Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 286 - 285: Ginger Soup

Before dark, Qin Yao finished compiling the statistics.

A total of twelve households contributed 530 pounds of food to Qin Yao, most of it coarse grains and some medium-quality grains.

Qin Yao stood up with the recorded notebook, confirmed the details again with Granny Wang and others, and after ensuring there were no mistakes, she wrote a collective authorization note. She took out red ink paste for everyone to press their handprints on it, to avoid any trouble later on.

Qin Yao’s actions were understandable, and the villagers expressed their understanding and strong trust in her, not even glancing at the content of the note as they pressed their handprints eagerly.

Seeing this, Qin Yao couldn’t help but joke, "Aren’t you afraid that this note says you owe me money?"

Granny Wang and the others were collectively stunned, and the villagers in the process of pressing their handprints froze, their fingers hesitating in mid-air.

"..."

"Ahem, ahem!" Qin Yao awkwardly coughed twice to break the embarrassing atmosphere, then seriously pulled a villager over, reading each word on the note to them one by one.

After reading, she patted the villager’s shoulder, "Remember? Next time someone asks you to sign your name, ask them to read it to you first. If the number of words doesn’t match or there are punctuation issues, be wary."

The villagers realized that Miss Qin was teaching them how to identify cheats!

Each of them nodded vigorously, deeply moved.

Qin Yao maintained her smile, watching them leave, then turned around quickly, wiping the sweat that had emerged on her face. It seemed she shouldn’t joke casually with the villagers anymore; they believed it too easily.

Ah Wang had already prepared dinner. Having worked as a chef in a big restaurant, even simple dishes could be made exceptionally delicious by him.

Qin Yao asked Ah Wang to bring a bowl to Liu Ji inside, and as soon as Ah Wang came out, they started eating.

The four Da Lang siblings were burying their heads in the food, each eating an extra half bowl of rice.

Luckily, Ah Wang cooked extra today, and Liu Ji didn’t have much appetite, only eating half a bowl, otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough for the siblings.

It’s said that teenagers eat a lot, and looking at Da Lang and Second Lang with their appetites comparable to adult men, Qin Yao secretly calculated how much rice was left in their granary, instructing Ah Wang to leave 300 pounds of wheat when packing the cart the next morning, in case they ran out.

With high rice prices now and the large consumption by workers at the stationery factory, fortunately, Qin Yao and Liu the carpenter stocked up on food for the factory at the start, allowing them to control costs against the high grain prices.

Due to the current special circumstances, new workers choosing to eat at the factory only receive one-third of their wages.

The remaining two-thirds are postponed until after the special period, conserving funds for the factory just in case.

Thus, just the provision of two meals at the stationery factory was enough to make villagers from nearby villages desperate to get in.

As for the family, with growing children eating more and with Ah Wang adding to the needs, the originally calculated food wouldn’t suffice.

Leaving 300 pounds of wheat should be enough to last until the autumn harvest.

Ah Wang nodded in understanding, looking at the table filled with white rice, egg soup, and cured meat, and although he wanted to suggest lowering the food standards to save the 300 pounds of wheat, the taste was too irresistible for him to voice such a suggestion dishonestly.

Actually, Ah Wang was surprised too; he thought that returning to Liu Family Village with Liu Ji would mean bad meals, surviving on coarse food.

Unexpectedly, Qin Yao’s family not only ate well but even shared the good meals with him. This kind of fortune made him unconsciously dream of staying with them forever.

After dinner, it was Second Lang and Sanlang’s turn to bring back the money box from the water mill today.

Two eggs, clearly indicating that Granny Wang and her grandson had been here today.

Also three copper coins and half a bowl of green peas.

The vegetables were placed in the kitchen, and the money was handed to Second Lang to lock in his little money box.

"Mother, these past few days’ earnings have decreased by thirty percent compared to before," Second Lang reported to Qin Yao while flipping through his small account book.

"It’s alright," Qin Yao told him, "the situation is different now. People are afraid to spend money, but once this disaster passes, things will improve."

Second Lang remained a bit worried, "But what if the disaster never passes?"

Qin Yao pointed outside at the lush landscape, "As long as you pay attention to the land we live on, as long as grass still grows and fish still swim, if the land can still yield crops and the river still holds fish, difficulties will soon pass."

Just then, a flash of silver streaked across the rooftop, followed by a rumbling thunder sound.

"It’s thundering!" Si Niang excitedly ran into the house, "Mother, it’s going to rain~"

Rain meant water, fish returning to the rivers, and the disaster would soon pass.

Qin Yao calmly nodded, moving a stool to the doorway. The children stood behind her, the five of them watching the sky for the rain to come down.

An evening with rain provided natural white noise, allowing the family to sleep soundly.

By morning, the rain had stopped, though the ground still had some puddles. As Qin Yao took the grain cart out of town, the roads were muddy and difficult to navigate, reaching their destination more than half an hour later than planned.

Refugees had already gathered outside the pavilion, enlivened upon seeing the grain cart approach.

Their simple shelters had been unable to keep out the rain’s impact from last night’s downpour, leaving the refugees covered in mud and water, barefoot on the muddy ground with water dripping from the tips of their hair.

Small, frail children curled up in their mothers’ arms seeking warmth, while women with one arm holding their child opened their other hand to disperse wet firewood, letting out powerless sighs.

Qin Yao didn’t consider herself a saint and felt disgusted by the refugees who discarded their principles to do harm, but seeing such a scene, she still wanted to do something.

"Ah Wang, go to the Landlord Ding’s mansion and find Young Master Ding. Tell him I sent you, buy ten pounds of ginger, and borrow a pot to make them a pot of ginger soup."

Ah Wang immediately set down the scales, took on the task, and ran to town.

Soon, he returned with a large iron pot on his head, followed by a pale, neat girl dressed in men’s clothes, holding a bag of ginger. As soon as she saw Qin Yao, she smiled, revealing her bright white teeth.

"Qin Yao!" she excitedly waved at Qin Yao.

What she didn’t expect was that the anticipated warm welcome didn’t happen, and she was met with a cold look from Qin Yao, "What are you doing here? Without a single guard, did you sneak out?"

Qin Yao cast an unhappy glance at Ah Wang.

Ah Wang felt innocent; the lady hadn’t instructed him not to bring Ding Family members over.

Moreover, Miss Ding had followed on her own accord. He was only responsible for Qin Yao’s family and wouldn’t pay attention to what others were doing.

Qin Yao, stifled by Ah Wang’s innocent look, realized that since she was already here, arguing wouldn’t help. She instructed Ah Wang to quickly set up the stove and cook the ginger soup while she continued weighing and selling grain.

Ding Xiang, left on her own, realized that Qin Yao was upset with her. Not daring to approach, she rolled up her sleeves, following Ah Wang around, helping with tasks she could manage.

By the time all the ginger soup was distributed, Ding Xiang was exhausted, sitting on a stump in a daze. Watching the refugee children running around her, she would occasionally smile at them and receive small stones, leaves, and other ’treasures’ in return.