Everyone knows about her past
Unlike the women of the village, who could only see the current predicament, she was a smart woman if not then she wouldn't have been chosen as the candidate for the village head. Though the women of the village thought that they can easily marry another mer and then move on with their lives, Village head Gu knew that it was going to be harder than that.
The village was swept by flood and many villagers' houses were destroyed as for their savings, it was better to not even talk about it. Even if they had some money saved it wasn't going to be of any help to them after all was the flood going to be the end? Of course not! The last time something like this happened, the terrible conditions dragged on for at least three months and the prices of grains were even higher than gold and silver.