Chapter 126: The Authority To Decide
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Jiang Chuan explained to the village chief how he had categorized the seeds, making the chief more and more excited. He quickly found a pen and paper and noted down everything Jiang Chuan said.
As for how Jiang Chuan knew so much, he just said he had learned it while farming before and experimenting on the mountain, which made him familiar with some characteristics of the seeds.
Although the village chief had some doubts, he couldn’t think of any other reason and followed what Jiang Chuan said.
Once the chief had recorded everything, he asked, “Jiang Chuan, does your family have any thoughts on how the seeds should be distributed?”
Knowing that the village chief was referring to the Old Jiang and Old Sun families, Jiang Chuan turned his gaze towards his family.
Zhou Lan’s opinion was clear – why would they share seeds with those two families? She would consider herself kind not to storm their houses and give them a piece of her mind.
After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Xia responded, “Grandpa Village Chief, if you’re asking whether we’re willing to distribute the seeds we worked hard to produce to them, naturally, we’re not. But since we’ve handed the seeds over to you, how they’re distributed is up to you, right, dad?”
Jiang Xia turned to Jiang Chuan for approval after her statement, and he nodded in agreement.
His daughter was right. They initially went to the mountain to find seeds for the villagers, and now that they had handed over the seeds to the village chief, it wouldn’t be right for them to interfere further.
Hearing Jiang Xia’s words, the village chief heaved a sigh, “Jiang Chuan, your family is truly remarkable! How the Old Jiang family treated you… it’s their loss!”
Wasn’t it a loss for the Old Jiang family? Even if Jiang Xia’s family didn’t come, Jiang Chuan’s family were all hardworking. Driving them away would be a huge loss to the village.
Seeing that everything was almost settled, Jiang Xia’s family prepared to bid farewell and leave, but the village chief stopped them, insisting they stay for dinner.
Jiang Chuan declined the offer, explaining they needed to return home to tidy up and prepare to leave the next day.
Hearing this, the village chief expressed surprise, “Leaving? The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and you still plan to leave?”
Jiang Chuan smiled and replied,” We’re going to the town to get some supplies first, and we’ll leave after the autumn harvest.”
The village chief continued to ask Jiang Chuan where they were going.
“We’ve discussed it as a family, and we’re thinking about heading to the county town,” replied Jiang Chuan.
“The county town?”
The village chief was even more surprised. Unlike the town, reachable within two or three hours by donkey cart, the county town would take at least eight or nine hours to get to. It was not possible to make the round trip in one day; they would have to stay overnight, and lodging fees were no small amount.
“Why the sudden decision to go to the county town? It’s not an easy journey!” The village chief questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.
Understanding the village chief’s concern, Jiang Chuan explained, “Chief, as farmers, we’re at the mercy of the heavens. Like this year’s drought, we can do nothing but wait for our doom. Our family wants to explore further afield; perhaps there are other opportunities.”
After a brief pause, the village chief got a handle on the tricky situation of Jiang Chuan’s family. When Jiang Chuan and his family had moved out from the Old Jiang’s house, they were given nothing. Even though they could work to earn work points, that was nowhere near enough for two adults and two children to live on. It was not unreasonable for them to seek additional opportunities. Thinking this, the village chief sighed and nodded.
After leaving the village chief’s house, Jiang Xia’s family went straight to their house that had been empty for a long time. For some reason, Jiang Xia suddenly felt a sense of belonging to this extremely simple house. She put down her backpack and began to clean.
Zhou Lan and Jiang Gu were wiping the tables in the house while Jiang Xia followed Jiang Chuan to clean the yard.
” Xiao Xia,” Jiang Chuan started, “are you sure about reaching out to your father’s friend from the sugar factory?”
Even though it was Jiang Xia’s suggestion, Jiang Chuan was still somewhat uneasy.
To be honest, Jiang Xia wasn’t entirely sure either whether they could join Zhou Lane in going to the county town. However, having someone familiar with the county town was undoubtedly better than going in blind. If they knew someone, they had to at least give it a try, right?
“Let’s give it a shot! We’re just asking. If they’re unwilling, we can’t do much about it,” Jiang Xia replied, piling up the trash in the yard.
Just as the family was busy cleaning, there was a knock on the door..