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.
