novelraw Chapter 139
Chapter 139
The old woman, upon seeing the candy in Song Nianchu's hand, immediately took it. She carefully unwrapped it and brought it to the child's lips.
"Baobao, this is candy. Have a taste."
The child, whose breath was as faint as a thread, didn't know if she tasted the sweetness, but she gently licked it with her tongue.
Candy was a strategic resource; when you were extremely weak, eating some could restore a bit of strength.
After a few licks, the child's movements noticeably quickened.
However, the old woman didn't let her finish it all. Seeing a faint glimmer return to the child's eyes, she carefully rewrapped the candy in its paper.
This thing was too precious, a lifesaver. She couldn't let her Baobao eat it all at once.
The child seemed unsatisfied, looking at the old woman with longing eyes.
"Baobao, Grandma will save this candy for you. Have some of this first." As she spoke, the old woman picked up the bowl of unidentifiable yellow substance.
Having regained a little strength, the child didn't resist and opened her mouth.
"What are you feeding her?" Song Nianchu couldn't help but ask.
"It's... Guanyin clay..." the old woman replied slowly.
"Clay? She's so weak; she won't be able to digest that." Song Nianchu frowned.
Guanyin clay was a relatively fine type of soil. During extreme food shortages, people would soften it with water and eat it.
It staved off hunger but was hard to digest. Eating too much would cause the belly to swell, making it difficult even to walk.
"I know, but... I really can't find anything else to eat..." How could the old woman not know this clay was bad for the body? But not eating meant starvation.
With trembling hands, the old woman fed the child the mixture.
"You're not from around here, are you? Why did you settle here?" Song Nianchu's eyes held a trace of pity, but she didn't stop her.
"We're refugees. There was a great drought this year; all the crops withered. We heard this area wasn't short of water, so we came." The old woman fed the child about half a bowl and ate the rest herself.
Refugees?
Song Nianchu's brow furrowed again as she glanced around the makeshift settlement.
"Are all the people here refugees?"
The old woman nodded.
"Some escaped from our village with us; others we met along the way."
"Did the authorities not arrange new housing for you?" Song Nianchu inquired.
"This is it," the old woman said.
Song Nianchu fell silent.
Everywhere was poor right now. It was probably impossible to properly settle so many refugees all at once.
"So, you deliberately tried to scam people at the crossroads earlier, to get some food?" Song Nianchu connected the dots.
"There were five of us in my family. Now, it's just me, an old woman, and this one remaining granddaughter. She fell ill and couldn't keep the Guanyin clay down anymore. I saw someone use that trick to get food, so I thought I'd try it. I'm truly sorry." The old woman's voice was full of apology.
Song Nianchu didn't know what to say, only sighed.
"Don't the authorities distribute rations here?"
"They do. Half a cornbread bun per person per day. I traded my buns for money, trying to save up to get my Baobao medical treatment." Grateful for the candy, the old woman answered every question.
Half a bun per person. It wasn't enough to feel full, but it maintained the most basic life functions. The authorities were likely doing their best.
"Little comrade, you're not from here. You should leave quickly. When people are starving, they're capable of anything." The old woman offered a veiled warning.
Song Nianchu nodded, turned to leave, but suddenly met the dull, lifeless gaze of the little girl from the settlement. Her heart inexplicably clenched.
After a moment's thought, she pulled five yuan from her pocket, pressed it into the old woman's hand, then turned and strode away.
Being looked at with such eyes by a child would soften even the hardest heart.
On her way back, she did notice some people's gazes grow more intense, but perhaps out of fear of something, no one made a move.
Delayed by these events, by the time Song Nianchu returned to Qinghe Fishing Village, night had completely fallen.
She was sweating from the walk. Going to the water vat, she lifted the lid, scooped a ladle of water, and gulped several mouthfuls.
"Nianchu?" Hearing the noise inside, Mu Shi'an came out to check.
"It's me." Song Nianchu responded, replacing the lid on the vat.
"Why are you back so late today? Did something happen?" Mu Shi'an looked her over, seemingly checking for injuries.
"Sort of." Song Nianchu nodded.
"What happened?" Mu Shi'an's tone grew more urgent.
Song Nianchu didn't hide it, recounting the day's events to him.
After listening, Mu Shi'an's brow knitted.
"Roughly how many people are there?"
"An estimated thousand or so," Song Nianchu said.
"A thousand people?" Mu Shi'an's frown deepened.
"Are you also worried these refugees might cause unrest?" Song Nianchu asked.
"Since the authorities have allocated them land, they probably have people keeping an eye on things. With shelter and some food, basic balance should hold for now. I'm more concerned that with so many refugees, there might be other policies later." Mu Shi'an said slowly.
"Such as?" Song Nianchu pressed.
"So many people... either building new villages for them, which would require huge resources and take a long time, or not building villages, which would mean distributing them to existing villages." Mu Shi'an replied.
"I think distributing them to existing villages is more likely." Song Nianchu nodded in agreement.
"That's what I think too. These newcomers would need houses and land allocated in the villages. Since there's no prior connection, a small number might be manageable. But if the numbers are large, it could cause localized unrest." Mu Shi'an said this, then looked up at Song Nianchu and added, "Also, you told me before that Yang Dafu's father is the production team leader in your brigade. If our brigade gets assigned a quota, I'm afraid they might use this to cause trouble for our village."
Hearing this, Song Nianchu's expression also turned somber.
She hadn't considered this before, only thinking about the potential instability in the town with so many refugees.
But if things unfolded as Mu Shi'an predicted, their village might need to prepare in advance.
"You all eat first. I'll go find Uncle Zhengui to discuss this." Song Nianchu stood up, ready to leave.
"It's not that urgent. You can go after eating. You've been out all day; you definitely haven't eaten properly." Mu Shi'an caught her wrist.
Mu Haoxuan and Mu Yongnian, showing good sense, promptly brought the food to the table.
Tonight's dishes were experimental products from Song Nianchu's new recipe development. Though she didn't consider them very successful, for Mu Shi'an and the others, they were already supreme delicacies.
"Alright, I'll go after eating." Song Nianchu sat back down.