Song Tiegen sighed. “Kid, you know what’s been going on in the village.”
“There’s a bitter winter outside, and the road out of the village was blocked,” he continued.
“However, after the autumn harvest, everyone sold their grains. Now, even if they had money, they wouldn’t be able to buy grains in town. I heard that your family prepared a lot of grains for winter. See if you can help.”
“Please spare us some rations and distribute them to us.”
“We’re from the same village. You don’t want to see everyone starve to death, right?” With that, Song Tiegen ended his plea.
“I missed the part where that’s my problem.” Song Jingchen’s tone was indifferent. He glanced at Song Dahai, who was hiding behind the crowd, and continued, “Besides, we’ve only prepared enough food for our own family. Do you want me to share the food with people who have nothing to do with me, and starve my own family instead?”
Song Tiegen choked and glanced at Bruiser. He felt a little embarrassed. “Then why did you take in Widow Wang’s family?”
“I originally prepared a little more. With Auntie Wang and her son, the amount is just right.” Shen Yijia retorted angrily.
Auntie Wang and her husband had sold a portion of the grain to the An family. Even if they didn’t, the Song family could take in whoever they wanted. They were willing to do so.
“This…” Song Tiegen was in a difficult position. He couldn’t say that the Song family’s lives weren’t important.
“Are you really going to leave me in the lurch?” the person who answered Song Jingchen’s question asked sternly when he saw that Song Tiegen was speechless.
“I can’t even protect myself.”
“Alright, since you’re so ruthless, we won’t be able to live anyway. We’ll drag you all down with us.” After saying that, a ruthless glint flashed across the man’s eyes. He waved at everyone. “They definitely have food in the house.”
Before the person could finish speaking, a short arrow flew towards his forehead and pierced through his hair. From the corner of his eye, he could see the tail of the arrow tremble.
The man’s anger instantly died down, and his provocations stopped.
There was a moment of silence. When they regained their senses, they looked at Song Jingchen fearfully.
“You-” That person pointed a trembling finger at Song Jingchen.
To put it bluntly, no one took him seriously in the beginning. That was why they felt that he was easier to talk to than Shen Yijia. They felt that he was just a cripple.
In addition, Song Jingchen always looked reasonable when dealing with them.
The corners of Song Jingchen’s mouth twitched indifferently, and he said, “Instead of wasting time here, why don’t you go home and pray that the government will start distributing food soon?”
In the end, the group of people left dejectedly. When Madam Li found out about the situation outside, she was also worried.
She wasn’t afraid that they would starve. Rather, she was afraid that once they were forced into a corner, they would do anything.
If this situation continued, it might cause a riot. If word got out that the Song family still had food, their family would become the first target.
Since Madam Li was deep in thought, the family banquet became unusually silent.
Only Shen Yijia was unaffected. She ate and drank.
Seeing the villagers’ appearances, she felt that she had to eat more. Otherwise, she would become ugly if she starved.
The next day was New Year’s Eve.
Widow Wang brought over a few pieces of red paper and asked Song Jingchen to write a couplet.
Shen Yijia had originally planned to buy it, but after a month of snow, the road to town was blocked.
She did not expect Widow Wang to be so prepared.
How did Widow Wang know that the price of red paper would increase before New Year’s Eve? Widow Wang, who was used to living frugally, would prepare it a few months earlier every year. She dug it out of the rubble together with the grain.
“I’ll cut the paper.” Shen Yijia took the red paper and went to Madam Li’s room to look for scissors.
Looking at the red paper that had been placed in front of him, Song Jingchen was still a little dazed.
