Chapter 212: The Noble Visitor

Chapter 212: The Noble Visitor

For three days, the Qian family distributed congee twice daily. Finally, the government runners of Taiping County delivered the first batch of emergency relief supplies!

Acting on orders from above, the government runners swiftly established multiple congee distribution stations—one outside the town gate of Jingxi Town and others along major transportation routes with high foot traffic. The displaced villagers, who had previously crowded together, were soon dispersed across these locations.

Census clerks gathered village heads from all around, instructing them to document each household’s population, farmland, and property damage. Based on this, households were categorized into three levels: destitute, poor, and non-needy.

Note: The damage assessments would be reported level by level to the imperial court. The court would then appoint special envoys to verify the situation locally, preventing officials from falsifying or concealing reports. Only after verification would the court issue decrees and allocate funds and grain for disaster relief.

Given the remote location of the southwest region, this process would inevitably take time—in the best case, two to three months, but possibly dragging on for half a year. Until relief supplies arrived, severely affected families would have to rely on the twice-daily congee distributions.

In Tianshui Village, the village head, aided by his capable grandson, completed the damage assessments smoothly, though occasionally encountering troublesome villagers.

Like Lin Datian’s family.

Zhang Lamei pestered the village head incessantly, “Village Head, sir, look at how much we’ve lost. Can’t we be rated as destitute?”

The village head initially avoided the question but, exasperated by her nagging, finally replied, “Your family has plenty of land. I’ve inspected it—if you manage it well, your rice paddies could yield twenty percent of their usual rice next month, and your dry fields still have some taro crops left. Even conservatively estimating at twenty percent, your situation is better than others in the village. That’s why I rated you as poor.”

“What? Poor? But sir, look at our thatched hut—it’s completely collapsed! Our tables and chairs were smashed by falling beams, and all our pots, jars, and dishes are gone. Now we eat off a broken board! How can the little we harvest from the fields help? We should be rated as destitute!”

The villagers weren’t foolish—they knew that worse conditions meant more relief supplies. At this point, dignity wasn't a concern; everyone wanted to be rated as destitute to get more grain.

The village head retorted irritably, “If your family is rated destitute, what should I do for those with only two or three mu of land? Create an ‘extreme extreme poverty’ category?”

Lin Datian, seeing his anger, pulled his wife aside and apologized with an awkward grin, “She’s foolish and doesn’t understand. Please ignore her. Do as you see fit.”

Still dissatisfied, Zhang Lamei switched topics, bringing up other families instead. “Village Head, sir, I was wrong earlier. I know you’re fair. But if we’re only poor, what about Lin Dashan’s family, Zhao Laosan’s family, and Old Man Liao’s family? They’re living comfortably! A villager passing by the end of the village said they saw large bowls of coarse rice and even meat on their table!”

The village head said, “What meat? They caught loaches from the fields! If you want meat, go catch some yourself!”

Not giving up, Zhang Lamei continued, “But they have money! Everyone knows Lin Shu had a lavish dowry when she married Zhou Ye. Just her silver jewelry and that phoenix hairpin alone could trade for a lot of grain! Sir, they can afford to buy grain—they shouldn’t be considered poor. And Zhao Laosan’s family made a lot selling ice jelly in town…”

Leaving Lin Dashan’s home, the village head was deep in thought.

Zhao Laosan’s family was simple to assess—their ice jelly business had just started before the flood wiped it out. With only two mu [about 0.33 acres] of land, they could be rated poor.

But for Lin Dashan’s family, he hesitated between rating them as poor or non-needy.

Though Zhang Lamei’s words were harsh, they held truth. But Zhou Ye wasn’t an ordinary man—he ate a lot. Asking him to eat less would mean letting him starve.

Moreover, without Lin Shu and Zhou Ye, Tianshui Village wouldn’t have saved so much grain. The village head felt grateful to them.

Zhang Zongyao said, “Grandpa, if you can’t decide, just report the facts.”

The village head suddenly saw the sense in this.

So Lin Dashan’s family was ultimately rated as poor, with an additional note: “Son-in-law Zhou Ye is exceptionally strong, once hunted a black bear alone, and has an enormous appetite. Though the family has savings and surplus grain, it is insufficient to survive the famine. Hence rated as poor.”

Few farming households were rated non-needy; that category was mostly for well-off townsfolk.

Without worry that Zhang Lamei might complain to the government runners, the village head wouldn’t have added the note.

Unaware of this exchange, Lin Shu knew that even if rated non-needy and ineligible for relief, she and A Ye could still ensure their family’s survival.

Village heads reported damage to the government runners. After all towns and villages in Taiping County were documented, the records were sent via express courier to the capital. Then came the long wait.

The people of Tianshui Village were getting anxious.

“It’s been a month already—any news?”

“It won’t be that fast. We’ll have to wait.”

“By the way, I heard grain prices elsewhere have risen to two hundred wen per dou [10-liter unit]! But Jingxi Town still charges one hundred forty wen. People from other towns are coming here to buy grain. Thankfully, grain shops here require household registration, or our town’s stocks would be emptied!”

“What? Two hundred wen elsewhere? If grain shops won’t sell to them, wouldn’t their trip be wasted?”

“They do sell, but only two sheng [1-liter unit] per person. The grain shop employers are conscientious employers! The main shop is owned by the Qian family—the ones who first distributed congee!”

“Speaking of congee, the government’s congee is thinner than the Qian family’s. It seems even more watery lately.”

“Be grateful. Our village is better off—we get two bowls of congee daily, and if that’s not enough, we can cook our surplus grain. Other villages have to rely on wild vegetables and fruits. We saved our grain thanks to A Ye and A Shu!”

“I smelled meat at Lin Laoer’s house again. Wonder what they’re eating secretly.”

“So what if they eat meat? During the flood, didn’t you bring your chickens and ducks? If you want meat, slaughter one!”

“Exactly, don’t be jealous of others. They deserve it. Thanks to A Shu, I learned how to cook loaches without the fishy taste. My kids love it—we get meat every few days!”

“A Shu’s fish pond is repaired—several big fish inside. Two bowls of rice can trade for one fish!”

“A Shu’s bamboo house looks great. Wish I’d built one like it…”

The villagers were in good spirits. The famine was easier than expected. With two daily congee meals, wild vegetables, and loaches, they managed. New thatched roofs were built, and though fields were flooded, twenty to thirty percent of taro and rice survived. They recently harvested the rice, adding to their grain stores. They were exempt from autumn taxes this year, so the grain was all theirs.

Soon, the surviving taro would be harvested, providing more food.

With these supplies, they could get by until government relief arrived!

While chatting, the villagers noticed strangers—an official and attendant—arriving. The village head personally received them.

From the village head’s respectful demeanor, they knew the visitors were influential or high-ranking.

In fact, the village head was taken aback. The robust middle-aged man was the special envoy sent to verify the damage!

Though a civil official, he came from a renowned military family. Hearing about a bear-hunting, exceptionally strong man in Tianshui Village, he came to see for himself.

The envoy was humble, wearing plain clothes and arriving by ox cart with only one aide.

Had he not revealed his identity, the village head wouldn’t have known his status.

“This way, sir. The last house at the end of the village belongs to Lin Laoer. Zhou Ye is his son-in-law—imposing and muscular. He hunted that black bear alone…”

Before coming to Tianshui Village, Lin Shu’s highest encounters were with the village head and town market government runners. But she had lived in the capital, where nobles were common.

So when the village head brought the middle-aged man, she immediately recognized him as a high official.

“…A Ye isn’t here—he’s in the fields. After the flood, the summer beans died. We planted autumn beans, and the taro isn’t harvested yet. There’s still work.”

The village head frantically gestured to her, “Forget the farm work! Go call A Ye back!”

To be specifically asked for by such a high official was a great privilege—something to brag about later.

Lin Shu said calmly to Lin Xiaopu, who was studying her lessons inside the house, "Xiao Pu, we've got an important visitor at home. Go call our father and your brother-in-law back."

Lin Xiaopu stole a glance at the noble guest, said "oh, oh," and ran out.

He Guixiang, who was heating water at the stove, looked anxious.

The only time she had seen the village chief show such respect and humility was when someone from the Marquis' estate had visited before.

What important person had come this time?

Since there were no men at home, the special envoy remained silent while carefully examining the Lin family’s residence inside and out.

The bamboo house, rebuilt after the disaster, looked quite beautiful from the outside and was spacious, with a separate kitchen, granary, and woodshed.

The bamboo fence in the yard was dense and tall, and on the side facing the path, a row of unevenly arranged cracked clay pots hung from straw ropes. Filled with soil, these pots bloomed with colorful wildflowers, adding bright pops of color to the otherwise plain courtyard.

A stone slab was embedded at the entrance to the yard, useful for scraping mud from straw sandals on rainy days. Inside the courtyard threshold, a pebble path led straight to the bamboo house.

The special envoy walked along this pebble path into the yard.

The yard was large, with a chicken coop where hens clucked and several young roosters strutted proudly.

When he entered, the woman of the house was building a fire to heat water by the stove, while from the main room came the sound of a little girl studying aloud. Her recitation paused occasionally, followed by a gentle, patient woman’s voice, seemingly explaining something to the child.

Over the past few days, the special envoy had visited many places in Taiping County to assess the disaster damage. In most villages and towns, the people seemed listless and dispirited, but the residents of Tianshui Village were noticeably different.

He had been surprised to learn that no one in Tianshui Village had died or been injured. Upon arriving, he was even more astonished to see the villagers full of energy. Now, visiting the Lin family home, he found every corner of this small farmhouse full of life, lifting his spirits.

Lin Shu invited the special envoy and the village chief to sit in the main room. She fetched some homemade herbal tea, placed it in clean clay bowls, and poured freshly boiled water just heated by He Guixiang to steep the tea.

"This is homemade wild herbal tea, sir. Please try it. It may not compare to the premium teas from tea houses, but it has its own unique flavor."

…

The special envoy, traveling in disguise, arrived and departed quickly, staying only a short while at the Lin family home before leaving.

The villagers didn’t know what had happened, only that a noble guest had visited Tianshui Village and specifically visited the Lin family’s home.

Later, curious villagers asked the village chief about it. He simply said that a noble guest had heard Zhou Ye had hunted a black bear and was curious to meet him in person. Upon hearing this, the villagers didn’t ask any more questions.

Of course, the special envoy hadn’t come all the way to Tianshui Village just for that. He had suspected that damages were underreported since Tianshui Village seemed the least affected and decided to investigate personally. Naturally, he also wanted to meet the famously strong man who had supposedly hunted a black bear.

After a short sparring match, he found the village chief’s claims to be true.

It was a pity that such a natural martial arts talent was farming in a remote mountain village.

However, after sitting with them for a short while, he could see that the young man was very much in love with his wife. His initial desire to recruit talent faded.

Forget it—whether farming or hunting, what he saw as a hard life might be another man’s sweet dream. Why should he play the presumptuous talent scout?

After the noble guest left, Lin Shu looked at Zhou Ye, who seemed oblivious, and said with a smile, "Silly, didn’t you see that noble guest had recognized your talent? Look at the moves he used when sparring with you—they must have been taught by a military family with deep roots. If you could win his favor, not only would you enjoy a life of luxury, but you could also learn skills from him. No need to stay in this small village as a country fellow."

If the noble guest hadn’t been rusty, making some of his moves weak, A Ye’s untrained style might not have gained the upper hand.

Zhou Ye didn't react much to her words. He looked at her calmly and said, "A Shu, things are fine as they are now."

He hadn’t failed to notice the signs. But so what?

The life of luxury A Shu described wasn’t what he desired.

He loved the mountains, loved life in Tianshui Village, and wanted to spend his whole life with A Shu in this small mountain village.

Lin Shu secretly poked the back of his hand with her finger, muttered "silly" again, and quietly smiled.