touchnovel Chapter 31 Secrets
Chapter 31 Secrets
He didn't linger any longer and turned to walk towards the inner city.
Anyway, it won't take long for the coachman to go and fetch someone, and it'll be a good opportunity to meet up with Uncle Zheng in advance.
Behind him, the refugees stared blankly at his back. His words hadn't been loud, but some people had still heard them.
It took a while for someone to come to their senses.
"Was what that young master said just now true?"
"If a congee stall were set up, would we have food to eat every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?"
Some people became increasingly agitated, but unsure how to express their gratitude, they simply knelt down.
They kowtowed in the direction Feng Xiu had left, one after another, and soon a whole group of them knelt down.
Feng Xiu did not turn back.
There was quite a commotion behind me, but turning around at that moment would only make me seem hypocritical.
Not long after, Uncle Zheng arrived in a hurry with a group of grain shop managers.
I happened to meet Feng Xiu at a restaurant behind the gray walls of the inner city, with a group of refugees faintly visible behind us.
"Young Master." Zheng Bo stepped forward quickly, glanced at the refugees kneeling on the ground behind him, and hesitated before speaking.
I wanted to say something like "a kind heart cannot command an army, and a righteous heart cannot manage finances," to advise Feng Xiu not to be too soft-hearted.
In this world, there are countless pitiful people, and even the powerful Feng family cannot help them all.
But when she looked at Feng Xiu's calm face, she swallowed the words back.
What doesn't the eldest son understand?
But he did it anyway.
Zheng Bo sighed inwardly and said no more.
"Uncle Zheng, you've come at the right time. Arrange for the necessary grain to be transferred directly from the grain shop, without going through the public accounts."
The faces of the grain shop managers behind him turned ugly upon hearing this.
What's the current grain price situation? It's risen by more than 30%!
Opening soup kitchens to relieve refugees at this time is like throwing money into the water.
But seeing that even Master Zheng didn't object, they looked at each other in bewilderment and finally gritted their teeth and agreed.
"Yes, I will obey your orders, young master."
Uncle Zheng glanced at them and added, "In addition, are there any vacant positions in the shops?"
Even those who do manual labor like moving goods or sweeping should be counted. Giving those who can work a meal is better than giving them away for free.
The managers nodded and noted it down before dispersing.
Feng Xiu glanced at Zheng Bo, said nothing, and simply nodded.
He's an elder in the family, and he's very thoughtful and meticulous in his work.
Immediately afterwards, a steward with a cold face went to the refugees to select people and inform them of the news.
On some numb faces that had not yet reacted, some expression gradually returned.
She was both crying and laughing.
"Are we going to survive?"
"Young Master Feng said that he will set up a porridge stall, and there will be porridge available every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."
"What a kind person, such a kind person!"
The crowd gradually came to life, no longer as lifeless as before.
On the side street, a thin girl with straw on her head had a blank expression, while the woman beside her wept with joy, holding the girl tightly and refusing to let go.
After the initial joy, the woman gradually remembered.
It seems someone pushed my daughter just now, otherwise this good thing wouldn't have happened.
Coming to my senses, I looked at the crowd again, but couldn't find any trace of them.
"Huanhuan, we'll have food to eat from now on," the woman said happily without giving it much thought.
"Okay, Huanhuan wants to eat candied hawthorns~" The girl smiled.
At this moment, at the edge of the crowd.
The two figures who were hiding from the woman's probing stood up secretly.
The old man was thin and had a weathered face. Unlike the other refugees, his clothes, though old, were less filthy and muddy.
His eyes were slightly brighter, and he didn't look like he had been hungry for a long time.
Beside the old man stood a little girl with two pigtails, a thin rope around her neck, and a strange black cap on her back.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, how about it? I knew Brother Feng was a good person!"
The girl stood on tiptoe, gazing in the direction where Feng Xiu's carriage had departed, and tugged at the old man's sleeve with a grin.
The old man glanced down at her without saying a word.
But the girl wasn't afraid of him and continued to shake his sleeve. "Grandpa, look, all those people are kneeling and kowtowing. Brother Feng is really amazing; he got everyone to eat with just a few words!"
The old man sighed softly, his gaze fixed on the carriage that continued to drive away.
"Grandpa underestimated him."
"I thought he would have someone run him over. This rich young master's Ganlin Festival is nothing more than a means to gain fame and fortune and to force the emperor to abdicate."
I never expected that he truly cared about these people.
As the old man spoke, a complex expression flashed in his cloudy old eyes.
After hearing this, the girl blinked and tilted her head to look at him. "So, Grandpa, that's why you're helping him?"
The old man glared at his granddaughter with annoyance. "Help him? Help him with what? Do you think the rain during the Ganlin Festival was for nothing? That white fox envoy hid under the reservoir and wouldn't even give me water, causing me to lose some of my cultivation."
He paused, then looked at the girl with slight displeasure, "Also, stop calling me 'Brother Feng' so affectionately."
A defiant smile immediately appeared on the girl's delicate face. She put her hands on her hips and let out a soft snort.
"I don't care, I'm going to call him Brother Feng, Brother Xiu, Brother Feng, hmph~"
"You..." The old man was speechless, choked by her words.
The girl, however, became even more smug, standing on tiptoe and shaking her head. "Grandpa, you just praised him, so why can't I call him that? Besides, Brother Feng is handsome and kind-hearted, so what's wrong with calling him 'brother'?"
The old man's lips twitched, and in the end he could only sigh helplessly, "Alright, alright, whatever you want."
The girl then withdrew her hands from her hips, satisfied, and tugged at his sleeve. "Grandpa, you still haven't said whether you're going to help him or not?"
The old man remained silent for a while, watching as the carriage disappeared around the street corner. Only after a long while did he slowly speak.
"That rain, they wouldn't lend me water. I've lost ten years of my lifespan and cultivation. I might die soon. Do you really think that dark abyss monster at the bottom of the pond is so easy to deal with?"
"They're not even bothered by it, why should I help them? Am I looking for trouble?"
The smile on the girl's delicate face froze.
"Huh?" Her eyes widened. "What's in the pond? Will Brother Feng be in danger?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then laughed in exasperation. "You little girl, you really didn't understand what I was saying?"
Although the actual situation wasn't as exaggerated as shortening one's lifespan, one's spiritual cultivation was somewhat diminished.
I told you I'm already dead, yet you're concerned about the safety of a stranger?
I'm so tired~
"Of course there is danger," the old man sighed.
His voice lowered slightly, "As for that thing, it was a foreign race from the previous dynasty, the last White Fox Envoy."
The girl was stunned.
Although she was young, she knew what the previous dynasty meant.
That all happened during the Yuan Dynasty, several hundred years ago.
"Grandpa, Grandpa," her voice trembled slightly as she tugged at the old man's sleeve, "that thing has lived for hundreds of years?"
The old man did not answer.
He simply reached out and patted the girl's head, saying softly, "Let's go, we still have things to do."