Su Xiaoqi said worriedly, "With all this chaos downstairs, will it affect entering the examination hall the day after tomorrow?"
She wanted to resolve this matter quickly and was concerned about it. She didn't want any unforeseen events to impact Shen Yun's examination.
Shen Yun reached out his hand and pulled her to stand by the window. They stood side by side, looking down at the street that had been in chaos just moments before, but was now calm. The rioting refugees were nowhere to be seen. Shen Yun, who had witnessed it himself, explained to Su Xiaoqi, "The officials took them away."
Su Xiaoqi's heart sank slightly as she recalled the scene. Shen Yun saw through her thoughts at a glance and said gently, "My dear, don't worry. As far as I know, Magistrate Du is a favored disciple of Scholar Gu. Although his official career has been somewhat hindered in recent years due to being implicated, he is an extremely upright person. If he didn't know about this matter, fine. But now that he does, he certainly wouldn't ignore it."
Su Xiaoqi believed him. If it were a timid and fearful Magistrate Du, he probably wouldn't have a daughter as fearless as Du Yiyi.
"My dear, you must remember one thing," Shen Yun said. "If I enter the examination hall, you will go and stay at Du Yiyi's home." Although Shen Yun expressed confidence in Magistrate Du, he couldn't help but worry that Su Xiaoqi might encounter danger. After all, he would be living in the imperial examination compound at night, and if something happened to Xiaoqi, he wouldn't be able to save her in time.
Su Xiaoqi didn't speak, her decision already made.
The next day, Du Yiyi came to find Su Xiaoqi again. She was indeed very quick. The shop in the southern part of the city had already been vacated, awaiting Su Xiaoqi's seeds. Su Xiaoqi was also well-prepared. She had specifically hired mule carts, transporting nearly ten thousand jin of seeds, loaded onto ten mule carts. The shop was not large, only about sixty square meters in total. Divided in half, it was about thirty square meters. Fortunately, the shop had a backyard. The corn and potatoes that couldn't fit in the shop could be piled in the backyard.
The posters were still being made by Shen Yun. Su Xiaoqi had initially wanted to find someone else, fearing it might affect his examination. But Shen Yun said it wouldn't be a problem. Moreover, he was already familiar with making posters. He understood Su Xiaoqi's ideas very well. Basically, as long as she initiated something, he knew how to execute it.
"Oh, Brother Shen, your head is so hard. You're about to enter the examination hall. Instead of going out to socialize with a few friends, you should at least be hiding in an inn studying, cramming last minute," Du Yiyi teased.
Shen Yun chuckled, "All that is unnecessary." What good was there in associating with those scholars? They spent their days in restaurants, discussing and quoting classics, merely boasting. It was better to be with the two ladies in front of him, who knew how to do practical things for the disaster victims. As for last-minute cramming, it was even less necessary. He had studied for twenty years, and the Four Books and Five Classics were already ingrained in his memory. He had also read the rare editions of classics in Scholar Gu's study. It was just an examination; there was no need to be perfect in every aspect. Besides, staying with Xiaoqi made his mind clearer than ever before, putting him in a very relaxed state. Shen Yun looked at Su Xiaoqi and smiled gently.
Du Yiyi immediately pointed at them, wagging her finger, and said with a look of sudden realization, "Oh my, I get it, I get it. You two, alright, Sister Xiaoqi, didn't you say last time this is called 'abusing single dogs'?"
"Pfft..." Du Yiyi was too amusing, and Su Xiaoqi couldn't help but burst into laughter. She then felt like she had shot herself in the foot. She hadn't expected to use that phrase when she saw Lady Yu and Scholar Gu showing affection at the Gu residence last time. Du Yiyi had overheard it and learned it from her, and now she was using it on herself. She was speechless.
"My dear, do you think this part needs a border?" Shen Yun called out to her at the opportune moment. Su Xiaoqi quickly leaned over to look. However, her movement was too abrupt, and she accidentally leaned too far, bumping her forehead against his chin, causing her to wince in pain. Shen Yun quickly rubbed her forehead. Amidst Du Yiyi's increasingly loud cheers of "abusing single dogs," he kissed her twice.
Su Xiaoqi's cheeks flushed red. She wanted to glare at Shen Yun, but she couldn't bring herself to. He was too handsome, sitting there in his round-collared robe, like a straight and tall bamboo, extremely pleasing to the eye. Su Xiaoqi said softly, "It's fine." Shen Yun let out a soft laugh and took the poster out, sticking it onto the door panel.
Soon, a crowd gathered. They were the refugees who had flowed from Tongchuan County to the prefecture city. "Does anyone here know how to read?" "My brother knows. He took the Tong Sheng exam before." "Quick, read it!" "Don't rush, I just finished reading. It says here that free seeds are provided for refugees like us from Tongchuan..." "Silly boy, no, what? Free? You mean it's no money?" "Yes, yes. No money, but the owner of the grain shop said that once we've harvested, we need to return the grain." "That's fine, that's fine. He doesn't know where I live, so he can't do anything to me if I don't return it." Someone started suggesting bad ideas. But he was quickly met with a large group of people rolling their eyes.
"Wang Ermazi, you dog-like fellow, you have no conscience. The grain shop owner is kindly providing us with seeds, not charging money, and you're only thinking of taking advantage. You're really quite annoying." "Hey, I was just saying. Besides, what are you saying all this for? They're just talking, they haven't actually given you anything yet, look how pleased you are."
Su Xiaoqi stood by the door, pretending to watch the excitement, and listened to their discussions for a long time. Finally, feeling there was nothing more to hear, she spoke, "Alright, everyone has seen the posters. Now, I invite the villagers from Tongchuan County to come out and form a line. It would be best if you could line up by village."
The onlookers immediately got excited. Regardless of whether they were from Tongchuan or not, upon hearing about free benefits, they rushed into the lines like mad. Even if someone shouted, "Hey, you're not from our village!" "That's right, that's right, you're not." As their shouts rang out, many outsiders mixed into the lines of villages from Tongchuan County.
Su Xiaoqi was not in a hurry and looked at Shen Yun. When they had discussed this matter earlier, they had predicted that such a situation would occur. However, neither she nor Du Yiyi could come up with an effective solution after much deliberation. Shen Yun had then said that he had a way to prevent people from taking advantage.
Shen Yun stood up. Just as everyone thought the distribution of seeds was about to begin, he unhurriedly unfurled dozens of paper slips and waved them at the closest group of people, saying, "Dabao Liang Village, is that right? Come, ten people from your village should sign and fingerprint each other to ensure you will return the grain."
"Dawang Village, sign and fingerprint." "Qixin Village, sign and fingerprint."
Shen Yun went through them one by one. If the village head had come, he would be in charge. If the village head was absent, the clan elders would be responsible. If that wasn't possible, the head of each household would be responsible. Finally, those without a village to claim them were the local residents who were trying to take advantage.
Su Xiaoqi blinked. This was it, they were being sorted out. Amazing! She gave Shen Yun a gesture.
Seeing that the situation was not good, someone immediately stirred up trouble. "Tsk, can the seeds you provide even grow anything? If they are the same as what the county magistrate gave, then it's all in vain. We'll have wasted our efforts and still go hungry in winter." "Yes, yes. We farmers, having seeds is a good thing. But if they don't grow, aren't we ruined?"
Su Xiaoqi said word by word, "If they don't grow, they're free." If her seeds couldn't grow anything, then there would be nothing to plant at this time.
"That's easy for you to say. If we don't grow anything, even if we don't have to return them, who will compensate us for the lost time and effort?" Someone was still nitpicking.
Just as Su Xiaoqi was about to explain, Du Yiyi couldn't help but roll her eyes and exclaim loudly, "Then you don't have to take them. It's voluntary. If you have so many concerns, go back where you came from."
Her words were effective, silencing more than half of the crowd. Free is free; why not take it?
Once everyone was finally persuaded, but when Su Xiaoqi had people bring out the potatoes and corn, everyone instantly became restless. This was because these things were not what they recognized as grain. They thought it would be wheat, rice, or millet. How were they supposed to plant these things? The crowd started to make a fuss again.