Chapter 117

Although not as white as snow, it was big enough, almost as big as the rice bowls they ate from.

A bowl of rice porridge, not the watery kind where you could barely see the rice, but very thick and creamy.

What surprised everyone the most was the small bowl of stewed cabbage!

And in the cabbage, there were even oil droplets!

The group of refugees could hardly believe their eyes. Oil droplets!

"Is it to your taste?" the Song County Magistrate came over and asked.

"Mm-hmm, delicious!" The refugees nodded repeatedly. "This cabbage is so fragrant!"

"Thank you, sir. We will work hard!"

"There's no rush, eat slowly," Song County Magistrate said. "After finishing work tonight, each person will also get a steamed bun, a bowl of porridge and a bowl of vegetables."

"Sir, do you still need more people?"

"Yes," Song County Magistrate replied. "Go back and tell your acquaintances to come. As long as they can work, they will have food every day."

"Thank you, Your Excellency!"

"Sir, you are the best official we've ever seen!"

...

Amidst the chorus of praise, Song County Magistrate looked towards Li Yao.

None of this was his credit, but Li Yao's.

After finishing work that day, a group of refugees returned to the open area outside the city with big steamed buns.

"I'm telling you, they really gave out steamed buns!"

"This big, two at lunch and one at dinner, plus a bowl of vegetables!"

"The vegetables had lots of oil droplets!"

"Really?" Some were skeptical. "May I not be human if I lie to you!"

"I didn't lie to you today," a man sitting in the open space suddenly said. "Wait until more people are tricked into working, you think there will still be such good things? And you think you earned money?"

"Zhang Gu, what do you mean?"

"Think about it," Zhang Gu said. "Usually the county government would pay at least 10 wen a day, and provide one meal, right? Now you just get a few steamed buns to send you away, you've lost at least half!"

"If we don't go, we'll have nothing!"

"You go if you want," Zhang Gu held a blade of grass in his mouth and stood up. "I don't have the patience to make wedding dresses for others.

With that, Zhang Gu signalled to several strong men around him, and soon more than a dozen sturdy refugees left with him.

"Never mind him not going, ungrateful people. "

"Right, I'm going to sign up anyway."

"The notice said women can go too, just one less steamed bun per day."

"That's still a bargain, let's all sign up! Or else there'll be no vacancies left!"

...

With someone taking the lead, and getting real food, the number of refugees signing up to work on road repairs surged, reaching over two thousand the next day.

Song County Magistrate gathered the village heads, bringing people to repair roads in their own villages, while food distribution was handled by Zhang County Captain.

The refugee crisis in Baichuan County was quelled before it even began, leaving magistrates from neighboring counties extremely envious.

But there was no way around it.

Driven by Li Yao, Lai the merchant and several other big landlords in Baichuan County also took out the grain they had stored.

To others, this seemed utterly foolish, but Lai knew that in future, Baichuan County may lack many things, but never grain.

He had already gotten news that sweet potatoes would be mass cultivated in Baichuan this year.

Even with just 10 mu per household, the minimum yield would be over 10,000 catties, so hoarding grain was no longer meaningful, Baichuan would only sell grain outwards.

He had also hired laborers to reclaim wastelands on his property, preparing for a big harvest.

However, not all refugees were willing to work on road repairs for two meals a day. Many idled in the open spaces, waiting for the county government to distribute porridge again.

But after waiting for days, there was no sign of continued porridge distribution. Some chose to leave, while a tiny minority pursued more extreme measures.

"Let me tell you," in a small grove outside the city, Zhu Yougui said to a group of refugees. "Don't underestimate our Baichuan County. We have plenty of rich men."

"Cut the bullshit," Zhang Gu clearly wasn't interested in his bragging. "Just say who's the richest, the best to rob."

"The richest is of course Li Yao from He Wan Village," Zhu Yougui said. "But her family has no cash or hoarded grain, and it's not easy to go to He Wan Village. So the best target is Lai the merchant's home in the market town."

"That's decided then!" Zhang Gu said. "Take us to scout around. We'll take action tonight!"

... Li Yao rode her variable-speed bicycle to Baichuan Market.

To prevent refugee riots, the city gates in all directions were tightly shut, guarded by two attendants leading temporarily conscripted patrolmen.

Seeing her from afar, the lead attendant opened the gate early.

"Mistress Li is here!"

"I'll go take a look at the shop," Li Yao said. "You've worked hard."

"It's no hardship," the attendant said. "We owe it to Mistress Li this time. If not for you, we wouldn't know what to do with so many refugees. I heard that in the county next door, the magistrate's front door was smashed in by the refugees."

After some small talk with the attendants, Li Yao went to the specialty shop.

With the city gates locked, there were naturally few people in the market town, and the specialty shop was only half-open.

Plans to launch new bikes and tricycles also had to be postponed.

These past few days, Boss Zou was scared to death. The shop was stocked with many clubs, so that if refugees rushed in to loot, he could lead the shop assistants to resist.

"When will this chaos end?"

"It won't settle until it rains."

"Right, did you buy all the stuff I asked you to?"

"Got a lot, drying in the backyard. But I don't understand, why did you ask me to stockpile so many herbs?"

"To prevent epidemics."

It was springtime, a severe drought, with tens of thousands of refugees gathered outside the city.

These refugees had no homes, ate and relieved themselves casually. If an epidemic broke out, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Unable to solve these problems, Li Yao could only prepare some medicinal herbs as precaution.

"With little business these days, let the shop assistants all go home."

"We'd rather not go back," the shop boys declined her kindness. "Nothing to do at home, might as well stay and watch the shop."

Li Yao could only accede to their wishes.

After checking on the herbs, all that she needed, she prepared to head home. From afar, she saw Zhu Yougui lead two others sneaking suspiciously into a small alley.

What was he up to?

She was very wary of Zhu Yougui.

Thanks to working for her, most villagers from He Wan had earned rewards and gotten through this difficult period. But Zhu Yougui was lazy and aimless, probably couldn't even afford to cook at home now.

When in poverty, think of change.

But changes in some people didn't necessarily head in a good direction.