Chapter 499 - 493_1
"Uncle Youfu, don’t you know what kind of person I am by now? It’s true what I say, and I can follow through on my promises! After all, we’re all from the same village, and my family has often received help from our fellow villagers. As our family has prospered, we hope that everyone in the village can share in this prosperity. That’s why I’ve come to discuss this matter especially with you, Uncle Youfu. As the respected head of our village, this task couldn’t do without your involvement."
"That’s easily said. I’m the village head of Zhao Family Village, and this is my duty. Erhu’s wife, for you to make such a charitable offer, leave the rest of the details to me." Zhao Youfu didn’t even inquire about the specifics before readily agreeing.
"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Uncle Youfu. Since we’re to plant sweet potatoes, naturally we’ll need seeds. I’m planning to distribute twenty catties of the harvested sweet potatoes as seed potatoes to each household to use for next year’s planting, which will be more than enough. I won’t take a single coin for these seed potatoes. However, the distribution will still require the village head to oversee according to the household registry to prevent anyone from missing out or falsely claiming more. Of course, if someone wants more, they’ll have to purchase any amount beyond the initial twenty catties at the market price. What do you think about this arrangement, Uncle Youfu?"
"This is excellent, very good indeed. Erhu’s wife, you’re truly generous. If everyone hears this news, they’ll be overjoyed. I’ll inform everyone immediately, then draw up a charter. Your kindness will be remembered by all." The village head was so excited that he barely knew what to say. He hadn’t expected Erhu’s wife to be willing to teach the villagers how to plant sweet potatoes, let alone promise to give each household twenty catties of seed potatoes free of charge. How could he not be thrilled?
Even the village head’s wife, listening from the side, felt it was somewhat surreal. If not for the fact that Erhu and his wife had always been kind, she would hardly believe in such luck, as if pies were falling from the sky. Erhu’s wife was willing not only to teach the villagers how to plant sweet potatoes but also to give away ten catties to each household without asking for a penny. This was such great generosity the likes of which she had never seen before, especially considering that sweet potatoes were not cheap at the time; twenty catties would cost almost a tael of silver, which was a significant sum for ordinary farming families, making their lives much better for the next year.
"I came just to sort out this matter, and now that you have agreed, Uncle Youfu, I can rest assured. I still have some things to attend to on my end. Once you have confirmed the total number of households in the village, send someone to let me know, and I’ll arrange for the sweet potatoes to be delivered according to the number."
The matter was nearly settled. Lin Yue hadn’t intended to invest too much effort in this world to begin with; she was no living Bodhisattva, empathizing with the common people’s suffering—that was the Emperor’s job. She only thought that since the harvest was so abundantly eye-catching, it would inevitably attract envy from others, which the recent thefts in her fields proved. That’s why she had come up with this approach, both to garner a good reputation and to dispel any envious sentiments with these sweet potatoes.
Lin Yue believed that most people in the village were good and knew how to show gratitude. With this act of giving twenty catties of sweet potatoes as a goodwill gesture, surely they would be grateful towards her family. Not only would they refrain from stealing from the fields, but they might even offer to help guard them. Zhao Family Village was after all a small community with, altogether, no more than a hundred families; twenty catties per family would total only about two thousand catties, an amount that could be covered with the yield of less than one mu of land. Why wouldn’t she do it?