Going to the Countryside
Therefore, a day in advance, he sent a message to Qili Village. If the county magistrate doesn't come, then so be it. But if he does come, the village must be cleaned. Every household must clean their homes and bring out their best belongings.
The white rice seemed too artificial, and the village head did not dare to request it. The request was for each family to prepare dishes similar to those made during the New Year.
Due to the lack of visits by county magistrates to Qili Village in recent years, many villagers lack experience in hosting high-ranking officials. The village head could only pass down the instructions provided by the village leader.
The meeting took place under the banyan tree at the entrance of the village. When Man Bao and others returned to the county town, the meeting had just begun, so Man Bao listened to the entire proceedings.
She was a bit angry, thinking that it was acceptable for the village head not to claim poverty, but planning to flaunt wealth was going too far.
So, she followed behind Lao Zhou and went to find the village head, attempting to persuade him not to comply with the instructions to flaunt wealth but to admit poverty instead.
Before she could finish speaking, Lao Zhou interrupted her, taking her back and saying to the village head as he walked away, "This child is full of ideas, don't listen to her."
The village head waved his hand and said, "Jin Shu, take her back." "I know what to do."
Crying poverty was impossible; it was such an obvious matter. If the village head did not realize it later, was he still fit to be the village head?
But displaying wealth was also impossible because, even if they desired to, they couldn't afford it.
The entire village mobilized, and with the help of energetic children, they managed to clean the entire village in just half a day.
Actually, there wasn't much to clean. I just had to pick up the scattered stones on the road and fill in some mud pits. What kind of waste is commonly found in rural areas?
But there was more to clean in the houses. The Zhou family meticulously cleaned and organized both the inside and outside of the house, paying even more attention to detail than they did during the New Year celebrations.
Man Bao then went to find Bai Shan Bao. They whispered and then took Dadao to play with the three children whose house had collapsed. Zhou Dayuan had been married for only six months, and his wife was not pregnant yet, so there were no children in the house.
But Zhou Dayuan was not old; Man Bao took Zhou Sirlang directly to find him.
The crowd assembled and whispered among themselves.
The next day, the county magistrate, Fu, came from Dali Village to Qili Village. The first place he wanted to visit was the three collapsed houses.
Upon entering Zhou Dayuan's low-walled house, he noticed numerous winnowing baskets scattered on the ground. Inside, there were some rice and wheat with an unattractive color, sunning.
The village head was stunned and subconsciously glared at Zhou Dayuan, only to see him returning the gaze. Then, he turned to look at Zhou Dayuan's parents.
The village head also turned to look at Zhou Dayuan's parents. The couple obviously did not expect the situation in their house to be like this; their faces turned slightly pale, and they quickly scanned the crowd to find their son.
The county magistrate did not notice their actions. He squatted down to look at the darkened grains, touched them, and asked, "Have these all been soaked in water?"
Zhou Dayuan brought out a bag of wheat from the house, looking surprised at the crowd in the courtyard, seemingly not expecting so many people.
Man Bao squeezed through the crowd to the front, hid behind Zhou Sirlang, and gave him a thumbs up to show appreciation.
Zhou Dayuan did not dare to signal her. He placed the bag down and remained still.
Seeing that Dayuan's parents were speechless, the county magistrate frowned, looked at Dayuan again, and asked, "Have all these grains been soaked in water?"
Zhou Dayuan nodded repeatedly, saying, "Originally, the grains from each household, other than some kept for consumption, had to be placed on wooden racks to avoid moisture." When my house collapsed, the beams fell, causing the grains on the racks to be crushed to the ground. The pouring rain caused the house to collapse, allowing water to seep in and soak all the grains.
Furthermore, their luck was also bad. Even after the rain subsided and they found a place to dry the grains, when they brought them out to dry, many wheat grains had sprouted, and there were also germinating rice grains.
Despite being aired out without sunlight, they still sprouted abundantly.
In the end, Grandpa Dayuan mercilessly traded the sprouted wheat and rice with the villagers at a ratio of three to one.
There was no choice; the wheat and rice were not only sprouted but also wet. Despite this, not much was exchanged.
Compared to other families, quite a few households were facing a similar situation with damp grains.
Moreover, these grains could be consumed for one or two meals, but purchasing excessive amounts, as well as sprouts that exceed consumption needs, would lead to wastage.
###
More wheat, less rice.
In the Zhou family, where many people resided in a large house, Lao Zhou burned charcoal directly in the kitchen. He instructed his second son to construct a long and wide bamboo bed, place it on top, and light a fire underneath to dry it.
The rice grains were spread on a surface, carefully dried overnight by the charcoal fire, and then turned over. After they were done drying, they were hulled. During this period, the family used the rice to prepare porridge and meals.
Despite Man Bao's opinion that it lacked flavor and didn't taste good, the Zhou family still enjoyed it enthusiastically.
The wheat was also dried on the bed. If it couldn't be dried in time, it would be ground into flour.
Due to the wetness of the wheat, the flour ground with the husk was not aesthetically pleasing. It had black and yellow colors and still retained the husk. The family didn't mind; they placed the milled flour directly on the bamboo bed to dry. After carefully drying it, they would store it for later use, either to make noodles with bran soup, bake cakes, or make steamed buns.
Although the taste might not be the best, at least it can be preserved.
Dayuan was also curious and came to observe their bamboo bed, and paid to have one made by Er Lang.
But it didn't help much in recovering the losses for their family because they were few in number, used fire for drying, and had to watch it constantly.
With the Zhou family consisting of six sons, four daughters-in-law, a daughter, and an elderly couple, there was always someone available to watch over things for twelve hours a day without disrupting the work in the fields.
So, except for the Zhou family, most of the other households could not dry their grains in time, which resulted in the food turning dark and developing a musty smell.
The county magistrate, Fu, rubbed his hands together, opened them, and noticed the dark color. As he approached, a musty smell struck him in the face.
County Magistrate Fu contemplated silently.
The clerk who followed him quickly said, "Sir, let's go and see the next family."
County Magistrate Fu glanced at him and asked Zhou Dayuan, "How many mu of wheat did your family plant this year?" How many kilograms of rice? How much was submerged? "Did you plant beans?"
Zhou Dayuan answered every question.
County Magistrate Fu nodded, instructed the secretary to record their situation, and proceeded to visit the other two families. Both of those families were also drying their grains in the yard; it could be said that the whole village was now drying moldy and black grains in the courtyard.
Everyone had sufficient reasons, "These are the only two days with better sun." If they don't dry quickly, they're afraid it will rain again later.