Chapter 210: Thoughts

Chapter 210: Thoughts

Zhou Ye, after much deliberation, still couldn't shake his worry for Lin Shu. He knew that A Shu was now perfectly capable of protecting herself, not just because her strength had grown, but also because he had long observed her unusual agility, far beyond that of an ordinary woman. Yet, in the aftermath of a natural disaster, there were always desperate people driven by hunger to take risks, or malicious individuals seizing the opportunity to commit evil.

Human hearts were treacherous, and he feared A Shu might not be able to cope.

After quickly helping Lin Zhaodi and Zhao Laosan clear the fallen beams and retrieve any salvageable items, Zhou Ye hurried to follow. The journey was long and arduous, taking him considerably longer than usual to reach them.

Spotting Old Man Liao's ox cart from a distance and seeing the two safe and sound, the knot of tension in Zhou Ye's heart instantly loosened. Before he could draw near, A Shu's head popped out from behind the towering stack of "miscellaneous goods" on the cart. She waved at him, joyfully sharing the good news.

A cartload of grain, most of it their own—A Shu was thrilled, and so was Zhou Ye.

"There's no room for you on this cart. You just arrived and now you have to walk back. Aren't you tired?" Lin Shu gazed at him, a playful smile dancing on her lips.

Zhou Ye replied, "Not tired. I was genuinely worried about you and Old Man Liao. If I hadn't followed, my mind would have been completely distracted."

Old Man Liao couldn't resist interjecting, chuckling, "Just say you were worried about A Shu, why drag me into it? By the way, you wouldn't believe it—we nearly died of fright! Three burly men followed our cart, trying to snatch the grain! At that moment, A Shu..."

Old Man Liao spoke too quickly for Lin Shu to stop him. Although he described Lin Shu's brave feat in repelling the three men, Zhou Ye's brows furrowed upon hearing the account.

He said little, only stating, "Next time we buy grain, Old Man Liao and I will go."

Lin Shu pouted slightly but didn't object this time. If the grain shop owner had taken her advice, they likely wouldn't have been able to buy so much grain on their next trip.

"A Shu, you two go on ahead. I'll follow behind," Zhou Ye said.

Lin Shu looked at him and hummed in acknowledgment. "A Ye, you've worked hard."

Then, her tone shifted, and she lightly scoffed, "But you deserve it. Who told you not to listen to me and insist on coming along?"

Zhou Ye sighed helplessly, "Yes, I deserve it."

Lin Shu curved her lips into a smile and called out, "Old Man Liao, let's go!"

Old Man Liao thought to himself that the two were clearly flirting, which brought a wide smile to his face. "A Ye, A Shu and I will go on ahead then."

Zhou Ye glanced in the direction the ox cart had come from, pondering something, before turning back with long strides.

The ox cart didn't stop after passing the village entrance, continuing straight to the village's far end. Old Man Liao helped Lin Shu unload the grain belonging to several families. In the courtyard, Lin Dashan, Zhao Laosan, and others also rushed out to help carry the provisions.

With several strong men assisting, the several *dan* (a unit of weight) of grain were quickly moved into the courtyard.

The money Old Man Liao had originally brought was enough to buy five *dou* (a unit of dry measure) of rice and flour, but with the rising grain prices, it was no longer sufficient. The same applied to Lin Zhaodi and Zhao Laosan. Both were aghast to learn that grain prices had surged again.

They had benefited from buying a good amount of grain earlier at a lower price, so this time they only asked Old Man Liao to help purchase three more *dou*. Little did they expect that the grain prices, which hadn't risen before they left, had increased so dramatically!

"After the price hike, the money that was originally enough for three *dou* of rice is no longer sufficient for that amount," Old Man Liao explained.

Lin Zhaodi waved her hand, "If it's not enough, then it's not enough. We couldn't have predicted such a price increase. Old Brother Liao, just give me two and a half *dou* at the new price of 140 *wen* per *dou*."

However, not many were as understanding as Lin Zhaodi. When Old Man Liao went to deliver grain to other families, the villagers' faces turned grim upon learning that the price of rice had risen by another 20 *wen* from the original 120 *wen* per *dou*. Those truly desperate for food had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept the reduced quantity, while those who could still manage for a while openly cursed the grain merchants, then backed out of buying the grain and demanded their money back. Some even shamelessly blamed Old Man Liao, insisting on buying grain at the old price of 120 *wen* per *dou* and expecting him to cover the difference, which made Old Man Liao laugh in exasperation.

"What kind of attitude is this? If you want to curse the grain merchants, go ahead, but why glare at me?"

"Fine, I'll refund your money. If you don't want this grain, I'll sell it to someone else."

"Pah! Take it or leave it. It's not like I'm the one who made the prices go up! If you don't buy now, it'll only be more expensive when you finally decide to!"

By the time he reached the village head's house, there were still nearly three *dan* of grain left on the cart.

The old village head sighed deeply upon hearing that rice prices had risen again, but he still accepted his share of the grain.

"Were there many villagers who demanded refunds?" the village head asked.

Old Man Liao nodded, "Quite a lot, actually. Aside from a few families who truly couldn't afford to go hungry and accepted their lot, the other villagers were so angry they refused the grain, or only took a few *sheng*. But I was prepared for this. Honestly, it's not their fault for changing their minds. After the price increase, I should have asked the villagers if they still wanted to buy before making the decision. But you know how far the journey is, Elder Brother Chief. Neither I nor my old ox can handle another trip like that. So I thought, regardless of whether the villagers wanted it or not, I'd use the money to buy the grain first."

After a moment of thought, Zhang Zongyao, who was standing nearby, said to Old Man Liao, "Since so many villagers asked for refunds and you've already used all the money to buy grain, doesn't that mean you're covering the cost yourself? Can you consume all this grain? If not, why not sell it to my family?"

Before the village head could respond, Zhang Zongyao's mother, Mrs. Zhang, frowned and disagreed, "Zongyao, don't make promises lightly. We've already spent over two strings of coins on this grain purchase and didn't even get two *dan*. If you take the remaining grain, we'll have to spend another string of coins."

The village head, however, said, "It's just one string of coins. If grain prices rise again, you won't be able to buy this much grain for even one string later."

Mrs. Zhang hurriedly tried to dissuade him, "Father-in-law, we can't use up all our savings just to buy grain. The town school is only temporarily closed. Once the disaster eases slightly, Zongyao will need to resume his studies. Not just Zongyao, but the younger children will also need to attend school in town later. All of that requires money."

At this, the second and third branches of the family also joined in persuading him. They hoped their children could study in town like Zhang Zongyao. The family still had some grain left, and with careful rationing, it would be enough. But money was hard to come by these days—once spent, it was gone.

Old Man Liao's expression was somewhat peculiar. Seeing that the family was about to argue over whether to buy the extra grain, he quickly interrupted and explained to the village head, "This grain has already been claimed by Lin Laoer's daughter, A Shu. The money I refunded to the villagers was also advanced by A Shu. Otherwise, with so much grain, how could I have afforded it? It was only because A Shu covered for me that I dared to use all the money to buy grain."

The moment he said this, the noisy family fell silent, looking at each other.

Then, a hint of embarrassment crept onto their faces.

They had been arguing over whether to buy the grain the villagers refused, only to find out it already belonged to someone else, making them look foolish.

Zhang Zongyao merely looked surprised, but his mother, Mrs. Zhang, appeared furious.

The quicker she had dismissed the idea earlier, the more embarrassed and annoyed she felt now.

The village head glanced at Mrs. Zhang but didn't comment further. Instead, he asked about the situation in town.

Old Man Liao didn't hide anything and described the chaos at the grain shop, as well as the harrowing incident on the road where three burly men had tailed the ox cart, attempting to steal the grain.

The village head's entire family gasped in alarm upon hearing this.

Zhang Zongyao exclaimed angrily, "How dare these people do such a thing in broad daylight?!"

The village head clasped his hands behind his back, his face etched with worry. Even in times of peace, there were always ruffians and idlers who engaged in petty theft. Now, with the flood, it was no surprise that such idle good-for-nothings would resort to this. If the authorities didn't investigate and crack down on this promptly, grain theft would likely escalate.

"By the way, Elder Brother Chief, A Shu heard a piece of news from the grain shop owner. She said that tomorrow morning, the wealthy Qian family in town will set up a soup kitchen outside the gate to distribute food. But this is just what the owner said—the information might not be entirely reliable." Old Man Liao, though short-tempered, was not without sense, so he didn't state it as absolute fact. If the grain shop owner's information about the porridge distribution turned out to be false, the villagers might blame him and Lin Shu for spreading false news and making them waste a trip.

The village head brightened at this and said, "This is good news. I'll have my eldest son spread the word in the village later and tell everyone to gather outside the gate early tomorrow morning."

After Old Man Liao left, the village head called Zhang Zongyao aside for a private talk.

One was the village head, the other an honor student at the town school—their discussion was beyond the understanding of the rest of the Zhang family.

After discussing the flood situation, both their expressions grew increasingly grim.

"...It's chaotic outside these days. Stay in the village and don't go anywhere."

Zhang Zongyao nodded. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Grandfather, that Lin Shu—"

The village head's shrewd old eyes turned to him, cutting him off, "I know what you want to say. A Shu is not the fragile, pampered maiden you assume her to be. Don't judge her prematurely or project your own assumptions onto her."

Zhang Zongyao looked ashamed and lowered his voice, "Grandfather, I didn't."

The village head snorted coldly, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You are sweet on Lin Yao and feel wronged for her, but what right do you have to feel that way for her?"

Zhang Zongyao's face turned bright red in an instant. "Grandpa, that's all in the past. I've long since let it go."

However, he was indeed biased against Lin Shu—not because of Lin Yao, but due to the matter of the swapped identities. He felt that Lin Shu had enjoyed a life of luxury for over a decade, having had it all. Moreover, he couldn't shake the feeling that something fishy was going on. If she truly returned out of filial piety, as she claimed, why did she wait two years after the truth came out to come back?

"Hmph, you'd better have truly let it go. I heard from the Lin Shu girl that when she left, Lin Yao was already engaged in the capital to the heir of a ducal mansion—a man handsome and brilliantly talented. What do you have? You have nothing, not even a *xiucai*."

Zhang Zongyao fell silent, but by the end, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Wasn't it you, Grandpa, who told me to wait and strive for a high rank in the exams?"

As for Lin Yao, he had genuinely let go. Back then, driven by unwillingness, he had disregarded all sense of propriety and secretly sought her out. If only Lin Yao had given him a definite answer, nothing would have stood in their way. He could have persuaded his mother to agree to the marriage and even knelt before Lin Laoer to beg for Lin Yao's hand.

But... Lin Yao was unwilling.

His affection was unrequited, so he had no choice but to bury his feelings.

After that, Lin Yao became the Marquis's daughter and had no further contact with him.

It had been a long time since he last thought of that clever, bold, and strong-willed young woman.

The village head grew irritated seeing his dazed expression. "Lin Yao is indeed a fine girl, but she wasn't right for you. The Lin Shu girl, on the other hand, has a good temperament. Not everyone who falls from privilege can maintain such a good nature. If it weren't for Zhou Ye in Lin Laoer's family, I'd wish for the Lin Shu girl to be my granddaughter-in-law."

The statement made Zhang Zongyao's handsome features twist in shock. "Grandpa, what are you saying?!"

Leaving aside the fact that Lin Shu was already married to Zhou Ye, even if she weren't, given her relationship with Lin Yao and his past feelings for Lin Yao, how could he possibly marry Lin Shu? What kind of person would that make him?

"Keep your voice down," the village head snapped, swatting the back of his head. "This is just between you and me. Of course, I've given up on the idea now. Even if you wanted to marry her, she might not even look twice at you. Don't think that just because everyone in the village says you're handsome and talented, you're something special. The Lin Shu girl spent sixteen years in the capital—she's seen all kinds of talented young men. Why would she be interested in you?"

Zhang Zongyao: ...

Grandpa, did you forget I'm your own grandson when you said that?