CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 55

"To motivate more people, threats and incentives are not a long-term solution. So, when distributing grain, you can add a condition: for every extra person who digs the road, there will be an additional share of grain."

County Magistrate Lin immediately took Ruan Mian to the grain warehouse.

Before she left, she briefly instructed Cui Zhu and her family, but others didn’t know where she went and were mumbling about it.

"That little brat is up to something again!"

"Lord, can’t we leave? Did Ruan Mian and the county magistrate leave to get grain?"

The government officer was annoyed by their short-sightedness and lashed out with his whip, silencing them: "The road is gone, where do you plan to go?! Can you fly?!"

After arriving at the grain warehouse, Ruan Mian looked around and found it indeed empty.

She learned from the magistrate that over a month ago, Taoqiu County had already suffered a disaster. At that time, it didn’t seem so serious, so they only informed the Prefect of Ji County.

Several areas under Ji County had the same situation as Taoqiu County. Unable to pay attention to them, they could only mobilize the reserve grain within their own city.

Later, Ji County also suffered, and they were too busy taking care of themselves, unable to allocate extra grain, so they reported to the Capital City.

The grain is currently on its way, but they are blocked off by the road.

Ruan Mian thought that merely distributing grain was far from enough and said to the county magistrate again.

"Sir, after many days of disaster, there must be quite a few people catching cold. If not intervened in time, they’re bound to perish. Why not gather a few doctors from the city to conduct a free diagnosis with me tomorrow, distributing cold-prevention prescriptions to each household? I also have many medicinal herbs, and we shouldn’t lack heating fuel either..."

"Miss Ruan, you’ve thought it through well. I’ve already ordered the clearing of paths leading to the mountains, and the people can collect firewood, starting with the city’s fire resources."

"This isn’t very cohesive. I suggest, like with road-digging, whoever can gather a bundle of firewood can exchange it for a certain amount of grain. You can then collect this firewood uniformly and distribute it as needed, ensuring every household has heating fuel."

As for the grain, she had already moved quite a bit from Ding Cheng’s warehouse!

Even after giving away Pan Chen and his group’s salary, there was still plenty of relief grain left, enough for Taoqiu County to withstand for a while.

Ruan Mian also communicated with the government officers after returning.

Now they have no other choice. To leave, they must wait until the roads are dug before they can move.

Since these refugees were going to be used as laborers, rather than having them idle, they might as well gather them and the local populace to dig roads, clear snow, and do the work together.

The originally lifeless county was invigorated the next morning because of the grain distribution.

For those few servings of grain, let alone road digging, people would even kill for it!

So, for mere road digging, they rushed with tools to the landslide site, eager to start.

Ruan Mian, meanwhile, was conducting free diagnoses with doctors at the city gate. While she was busy there, people back at the farm weren’t idle either.

The past days lacked good food, fearing it would cause too much trouble. Mrs. Zhang worried about her grandson and daughter-in-law not eating well, so she secretly boiled a few eggs for the mother and child.

Rui, after playing for a few days with his peer Lin, kindly shared one of his eggs with him.

Ruan Jiao happened to witness this scene.

Ruan Jiao frowned, squatted down in front of Rui, and with a smile, said while staring at the other egg in his hand.

"Rui, why not call me Aunt?"

Seeing Ruan Jiao, Rui promptly put away his egg, took a few steps back, and frowned.

"Which kind of aunt are you? I only have Aunt Qing and Aunt Mian."

Hearing this, Ruan Jiao’s expression changed immediately.

"Rui, I even held you when you were little. Have you forgotten Aunt Jiao so soon?"

"Come, be good, let Aunt Jiao take a look at your egg."

Unexpectedly, Lin pushed her from behind, grabbing Rui’s hand and shouting, "Don’t give it to her! She just wants to grab your egg to eat! Shameless, fighting over food with kids!"

Ruan Jiao, angry, turned pale and tried to grab Lin to scold him. Suddenly, Lin started to cry out: "Mom, mom, come save me!"

Ruan Jiao quickly let him go.

Rui, who held strong loyalty, grabbed a snowball and threw it hard at Ruan Jiao’s face, then ran off with Lin.

It made her so angry her face turned purple!

The other women bullying her could be tolerated, but since when did even such little kids trample on her?

Just thinking about it made her angry, but fearing Mrs. Wang, she dared not openly offend, especially with the formidable Ruan Mian on Rui’s side.

These people, she must ensure they don’t get away without consequence!

Just wait!

The scene of the two kids teasing Ruan Jiao was witnessed by Nanny Zhang, who was beside Mrs. Wang. She couldn’t help but laugh and tell Mrs. Wang.

Hearing how clever the kids were, Mrs. Wang couldn’t help but chuckle: "Aunt Ruan never had good intentions. After Aunt Jiao Chen passed away, she tried every way to flatter the lady. Her intentions are obvious to all. We must be more vigilant on ordinary days."

"Nanny Zhang, didn’t Granny Zhou make shoes for Lin? Let Granny Zhou make an extra thick pair for Rui as well. After all, they bear no malice towards us."

After observing these days, Mrs. Wang understood the kind of person Ruan Mian was.

Even after arriving at Wuheng, things didn’t settle down, and perhaps they would need help from her in the future.

Nanny Zhang, seeing the situation clearly, hurried to convey this to Granny Zhou.

That night, Granny Zhou made an extra pair of shoes.

Ruan Jiao, pacing back and forth, saw this pair of shoes that clearly didn’t match Lin’s size.

She immediately questioned Granny Zhou, who simply said: "These shoes are for Rui, as instructed by the lady."

No further reasons were given — she knew the bad blood between Ruan Jiao and Ruan Mian.

Outwardly, Ruan Jiao said nothing, but her gaze was fixed on those shoes.

If things continued this way, Mrs. Wang and Ruan Mian would become friends. If caught in between, wouldn’t she be targeted by both?

She stared at the shoes thoughtfully, looking for a pretext to send Granny Zhou away, then took the shoes and started fiddling with them.

...

The next day, some people went to work, and Ruan Mian and the others ate some warm buns early on.

As she was about to leave, Nanny Zhang came over with the shoes: "Miss Ruan, Miss Chen, our lady prepared these shoes for Rui. Our Lin also has a pair, made personally by Granny Zhou, very warm."

"Our lady also said that she thanks Miss Ruan for her care along the way and hopes you’ll accept this token of appreciation."

Mrs. Chen, hearing this, quickly accepted them, expressing thanks: "Nanny Zhang, we appreciate your lady’s kindness. Please convey our thanks to her. I will surely have Rui wear these shoes."

Nanny Zhang smiled slightly and turned to leave.