Transmigrated Family C27

Chapter 27: Old Yan Buys Livestock for the Village

Village Chief Luo hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for the past couple of days. This wasn’t just a matter concerning one or two families—it was the entire village’s big issue.

That ox cart in the Yan family’s courtyard couldn’t be faked, and Old Yan’s second son had been making trips to town every day, hauling back a large amount of grain. Everyone saw it with their own eyes.

The more prepared the scholar was, the more restless the villagers became.

Even if they wanted to fool themselves into thinking that maybe heaven would take pity on them and bring rain in a few days, they simply couldn’t.

The weather was getting hotter by the day, and the village’s old well could only yield half a bucket of water at a time.

The four buckets of water per household that Village Chief Luo had allocated each day had now been reduced to just one.

Everyone was gritting their teeth and harvesting the wheat. Following Scholar Yan’s lead, the villagers had gradually completed their own harvests.

The village’s threshing ground was now covered with golden wheat from every household.

At the only stone mill in the village, Scholar Yan’s wheat was currently being ground.

Everyone was anxiously waiting, yet no one dared to urge the process along.

The brothers from the Qi family were working tirelessly, and everyone could see it. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t be able to work any faster either.

There was no need to argue about who was first or last—everyone was keeping a close eye on it.

After Scholar Yan’s family, it was the village chief’s turn, since they had the most men in their household. Then came the Qi brothers, as their land was small. After that was Granny Wang’s family—although she only had two sons, her daughters-in-law were hardworking…

Old Yan’s second son was squatting nearby, watching everything, but no one was paying him any attention.

His lack of popularity was truly unmatched.

Bored, he glanced around—watching the villagers, checking how much wheat each household had harvested, and counting how many children had been born in each family.

During busy farming seasons, entire families worked together, making it easier for him to recognize people.

He memorized the names as the villagers greeted each other, so he wouldn’t be completely clueless later on.

From a distance, Yan Yu saw her father squatting all alone, looking pitiful and seemingly isolated.

She ran over with quick steps, calling out, “Dad!”

Then, with a swift leap, she threw herself at him. Startled, Old Yan’s second son quickly stood up to catch her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uncle and Big Brother are right behind me,” Yan Yu whispered. “Dad, Uncle and Big Brother packed their things. I checked, and it’s all books… They saw our stuff but didn’t ask Mom or me about it. They might ask you.”

“Don’t worry, I know what to say,” Old Yan’s second son reassured her.

“Er Ya! You’re here too!”

“Er Ya, let’s go play!”

“Er Ya, come quick! I have something cool to show you.”

Yan Yu shot her father a proud look.

See? That’s the difference!

Among the children, Yan Yu was quite popular.

She was much livelier and more knowledgeable than before. She also knew how to react with exaggerated expressions whenever the other kids were showing off. She could braid grass ropes with the little girls and dig for bugs with the boys. In just a few days, she had become completely integrated with the village children.

Yan Yu was quickly pulled away by the group of kids.

Old Yan’s second son waited for his brother and nephew to arrive.

“Brother, what brings you here? Something up?”

Although Yan Huaiwen had recovered from his illness, his body hadn’t fully regained its strength. For him to come out in this scorching heat, there had to be a reason.

“How much wheat did our family harvest?” Yan Huaiwen asked, remembering that the fields hadn’t yielded well this year.

After paying the grain tax, there wouldn’t even be enough for half a year’s worth of food.

“Less than 200 pounds per acre,” Old Yan’s second son said with a frown. “Our ten acres of land yielded about 1,800 pounds in total. And that’s from top-grade fields—others fared even worse.”

The weather had had a devastating effect on the crops.

Yan Huaiwen’s expression darkened. Last time, they had traveled to the provincial capital, but this time, they would be going even farther.

Originally, he thought that saving on the grain tax would be enough, but now it seemed that there was still a significant shortfall.

“Scholar!” Village Chief Luo and a group of village elders surrounded them.

Unsurprisingly, Old Yan’s second son was pushed out of the circle.

He huffed, then circled around and squeezed back in next to his brother.

I don’t care—I want to hear what you’re all talking about!

Yan Xiangheng glanced at his uncle but decided to move closer as well, quietly standing behind his father with his ears perked up.

“I’ve prepared some silver and plan to buy two animals for the elderly in the village to use as transportation,” Yan Huaiwen said, pulling out shining silver ingots and handing them to the village chief.

“No, no! Scholar, how can we let you bear the cost? We can walk. Our families have pushcarts—our sons can push us.”

“That’s right, Scholar! We can’t take advantage of your kindness.”

“Scholar, we appreciate your generosity, but we old folks can’t accept such a favor! We’ll walk as far as we can. If it weren’t for our worries, we wouldn’t even leave—we don’t want to burden our children.”

“If we get livestock, we’ll also need to prepare feed for them. It’s not worth it. Let the young men take turns pushing us. Feeding them extra is cheaper than feeding animals.”

“Elders, having livestock will allow us to travel faster,” Yan Huaiwen reasoned. “Besides, if we reach a desperate situation, they can be slaughtered for food.”

Old Yan’s second son interjected, “We should bring all the wheat straw too—it can be used for cooking and feeding the animals. As for water, it’ll be tight at first, but if we move fast and get out of this drought-stricken area, we’ll find places with grass and water.”

“There’s no way we won’t find anything along the way. We got the news first and started moving early—there’s no way we won’t find food.”

“If we pass by mountains or forests, we should stop and search carefully. There’s bound to be water,” he added.

Yan Huaiwen glanced at him and nodded. “Yes, near mountains and forests, water sources are certain.”

Old Yan’s second son continued, “My brother is too kind-hearted—he can’t bear to see people suffer. We’re all from the same village, and out there, we need to stick together. Those who have money contribute money, those who have strength contribute strength. Our family doesn’t have much, but I think two mules should be enough. With those, we can move faster, spare the elderly some hardship, and lighten the load on the young men.”

The village elders were moved to tears. Their families rushed over, worried that something had happened.

When they heard the explanation, they were all deeply grateful.

Yan Huaiwen and the village elders finalized the departure time and then quickly left with his son—before the villagers could smother them with more gratitude.

He didn’t want to hear it.

Even though he had done a good deed, Yan Huaiwen knew he had a strong personal motive—he wanted the villagers to travel with him for safety in numbers.

Old Yan’s second son settled accounts with the Qi family for their grain and then took his daughter, who had played to her heart’s content, back home on the ox cart.

Once they were out of sight, he let Sanbao take over the driving.

As he wiped his daughter’s face and hands with a cloth, he urged her to drink water.

“Look at you, running around and sweating like this. You can’t even take a bath—you stink!”

“Dad, look! My friends found these bugs for me. I’ll feed them to the chickens—maybe they’ll lay more eggs,” Yan Yu chattered excitedly.

Yan Huaiwen had his own plans for buying livestock for the village elders. The story unfolds little by little—keep reading before jumping to conclusions!