It’s not surprising for an official to be curious about a powerful village suddenly emerging in Shanggu Town.
Hua Jin was willing to believe that someone who still remembered the people during a disaster couldn’t be all that bad.
If this person was here to help the people, it wasn’t impossible to lend a hand. Thinking of the bits of faith energy gathered in the space, Hua Jin pondered silently.
"Curious about what? I’m more concerned about my three treasures right now," Yunniang Town glanced playfully at her sister-in-law, her eyes brimming with motherly love.
Oh well, the little babies are still adorable.
Meanwhile, the county magistrate was invited to the main room by old man Hua. Mistress Qi went to brew tea and had her son serve it. Then she and her mother-in-law prepared lunch again, adding two more dishes to the initial plan, but remembering the guest’s status, they couldn’t make it too sumptuous.
As for the daughters-in-law, they would be sent back to their rooms by their sons, as it wasn’t convenient for them to come out with the children with outsiders around.
They had already prepared a meat and a vegetable dish, luckily the meat dish was pickled wild chicken, which was not uncommon. The chicken soup for the two daughters-in-law had to be secretly delivered back to their rooms.
For nursing mothers, nutritious soups and broths were essential. Nearly every day, the mother and daughter would make meat soup for the daughters-in-law.
Thinking it over, Mistress Qi also added stir-fried eggs with chives, sliced some pickled salted duck eggs, prepared a wild vegetable salad, stir-fried a vegetarian dish, and made a soup. In total, with the previous dishes, it came to six, which was already a grand feast given the times, quite presentable. Mother and daughter busied themselves in the kitchen, with the fourth child helping to stoke the fire.
Once the eldest sister-in-law finished nursing, and the two children fell asleep, Hua Jin came out of her sister-in-law’s room.
Instead of returning to her own room, she headed to the backyard. No matter what purpose this gentleman had, Hua Jin felt it was wise to tidy up a bit, especially since the poultry and livestock in the backyard seemed to have increased.
She left only two or three chickens, ducks, and geese in the pen and put the rest into her space.
Of the two pigs in the sty, she left one, and among the sheep, she left one, putting the rest in the space. Larger livestock weren’t taken, nor were the fish in the tank.
Openly, the family had one horse, one cow, and one mule. Although conspicuous, it wasn’t impossible to explain; their family had always lived well, having some livestock was normal.
The bigger animals were often seen by the villagers, and with a little inquiry, one could find out. Hua Jin trusted the cohesion in the village; outsiders trying to pry into things wouldn’t have much luck, given Hua Village’s known protectiveness.
Even when family members faced tough choices, they wouldn’t sacrifice major benefits for minor ones. After all, everyone clearly understood the situation outside.
Having done all this, Hua Jin quietly returned to her room.
In the main room, old man Hua Chengtian was exchanging pleasantries with the county magistrate, while Hua Yunao and his brothers accompanied them. With this gentleman’s permission, the two constables, Hu Hu, were also seated nearby.
The atmosphere was quite congenial, with constant conversation.
"...Old Mr. Hua, you’ve truly managed the village well. If the other villages in the town had such foresight, we wouldn’t have... Speaking of which, Liu is ashamed, for failing the people by not noticing the danger sooner..." As he spoke, the county magistrate’s expression turned somber.
"What does this have to do with you, sir? You’ve done an excellent job. If not for your timely warning to the townsfolk, the losses would have been greater. Ultimately, it’s all down to fate, unrelated to you." Old man Hua consoled, speaking from the heart, as there were too many self-righteous people whose actions only harmed themselves and others.
"It would be wonderful if everyone thought as Mr. Hua does..."
"It was merely fortune on my part, and because Hua Village’s terrain offered an advantage with ample preparation time, we were able to minimize the damage, thanks to everyone’s joint efforts."
This was indeed true; Hua Village’s high ground was quite evident as soon as the county magistrate arrived, making him nod in agreement.
Such elevated terrain definitely granted more time to prepare than others, but even so, it was the village chief’s foresight in leading the villagers to evacuate early. Otherwise, they would still have been rushed despite the extra time.
"Mr. Hua, you’re too modest," said the county magistrate.
"I noticed the houses in the village look quite new..."
"You have a keen eye, sir. All the village houses are newly built, including our courtyard walls which were added later," old man Hua candidly satisfied the magistrate’s curiosity by revealing all.
"During the flood, there was no choice but to seek refuge in the deep mountains for survival. Because of various reasons, we didn’t move out until the extreme heat passed and we could move back from the mountains. However, during that time, I led people down the mountain often, even to the town, witnessing your benevolence. We thought our village could carry on, and since each household had stored food, we didn’t compete with others for seeds. By the way, we also encountered Wang Village on the way and exchanged a few words with their chief.
Seeing the ancestral village reduced to ruins was painful, so we took the opportunity to collect a lot of bricks and stones while descending the mountain. Almost emptying the town’s brick and stone workshops, we even utilized uninhabited brick houses... otherwise, we wouldn’t have accumulated so much material," old man Hua admitted, looking at the county magistrate with embarrassment and guilt.
Emptying someone’s brick and stone workshops was nothing to be proud of, especially since the owners were unaware.
This matched what the county magistrate knew; indeed, the town’s brick and stone workshops had little left. Government officials had searched for repairs but found nothing, assuming the townsfolk took them. It turned out they were in Hua Village; thus, building a wall was possible.
Moreover, when entering the village, he observed that not all houses were brick; most were earthen walls mixed with brick, and the roofs were thatched, with only a few tiled.
"It’s alright. After all, they were unowned, and the living are what matter most," the county magistrate said softly.
Hearing this, old man Hua let out a huge sigh of relief, "Thank you, sir, for not blaming us."
Now the county magistrate shouldn’t have wild thoughts, as old man Hua had done his best to explain, and if there were doubts, one could verify with Wang Village. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the noᴠelfire.net
"Life in the mountains wasn’t easy, was it?"
"Indeed, but we managed to endure," old man Hua sighed.
"May I have a tour around the village? It’s been long since Liu saw such a lively place."
"Of course, please..." old man Hua stood up.
Accompanying the county magistrate, they walked from the back to the front of the village. They met many villagers along the way, but seeing there was a guest with the village chief, no one approached. Only some oblivious children curiously followed, running around happily, their little faces beaming with joy, bringing a spontaneous smile to the county magistrate’s face.