RPAGF Chapter 264 Disaster Relief [2]
Chapter 264 Disaster Relief [2]
Before long, the Sang family also brought out two cartloads of medicinal herbs to help provide backup supplies for Doctor Li.
The rescue operation lasted for several days, with snow falling intermittently at night but not during the day.
However, there's no indication that they intend to stop.
Gao Mengli heard from the village chief that it snows for half a month every year, and then melts for the other half.
That would take about a month, but last year was an exception and there was no snow. I don't know if it will be normal this year.
If there's a snow disaster, then we're all doomed.
Gao Mengli was even more worried when she saw that there were thousands of people queuing up at the city gate to receive thin porridge.
The food she donated will probably run out in two days.
Lin Xi tugged at Gao Mengli's hand beside her: "Mengli, look at those people."
Following Lin Xi's gaze, Gao Mengli saw several men who were dressed cleanly and whose appearance was different from that of the disaster victims.
Could those be people from the surrounding villages?
Gao Mengli looked around carefully and realized that there were quite a few people like this.
Does this mean that some lazy villagers have infiltrated the relief effort and are receiving disaster relief supplies?
At this moment, a commotion broke out by the river at the city gate. It was Master Wen from the neighboring county who had brought his men over.
Gao Mengli pulled Lin Xi along as well.
Wen Chou walked up to Dou Weiyi with a big smile, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Lord Dou, this is the disaster relief grain that our master sent over. It consists of 10,000 catties of rice and sorghum, as well as flour."
He just got married and is on leave these days, so he arranged for me to deliver it to you.
Dou Weiyi was both surprised and delighted, not expecting Tang Guangjun to be so loyal.
He even went so far as to fabricate curses against Tang Guangjun day and night; what a sin!
He quickly returned the greeting with a cupped-fist salute, his eyes filled with gratitude: "Your Excellency's timely assistance has truly relieved the urgent needs of the disaster victims in Pingyao. On behalf of the victims, I, Dou, thank you!"
Master Wen waved his hand with a smile: "You're too kind, sir. It's just that people in our area are suffering. We are neighboring counties, so we should help each other out. When my master heard about the disaster in Pingyao, he immediately started arranging supplies."
Dou Weiyi nodded and quickly arranged for people to move the grain to the city gate.
Dajun helped open a bag of rice, and just as he was about to make porridge, he froze.
"Sir, this is..."
Dou Weiyi's heart tightened, and she quickly walked to Dajun's side.
Following his gaze, one could see that the bag of rice contained a considerable amount of sand and gravel.
I grabbed a handful and twisted it; the rough texture made my fingers ache. Looking at the other bags of sorghum and flour nearby, they had similar problems to varying degrees.
Dou Weiyi was furious. She turned to look at Wen Chou, whose expression remained unchanged: "Master Wen, what does your master mean by this?"
Master Wen was not surprised at all. He quickly pulled Dou Weiyi aside and said, "Sir, please keep your voice down and don't shout."
Dou Weiyi suppressed his anger and shouted in a low voice, "Master Wen, how can I not shout?"
This was meant to be life-saving food for disaster victims, but now it's mixed with sand and gravel.
Isn't this playing with the lives of disaster victims? How am I supposed to explain this to these starving victims?
At this moment, Gao Mengli came over with Lin Xi and advised, "My lord, please calm down."
Dou Weiyi was in a fit of rage and was about to explode when he realized it was his "golden thigh" (a term used to describe someone who is very powerful and influential), so he could only shut up on the spot. He flicked his sleeves, choosing to be angry and humiliated over being angry.
Lin Xi chuckled softly, realizing that someone of military background like him inherently disliked anything mixed with grains.
Seeing that Dou Weiyi was trying hard to suppress her anger, Gao Mengli didn't forget to add another bucket of oil.
"My lord, I think Master Wen's method is quite good."
Dou Wei was shocked, not expecting that his "golden patron" would actually agree to this kind of approach.
But he couldn't do anything to the Lin couple, so he could only glare angrily at Wen Chou.
Wen Chou, as if they shared the same view, glanced at Gao Mengli approvingly and cupped his hands in greeting: "Sister-in-law, you are truly knowledgeable, unlike this brute next to you!"
"Who are you calling a brute? Who's the brute??"
Upon hearing that Master Wen dared to call him a brute, Dou Wei's anger, which had just been suppressed, suddenly flared up again, his face turning red and his eyes wide with rage.
He stepped forward, grabbed Wen Shiye by the collar, and roared, "You bastard, how dare you be so insolent! If you don't give me an explanation today, I will definitely not let you off!"
Lin Xi quickly pulled the furious Dou Weiyi back: "My lord, my lord, let go quickly, or Master Wen will strangle you to death!"
Wen Chou was pulled off the ground by his feet, his face turned blue and purple, and his hands waved wildly in the air.
Seeing that she was about to die, Gao Mengli quickly explained, "My lord, a small favor is appreciated, but a large one breeds resentment. Your disaster relief efforts are a good thing, and you are sparing no effort."
However, if you eat rice porridge and sorghum buns every day, over time people will think you still have plenty of energy, which can easily make them develop a habit of expecting to be waited on hand and foot.
Plus, with snowy days, you can't assign them any work, so they're just eating for free, aren't they?
Dou Weiyi looked aggrieved, but she didn't let go of Wen Chou's collar: "But there's nothing we can do. In this heavy snow, where can we find any work for them to do?"
Lin Xi stepped forward: "Sir, let me ask you this: if you were starving and had no food to eat, would you eat rice if there was sand in it?"
Upon hearing this, Dou Weiyi unconsciously loosened his grip a little, and Wen Shiye took advantage of the moment to catch his breath.
Gao Mengli pointed to the people in front and added to Lin Xi's words: "My lord, those who truly need us will not be looked down upon."
After all, being able to eat their fill is a blessing, so why would they complain about whether there's sand in the food? Plus, they don't need to do any work, so they're more than grateful and wouldn't be picky.
Those who are picky and choose are actually the ones who freeload off the disaster victims.
In this situation, it will be more effective to prevent the spread of food poisoning from neighboring "bad apples" until the snow melts and Dou Weiyi arranges for the disaster victims to dig canals and build docks in exchange for food.
After all, if you work all day without pay, only receiving food, you probably wouldn't do it.
Those who remained were the true victims of the disaster.
Following the direction Gao Mengli pointed, Dou Weiyi also saw those few different people.
Suddenly he realized.
Seeing the mess he'd made, he quickly let go of Wen Chou's hand, and with a grin, straightened Wen Chou's collar: "Master Wen, I've misunderstood you, I'm so sorry!"
But since you didn't explain yourself clearly, you can't blame me for that!
Having escaped Dou Weiyi's "clutches," Wen Chou's attitude soured. His grin vanished, and he glared at Dou Weiyi, his face full of resentment: "Hmph, as expected, only my master understood this from the very beginning. Why didn't you think of that?"
Upon hearing this, Dou Wei was again compared to him, and this "other people's child" seemed like a curse, so she immediately became angry again.
Upon seeing this, Wen Chou dashed onto the boat and hurriedly told the boatman to row, as Pingyao was too dangerous and he wanted to return to Pingding County.
Dou Wei glanced at him and saw that the man had run away. Standing on the shore, he angrily pointed at Wen Chou on the boat, who was looking at him smugly: "You can run away today, but you can't run away tomorrow. After this is over, I will definitely go to Pingding County and have a good talk with you. As for that ungrateful Tang Guangjun who married someone else, I don't even bother to compare myself to him."
Having thoroughly enjoyed his rant, Dou Wei straightened his clothes with satisfaction. As soon as he turned around, he saw Qian Yun staring blankly at him from behind.