I'll Treat You to a Meal When I'm Free

"I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

An Weiyan sent back a reply.

Honestly, even if he asked everyone in his phone for a loan, he probably still wouldn't be able to borrow that hundred thousand yuan.

For one thing, some of his friends didn't have that much money. For another, when it came to lending that much, even his best friends would hesitate.

Su Qingyun had agreed so readily that An Weiyan felt a little moved for a moment.

Su Qingyun pursed her lips in dissatisfaction at his reply. "Shouldn't you treat me to a meal or something as thanks?"

This guy, why did she have to bring up even something like this?

An Weiyan: "Sure, I'll treat you to a meal when I'm free, as a token of my gratitude."

Seeing his reply, Su Qingyun immediately perked up. She rolled over and sat up, hurriedly typing, "I'm free right now!"

After graduating, she had nothing to do for the time being. She could be said to have plenty of free time.

An Weiyan: "I meant when I'm free. Of course you're free every day!"

Before, An Weiyan really would have had the time, but things were different now. He truly didn't have much time to spare.

He had only just gotten started in the other world, and he needed to put all his focus there.

After being ordinary for over twenty years, he finally had an opportunity to change his fate. An Weiyan didn't want to let it slip away.

For another thing, An Weiyan was also full of curiosity about that world.

For now, he had learned a little about how an Earth God really did need incense offerings.

Huaxia had a huge population. If he could make use of it, he naturally wouldn't have to worry about incense offerings.

The problem was that, however many people there were, they wouldn't burn a stick of incense for him for no reason. That was a little troublesome.

Right now, An Weiyan's thoughts were entirely on the other world.

Su Qingyun froze at this, nearly grinding her teeth to pieces. I said I was free, but you're not?

Then how long will I have to wait for this meal of yours?

Su Qingyun was so angry her teeth itched. She wanted to say something else, but An Weiyan replied, "I've got something to do right now. I'll chat with you when I have time."

Su Qingyun: ...

"Aaaah! I'm so mad!"

Su Qingyun grabbed a cushion beside her and began pounding it furiously, as though she were treating it as An Weiyan.

An Weiyan had really made her angry. He had contacted her for once, only to leave after barely exchanging a few words.

An Weiyan picked up his phone and contacted the rice seller, asking him to deliver a hundred bags of rice.

He didn't have the seller deliver them to his house, lest someone see and start asking questions.

He chose a secluded pavilion outside the village entrance. After arranging it with the seller, An Weiyan went out to wait.

A little over half an hour later, the seller drove up with the rice.

"Young man, can you take all this rice away by yourself if I leave it here? Do you need me to deliver it a little farther?"

The seller looked at An Weiyan, then glanced around. This place was rather secluded, and he had no idea why An Weiyan wanted the rice unloaded here.

As for why An Weiyan had bought so much rice, he had no intention of asking.

"It's fine. Just unload it here. A friend of mine will come load it up later."

An Weiyan replied.

Seeing this, the seller said no more. After helping unload the bags of rice, he spoke to An Weiyan again.

If he needed more rice in the future, he should buy from him again.

An Weiyan nodded in agreement. Once the seller had left, he checked that no one was around and used a marker to black out the brand names on the rice bags.

Then, while no one was around, he took the rice to the other world.

Afterward, An Weiyan hurried home before returning to the other world again.

Back on the little path, he looked at the pile of rice bags beside him and let out a sigh of relief.

He had no way of carrying all this rice over by himself, so he immediately returned to Linbei County.

"The grain I had delivered has been left back there. Those men were in a hurry to return, so I didn't insist that they stay. Some of you, come carry the grain to the yamen."

An Weiyan addressed the people present.

Hearing this, several lean men immediately stood up. "My lord, this commoner is willing to help."

"This commoner is willing too!"

Having only just eaten food provided by An Weiyan, everyone present was naturally willing to lend him a hand now.

An Weiyan nodded and led them to the junction.

His palms were sweating a little, and he gripped his stun baton tightly. He didn't know whether any of these people might be tempted by the sight of wealth.

Soon, they all caught sight of the bags of rice.

After a moment of stunned surprise, they silently picked up the bags one after another and headed forward.

Seeing that none of them seemed to have any other intentions, An Weiyan felt a little relieved.

He then watched as they carried all the grain into the yamen.

When An Weiyan reached the yamen, he was taken aback by the sight before him.

The front doors were battered and broken, and cobwebs covered parts of the signboard. The spiders that had spun them, however, seemed to have left.

Perhaps even they had turned their noses up at this place.

Inside, the plaque bearing the words "A bright mirror hung on high" looked dull and lusterless, its colors faded.

Dust covered the floor, and tables and chairs lay overturned everywhere.

The place was a complete mess, without the slightest trace of human presence.

An Weiyan could only shake his head at the sight.

But there was nothing he could do. This was where he would be living from now on, so he would have to make do for the time being.

An Weiyan looked around, then had them clean out a room to serve as temporary grain storage.

Soon, the grain was stacked up. There were a full hundred bags, fifty jin to a bag, making five thousand jin of grain in total.

It would be enough to feed these four or five hundred people for about ten days.

Each fifty-jin bag cost 129 yuan, so An Weiyan had spent 12,900 yuan altogether.

There had originally been a small amount on top of that, but the seller had rounded it down.

Looking at the rice they had brought back, An Weiyan gathered the people of Linbei County again.

"I know that the people of Linbei County are facing hardship. For now, I will pay out of my own pocket to provide disaster relief on behalf of the court, so that you will not have to suffer hunger."

"Thank you, my lord!"

Before An Weiyan had even finished speaking, every single person present dropped to their knees, forming a dark sea of kneeling figures as they kowtowed to him again and again.

Tears streamed down their aged faces. They felt that they were saved.

How could anyone who had never gone hungry understand what they felt? An Weiyan had now given them hope of survival.

"Please hear me out first. Though this is disaster relief, you will still need to do a few things for me. The yamen is filthy and in disarray, and I need you to clean it up. You will also need to tidy up Linbei County."

"I hope I can lead you through this hardship and help Linbei County flourish with people."

An Weiyan spoke.

The people present had initially been uneasy, thinking he would make some sort of demand.

But once they heard this, they immediately breathed sighs of relief.

What did cleaning the yamen amount to? For a bite to eat, they would even put their lives on the line for An Weiyan!