Chapter 21: Thumping Chests and Stamping Feet
This shout instantly drew everyone's attention.
"Comrade Deling, what is it?" Zhou Shiwei had just stepped into the meeting room when he heard Song Deling's loud cry, and he asked in a deep voice.
Song Deling was in disbelief. Ignoring Zhou Shiwei's question for a moment, he turned to the gathered village leaders.
"Your villages' autumn harvests were all cut in half?" His voice trembled slightly.
"That's right. With the pest damage, being able to harvest half is already a blessing! Brother Deling, I heard the person who discovered the solution to the infestation was a little girl from your village. On behalf of our village, I want to thank her." Someone answered, looking at him with total confusion.
The village accountant who had come with Song Deling also changed expression. He whispered to Song Deling, "Village Head, didn't you tell them about the insect ash?"
Song Deling let out a huff. "Of course I did! The day I got back from the cornfield, I came to the county and told them to notify the other villages not to waste that insect ash because it was useful for the crops. I even ran into several village heads right here in the county and told them myself at the time."
The accountant breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried that Song Deling hadn't spoken up. With so many villages seeing a decrease in production while theirs alone had a bumper harvest, it would have been considered a professional oversight if it were due to Song Deling's negligence.
The county would certainly be dissatisfied, and other villages might even vent their anger on them. Since Song Deling had spoken, their village couldn't be blamed.
The two of them whispered to each other, leaving everyone else feeling baffled.
"Old Song, what on earth do you mean? Why stop halfway through your sentence?"
Song Deling stood up and sighed. Ai, he was still wallowing in regret that his own village could have had an even greater harvest, he never imagined these other villages had actually lost half their yield.
On one hand, his regret deepened, just look at how much grain those insect ashes had saved! If only he had listened to Baozhu from the start...
On the other hand, he felt a surge of "tough love" frustration toward these people: Serves them right!
Didn't he tell them the ash was useful for crops? Why didn't they listen?
Now look who's stunned.
He pointed at the head of Shuisha Village, then at two other village leaders. "Old Qi, Old Ma, Old Lin—do you remember what I told you in the county two months ago?"
The three of them shook their heads in unison, it had been so long, who could possibly remember?
"Did I not tell you that those insect ashes were useful for the crops, and told you to scatter all the burned ashes into your fields?"
The three of them thought it over. The head of Shuisha Village was the first to recall: "I think you might have mentioned it. Why? Was there actually something wrong with those ashes?"
He hadn't considered for a second that the insect ash could increase crop yields, because of the destructive power of the pests, he had remained lingering in fear of those Five-Footed Bugs.
Just like Song Deling at the beginning, he felt that scattering those ashes into the soil would be bad for the crops. When Song Deling ran into them back then, he had blurted out that sentence and rushed off without much explanation—who would take such a risk?
If there was no problem, that was fine, but if something went wrong, it would be a disaster.
A sudden realization struck him: "You looked so miserable when you walked in just now. Is it because something went wrong with those insect ashes? What, did they ruin all the crops in your village?"
Only then did the others understand why Song Deling was acting so erratic. It must be that the insect ashes had killed the crops, which was why he had lost his composure just now.
This Song Deling must have been possessed, knowing those pests were harmful to crops, he still scattered their ashes into the fields. They could only wonder just how badly the crops in Xiangfu Village had been ravaged.
The head of Shuisha Village let out a long sigh: "Ai, I don't even know what to say to you. I wanted to advise you when you mentioned it back then, but you just dropped that one sentence and hurried off. Now that everyone has to tighten their belts, no one can help your village. Do you have any idea how many people you've harmed?!"
He felt genuinely angry at Song Deling's actions, crops were life itself, how could anyone mess around with them so recklessly?
People from other villages added, "That’s right, Old Song, you did the wrong thing here. Now that your village has no harvest, we don't have any extra grain to help you!"
Song Deling’s eyelids twitched.
What on earth? When did he ever say their village had no harvest?
Zhou Shiwei, who had already sat down, changed his expression upon hearing this: "Comrade Deling, what exactly is the autumn harvest situation in your village?"
Song Deling asked the County Magistrate, "Leader, did you know about the matter of the insect ash I mentioned?"
"Insect ash? What matter?" Zhou Shiwei frowned.
The secretary beside him seemed to remember something and said to Song Deling, "Comrade Song, are you referring to the message you wanted me to bring to the County Magistrate, that scattering those insect ashes into the fields could save the crops?"
Song Deling nodded. "Exactly, that's the one."
Zhou Shiwei asked the secretary, "How is it that I didn't know about this?"
The secretary hurriedly replied, "County Magistrate, you went to the city for a meeting that day, and you were extremely busy upon your return, so I didn't bother you with this matter."
At the time, he felt Song Deling’s words were absurd, letting the County Magistrate know would have achieved nothing except getting himself scolded.
Later, after the County Magistrate returned, he indeed forgot about it. Thinking back now, he felt lucky he had forgotten, otherwise, if he had rashly told the Magistrate and the other villages had followed suit, it would have resulted in a zero-harvest for the entire county, making him the villain of Yun County.
Zhou Shiwei’s face darkened. "Nothing regarding the autumn harvest is a small matter, do not take it upon yourself to make such decisions."
If he had known about Song Deling’s idea, he certainly would have tested it first and taken action only after confirming the results, rather than letting him mess around so recklessly and ruin the harvest.
"Comrade Deling, exactly what is the situation with the autumn harvest in Xiangfu Village? Tell me everything clearly!" He was deeply worried, buying grain was no easy task.
The supply for the townspeople in Yun County hadn't been settled yet, and now he had to find a way for the villagers of Xiangfu Village, he couldn't actually let them starve to death.
Song Deling straightened his shoulders, smiled, and said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear: "Over ten thousand catties more than last year!"
Let these people distort his good intentions, let's see if this scares them to death.
The meeting room instantly erupted in an uproar.
"What? You’re talking nonsense, aren't you?"
"Song Deling, have you gone senile from anxiety and started talking gibberish?"
"Is that real or fake? How could the yield be that high!"
"It’s definitely fake! Their village was the first to have those bugs, so they suffered the most. Just listen to Song Deling bragging!"
Zhou Shiwei suddenly stood up and stared intently at Song Deling: "Comrade Deling, is what you’re saying true?"
"Of course it's true!" He scanned the room, feeling a mix of satisfaction and frustration toward his peers.
"Those insect ashes are of great use! This year's autumn harvest in Xiangfu Village didn't decrease; on the contrary, we harvested over ten thousand catties more than last year!"
The secretary’s face turned pale. If what Song Deling said was true, then he was in serious trouble.
The head of Shuisha Village grabbed Song Deling: "I don't believe you unless you take me to see it!"
Song Deling glared at him: "Why on earth should I take you to see it?" He clearly remembered how this fellow had just kicked him while he was down.
It was Zhou Shiwei who spoke up to break their dispute, "Comrade Deling, take me to Xiangfu Village." He had to see it for himself to be at peace.
And so, nearly all the county leaders set out in full force, followed by many village leaders from other areas. A massive crowd hurried toward Xiangfu Village.
The arrival of so many people gave the villagers of Xiangfu Village a big fright. This year was a bumper harvest, so everyone was in a good mood, having just finished the harvest, they were happily "adding autumn fat" to their frames.
When they arrived, it was exactly lunchtime in Xiangfu Village. Zhou Shiwei took the lead and entered a villager's home, finding the table laden with food.
Everyone's bowl was piled high with solid rice mixed with cornmeal and sweet potato chunks, and the portions on the table were clearly enough for the whole family to eat until full.
Zhou Shiwei had been County Magistrate for several years and enjoyed conducting on-site inspections; he understood the temperament of these villagers better than anyone.
If they didn't have an ample supply of grain, they would absolutely never be willing to eat and drink like this.
The County Magistrate’s arrival gave this family quite a shock: "What... what’s wrong?"
Zhou Shiwei was incredibly amicable: "It’s nothing, folks. I just wanted to ask how your autumn harvest turned out this year."
Only then did the family heave a sigh of relief. They had wondered what was going on, this crowd of people swarming in, doing nothing but staring at their rice bowls with eyes glowing green.
If their own Village Head hadn't been leading the way, they would have suspected these people were here to escape a famine and plunder their grain.
"This year? This year was a great harvest! Our family has many mouths to feed, and we got over a hundred catties more grain than last year."
He counted them off one by one for the County Magistrate: "Fifty catties more corn, twenty catties more wheat, ten catties more rapeseed, and fifty catties more sweet potatoes and potatoes."
The people from the other villages standing behind couldn't help but ask, "You’re not lying to us? Didn't the pests hit? How could your village harvest so well?"
This villager also had a bit of a temper. "Who are you calling a liar? Why would I lie to you? Why shouldn't our village have a bumper harvest? It’s all because our village has a Little Immortal Child!"
*Xian Tong(仙童) when used together means'Elf' but used separately means 'Immortal Child', I'm going with this~
That’s right—Song Baozhu’s title as the "Little Immortal Child" had been thoroughly cemented.
"Brother, we aren't doubting you. Could you take us to see your harvested grain?"
The villager looked at Song Deling; he wasn't at ease.
What if this many people tried to steal his family's grain?
Song Deling nodded: "Lead the way. This is County Magistrate Zhou, he just came to the village to see everyone’s harvest situation."
Only then did the villager feel safe enough to lead the way.
Upon seeing the cellar full of sweet potatoes and potatoes, and the cabinets filled with corn and wheat, everyone was finally forced to believe it.
To be absolutely sure, they visited several more houses, and nearly every household was the same.
Once this was confirmed, the people from the other villages couldn't sit still. Each one wished they could turn back time, especially the head of Shuisha Village and the other two village leaders who had been warned by Song Deling; they were so regretful their "intestines turned blue."
"My God, what have I done! Heavens, you might as well strike me dead with a bolt of lightning!"
One of them thumped his chest and stamped his feet, squatting directly on the ground and bursting into tears.
The others understood his feelings perfectly. If they had been warned to their faces by Song Deling and hadn't acted on it, they would probably be spitting up blood right now.
However, even though they hadn't been warned in person, they should have had the chance to know!
The crowd simultaneously turned their gaze toward the secretary standing beside County Magistrate Zhou.
The secretary's face instantly turned as white as a freshly painted wall.
Jade: Happy New Month to everyone!! And welcome to the month of Love～(^з^)-☆
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