Riverbank Refugees

The lofty, grand, high-class spectacle in the sky had nothing to do with the earth.

Baiji Plain's riverbank was carpeted with refugees.

Set up a few frames and spread some thatch over them, and that was a house.

Lay some dry grass on the ground, and that was a bed.

If there was even a little food to eat, this place could be heaven.

But how many people could have food through all four seasons?

On the riverbank, summer mosquitoes were bigger than flies; in winter, once the cold wind poured in, it chilled one to the bone. How could anyone live in a place like this? The locals would rather dwell deep in the mountains and old forests than live here. Those who lived here were mostly refugees.

Their hometowns had suffered disasters, and they had borrowed land to stay temporarily. This was practically the shared calling card of all Baiji Plain residents.

Yet some people had already been "temporarily" staying here for generations.

Why? What year did their hometowns not suffer disasters?

If there was no natural disaster, there was war; if no war, there were locusts; if no locusts, there were man-made calamities...

By comparison, Baiji Plain was still better.

Even if there was little to eat, even if floods came and took some lives one way or another, there were still advantages. The advantage was that this mudflat had no owner, so no one came to collect exorbitant taxes from them. And this was outside Haining, where there were no wild beasts. Of course, having wild beasts would not be bad either. If the strong young men went out, perhaps they could kill a few to fill the gaps between their teeth...

At a bend near the river, Xiao Xue quietly watched the endless flowing water. She had originally been a maidservant at Marquis of Dingnan's Estate. In the eyes of country folk, that meant fine clothes and rich food. But more than half a month ago, she had returned because her father had fallen ill.

She had hired a doctor and bought medicine, but in the end, she still could not save her father's life.

Her father had passed away. The Immortal Way sects did not permit corpses to be buried here, so she could only bind together a few bamboo poles into a raft, cover it with dry grass, and set it ablaze in the middle of the river. Before her very eyes, her father turned to ashes, while her mother wept until she fainted in her arms.

"Xue'er, Xue'er..." her mother called softly from inside the house.

Xiao Xue suddenly woke from her thoughts and pushed open the thatch-woven door. "Mother, you must be hungry... I just picked the freshest wild mountain greens. I'll cook them for you."

The old woman on the bed looked sickly and was exceptionally weak, yet she still reached out and grasped her daughter's hand. "Xue'er, you should go back. You work for someone else's household; being away for so long is not good. Your masters will dislike it."

"Mother, you can't even get out of bed..."

"Who says I can't get up? I'm fine. I'm just a little tired..." The old woman struggled into a sitting position. "Go without worry, all right?"

Tears swirled in Xiao Xue's eyes. She did not dare tell her mother that she could no longer return.

Her masters' household had suffered disaster, and even a meal was hard to come by. Going back to the Lin Family at a time like this would not help them—it would only add to their burden...

Suddenly, a voice came from outside. "Xiao Xue!"

Xue'er's heart jolted. She recognized the voice—it was Lin Jialiang, the Second Young Master! The most remarkable man in all Marquis of Dingnan's Estate.

Why had he come to the riverbank? Could something major have happened to the Lin Family? Heaven bless them, nothing must happen...

"Xiao Xue, are you here?"

Another voice came, and Xiao Xue's whole body shook. The Third Young Master had come too? Something must have happened to the Lin Family!

"Xue'er, who is it?"

"It... it's the two young masters from the Marquis's Estate..."

What? Her mother got out of bed. "Xue'er, quick, quick, invite the two young masters in..."

The door flap lifted, and Lin Su and Lin Jialiang appeared at the entrance, each carrying a sack.

"Xiao Xue!" Lin Su said. "There's some rice and flour in these. My mother asked us to bring them over..."

"Madam... is Madam well?" Xiao Xue's lips trembled faintly.

Lin Su smiled. "My mother is perfectly well. Every other moment, she's worshipping the ancestors at home, thanking them for their blessings. I say, Xiao Xue, once you return, you'll have to talk her into easing up. As for worshipping the ancestors, doing it on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month is enough. Who can stand it if she keeps worshipping them all the time?"

His words were light and playful, yet they conveyed one crucial piece of information. Everything was well with the Lin Family; they had already weathered the crisis.

Great waves surged through Xiao Xue's heart, as though she were dreaming.

When they were about to part from Xiao Xue, Lin Su spotted a sack of Ting Rice in the corner and casually picked it up. "Xiao Xue, give me this sack of Ting Rice, all right..."

Xiao Xue jumped in fright. "Young Master, this is Ting Rice. It can't be eaten."

"I know it can't be eaten..." Lin Su smiled easily. "But I've been thinking about something. Could it perhaps... be drunk? Let's go! Goodbye!"

He slung the Ting Rice over his shoulder and strode away.

There was nothing unusual on the way back, except that Lin Jialiang was filled with confusion.

"Third Brother, why are you carrying that Ting Rice? This stuff can't be eaten. You can't even feed it to pigs or dogs. It is only fit to be fertilizer, and even as fertilizer, it is worse than pig or cow dung."

Lin Su told him bluntly that he planned to try making wine from Ting Rice.

Making wine in Feudal Society was not actually as easy as one might imagine.

The raw materials alone were a huge problem.

Ordinary people ate bran and swallowed wild vegetables. Where would there be so much grain for you to make wine? One cup of wine you drank might mean an ordinary commoner starved to death. Could you live with that on your conscience? Every dynasty after Great Song regulated wine shops, because they too had recognized the flaw in making wine: competing with the people for food.

Therefore, Lin Su had no desire to use staple foods like rice to make wine.

But Ting Rice was completely different.

Ting Rice had no real value as food. If he used it to make wine, he would not be competing with the common people for grain.

On one hand, he could make fine wine and become rich.

On the other hand, he could find the riverbank people a way to make a living. Would that not kill two birds with one stone? Perhaps the sages would be moved by his great good deed and directly grant him the Literary Altar, Literary Mountain, Literary Heart, and everything else. Wouldn't that be—hahahaha?

He said it lightly, but Lin Jialiang's heart trembled.

Could it really work?

This road was not a path of literature, but a path to survival for the people.

The people had no one to rely on; the people suffered bitterly. Countless scholars described this in voices brimming with feeling, but how many truly cared about the people's livelihood?

Third Brother truly, genuinely cared!

And he was even doing it himself!

"Third Brother, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling the Ten Thousand Li Path! Elder Brother truly understands now!" Lin Jialiang said. "If one day I become an official, I will never fail the people of the ten directions!"

Lin Su placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good. One day, I'll make you a high-ranking official."

Lin Jialiang's eyes shone. "Then you must first become an even greater official. Third Brother, it's good that you have such awareness. Once we return, shut yourself indoors to study and focus on the imperial examinations..."

Lin Su slapped himself across the mouth. "Forget I said anything!"