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Furthermore, Wei Ruo feared that the upcoming rain would be even heavier, and the temperature would continue to drop.

“Alright, miss, I’m fine, I’ll follow wherever you go!” Xiumei replied without hesitation.

“I also remember the batch of charcoal I purchased in Huzhou Prefecture. At that time, in addition to coal and high-quality charcoal, I also bought a batch of poor-quality black charcoal at a low price.”

Coal is suitable for heating kang beds or stoves, and southern households generally use charcoal for daily heating. Both silver charcoal and black charcoal are types of charcoal, but they produce different amounts of smoke when burned and their prices vary greatly. Wealthy households generally use silver charcoal, while most ordinary people use black charcoal.

“Yes.”

“Ask the wet nurse to set aside this portion of charcoal. I plan to give it free to poor families in need. We didn’t spend much when we purchased it, but given the current situation, even this inferior charcoal would be too expensive for many families to afford.” said Wei Ruo.

“Miss, I heard that the Madam is urgently purchasing charcoal. The cold wave arrived early this year, and it seems our household, like many others, have not had time to procure enough.”

“Set them aside for now. No matter what, the Wei Family will certainly fare better than anyone in Xingshan County. For us, life is just a bit harder, and finances are a bit tighter, but for many commoners, it is a matter of life and death.” said Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo and Xiumei quickly prepared to go out.

Before leaving, Xiumei made Wei Ruo wear several more layers of clothing. Fortunately, they brought back thick clothing from Mo Jiazha. Although simple in style, these clothes provided good warmth.

Wei Ruo arrived at the County Government Office. Because of the situation in the southern part of the city, most officials knew Wei Ruo and invited her in, then went to notify Qian Magistrate.

Qian Magistrate had been quite busy these past few days, but upon hearing Wei Ruo was requesting to see him, he put aside his pressing tasks to meet her.

“What can I do for you, Miss Wei?” Qian Magistrate got straight to the point without any formalities.

He figured that Wei Ruo wouldn’t have ventured out in such heavy rain unless it was truly urgent.

“My concern lies with the common people who are reclaiming fields in the south of the city. They currently live close to their fields, and their thatch and grass huts are too rudimentary. The huts leak rain, let in wind, and are prone to flooding or collapsing. I hope you can arrange for these people to be moved to a safer location as soon as possible.” Wei Ruo said.

Qian Magistrate slapped his forehead: “I can’t believe I forgot all about them!”

Recently, the Magistrate was overwhelmed by various problems: an overflow of the lake, collapsed bridges, among other numerous issues. He had completely forgotten about the people living in the south of the city.

All those lives!

“I will send someone to relocate them to the office immediately! We have a warehouse in the government complex that can accommodate some people!”

Saying this, Qian Magistrate called for his personal assistant and instructed him to send people out immediately to relocate the residents of the southern city.

“I want to go too.” stated Wei Ruo.

“Miss Wei, that’s not a good idea. Due to days of rain, the southern city is extremely muddy. And with the heavy rain and cold weather, you might get chilled. It would be inadvisable.” Qian Magistrate tried to dissuade her.

“I’m fine. I’m well-clothed and warm, and certainly in a better condition than the commoners. Please allow me to accompany you. I fear they may be too concerned about their new wheat crops to willingly leave. My persuasion might prove more effective.”

She did have a point.

“Alright then. I will ensure that our officials protect your safety.” Qian Magistrate then gave orders to the attending officials to guarantee Wei Ruo’s safety.

We cannot allow any harm to come to Wei Ruo, who is indeed valued by the Prince himself.

Once they reached the southern city in horse-drawn carriages, the personal assistant ordered Wei Ruo to stay in the carriage while he went to persuade the commoners to leave.

Wei Ruo didn’t listen and went directly to the residents, dressing in a rain cloak similar to everyone else.

“Master Chen, take charge of me later. Let’s hurry to get everyone out of here before it gets darker and more difficult. I fear the rain will get much heavier tonight and the temperature will drop further.”

After hearing Wei Ruo’s words, Master Chen didn’t dare delay any longer and immediately took action with his officials.

Beyond the official roads in the south, the other paths were just recently trodden. The paths became incredibly muddy following the rainfall.

When Wei Ruo entered the first residence, it was a bamboo house made of Mao bamboo. The room was very basic, with a bamboo bed bunk on the left side as soon as one stepped inside.

Just above the bunk was the only part of the roof that was reinforced to prevent leaks, but the rain was infiltrating from everywhere else, with water dripping onto the floor.

In the house, a family of three, a grandfather, grandmother and their grandchild, were huddled on the bunk under a stiff cotton quilt, with the grandparents keeping the grandchild snugly in the middle.

At this moment, Wei Ruo regretted her lateness. Had she known, she would have come as soon as it started raining two days ago.

When it had just started to rain, she couldn’t have known the rainfall would be so heavy or cause so many problems.

According to the original host’s memory, Wei Ruo only knew that the winter came early this year and there was a bout of rain, but she was unaware of how the poorest people survived that year.

At that time, the original host was preoccupied with going against her family and didn’t go out or pay much attention to the rain, so she knew nothing of these specifics.

Weo Ruo urged the family: “Come with us. The Magistrate has arranged a temporary shelter for you.”

The old man shook his head: “We can’t. We just sowed our cropland, it needs watching. What if the rain floods all the seedlings?”

“Don’t worry, even if it gets flooded, I can get you new ones for planting.” Wei Ruo said.

“But wouldn’t it be too late then? The timing will be off.” the old man said.

“Don’t worry about that, I will provide you with late-sowing wheat varieties and there will be follow-up help to improve the planting. I can assure you yield will be fine!” Wei Ruo reassured the old man.

The old man looked at Wei Ruo, wavering in his decision.

Wei Ruo continued, “Don’t you trust me? Don’t you already see the effects on your rice field? It was harvested later than other farms, but wasn’t the yield higher?”

“For your wife and your grandson, if not for yourself, think about them. If you get cold and face difficulty, of what significance would it be for the harvest of your crops?”

Wei Ruo’s persuasion proved effective.

The old man hastily got up from the bunk, pulling up his wife with one hand and picking up his grandson with the other.

They put on their straw shoes, but the ground was full of rainwater, their feet were soaking in the cold water.

Wei Ruo and Xiumei stepped forward to help, picking up the grandson and helping the old grandmother.

After handing over the family to the officials, they hurried towards the next house without delay..