Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

Wei Cai looked at everyone's reactions and sighed, "I'm not trying to embarrass you. We are all from the same village. We can't just watch those families starve to death. Let's think of a solution."

Among the people present, only a few looked grateful, while most of them looked embarrassed.

Even Wu Dahai, who was relatively well off in the village, was embarrassed. He turned around and looked at everyone, and was the first to speak: "Uncle, I can't think of a way to get food. My family still has some food in stock, but it's only enough for the whole family to eat and drink. We are all struggling to survive. Only the children in the family can have two meals a day. There is really no other way."

Wu Dahai took the lead, and others followed suit.

"Yes, village chief, everyone has a little food. It's just enough for the family. Even if we want to, we can't afford it."

"Every family has only one meal a day. We don't know how long the rain will last. All the people in the city have moved out. Who knows what disaster will happen next?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone nodded, even Wei Cai felt a little uneasy. Looking at the heavy rain outside, he felt uneasy for a long time.

Zhang Wu stood aside without saying a word, but his attitude also implied something else.

After a long while, Wei Cai sighed deeply: "Who can predict what will happen in the future, but right now those families are indeed out of food, so we have to think of a solution. Do we really want to watch them starve to death?"

"People in the city are almost gone, let alone buying food. When the food store was open before, no one went to buy. Now we are asked to come up with a solution at the last minute. Isn't this embarrassing?"

A middle-aged man stood behind Wu Dahai. Although his voice was small, everyone present heard it. Many people's faces turned ugly, and those families who were short of food were extremely ashamed.

"Yes, village chief, what Lao Li said is true. You went door to door to ask everyone to go to the city to buy food. Those families are not so poor that they can't even afford to eat. They sold a lot of leather during the extreme cold, so they must have money in their hands. You have fulfilled your responsibilities as a village chief, but they didn't listen to you. Now that they can't buy food, they are looking for us to find a solution. You can't do things this way."

"That's it."

"We are not their parents, so why should we help them find a solution? If we could find a way to get food, we wouldn't have to eat one meal a day and go hungry twice a day."

"That's right."

Those families' faces turned pale and blue. After all, they were telling the truth. They really didn't care about what the village chief said. They thought that even if it rained for a month at most, they never thought that the rumor would actually come true.

It's too late to regret.

There were three families in Damo Village who did not buy food. These three families were relatives. Among them, Feng Qingyun from the Feng family suddenly knelt on the ground while everyone was still denouncing him.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Wei Cai frowned and looked at him: "Qingyun, what are you doing?"

Feng Qingyun's face flushed, and he stiffened his neck and said, "I know I deserve this, for turning a deaf ear to the village chief's words, but my children are starving. We have known each other for decades, and my grandson calls you uncle and aunt all the time. Today, I, Old Feng, beg you to help me think of a solution. If you can't, can you sell me some grain?"

Looking at Feng Qingyun's face full of remorse, everyone looked at each other, feeling uncomfortable.

Zhang Wu calmly retreated to the back of the crowd, not saying a word or attracting attention, wanting to see what these people would do.

"Old Feng, why are you doing this? It's not that we don't want to help. If there is extra food at home, we will give it out for the sake of our fellow villagers without you saying anything. It's not that we don't have food."

Feng Qingyun's face was pale, with despair in his eyes. All he could think about was his little grandson who was dying of hunger in bed at home. His eyes instantly turned red.

Wu Dahai said with a serious face: "We are not the kind of people who would stand by and watch someone die without helping. Just like the village chief said, we are all from the same village. How about this? Those who have food can give some, and those who don't have any food can give some of their edibles. Let's get through this difficult time first. We can't just watch people in the village starve to death."

You might feel sad if you take out a few kilograms of grain, but if it is just a handful of grain, although it is not a small amount, it is still acceptable.

Therefore, the others stopped refusing and quickly agreed.

If each family contributes a small amount of food, it would be a lot when put together.

A light appeared in Feng Qingyun's gray eyes, and he kowtowed to everyone. The other two families also shed tears of gratitude.

After the families calmed down a bit, Wu Dahai said, "It's not a good idea to keep going like this. We can't ask everyone to contribute food every time. Every family has a family to feed. We still have to think of a way."

Wei Cai also nodded: "We have to think of a way, so why don't we call you all here to think about it together?"

"If it hadn't rained, we could have gone into the mountains and brought back some wild animals, but it's raining so hard that it's hard to go into the mountains, and we can't buy food in the city. What else can we do?"

At this time, someone whispered, "I saw those noble families in the village move a lot of food that day. If there is no food in the city, they must have some. Otherwise, we should go and ask them to sell some food to us."

After hearing this, other people's eyes lit up instantly.

Wei Cai rejected it outright: "No way, you all know where those families came from, they are not easy to deal with, how about we beat them out with sticks?"

The eyes that had just lit up in everyone's eyes dimmed in an instant.

Wu Dahai thought for a moment and said tentatively: "If all else fails, why don't we go to other towns? Maybe there's food for sale somewhere else."

"This is a good idea."

"I think what Dahai said is feasible."

Wei Cai pondered for a moment and said, "This is the only way out. Let's discuss who should go. It's raining so hard and we don't know when it will stop. We need to go as soon as possible."

Wu Dahai immediately raised his hand: "I'll go."

Wu Dahai wanted to go, and other people in the village also wanted to go. If they could buy some food, they could get more for themselves.

For a moment, the spacious main hall of the headquarters was filled with noise.

But it didn't take long for the people who were going to go to be decided, and Wu Dahai and dozens of others would set off early tomorrow morning.

After the discussion, everyone was asked to go home and get food for the three families.

Wu Dahai was dressed when he remembered Zhang Wu. He looked around in the crowd and finally saw Zhang Wu coming out. He quickly pulled him out and asked as he walked, "Why didn't you sign up to go with us? If you had asked, you would have been one."

Zhang Wu pursed his lips and shook his head: "I won't go. I can't leave my family without someone."

Thinking that Zhang Wu was the only man in the family, Wu Dahai immediately understood: "Yeah, it's better not to go. It's raining so hard, the road must be difficult to walk on."

"Well, be careful when you go out, and come back early."

Wu Dahai was quite optimistic, without too much worry on his face, and responded loudly: "Don't worry, there are not many people outside in such heavy rain. If you can walk quickly, you can be back in half a month. I just hope that other towns still have food to buy."

Zhang Wu was not so optimistic. If it was just a simple rain that lasted for several months, Zhou Huai would not have evacuated the people, let alone moved out of the city.