noffsinger Chapter 251 Interests are heart-warming
Chapter 251 Interests are heart-warming
Gu Wenxuan and her colleagues hired someone to cook Laba porridge, which included japonica rice, millet, sorghum rice, yellow glutinous rice, mung beans, red beans (the round red beans, not the long and thin adzuki beans), flower beans, chestnut kernels, pitted red dates, and brown sugar. Not only was the porridge rich in ingredients, but the taste was also better than the villagers expected.
When the tempting aroma wafted out, the villagers immediately took their own bowls, ceramic basins, earthenware jars, etc. and went to the place designated by Gu Wenxuan and others to get the porridge - the village threshing ground.
After the porridge is cooked, each household in charge will carry the large wooden barrels filled with hot porridge to the threshing ground while it is still hot. Then Bai Lizheng will be in charge and supervise everyone to get the porridge.
The reason for doing this was because Bai Jingzhou remembered what Bai Lizheng had said to them about raising a dog. In order not to add unnecessary entanglements and troubles to the people who were responsible for helping them make porridge, he and Gu Wenxuan decided from the beginning to let Bai Lizheng come forward to help suppress some of the people in the village who had many ulterior motives.
In addition, Bai Jingzhou also suggested that Gu Wenxuan use an instrument whose specifications they could control as a measuring tool, and changed the original plan of "one bowl per person" to "two spoons per person."
Bai Jingzhou asked his eldest cousin to make the large wooden spoon for scooping porridge in advance. Each spoon was the same size. Porridge was a food that could not be scooped out at the top. When the wooden spoon was inserted into the porridge bucket, a full flat spoonful was scooped out each time. Naturally, there was no problem of who got too much or too little.
In this way, those who bring clay basins or earthenware jars to get porridge will have no reason to argue with the person in charge of distributing the porridge whether the amount of "one bowl per person" is enough for everyone in their family. This is equivalent to directly cutting off the possibility of some people taking advantage of loopholes.
The children who were lured by the aroma of the food were the happiest. After they couldn't wait to taste the porridge they were given, they exclaimed: "It tastes good!" "It's sweet!" "It has sugar!"
The greedy child grabbed the sleeves of his elders and shouted, "Dad/Mom, I want more."
"I'll give you some when we get home!" Of course the adults couldn't just give all the porridge to the greedy child, they had to take it back for other people in the family to try.
Most of the villagers holding clay pots or ceramic basins were very happy, but there were also a few people who were muttering behind the scenes that Bai Jingzhou and Gu Wenxuan were so stingy even though their families had become rich, and only gave each person two spoonfuls of porridge.
Of course, such people are bound to be criticized by reasonable people.
Gu Wenxuan and Bai Jingzhou also heard some of these remarks, but mostly they heard thanks and praise from everyone for their porridge donation.
The two said nothing, but they were determined not to hire greedy people to work for them.
After all, no matter how high the salary you offer this kind of person, he will still feel that he is being treated unfairly, and will still betray and hurt you when he gets the chance.
On the third day after Laba Festival, Gu Yongwen and his family came to Baijia Village again. They had heard that Bai Jingzhou was commended by the emperor, so they shamelessly came to reconcile with Gu Wenxuan's family.
Ever since they were driven out of the county government and returned to the town in disgrace, Gu Yongwen's family has kept a low profile.
They are afraid of being looked at with strange eyes, afraid of others avoiding them, and afraid of being pointed at and talked about, so they never go out unless it is necessary.
In addition, the villagers of Baijia Village had been restrained in advance by Bai Lizheng, so no one publicized the fact that Bai Jingzhou had received the emperor's reward, and they only told their relatives quietly.
Gu Yongwen's family had long cut off contact with the people of Baijia Village. When they came back and openly demanded bribes, they directly caused all the villagers of Baijia Village to avoid them and Gu Yongmei's family. Naturally, no one would tell them the news first.
Or maybe Bai Jingzhou's aunt heard the news from somewhere and frantically shouted "Impossible, this is impossible" in her own shop which had not yet been renovated, attracting a group of neighbors to watch the fun. Only then did the news finally reach the ears of Gu Yongmei's in-laws.
Gu Yongmei's in-laws knew that Gu Wenxuan and Bai Jingzhou were engaged. After hearing about this, they suggested that Gu Yongmei go and repair her relationship with Gu Wenxuan's family. However, how could Gu Yongmei dare to go to Baijia Village again?
She thought about it over and over again, and she didn't want to get caught in the act, but at the same time she was itching to take advantage, so she revealed the news to Gu Jin and Gu Yongwen with the lucky thought, "What if, what if they care about their reputation now and dare not be as barbaric as before?"
It has to be said that Gu Yongmei knew her father and brother very well. The two of them did show emotions such as astonishment, disbelief, and jealousy at the beginning, but after calming down, they immediately thought of making a profit from it.
Without even Gu Yongmei's encouragement, the two of them started thinking about how to repair their relationship with Gu Wenxuan's family.
However, Gu Wenxuan's family did not live up to their expectations. Bai Jingzhou became cautious about his reputation after receiving the emperor's reward, and Gu Yongwen's family, who came to visit them, were once again ruthlessly driven away.
Like Gu Yongmei, Gu Tao, who was counting on Gu Yongwen's family to act as the vanguard, had to give up the idea of heating up the stove and seeking benefits after learning that they were driven away again.
As for Bai Jingzhou's grandparents and aunt.
The two old men had overworked themselves to the point that their aged bodies simply could not bear it, and coupled with the fact that they had not yet recovered from the shock they had suffered before, they were now completely ill.
Ningda and his wife were unwilling to serve them, so they hired a middle-aged couple to take care of the two old people under the pretext of "being too busy to take care of them".
Considering that they always said that Bai Chong and Bai Jingzhou had bad intentions and wanted to harm them, Ning Da changed a doctor for them as soon as he returned to the town.
There was a doctor in Liulin Town, but he had been a victim of the looting and smashing by refugees. It was not until the world was at peace that he returned to Liulin Town with his family and reopened his practice to receive patients.
Ning Da asked him to treat the two old people. As for his previous plan of sending the two old people to the county town for treatment, because the other party had been trying to make trouble again and again, Ning Da was too tired. He lost the last bit of fantasy and affection for his parents. He simply lay down and didn't think about "curing" them at all.
If they like to pretend to be crazy because of illness, then let them do it. If they want to curse, beat, and talk nonsense, there are people who are specifically designed to "serve" them to stop them. They will not be allowed to continue to hurt other people in the family.