Chapter 22 - Take This Matter Seriously
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nAfter all, the people in this village had benefited a lot from Old Tu.
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n“No, Aunt Ju, it’s alright. I just have something to discuss with Uncle.” Aunt Ju was really about to fetch some grain for her, so An Jiuyue stopped her quickly.
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nShe had just bought so much food. How could she take someone else’s food? Besides, life was not easy for anyone here.
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nThe people were already satisfied that the grain in the fields was enough to fill their stomachs after paying taxes. In fact, this was supposed to be a year of great harvest. However, they would have to eat porridge to survive because of the heavy rain.
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n“You’re looking for him? He’s not at home. He went to visit his relatives in the neighboring village and will only be back at night,” Aunt Ju replied.
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n“Can you tell me what happened?”
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nAn Jiuyue felt that there was no difference between telling the Junior Officer or Aunt Ju—at least she alerted them about this. Hence, she recounted what she saw.
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n“I went to the town today. On the way there, I passed by the Cascade River and went closer to take a look. The river water levels have risen high. We don’t know when it will stop raining so I was afraid that…”
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nAunt Ju gasped.
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n“Will there be a flood soon?”
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nThere had been villages near the Cascade River that were hit by floods in the past. Many people had died.
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n“I’m not sure either, but we have to be careful, right? Of course, it’d be great if there’s no flood, but if it really occurs, we have to be prepared.”
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nAn Jiuyue said honestly.
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n“To tell you the truth, Aunt Ju, I just came from the Chief’s house. I didn’t get to meet the Chief and only saw Aunt Kang. When I told her about it, she gave me a good scolding and chased me away, accusing me of jinxing everyone.
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n“I wanted to drop this matter since I live on the mountain and the floods will not affect me. However, there are so many people living in the village. I can’t ignore this.
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n“That’s why I came to look for Uncle. I wanted to tell him about this.”
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nAunt Ju’s face darkened when she heard about this. “That old lady is ignorant! Jiuyue, don’t lower yourself to her level,” Aunt Ju said, criticizing Aunt Kang.
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nAn Jiuyue told them about this matter out of kindness! How dare she scold her for it!
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n“Don’t worry. When he returns, I’ll tell him to take this matter seriously.”
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n“Okay.”
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nAn Jiuyue felt relieved.
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n“Aunt Ju, my two children are still at home. I’ll go back now.”
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nShe said, standing up as she got ready to leave. However, before she left she suddenly recalled something and turned towards Aunt Ju.
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n“Aunt Ju, even if we highly doubt that a flood will occur, I think we should still protect our food stock just in case. There are a few caves in the mountain. Why don’t—”
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n“I know, I know. He knows all this too,” Aunt Ju replied hastily.
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nIn the past, they would store the food in mountain caves and assign some people to guard it whenever there was heavy rain.
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n“Okay.”
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nAn Jiuyue finally felt relieved and prepared to leave.
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n“Jiuyue.”
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nAunt Ju stopped her just as she was about to leave.
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n“Aunt Ju, is there anything else?” An Jiuyue turned around and asked.
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n“I heard from the villagers that you want to sell Rong’er?” Aunt Ju thought for a long time before asking hesitantly.
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