Chapter 249: Chapter 249: Working Together as One

Before Shen Ningning could even speak, the old village chief’s gaze turned sharp.

He scolded sternly, "You there, from Second Aunt’s household! What you’re saying is wrong."

"After Ningning became the Commandery Princess, she gave us all the provisions from the food estate the court granted her."

"Every month, I’ve distributed your share of the grain to you, calculated according to the number of people in our village."

"With all that grain, your family is just you and your wife. By now, you’ve probably stored enough to fill two large vats. And you’re still complaining it’s not enough to eat?"

"Are you saying this now because you think I haven’t been giving you enough? Are you accusing me of holding back your share?"

The villager waved his hands hastily. "That’s not what I meant, Village Chief! Please don’t be angry."

Sister-in-law Liu, however, stepped forward to speak reasonably.

"Thanks to Ningning’s help, we’ve never been short on things like rice, flour, or salt at home."

"I have a large family, and even we still have a whole vat of grain we haven’t finished."

"But Ningning, you need to give us a straight answer. We don’t have a problem buying cold-weather gear, but what if there’s no snow disaster this year? What if it’s a normal year? What do we do then? Won’t we be stuck with it all?"

Shen Ningning’s small face was stern and dignified.

She said, "Auntie, don’t be afraid of spending money unwisely. If a natural disaster really happens and people freeze to death, no amount of money will be able to buy back a life."

These words made all the still-hesitant villagers firm up their resolve.

Chen Ye, for his part, stepped forward and said calmly, "I’ll do as the Miss says. I’m going into town shortly to buy fabric for padded jackets, cotton, and linen."

"My mother is old and can’t handle the cold. No matter what, I have to prepare in advance."

Once he said that, someone else chimed in, "That’s right. My grandfather’s legs are bad, and he’s paralyzed in bed, unable to move. Looks like I need to prepare, too."

The old village chief said, "We can’t just go buying things haphazardly like this. We need to listen to what Ningning says about the specific ways to prepare for the cold."

Shen Ningning nodded her little head.

"If all you uncles and aunties trust me, then please do as I say."

"For now, you don’t need to go to the city to buy things. A friend’s mother misunderstood what I meant and just raised the prices on all the cold-weather supplies."

"The market price right now is definitely not good. Qingzhou is the closest city to our Capital City, and it can be reached by carriage in a day and a night."

"If any of you have relatives or friends there, you can ask about the prices."

The old village chief immediately looked into the crowd. "Heiwa Zi, isn’t your aunt’s family in Qingzhou?"

A tall, stout, dark-skinned villager stepped out.

"That’s right. I was just about to go to my aunt’s place to pick up some New Year’s goods. I can ask about the cold-weather supplies while I’m there."

Shen Ningning reminded him, "Charcoal, padded clothes, cotton and linen, firewood, flint, and oil lamps—be sure to ask about all of them."

As she spoke, the little one took out a one thousand tael silver note and handed it over.

Heiwa Zi was stunned. "Commandery Princess, what are you doing? I can’t take your silver."

Shen Ningning shook her head. "I know everyone’s money doesn’t come easy, and you’d probably have to pool it together."

"After you get to Qingzhou, if the prices are right, buy as much as you can. When you get back, everyone can just buy it from me at cost."

"This will be a tough trip for you, Uncle Hei, so I’ll cover your travel expenses. Brother Chen, you go with Uncle Hei. Use my carriage; that way, you can look out for each other on the road."

Chen Ye immediately nodded.

The old village chief said, "The New Year is almost here, and the shops will close then. I think there’s no time to waste. The two of you should set out right now."

Heiwa Zi and Chen Ye left at once, each going to pack their bags.

Shen Ningning then said to the remaining villagers, "If your roofs at home need mending or reinforcing, you should do it quickly while it’s not snowing yet."

Otherwise, if they waited until heavy snow collapsed the roofs, they would have nowhere to run.

Sister-in-law Liu said with some pride, "The last time you mentioned it to my Liu, Ningning, he already inspected our roof."

"Sure enough, there were a few loose spots, and he’s already fixed them all."

Uncle Liu, a man of few words, quietly added something.

"I’ve also wrapped the roots of my loquat tree with old cotton quilts. If a deep freeze really comes, the tree will be vulnerable. If you have any old padded clothes you don’t wear, you should get them ready early too."

The villagers immediately started discussing amongst themselves, each family offering ideas on how to protect against the freeze.

In the end, the old village chief had to bang his staff heavily on the ground again.

Only then did everyone quiet down.

The old village chief said sternly, "What’s the rush? Listen to what Ningning has to say."

Shen Ningning beamed. "Actually, what the uncles and aunties just said is all correct. We not only need to prepare for the cold, but we also need to stock up on food."

"The most important things are firewood and charcoal. As for charcoal, I’ve checked in the city. Due to the drought, the supply is scarce. The court probably hasn’t mined much, so even less will make it to the market."

"Therefore, we must prepare plenty of firewood, just in case."

The old village chief then called out, "Granny Chen, doesn’t your younger sister-in-law’s family sell lumber? Go ask her."

Granny Chen was surprised. "But her family sells wood for furniture."

"You can still ask. Scraps and offcuts can be chopped up and burned just the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s good wood or bad wood," the old village chief said with a wave of his hand.

Granny Chen nodded. "Alright, I’ll ask tomorrow when I visit. My younger brother’s family doesn’t live far, just in Guangyang County."

Shen Ningning licked her small, pink lips and summarized.

"No matter what kind of disaster it is, I will do my best wherever I can to help everyone. So, we will definitely get through this together."

"But it’s crucial that we all unite our hearts as one. Remember, there is strength in numbers. Only by protecting the entire village can we all survive."

Everyone nodded repeatedly. "Ningning is absolutely right. That’s the truth of it."

The villagers of Xiangyun Village had long since experienced what it meant to work together with one heart.

During the severe drought before, they had united as one under Shen Ningning’s leadership.

No matter how terrible the drought was back then, Xiangyun Village was the only place where not a single person died in the disaster.

It was all thanks to the little one, so this time, the villagers had unwavering faith in Shen Ningning’s words.

At this point, a few young men volunteered, "Then let’s help the elderly who have no children inspect their roofs."

Someone else agreed, "Okay, I’ll go too. Oh, and let’s check on the mad scholar’s house carefully."

Everyone discussed animatedly.

Whoever had extra old quilts brought them out to share, using them to wrap the roots of all the loquat trees in the village.

The loquat trees were Xiangyun Village’s source of income; they had to be protected well.

The able-bodied young men made a plan: some of them would be responsible for chopping firewood.

Others would patrol the village and help out wherever they saw doors or roof tiles that needed repairing.

However, in the end, everyone realized that while they had considered everything, they were missing one thing.

"There’s no one in our village who knows medicine. This is terrible."

"Yeah, if there’s really a snow disaster, outsiders won’t be able to get in, and we won’t be able to get out. If someone happens to fall ill then, we’ll be done for without a doctor."

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