The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Blacklist, White List

They had just been talking about donating grain when the village chief showed up at the Hu Family’s door that very afternoon.

Following behind him were several men, each carrying a limp, empty sack.

The village chief knew the Hu Family’s circumstances better than anyone.

And precisely because he knew, he found it difficult to speak.

"Um... folks from the Hu Family, you see... this is, it’s not, well..."

Before he could finish, Widow Xie pointed to the sacks of grain behind her.

"Liangzi already told us. This is what my family and Wuan’s family pooled together. It’s all we could manage, but it’s a token of our goodwill."

In a year of disaster, the greatest fear was running out of food. Families with reserves could manage, but life was hard for those without—especially for a family like the Hu Family, with little land and many mouths to feed.

It was all thanks to Wuan’s repeated reminders to stockpile grain before the new year. Otherwise, her family would be helpless right now, let alone have any surplus to relieve others.

The village chief walked in and took a look. A full four sacks?!

He had been running around all morning, exhausting his kind words until his mouth was dry, and he hadn’t managed to collect even half this amount.

"I know life isn’t easy for your family. Running a stall for a few days before the new year couldn’t have improved things by much..." The village chief was at a loss for words.

Widow Xie waved her hand dismissively. "We can scrape by if we’re careful. We can’t just stand by and watch our fellow villagers starve to death."

The village chief then turned to Ji Huan. "Wuan, you really shouldn’t have to... You have no land, no income, and you still have to raise Dabao. Why don’t you take your share of the grain back?"

Widow Xie thought, ’If Wuan takes her share back, there’ll only be one sack left. The village chief would probably burst into tears.’

That was right. Of the four sacks, Ji Huan had contributed three; only one was from the Hu Family.

It wasn’t that Widow Xie wanted to take the credit, but that Ji Huan had told her not to reveal it.

Although they had listened to Ji Huan and stockpiled some grain, their family was large and went through it quickly.

Especially since no one knew what the future held. Who could say how long the war would drag on, or when the snowstorms would finally pass?

She had to reserve enough rations to feed her family for the foreseeable future.

Ji Huan, with her foresight, had stockpiled grain several times, so her reserves were relatively large. Since her household only consisted of her and Dabao, she was able to donate three sacks after setting aside enough food for them both.

Furthermore, the two families had agreed not to offer any refined rice or white flour, giving only millet flour and other coarse grains.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t bear to part with the better food, but mainly that they feared attracting unwanted attention. There was no shortage of jealous people in the village.

Of course, Widow Xie wouldn’t deny that she had a tiny bit of a selfish motive as well.

After all, they had only just started living a better life. It didn’t make sense to give away fine rice and white flour for others to eat while they themselves ate millet and coarse grains.

As Ji Huan herself had said, even charity must be done within one’s means.

"Village Chief, Aunt Xie is right. The suffering villagers are the priority. We can still hold on for now, and we just hope this grain can be of some help."

The village chief sighed. "This isn’t just ’some’ help. You’ve helped me immensely!"

Ji Huan frowned. "Is the situation that serious?"

’Before donating, I’d made a rough estimate. As long as half the villagers were willing to lend a hand, even if they didn’t give much, it should have been enough for the disaster victims to pull through.’

’But if the reality is far worse than I imagined...’

’No matter what, I have to ensure Dabao and I won’t starve. I do have some silver on hand, though. If things get truly desperate, I can donate it all.’

’But at a time like this, it’s hard to buy grain even with silver. Besides, my savings are so small it would barely be a drop in the bucket.’

"Our village’s situation isn’t actually the worst. The problem is, as soon as you ask for a grain donation, people act like you’re taking their life. I didn’t even visit the poorest households; I only went to those who are a little better off. But no matter which family I visited, they’d grab me and start crying about how poor they were. I talked myself hoarse, and in the end, they’d just scoop out half a small bowl. And even then..."

The village chief gestured to the limp sacks behind him. "I ran around all morning—half a small bowl here, half a small bowl there. This is all I could gather. What good is this much... SIGH!"

During this snow disaster, if the countryside suffered the most from property damage, then the towns and county seats suffered the most from food shortages.

But no matter how severe the situation was in the towns and county seats, there were always wealthy households making donations.

While farming families couldn’t compare their wealth, they had their fields. Every year after paying taxes and selling off a portion of their harvest for cash, they would, to varying degrees, keep some rations to ensure their families could make it to the next harvest season.

Those who were truly starving were in the minority. If the majority with surplus grain were willing to share a little to help the victims, everyone could surely overcome this crisis.

The problem was, so few were willing!

And he couldn’t blame them or force them, since it was all supposed to be voluntary.

He could only lead by example. He had gotten into another fight with his wife and stubbornly hauled out two sacks of grain from his own home.

But it didn’t seem to have much of an effect.

Now that Widow Xie and Ji Huan’s families alone had donated four sacks, his dejected spirits instantly revived.

Seeing his suddenly beaming face, Ji Huan guessed that the village chief was planning to use her and the Hu Family as a model example.

’The tree that stands tallest in the forest is the first to be broken by the wind,’ she thought. ’By the same token, being made a model example is almost the same as being made a target.’

Ji Huan stopped him. "Village Chief, I have a suggestion."

Though the village chief didn’t hold out much hope, he gestured for her to continue.

"You could create a ’white list.’ Um... I mean, for example, you could write down the donors’ names on red paper and then display it for the entire village to see."

The village chief didn’t quite understand. "You mean like keeping a ledger? That’s possible. We could treat the donated grain as a loan to be paid back after the disaster passes and the fields are harvested again. That would probably put the donating families more at ease. But how do you display a ledger?"

"It’s not a ledger, it’s a proof of honor. As for displaying it, you could erect a wooden plaque at the village entrance and either paste the paper onto it or carve the names directly into the wood."

’Telling them the grain would be returned would only offer a little peace of mind,’ she thought. ’But this big red honor roll is what will really mobilize people’s enthusiasm.’

"Aha!" The village chief slapped his hands together, his eyes shining. "Isn’t that just a Merit List! What a great idea! A great idea!"

He paced the courtyard a few times with his hands clasped behind his back, then stopped abruptly. "I won’t just write their names—I’ll write down exactly how much each person donated! Hmph, we’ll see whose faces don’t turn red then!"

Ji Huan quickly stopped him. "Village Chief, going too far is as bad as not going far enough! If you do that, you’ll just be forcing the villagers to compare with one another over who donated more and who donated less. Someone is bound to lose face. Then this... this Merit List won’t be a reward, it will become a tool for public humiliation. Many families genuinely can’t spare much grain. To avoid being shamed, they might choose not to donate at all. Wouldn’t that be a case of the plan backfiring completely and making things worse?"

’Vanity and the tendency to compare are things almost everyone has; they aren’t some terrible flaw.’

’She was exploiting a human weakness, and while the method was a bit... questionable, it ultimately relied on people willingly taking the bait.’

’But to deliberately amplify that weakness would change the nature of the act entirely.’

’Instead of providing positive encouragement, it would turn what was supposed to be a voluntary donation into outright moral blackmail.’

’Even if people were coerced into donating, they wouldn’t feel the joy of performing a good deed, only a bellyful of resentment and hostility.’

’What was meant to be a good deed would turn into a bad one through improper methods, completely defeating the original purpose.’

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