Old Madam Lin frowned, and just as she wanted to retort to Su Nianyuan, Liu Ju in her arms suddenly propped herself up and sat straight.
She cast a pale, wretched smile at Su Nianyuan: “You’re right. It is the family precept of the Qin family to repay kindness with gratitude. Ah He and I owe your dad a life; I’ll wait until I’ve repaid it before I go down to find my husband and son.”
Su Nianyuan nodded calmly, her composed demeanor truly not resembling that of a five-year-old child.
“Alright.”
“Little Village Chief, what do you need me to do?”
“Later, after we finish eating, new arrangements will be made. Don’t even think about dying before you’ve finished repaying this debt of gratitude, or Grandpa Qin won’t be happy.”
Liu Ju turned her head away, wiped away a tear, and said stubbornly, “I won’t die.”
Su Nianyuan glanced once more at Deng Yinghe, who remained like a puppet with its strings cut, her gaze briefly pausing over Deng Yinghe’s abdomen before withdrawing it and walking outside.
The adults at the doorway parted to either side, making way for a five-year-old child.
Some looked at her with complex gazes, while others couldn’t figure her out at all.
Someone muttered softly in complaint, “How come this little village chief went through a flood and now speaks with such harshness? Didn’t she not like talking before?”
“Exactly, why is her speech so unpleasant to hear? Auntie Liu just lost her son and she doesn’t even offer a word of comfort, instead demanding that people repay a debt of gratitude. How can such a heartless and harsh child exist?”
“As expected, the child born from a useless village chief is useless too!”
A few people with identical mindsets huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, looking at the father-and-daughter pair of Su Jiancheng with utter disdain.
The others who overheard their conversation quietly walked away.
It was better to stay far away from fools who couldn’t understand the situation.
Old Madam Lin was still sitting on the ground when Liu Ju pulled her up: “Old Lin, thank you for saving me just now.”
“No—you’re welcome.”
Old Madam Lin stammered slightly. Seeing Liu Ju walk over to pick up the hanging hemp rope again, her heart tightened. But then Liu Ju calmly untied the hemp rope and put it away.
Looking back, she asked in confusion, “Old Lin, what kind of expression is that on your face?”
Old Madam Lin swallowed hard and asked nervously, “You’re not dying anymore?”
Liu Ju’s gaze was calm—not the hopelessness of moments ago, but a pure, untroubled calm.
She nodded and said, “That’s right, not dying anymore. The Little Village Chief was right; the Qin family does not owe favors, and I cannot stain the Qin family’s reputation. Is there anything that needs doing right now?”
Only belatedly did Old Madam Lin realize that Su Nianyuan had used a reverse psychology tactic.
The Little Village Chief was simply awesome!
Su Jiancheng followed his daughter outside and couldn’t help asking with curiosity, “Daughter, how did you know Sister-in-law Liu would listen?”
Su Nianyuan looked at Su Jiancheng with an expression of helplessness and countered, “Dad, did you forget what Uncle Qin Liangmin used to say in the village?”
Su Jiancheng reminisced. Six years ago in winter, Qin Liangmin had fainted from hunger in the snow, and his wife had saved him and given him a full meal.
That following spring, Qin Liangmin went up the mountain and caught two wild chickens, handing them over with a grinning smile.
“My dad taught me that you can’t owe favors! This is to help Auntie build up her health!”
He used to say that all the time.
The Qin family might be poor, but their ambitions were untarnished.
Yet, didn’t Su Nianyuan usually dislike going out? How did she remember that?
Su Nianyuan curled her lips. Although the original owner had seemed silly, in reality she had possessed a memory since she was one year old; she remembered every single person and every single phrase in the village with complete eidetic recall.
Normally, a child like that would be called a prodigy.
Unfortunately, heaven is jealous of brilliant talents, and she lost her life before the natural disaster struck.
“Little Village Chief, you’re really smart.” Lin Shoufeng suddenly squatted down beside Su Nianyuan and flashed her an eight-tooth grin.
Su Nianyuan took a step back and unmercifully roasted him: “Uncle Lin, your teeth are a bit yellow. Remember to brush your teeth more often on ordinary days.”
Su Jiancheng almost burst out laughing.
Lin Shoufeng silently closed his mouth, cast a resentful glance at Su Nianyuan, and instead of responding, asked, “The Great Immortal told you there are still 58 people alive in our village?”
Su Nianyuan nodded. “Yes, there are still two people we haven’t found yet.”
The population count in her mind’s system hadn’t changed, which proved those people were still alive.
Lin Shoufeng thought for a moment and pressed further, “Do you have a plan?”
Su Nianyuan glanced at Lin Shoufeng. She was only five years old; although she used the pretext of the Great Immortal visiting her in a dream, she was still just a child.
Su Jiancheng could unconditionally trust her because she was his own daughter, but why would Lin Shoufeng?
He was thirty years old, and in her memory, this man was very mysterious and very smart.
His family only consisted of him and Old Madam Lin, and they had no lucrative trade, yet the clothes Old Madam Lin wore were made of pure cotton, indicating a very comfortable living standard.
Why would such a clever person believe her?
The confusion in her eyes was obvious, and Lin Shoufeng answered straightforwardly, “You saved me, and a life-saving grace is impossible to repay. I can only—”
“Hey, hey, hey, hey!” Before he could finish, Su Nianyuan was scooped up into Su Jiancheng’s arms as he glared defensively at Lin Shoufeng.
His eyes were filled with warning: “Don’t even think about snatching my daughter! Besides, she’s only five years old, you wretched pervert!”
Su Nianyuan: ……
Lin Shoufeng: ……
Lin Shoufeng was completely speechless. Although the end of that sentence was supposed to be “pledging my body in marriage,” what he wanted to say wasn’t that at all!
“Village Chief! What I wanted to say was that from now on I’ll listen to the Little Village Chief! I don’t have any other thoughts. I’m older than you, what kind of thoughts could I possibly have?”
He rolled his eyes. He had wanted to pledge his allegiance, only to be treated as a pervert?
Just thinking about it made him angry.
Hearing this, Su Jiancheng scratched his head awkwardly: “Haha, sorry, sorry. Let’s continue talking, continue talking.”
Interrupted like this, Su Nianyuan couldn’t be bothered to ponder why Lin Shoufeng suddenly trusted her so much.
Whatever.
This wasn’t modern times; could he possibly drag her off to be dissected?
“The water level has dropped quite a bit; it will probably take another three days. Before that, we must ensure that no one gets sick. Secondly, we need to find the road to the county town to buy food.”
Previously, Qingzhu Village was largely self-sufficient—they grew their own grain and hunted their own game.
But now, everything was gone.
Lin Shoufeng nodded in agreement: “Once the water recedes, we’ll need to clear the debris and rebuild. At the very least it will take a month, and everyone needs to eat. But there’s still one more problem.”
And it was the most crucial problem of all.
Where would the money come from?
Both Lin Shoufeng and Su Jiancheng fell silent. Having brains was useless if you had no money.
Yet Su Nianyuan curled her lips into a smile. She wanted that smile to look wicked, like the smile of an evil villain.
However, she looked so terribly cute that whenever she smiled, she looked just like a New Year’s print doll, exceptionally festive.
Even their vexed and restless hearts instantly settled down.
“The Great Immortal left it for us.”
“Really or fake?”
Lin Shoufeng didn’t actually believe this. If gods truly existed, praying day and night wouldn’t be useless for everyone—those who were meant to die would still die.
Yet Su Nianyuan’s serious expression actually shook his firm convictions.
Could it be that Qingzhu Village really had a Great Immortal protecting it?
Su Nianyuan looked at Su Jiancheng and posed a question: “Dad, do you remember when Mom was pregnant with me, she came to this temple?”
Su Jiancheng was startled: “How do you know that?”