Free Web NovelChapter 41: Chapter 41: Natural Disaster
A black Wan Guo brand automobile drove slowly down the old street.
Fu Juemin leaned back in the rear seat, gazing at the street scene through the window.
The entire street was filled with the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes and sugar-fried chestnuts. There were vendors selling autumn pear paste, shouting at the top of their lungs and drawing out each cry. Behind an earthen wall along the street, the top half of an old tree peeked out. Its branches were hung with a few slightly reddish persimmons, and below, a child in pigtails relentlessly poked at them with a bamboo pole.
In October, the streets of the Luan River had shed the oppressive heat and noise of summer, revealing a faint sense of openness and tranquility. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
To Fu Juemin’s eyes, however, this scene seemed more vibrant and alive than usual.
"Go buy me some chestnuts."
"Yes, Young Master."
Fu Juemin gave the casual order. Qian Fei acknowledged it and quickly pedaled ahead on his bicycle.
Ma Dakui and Cao Tian were also beside the car. Fu Juemin had bought a bicycle for Cao Tian too, but he refused to ride it, preferring to follow on foot.
In his own words, a bicycle would hinder his ability to react if something unexpected happened.
The car slowly pulled up to the sugar-fried chestnut stall. Fu Juemin had the driver stop, then got out. He took the oil-paper bag of chestnuts from Qian Fei and began to peel them right there on the street.
The chestnuts were fresh from the wok, fragrant with caramelized sugar and hot sand. They were tender, sweet, and utterly delicious.
Fu Juemin stood in a sunny spot and ate several in a row. His appetite whetted, he felt an urge to try the roasted sweet potatoes as well. Before he could tell Qian Fei, however, the heart-rending cries of a little girl reached his ears.
"Father, Mother, don’t sell me! I can work for people to earn money! Please, I’m begging you, don’t sell me!..."
Fu Juemin followed the sound with his eyes. Not far away, a little girl who looked to be only seven or eight was being forcefully dragged along by a man in a gray jacket. A middle-aged couple stood beside them, wiping away tears but not daring to intervene.
Selling one’s daughter on the street.
A scene like this could only be witnessed in an era such as this.
The people on the roadside watched with indifference, as if it were an everyday occurrence.
The girl’s hoarse sobs were like needles piercing Fu Juemin’s eardrums and his heart. He crushed a chestnut in his hand. Finally unable to stand it, he called Qian Fei over and whispered a few words to him.
Having received his orders, Qian Fei strode forward and stopped the man in the gray jacket. After a brief negotiation, the man left with a wide grin, pocketing a few silver coins.
The girl stopped crying. Qian Fei pointed toward Fu Juemin, who was standing nearby. The family of three knelt on the street and kowtowed to Fu Juemin in gratitude before scurrying away.
"You have a kind heart, Young Master."
Qian Fei walked back after settling the matter and remarked with a soft sigh, "If she hadn’t run into you today, Young Master, that little girl would have likely spent the rest of her life rotting in a brothel."
Fu Juemin shook his head, his brow furrowing as his gaze swept over the street. "Why are there so many refugees and beggars in the city lately?"
He hadn’t noticed before, but now he realized that on this short stretch of street alone, there were seven or eight groups of people begging, some sitting, others lying down. Many were covered in dust, looking like they had just fled here seeking refuge.
"Haven’t you read the papers, Young Master?"
Qian Fei sighed. "This year, the Si River and several provinces in the Southwest were hit by a major disaster. Not a single grain of food was harvested, and the fields are littered with the bodies of the starved."
"Yangping is hardly any better. Refugees from the surrounding counties are all flooding into the Luan River area. This month alone, the price of rice has already jumped three times."
"Many people can’t even afford gruel. If they don’t want their whole family to starve, their only choice is to sell their sons and daughters..."
"It’s that serious? What kind of disaster caused all this?"
Fu Juemin’s brow tightened.
"At the start of the year, there was a massive flood along the Si River that submerged more than half the province. Once the water receded, a drought followed for several months straight. And after the drought came the locusts..."
Qian Fei lowered his voice. "I hear that in many places in the Southwest provinces, the locusts have devoured everything, leaving not a single blade of grass. There’s even been an outbreak of plague."
As Fu Juemin listened to Qian Fei’s account, the sweet roasted chestnuts in his hand suddenly seemed to lose all their flavor.
He casually handed the chestnuts to Ma Dakui beside him, his appetite gone. The street, bathed in the warm autumn sun, lost its cozy, lively charm and suddenly felt cold and grim.
"Never mind. Let’s go."
Fu Juemin got back in the car and motioned for it to continue toward the police department.
Qian Fei pedaled his bicycle alongside the car, still chattering away. "...We have it relatively good here in Yangping. The worst off just sell their houses, their land, their sons and daughters."
"In the neighboring provinces, some places have already resorted to cannibalism. The fresh meat stalls are hung with..."
"That’s enough."
Finding Qian Fei’s tales more and more horrifying, Fu Juemin couldn’t help but cut him off. "Haven’t the authorities allocated any grain for disaster relief?"
"They have, but what’s the use?"
Qian Fei gripped his handlebars and said helplessly, "The officials are all just lining their own pockets, and the subordinates carrying out the orders are a bunch of idiots."
"The people are so poor they’re resorting to cannibalism, yet some are still saving what little food they have to worship some so-called ’Locust God’..."
"’Locust God?’"
Fu Juemin was startled.
"It’s just a front some people created to swindle money in the name of the locust plague."
Someone else chimed in. It was Cao Tian who had spoken.
Fu Juemin looked at him in surprise. "You know about it?"
"I’ve worshipped it before."
Cao Tian said in a low voice, "Young Master, you forget... My family originally came to the Luan River as refugees."
Cao Tian spoke only a few words before trailing off, the topic having likely stirred up unpleasant memories.
Fu Juemin looked at him with a complicated expression. For someone like him—who had grown up in a peaceful and prosperous era in his past life, only to transmigrate and become a wealthy young master—it was truly difficult to comprehend the bitter suffering of those who had fled from disasters.
He was about to offer some words of comfort when the car suddenly screeched to a halt.
The driver turned around, his face a mask of helplessness. "Young Master, the road ahead is blocked." freewebnøvel.coɱ
Fu Juemin peered ahead through the car window.
At the intersection ahead, a large crowd of young men and women in student uniforms had come to a standstill, holding signs and causing a commotion. It was unclear what they were doing.
"A protest?"
Fu Juemin frowned, then pushed the door open and got out of the car.
He had intended to send Qian Fei to check on the situation, but his plan changed the moment he glimpsed an elderly Western woman in a black and white nun’s habit among the students.
"Go find someone over there and ask what’s happening."
Fu Juemin ordered Qian Fei.
He currently had three men working for him: Cao Tian was a powerhouse, Ma Dakui was loyal and dependable, and Qian Fei was sharp and smooth-tongued—the best man for this sort of task.
Qian Fei acknowledged the order, left his bicycle, and hurried over. Before long, he returned with a female student who was wearing an indigo qipao of Yin Dan Shilin cloth.
The student had ear-length bobbed hair, an oval face, and wore glasses. Her eyebrows were thin, and at first glance, she gave off a feisty, hard-to-handle impression.
"Young Master, I told her you wanted to make a donation. That was the only way I could get her to come over. Please don’t blow my cover..."
Qian Fei leaned in and whispered in Fu Juemin’s ear. Only then did Fu Juemin notice the girl was holding a box with the word "Fundraising" written on it.
Fu Juemin was exasperated. He shot Qian Fei a sidelong glance but said nothing.
His gaze fell upon the school crest pinned to the student’s chest. He was just about to ask her if she was from the Saint Gong Girls’ School when he saw her eyes fixated on him. She beat him to it, blurting out, "You’re Fu Juemin!"
"Er..."
Fu Juemin was taken aback and pointed to himself. "You know me?"
