Reborn as a Happy Wife in a Rural Family
Chapter 214: Delivering Grain

Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Delivering Grain

"Just send it like that?" Wuyou asked.

"Yes, just like that. We’re here to deliver grain to them anyway. Are we afraid they’ll rob and kill us?" Gu Qingli glanced at everyone present. Each one was a master of martial arts; even one of them could easily defeat the starving villagers.

"Hurry up and go." Xiao Yunjing glared at them. Surely, he and Li’er wouldn’t have to go themselves.

"Yes."

Six people immediately carried the bags and headed towards the village.

Wuyou knocked on the family’s door again. The same woman answered, but this time her attitude was very impatient. She said, "Miss, what is it now?"

Wuyou held up a bag of rice and a bag of sweet potatoes, tossing them in front of the woman. "Here," she said. "These are for you."

The woman eyed the two bulging coarse cloth bags suspiciously. She glanced at Wuyou and stuttered, "What are these?"

"Grain."

"Grain?" The woman’s eyelids twitched. She immediately dragged the bags inside and slammed the door shut.

Wuyou shook her head and went back for more.

Inside, the woman quickly opened the bags. Seeing the brilliant white rice and the red-skinned sweet potatoes, her hands trembled.

After a long moment, tears streamed down her face. She cried out, "Husband, husband, we have grain! You won’t have to go hungry anymore!"

Then the woman remembered Wuyou—the young lady she had thought was mentally ill.

The woman flung the door open, looked left and right, and spotted Wuyou at another family’s doorway. She rushed over.

She grabbed Wuyou’s hand. Disregarding the cold snow on the ground, she kowtowed to her several times, shouting, "Miss, I was blind and misunderstood you, my benefactor! I failed to recognize your true worth. Thank you so much! You’ve saved our family’s lives!"

Wuyou was taken aback by the woman’s sudden actions but then helped her up.

The woman was helped up. Her forehead still had bits of snow on it, but she didn’t bother to wipe it off. She rushed to another door and knocked. "Mother Shuanzi, open up!"

The door opened, revealing a woman slightly younger than her. Seeing the first woman with a well-dressed young lady, she looked at the pair in surprise.

"Sister-in-law, what is this?" the younger woman asked, puzzled. Could this young lady be looking for lodging at their house?

Remembering the incident from a few days ago, Mother Shuanzi’s expression flickered.

"Mother Shuanzi, it’s grain! This is grain! The young lady brought us grain..." the first woman exclaimed, pointing at the cloth bags on the ground, her words tumbling out incoherently.

Only then did Mother Shuanzi look at the two bags in front of Wuyou.

Wuyou said calmly, "You don’t need to be surprised. We were actually sent by the Chief’s office to deliver grain to everyone and to understand the situation."

This delivery of grain needed a proper justification, and that justification had to be attributed to the Chief’s office, showing that the current administration cared for its people. Furthermore, it gave their group a legitimate reason for being there; in these times, no one would deliver grain for no reason.

"Really?" As soon as Wuyou finished speaking, the two women asked in unison.

They were clearly very surprised and overjoyed. The doubt, caution, and worry that had previously filled their eyes were now completely gone.

"Yes, please accept it," Wuyou nodded.

"Miss, thank you. I truly misunderstood you earlier," the first woman said, clutching Wuyou’s hand apologetically. She glanced at the other villagers at their doorsteps, kowtowing and expressing their thanks just as she had, and her heart swelled with an indescribable emotion.

"Who would have thought that after a new Chief was appointed, even poor people like us, living in such a remote place, could receive help? Without this grain, the people in our village wouldn’t survive until the snow melts."

Only when the snow melted could they plant crops and search for food in the mountains.

Now, they no longer had to fear.

As she spoke, the woman began to sob quietly again.

Mother Shuanzi, meanwhile, had opened one of the bags. Seeing the brilliant white rice and flour as white as snow, she, like the first woman, kowtowed several times with loud THUDS in gratitude. She even pulled over her three thin, shabbily dressed children to kowtow with her.

"Thank you, Chief, for remembering us poor folk! You are truly a living Bodhisattva on earth!"

Mother Shuanzi expressed her thanks and then bowed sincerely in the direction of Beijing County.

Wuyou watched, her heart filled with joy. These people truly understood gratitude. The common folk were indeed kind-hearted.

She looked at the three children. They were fairly clean but pale and gaunt, their cheeks red raw from the cold. Their eyes were timid as they looked at her.

Wuyou was deeply moved, tears welling in her eyes. She helped Mother Shuanzi and her children up.

It was a pity her lady’s Space didn’t contain any cotton clothes; otherwise, she could have given them some.

"Wife, have officials from the government brought us grain?" a weak male voice called from inside the house.

"Yes, husband! Now we won’t have to starve!" Mother Shuanzi replied. Forgetting to attend to Wuyou, she immediately carried the bag of rice inside.

"Oh, right, Miss," the first woman said, wiping a tear and looking at Wuyou with hope. "I heard earlier that you know medicine. Shuanzi’s father was beaten by someone and has been lying in bed for days, not getting any better. I’m afraid he doesn’t have much longer. Could you please take a look at him?"

Wuyou saw her shivering and patted her gently. "Go back inside," she said. "I’ll go take a look."

The woman nodded. It was truly cold outside, and her thin clothes offered little protection.

Wuyou picked up the bag of flour and gestured for the child still lingering at the doorway to go inside.

The room was filled with a peculiar odor. She walked to the door of the man’s room, paused, and knocked.

"May I come in?"

"Oh, I’m coming," Mother Shuanzi’s voice came from inside, though she didn’t explicitly say Wuyou could enter.

After a moment, she emerged. "Miss, please wait outside for a moment, I was just..."

"You were cleaning your husband’s wound, weren’t you?" Wuyou interrupted gently. "I’m a doctor. I can take a look at him."

Mother Shuanzi’s red-rimmed eyes instantly lit up. "Oh, that... that would be wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Thank you, Miss! My husband’s leg is nearly rotten. We don’t have a doctor here. There are doctors in the County Town, but we have no silver, and it’s too far for them to come. It’s just been like this..."

Listening to Mother Shuanzi’s anxious chatter, Wuyou entered the room.

Sure enough, a man lay on the bed, emaciated and pale, looking as if he were at death’s door.

One leg was exposed; the entire shin was black and badly swollen. A twisted wound, five inches long, had everted edges, revealing decaying flesh beneath.

The woman had just been cleaning the wound; a basin and cloth still lay nearby.

"Miss, this...?" Mother Shuanzi asked, looking at Wuyou.

Wuyou gestured for her to be quiet. She sat down, took out a set of instruments from her bag, and began to clean and treat the wound.

The wound was quite long and would require stitches.

Wuyou administered an Anesthetic to the man, then took out a needle and thread to begin suturing.

The man on the bed and Mother Shuanzi watched in stunned silence as Wuyou stitched his flesh as if it were cloth.