was too shocking. Third Aunt Hu could not take the stimulation and fainted.
Old man Wang rubbed his hands and said to Old Master Hu, who almost lost his balance, “This was killed by our Ah Yu. Our family will only keep 150 kilograms. How do you want to split the rest?”
He wanted to keep more, but he had to let everyone tide through this period as well.
And Old Master Hu did not hear the last sentence at all.
“Who is Ah Yu?”
“Oh, I forgot to mention. The child we picked up was named Ah Yu.”
Old Master Hu’s eyes widened. “What??”
Wasn’t that just a kid? How could she kill such a huge snake?
She was probably the reincarnation of an Immortal!
Old Madam Wang carried the three bags of food and went to the kitchen gloomily. She told them about the python.
The wives had different expressions, but they did not think that there was anything wrong with distributing the python meat.
Their family was the poorest family in the village, and they usually received the most support.
The proud Old Madam Wang did not often ask for anyone’s help, but that did not mean that they did not need to remember those favors.
Even half a tael of meat could save a life.
Everyone looked at the sleeping child and thought to themselves, Isn’t saving people also considered gaining karma for this child?
Ah Yu had a good sleep. When she opened her eyes, she saw Old Madam Wang muttering by the stove.
“Ah Yu earned this bag of food from Flower Jiang. Don’t think about taking it. After grinding the rice out, cook some porridge for her. Poor child, she can’t even afford to eat a steamed bun…”
However, her expression was too ugly. It did not look like she was concerned about someone. Instead, her face was filled with reluctance, sadness, and resentment.
The little girl got down from Liu Shi’s arms and took a few steps forward to tug at Old Madam Wang’s sleeve.
“Grandma…”
Old Madam Wang lowered her head and saw the little girl looking at her seriously.
“Grandma, don’t be unhappy.”
She stretched out her little hand and hugged Old Madam Wang’s leg with all her might. Her little fingers even patted it gently.
“Wait till I grow up.” Little Ah Yu stretched out her hand and gestured at her head. Then, she thought carefully and said, “I’ll give a lot of steamed buns to Grandma to eat!”