I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 120 - 117: Solving the Food Shortage

Her spiritual power scanned over the five of them, discovering a lot of serious issues.

One of them confirmed her suspicions: this village chief Sun Heqing indeed had a screw loose.

Due to the climate, Qingshan Village had two harvests a year, one in autumn and one at the end of winter and beginning of spring.

Take last year for example.

The total grain yield during the autumn harvest wasn’t low, but his stupid maneuvers managed to dilute it.

If the village’s total harvest was a hundred thousand jin, this village chief would always report a quantity several times higher than the actual amount.

Typically, seventy percent of the grain is submitted upwards, but because of the over-reported production by the village chief, it was judged as an extraordinary bumper harvest. In a year when there was a grain shortage everywhere else, the higher-ups naturally hoped for Qingshan Village to submit more grain. The seventy percent submission was increased to ninety percent. If only there had been that much to harvest. But there wasn’t.

Sun Heqing, driven by vanity, led Qingshan Village to submit almost all its grain, leaving only some coarse grains like sweet potatoes. Villagers were left hungry and without good food.

Although submitting public grain equated to purchasing farmers’ grain, and farmers did get money, the price given was deplorably low, leaving them without enough grain to eat. They had to use the little money they got to buy grain at high prices. If one were a businessman, this would be a clear loss, and it was no wonder they were hungry.

Sun Heqing’s actions were solely driven by his desire to stand out, to attract the attention of his superiors, hoping to climb up the ranks and make a fortune.

As for embezzlement, a few years ago and just last year, some villagers were conscripted to build roads. The higher-ups would distribute money to the village as a unit. The initial fifteen yuan per person per month eventually became five yuan, with the rest pocketed by him.

When accounts were being checked, the accountant, seizing a moment when no one was watching him, tried to flee, planning to hide at his sister’s in the city until the fuss died down before returning to the village.

He hadn’t even stepped out when it started snowing heavily like a blizzard.

Jiang Jian Country dragged him back, threatening to hand him over after binding him up. The accountant quickly confessed everything like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

According to Sun Heqing’s instructions, he cooked the books. The money was split among the five of them, leaving only five yuan in the village’s public account.

Besides distributing the public grain to villagers, seventy percent of it was supposed to be saved for village development. But in reality, five years passed and development was nothing more than empty talk. The money was either embezzled or taken away with a promissory note from a relative.

Jiang Jian Country assigned his brother and Jiao Can along with others to bind the accountant and hand him over to the county authorities for further handling.

The two warehouse keepers, seeing the accountant was in trouble, smartly returned the money they had gotten from the ill-gotten gains, recognizing that their influence was waning. As for the tally clerk and head of the women’s committee, they quarreled internally, publicly accusing each other of all the shameful things they had done over the years.

There wasn’t even a need for further investigation; villagers themselves hauled the two back to their homes, ensuring the return of the illicit gains. Out of respect for the pleading parents, the villagers ended it there but banned them from any future positions on the village committee.

Next were those promissory notes. Jiang Jianjun and Jiao Can, accompanied by a group of young men, went around collecting money. Those indebted returned the funds compliantly upon request, except for one household. The man who had borrowed money fled a year ago, leaving his wife and children to struggle and cope with the debts owed to relatives. After some discussion, the consensus was to temporarily hold off; they wouldn’t pursue the wife and children. Once that man returned to the village, they’d find ways to recover the debt.

After a swift investigation, there were temporarily over two thousand yuan in the public account. Together with the money recovered from the accountant and Sun Heqing by the county, the total amounted to over three thousand eight hundred yuan.

The village committee urgently needed to establish a new leadership team.

The whole village gathered at the drying yard for a meeting. Jiang Jian Country asked for their thoughts on candidates for the village committee positions.

The elder uncle readily raised his hand, saying everything should be arranged by the village secretary.

Given that even the village’s most respected elder said so, the juniors had no objections.

"It’s up to the secretary."

Jiang Jian Country, as per the speech draft prepared by his sister, delivered his inaugural speech with passion, receiving overwhelming applause. His disclosure of the village committee’s accounts quickly won over a portion of the crowd.

"Dear fellow villagers, I’ve assumed this role in a time of crisis, and it’s thanks to the generous support of all the elders here that we’ve taken the public account from five to three thousand eight hundred and forty-six yuan in just one day. These achievements are the result of our collective solidarity.

Though I am eager to form a new leadership team, there’s something even more urgent that demands my attention.

Now, please tell me, whose household is struggling to put together the next meal? Speak honestly, because if need be, I will have someone verify it at your home!"

The uncles initially thinking of portraying their sufferings as the worst swiftly came forward with honest reports. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"I report my household has three days’ worth of food remaining."

"Uncle Li, may I ask what exactly is in your stock? How much of each?"

"Eight jin of sweet potatoes and half a jin of cornmeal."

"That’s all. A month ago, I even went to Sun Heqing, hoping he would issue a note to borrow some grain. With this spring famine, waiting until the summer and autumn harvests, I’m afraid my children might starve. You mention wild vegetables, but you need enough to dig up, don’t you?"

"And how many families are in situations like his?"

"My family."

"My family."

"My family is a bit better, but we only have half a month’s worth of food."

"Our next meal is already out, and we only had porridge mixed with wild vegetables and rice husk for lunch."

...

Of the total one hundred and eight households in the village, around nine out of ten were on the verge of running out of food, surviving on the poorest of coarse grains.

Jiang Jian Country, at this moment, had a newfound respect for his sister’s foresight, admiring her wisdom profoundly.

"Folks, don’t worry. I’ll find a way to solve these issues as soon as possible. Let me reiterate that my acceptance of this appointment isn’t for personal gain nor for family favors. Everything I do is driven by a singular goal – to ensure none of us in the village go hungry again.

Therefore, instead of distributing money, I’ve decided to address the immediate need by ensuring everyone has something to eat. Before work begins tomorrow, everyone here will receive part of the food supply "

The crowd erupted!

Perhaps overcome by a rollercoaster of emotions, they immediately started whispering and discussing among themselves.

"Could this really be true? When the warehouse was opened in the morning for weighing and handover, the total of refined and coarse grains only amounted to a little over a hundred jin. With a hundred and eight families, each could only get a jin. Is that enough?"

"The fact that he’s willing to share is already good, unlike Sun Heqing, who let only his kin take everything away?"

"True enough..."

Seeing that the topic had simmered enough, Jiang Jian Country raised his hand to signal for quiet.

"Everyone... everyone... listen to me, I haven’t finished.

I heard just now from this elder’s comments that sharing only a jin of grain per household won’t solve the problem of long-term hunger.

Thus, I plan to use a portion of public funds to purchase food at a grocery store under our village’s name. As for which grocery store to buy from, I’ll send someone to inspect and choose the one with the best and cheapest goods, and then have someone transport it back here. My preliminary plan involves dividing each household with two hundred jin of sweet potatoes, ten jin of rice, two jin of salt, and two packets of sugar. Fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters, what do you think?